My experience sharing my REAL BEAUTY photography with the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals at their national conference back in the Spring was all I had hoped it would be. The response to the gallery and the writings done by the subjects about their personal journeys to learning to love appreciate their bodies as they are was so powerful. The slideshow which was a collection of my work celebrating real women’s bodies (read, not photoshopped to “perfection”) was met with a standing ovation of over 200 people in the audience. Clearly we are all getting tired of the lies about women’s bodies created by the many forms of media in this culture that can only hold one definition of ideal, one that is not attainable by the vast majority of women. I am so grateful to the many beautiful and brave women who participated in my REAL BEAUTY project. My hope is that in recognizing the authentic beauty of “real women” that we might be able to more fully recognize it in ourselves.
