Beautiful Bodies: 3 Photographers Capturing Women at Their Most Natural [Extended Slideshow]

Jade Beall’s “A Beautiful Body Project” went viral earlier this year, as the photographer promised to “not airbrush or digitally augment people’s bodies” in her images. But Beall, whose book The Bodies of Mothers was released this past May, is not the only photographer interested in showing all the scars, freckles and stretch marks that make up real women’s bodies. Matt Blum’s “The Nu Project” and accompanying book focuses on “honest nudes of women from all over the world”—a side project to his Minneapolis portrait business. Since 2005, Blum has documented women with “minimal makeup and no glamour.” Photographer Rosanne Olson’s “desire to help women see themselves as beautiful” not only fuels her Seattle studio, but was published into the book This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes. She says her motivation “comes not only from many years of working with subjects who are insecure and self-judgmental, but also from my own body image issues as a young woman.” In the folloing gallery, each photographer has generously offered some of his or her best representative images, along with tips that helped get the shot. 

Jade Beall
abeautifulbodyproject.com  
jadebeall.com

© Jade Beall

“My go-to pose is the body facing away from the main light and looking back at me.  It almost always works to make something powerful.”

“I get my best shots when my subject feels comfortable and beautiful. I lead a mini yoga class with my subjects, asking them to take deep breaths, close their eyes, feel their feet and shake their hair around or maybe even scream to release nervous energy.” 

GEAR
CAMERA: “I am madly in love with my Nikon D3.”

LENS: Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8.

LIGHTING: “My main go-to is my 3-foot Octabox and AlienBees, plus an assortment of reflectors.” 

SET: “Backdrop of white paper—I want the skin to be the focus.”

© Jade Beall

“So many of us have been trained to see photoshopped images with all flaws’ removed. I don’t believe in flaws,” Beall says. “I believe we are all irreplaceably beautiful and must learn to love ourselves as we truly are in this moment.”

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Matt Blum

thenuproject.com 

mattblumphotography.com

© Matt Blum

GEAR

CAMERA: Canon 5D Mark III.

LENS: 16-35mm f/2.8 L, 50mm f/1.2 L and 85mm f/1.2 L. 

LIGHTING: Two Switronix TorchLED Bolt 220W, on-camera lights (and occasionally flash). 

“My setup might not work for someone else and vice versa,” Blum says. “I’d rather have someone with vision and an iPhone than someone who can’t shoot with a 1Ds Mark II.”

7 Tips for Building Rapport with a Subject:

• Listen well from the moment you meet a person.
• Ask questions about the person and be genuinely interested in what he or she is saying.
• Be transparent about what you’re doing and why, and how the images will be used.
• Explain the process, the logistics, the estimated delivery time of their images, etc.
• Be vulnerable yourself without making the shoot all about you.
• Never do anything to give the subject the sense that things aren’t turning out. If you need to say “that didn’t work,” blame yourself, not the subject.
• Don’t be a creep.

© Matt Blum

“Direct, don’t pose,” Blum says. “If you allow someone to be comfortable while giving gentle guidance to make sure the light and composition are right, you can’t go wrong.” 

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Rosanne Olson
rosanneolson.com

© Rosanne Olson

Natural Poses: “One of my favorite ways to get people to get into their own natural poses is to leave the studio for something (such as a cup of tea). When I return, the subject has often relaxed into a natural body posture.” 

Lighting: “I use a very simple lighting setup so I can focus on the individual: a medium softbox for the subject, a softbox for a hair light (or not) and perhaps a grid on the backdrop. This simple setup has myriad options for addressing concerns about lighting (or not lighting) specific parts of the body.” 

Props: “The only props I have in my studio are various chairs and fabrics. The subject may stand, sit on a chair or the floor or lie on the floor. The body and psyche are so complex that I try to keep the props at a minimum.” 

GEAR

CAMERA: Canon 5D Mark II. 

LENS: 35-70mm.

LIGHTING: Profoto 2400 strobes and/or 7B Battery strobe medium Plume softboxes with foam core for fill and flash meter PocketWizard.

© Rosanne Olson

“Our culture does not adequately honor diversity of shape, size or skin color, and if we did, I believe we would be happier and more confident,” Olson says.