Photographer’s ‘American Beauty’ Shots Celebrate Bodies Of All Shapes, Sizes
These Body-Positive Photos Celebrate The Diversity Of Women’s Bodies
Photographer Carey Fruth’s photo series “American Beauty” features 14 diverse women – young, old, skinny, tattooed, multi-racial, and more – lying naked in a bed of lilacs. The photos is an attempt to redefine mainstream beauty standards that, as Fruth told The Huffington Post, only represent “one type of woman, thin white women to be specific.” (Credit: Carey Fruth)
This Iconic Scene From ‘American Beauty’ Inspired The Project
The photo series was inspired by the 1999 movie American Beauty’s famous rose petal fantasy scene, where a middle-aged man fantasizes about his teenage daughter’s bestie – who happens to fit the mainstream beauty standard to a T: she’s blonde, attractive, thin, and white. (Credit: SaltyPepper)
Fruth’s Photos Celebrate Endless Definitions Of Beauty
As this model depicted here expressed to Bustle, “As an older women, I have been challenged to see myself as beautiful. This photo shoot made me feel good.” (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Diversity Is Beautiful
“America is made up of all types of women. Women who are hungry to see themselves represented in a beautiful way. And why shouldn’t they?” Fruth told The Huffington Post. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Lilacs Were Swapped For Roses For A Great Reason
Fruth switched out American Beauty’s classic roses for lilacs, which are meant to represent beauty, pride, and confidence, according to the artist. With these images, Fruth hopes to empower women to feel beautiful, confident, and sexy in their own skin – just the way they are. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Posing Naked Requires True Bravery
It’s tough to even imagine dropping the towel for, um, the entire Internet…but these women did. “When women come into my studio, I want to prove to them that they ARE as beautiful as they always feared they weren’t, then maybe they can let go of that fear,” Fruth told The Huffington Post. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Models Were Encouraged To Let Go Of Fears
Body insecurities? We’ve all got ‘em. Fruth’s models confronted theirs head-on. “By stepping into a fantasy dream girl world and by letting go of that fear, they free themselves up to direct that energy they once wasted on telling themselves that they weren’t good enough to elsewhere in their life," Fruth told The Huffington Post. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
This Model Sees Her Body As ‘Absolutely Beautiful’
Some major truth spoken here: “Seeing your naked body out in the world is like jumping in a cold pool. It is always jarring at first. But once i saw myself along side the beauty of all these other bodies it was so clear that there was no other way see these images, including mine as absolutely beautiful!“ she told Bustle. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
It Takes Guts To Bare It All
Tattoos, scars, dimples, rolls, and more are on display in these images. But one thing is constant: All of these women stare the camera down with pride. No one looks away or tries to hide. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
These Images Prove The Power of Beauty
Fruth encouraged her volunteer models to enter the shoot as empowered subjects rather than as mere sexual objects – as the young woman in the famous American Beauty scene is depicted. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Sensuality and Femininity Are Proudly On Display
According to Fruth, the images are meant to speak about real-life sensuality and femininity. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Body Positivity Is A Regular Theme For Fruth
And for that, we applaud her. The artist works at Shameless Photography creating body positive pin up, retro boudoir and old Hollywood inspired imagery. (Credit: Carey Fruth)
Body Insecurity Is Something Fruth Wanted To Address
"The media plays into women’s insecurities to to sell them things,” she told A Plus. “They want you to believe that nothing in your life will go right if you don’t first look a certain way. But that simply isn’t true.”(Credit: Carey Fruth)
‘It’s Hard To Bare Yourself’
Of her experience on the lilac bed, this model told Bustle, “ It’s hard to bare yourself and not worry about being criticized, but in the end this project was really worth it. It’s a wonderful and empowering message.” (Credit: Carey Fruth)
A Little More Background On Fruth’s Methods
All poses and expressions were the choice of the models. And there’s no photo-shopping here, obviously. “My models get to choose how sultry they want to be…I think by showing these women that they can be gorgeous bombshells whenever they want gives them a sense of freedom,” Fruth told A Plus.
All Bodies Deserve Representation
This model’s statement really gets at the heart of the issue: “New York burlesque performer Fruitonthebottom originally said this about performing while fat, but it’s so applicable here: “For many people it may be the first time seeing someone with a body like mine, nearly naked, loving a body like mine,” she stated to Bustle. Let Yahoo Makers inspire you every day! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Real “American beauties” comes in all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicities. But they’re not always represented as such in the mainstream media, which has proven over and over again to be lacking in diversity.
Perhaps you caught the backlash over Instagram’s new ban of the hashtag #curvy, or the recent revelation that black models sometimes have to bring their own makeup to fashion shoots?
Particularly in the face of those recent events, San Francisco-based photographer Carey Fruth’s attempt to redefine beauty standards is a breath of fresh air.
Her photo series “American Beauty,” features 14 diverse women – young, old, skinny, tattooed, multi-racial, and more – lying naked in a bed of lilacs. The series was inspired by the 1999 movie American Beauty’s famous rose petal fantasy scene, where a middle-aged man fantasizes about his teenage daughter’s bestie – who happens to fit the mainstream beauty standard to a T: she’s blonde, attractive, thin, and white.
“Almost every image you see in mainstream media is of one type of woman, thin white women to be specific,” Fruth told The Huffington Post. “America is made up of all types of women. Women who are hungry to see themselves represented in a beautiful way. And why shouldn’t they?”
With these images, Fruth hopes to empower women to feel beautiful, confident, and sexy in their own skin – just the way they are. The images are stunning, and even the several of the models themselves have expressed how “liberating and empowering” it was to pose.
We call that a huge success for womankind. Bravo, Carey Fruth!