A picture can be worth 1,000 words

There’s a body image crusader I just have to tell you all about - I met her (well, over the phone) while writing an article for Women's Health Magazine. Her name is Holly Sasnett and she's an Atlanta-based photographer who takes pictures of women with eating disorders of all types - anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating. And here’s the thing: they’re nudes. The women come to Holly as part of their therapy; they get to know each other, discussing their goals and what they hope to get out of the photo shoot experience. Holly will play soft music (Sarah McLachlan is a favorite) and pose the women against lush velvet and brocade backgrounds. When the women are ready, they disrobe.

The point of the project, which Holly has entitled "Body Revisited" and has been doing for nine years, is to allow women to see themselves in a whole new light. How? The subjects' faces are never shown. By doing this, the woman can more objectively look at her body and see beauty where before, she saw ugliness; reality where before she was trapped in a funhouse mirror.

(If you want to experience this yourself, try looking in a mirror at you body, clothed or nude, with your face totally out of the reflection. I found the only way to achieve this is to climb on top of my toilet - lid closed! - and gaze into the bathroom mirror. This allows me to see myself from the neck-down and it truly does inject a healthy dose of objectivity into how I see my body. There's just something about not looking yourself in the eyes as you scan the rest of your figure that takes some pressure off and allows you to appreciate the beauty of your curves, the muscles you never realized you had or even how gracefully your hands hang at your sides.)

I urge you to check out the article to learn more - it’s in the May issue of Women's Health, on stands now. I'm hoping that perhaps business or pleasure will take me to Atlanta in the near future because I would LOVE to experience this. The whole process sounds extremely opening and uniquely healing. And the result is tangible evidence for my eyes only that I can take out on the occasional bad body image day to say, "Wow, that's me! In black and white and all my glory, cellulite be damned!"

What do you think? Would you pose nude? If you knew it could help you feel better about yourself, the images were for you to keep, the pose was tasteful, etc. What kind of benefit do you see coming from it? Remember, this isn’t Sam on Sex and the City framing her butt for the pizza delivery guy to gawk at. It’s for YOU.

XO,
Leslie

Comments

OK. If I knew that by seeing myself in the nude (sans my face) it would make me feel BETTER about my body, I'd do it in a heart beat. My fear is that I'd focus on the parts of my body that I hate and say to myself, yeah, my butt really IS big (in spite of the fact that people tell me it isn't) or I can't believe my thighs are that fat, in spite of all the Spinning classes I do. I'm thinking that if I were photographed in the nude, I'd still hope for some airbrushing, ya know?

i posed nude for an art class once in college and i'd do it again. if nothing else, it's a great life experience and a good story to share with someone when they ask, "what's the craziest thing you've ever done?". out of all the adventerous things i've tried in this life (skydiving, cage diving, trapeze-ing, etc) posing nude has been the most empowering.

I would totally pose nude in that situation. It's just that when you're so used to being critical about every little thing, it would be difficult to turn it off. I'll try the mirror thing tonight. Makes sense. Sometimes I wish I'd see what other people see, like my husband when he says I look beautiful. Maybe the headless reflection will keep her mouth shut and her mind still and just appreciate the good things, the healthy things, the functioning parts, the inherited parts...I just wish a reflection wasn't so powerful in how it makes us feel. It's not a reflection of who we are inside and can't be, so why do we give it so much thought? I guess I'll go give myself a hug and be a little more gentle and look in that mirror with soft eyes.

I think this is an amazing idea and it makes sense. I think I would have to build up to see my full body naked as I don’t think I’m ready to see all the curves all in one shot. But, I think I would enjoy seeing body parts looks glam and sexy. Nothing like a great photograph of oneself to boost the ego. For example, Last year when I had my driver’s license up for renewal new picture and all, I did the unthinkable. I had a great drivers license picture taken. Bouncers always tell me, “great picture”, I love showing my driver’s license! I feel cute, skinny and more attractive than I normally would think I was. How is it possible that my favorite photo of me is one taken by a DMV photographer? Imagine what a sexy curvy naked picture by a sensitive savvy photographer would do.

I think this is an amazing idea and it makes sense. I think I would have to build up to see my full body naked as I don’t think I’m ready to see all the curves all in one shot.

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