Some time ago I mentioned my desire to do a photographic essay on breasts. (Unfortunately, the original entry seems to have disappeared from breaststories :-()
I have had a camera for over thirty years now and just love taking photos. Occasionaly I have caught a breast or two unawares in some of my images. Even more occasionaly I have found myself deliberately taking a photo because the result would feature breasts.
I have always had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I totally reject the over sexualisation of womens' bodies and the way we, as men, treat women as objects. I hate the images in FHM and Ralph. They never show nipples which is supposed to make them more acceptable but in my mind it makes them worse. The fundamental aim of these magazines is to present women for men to oggle (or as we used to say 'perve') at.
On the other hand, breasts are beautiful and evocative of womanhood. When I first started breaststories, one of my breasted friends said "I believe breasts are the most powerful symbol of being a woman." Breasts can make me feel safe and cared for. They can make me feel warm and loved.
For a long time I couldn't sort out these mixed feelings. One seemed tied up with the other.
In starting breaststories, I started to separate the two and to see that it was possible to admire women, to see you as beautiful, attractive and sexual, without demeaning you.
To this end, I wanted to take breaststories one step further and explore my ability to create beautiful, respectful and honouring photographs of breasts.
The first step in this process was to start my first serious photographic project - onethousandfaces - to hone my skill as a photographer.
I am now really happy to be abe to tell you I have taken my first serious shots of breasts. (You can see some of the images here.)
These photos were taken last Saturday at one of Tony Ryan's Empowered Beauty workshops.
It was quite an incredible experience. This was my first ever nude shoot and there were about six photographers all taking photos at the same time. I was a bit apprehensive about this. I thought it could be a bit overpowering for the model. But it wasn't. First off, several of the people there had attended earlier workshops that Tony has fun. Secondly, Tony talked to us beforehand about respect and being aware of when the model may be uncomfortable.
Then when we actually did the shoot, I experienced quite a strong sense of protectiveness. Both for the model and for each other. There was a real sense that we were privileged to be there. It was quite tender - while at the same time being quite hard work.
Finally, as a life long girl-watcher, I was anxious that I would be overpowered by seeing a woman naked. Interestingly, I did not find the experience sexual at all, even though the images undoubtedly have a sexual component.
When we were finished, Jennifer was really interested to see some of the photos we had taken and when she left she said "Thanks. you guys have been great to work with."
Empowered beauty indeed.
