“I have come to drag you out of yourself, and take you in my heart. I have come to bring out the beauty you never knew you had and lift you like a prayer to the sky” ~ Rumi
Jade Beall’s work went viral three years ago after she posted an unaltered image of herself with her newborn son onto social media.
Since then, she began photographing women of all ages, mothers and non-mothers, all races, all genders and all sexual orientations.
Jade celebrates what others may view as flaws in the female body and focuses on women who want to view themselves authentically. Women from all over the world have gotten in touch with Jade to explain to her how much these images have touched their lives.
Although, it is not possible for Jade to travel globally to photograph these women, Jade plans to build a platform to showcase these women and dedicate her work to topics that aren’t often explored in mainstream media, such as living with cancer, miscarriage, eating disorders self-harm, sexual abuse and beyond.
Jade’s plan is to illuminate hope with the goal of building healthy self-esteem for the current and future generations of women.
Jade is the photographer for The Bodies of Mothers: A Beautiful Body Project, which aims to be a strong media platform for “truthful photographs and stories to celebrate the irreplaceable beauty of women and the body positive movement happening all over the world.”
The project will be a series of book volumes along with an online media platform which is described as being dedicated to women and body image, celebrating shared stories of motherhood, aging, cancer, stillbirths, miscarriages, weight-gain, weight-loss, dysmorphia and beyond.
I recently asked Jade why she feels her work is important and she explained:
“People call my work revolutionary. I use to laugh but I have learned that in fact it is. It’s revolutionary to empower all women and to celebrate their nude bodies in an non-sexualized and objectified way. I have taken photos of a perfect drip of milk exiting the other nipple of a mother breastfeeding her baby and again it pushes people buttons, because if breasts are portrayed as anything but selling products in a hyper-sexualized way, then breasts become “gross” and while people chug cows milk, a vast majority of people think a woman’s breast milk is “disgusting.” Good news is that although Facebook bans me regularly for my images, they now allow this one of dripping milk. Women need to see this!”
Jade explains why she thinks this image is so important:
“After taking this image I became fascinated with trying to catch that let-down drip (and/or the incredible let-down spray!) that happens so gorgeously. Most women would apologize for the dripping as if it were shameful or gross and I would plead for them to let it drip so that I could photograph it because it’s epic!!”
Another image that was reported to Facebook and removed is the one below. However, Jade reposted it to her Facebook page saying:
“I just don’t understand why a) someone would find the need to report this precious photo and b) why my art is so often deleted as if it were offensive? So here I am again, posting this image that makes my heart expand and my eyes smile, yet again, because I love it so.”
Jade explains in the video for her campaign: “I am passionate about photographing women without using Photoshop to erase away the things that we call flaws, because I think they are beauty markings.”
Jade’s powerful message to all women and men:
“All Bodies are beautiful and worthy of epic love!”
May we find freedom from self-loathing and may we be filled with self-love by seeing through the eyes of truth and not the photoshopped corporate reality that ruthlessly attempts to sell us insecurity.
May we learn, as a culture and as a tribe of beautiful humans, to think of our “flaws” as gorgeous beauty marks.
May we be kind to ourselves so that we can be the best examples of mothers and sisters and aunties and lovers.
May we stop shaming and judging ourselves and one another, and may we rejoice in this all too short of a precious life.”
May we live unapologetically in regards to our rad exquisiteness and our dreams and desires. May we always remember that we are Beautiful. #freethenipple” ~ Jade Beall
This image below is of Jes Baker who is a model and body advocate. I recently wrote an article about her powerful work that she does in encouraging others to learn to love and accept their bodies exactly as they are. Jes’ campaign showed untouched images of women without the use of Photoshop or camera tricks so that we would begin to see images in the media of what the human body looks like without any tricks, illusions or modifications.
Jes explained in that campaign:
“Tell me something. When was the last time you opened up your browser and saw a beautiful image of a body shape that looked just like yours?
When was the last time you saw an image of skin markings that looked just like yours?
When was the last time you saw an image of breasts that looked just like yours? An ass that looked just like yours? Scars that looked just like yours? A belly that looked just like yours?
Unless you’re a celebrity look-alike and have real-time Photoshop (like, a program that follows and moves with you), I’m going to guess that for the majority of us…it’s been a while.
It’s been a while since we’ve (or maybe we’ve never) seen our body positively represented with that overwhelming flood of images that fills our social media feeds, televisions and magazines.
I think it’s time to change that.”
The more often we see images of true versions of the human body, instead of the constant flow of images shown in fashion magazines, television and catwalks, the greater chance there is that we will stop comparing ourselves to unrealistic perceptions of how our bodies should be. Our bodies are not something to be compared or judged. Not by us, nor anyone else.
With the work of Jade and Jes, we will begin to see more acceptance of the naked body being shown exactly as it is, in all shapes, sizes and in it’s full glory.
The body is not something we should be ashamed of. It’s a precious vehicle that is unique only to us. It is something to celebrate, and to be proud of. Each line, scar, wrinkle, curve and flaw is only considered an imperfection by the conditioned mind. When we unlearn all that we’ve been taught to believe about body perfection, we can begin to see, that we do not need to reach our own or anyone else’s standards of perceived body perfection. We can begin to love all that we have, exactly as we are.
The body is a form of art, it is constantly changing with each moment that passes and we should appreciate it for all that it is and for all that it does for us. We need to go easy on our bodies and be grateful and thank them for keeping us going, despite what we put it through and our many criticisms.
The most important part of being healthy, is not what we are feeding our body, it is what we are feeding our minds.
Let’s learn to feed ourselves love…and acceptance, as once we change our critical perceptions of ourselves and of others, we can begin to create a glowing healthy body and mind.
“You have to stand up and say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with me or my shape or who I am; you’re the one with the problem!'” ~ Jennifer Lopez
See more at:
http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com/jadebeall
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Relephant:
Your Body Ain’t Wrong, Girlfriend. {67 Untouched Nude Photos}
Mindful tips for a healthy body:
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Author: Alex Myles
Editor: Travis May
Photos: Jade Beall, used with permission
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