Coming to terms: Photo-Therapy

The other day in class we were talking about selfies, self confidence, body image etc.. and I mentioned how mothers are often avoiding the camera's lens. Here is the article I was referring to: The Mom Stays in the Picture. It is an opinion piece written by a mother. There are no academic references or statistics, but as a mom, it rings true to my experience, and from what I have heard from other mothers, theirs as well. This article was about general family photos and candid shots that serve as memory triggers of happy times and recordings of how Mom was very present and real in the life of the family, but what about photos that go deeper, that are more vulnerable? What about photos that capture the difficulties of being a mom, of being a woman?  What if someone asked you to pose for a photo that exposed your greatest insecurities? What if taking that photo helped you to come to terms with them?

Gerry. (2014) by Jade Baell, Retreived from: http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com/loving_the_photoshop_free_skin_that_we_are_in#.Uy5gNPm-2m4

Photographer Jade Beall created A Beautiful Body Project which is a  "A women's media platform and global network of female photographers dedicated to therapeutic, truthful photos, videos and stories to help build self-esteem in current and future generations of women and girls."  The site features a registry of female photographers who have agreed to adhere to the philosophy of the project, and more importantly, the site proudly displays the photographs and intensely intimate stories of the subjects who have been photographed.  The stories revolve around the concepts of beauty, of self, of the female body as it is and as we 'think' it should be. They are stories of hate, and of acceptance. They are all amazing, and so are the photographs. 

Marina (2014) by Jade Baell, Retrieved from: http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com/can_i_breastfeed_my_twins_enough_to_nourish_them#.Uy-W1fm1GSo

On her professional website Beall's discusses her personal approach to photography:I have opted away from a photographic culture of air-brushing: The women I shoot aren't flawed, instead my work seems to counter-balance the powerful influences of media, cosumer culture, and voices of deficit that permeate so many women's inner thoughts and keep them from living the meaningful and powerful lives they were born to live."  (http://www.jadebeall.com/#!/p/book-a-shoot)  She speaks of her role as part photographer and part therapist, and after reading some of the stories I can see why. Take a look through some of the amazing stories on the blog roll shared by both Beall and other contributing photographers and listen to her engaging talk on Ted Talks where she speaks about the project as well as her own relationship with her body, and her philosophy of celebrating ALL bodies.

Exploring the idea of photography-as-therapy further I found many resources including the work of Judy Weiser, a psychologist and art therapist who uses both photo and video in her practice. She has written extensively about the human relation to photographs as well as their therapeutic applications. She founded the Photo Therapy Centre in Vancouver in 1982. Today, the website for the centre offers an amazing array of academic and reader-friendly resources for anyone interested in learning more about photo therapy, including the distinction between photography-as-therapy, and photography-in-therapy. I highly recommend it.

Brandi: Survivor of Flesh Eating Disease. (2014) Photo by: Lindsay Schrader, retrieved from: http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com/surviving_a_flesh_eating_disease#.Uy5d8vm-2m4

Evidence from academic and non academic sources points to photographs and the act of taking and posing for photographs as a powerful tool for self-discovery, self-acceptance, and beyond.  "We must learn to see un-photoshopped images of ourselves and not cringe but smile at our irreplaceableness!  Not only must we love ourselves, we must cherish our selves, wrinkles, cellulite, pimples and all."  Beall.(2014) Seeing ourselves Nude of Photoshop. A Beautiful Body Project. http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com/seeing_ourselves_nude#.Uy5Ok_m-2m4  

 Hopefully, projects like these continue to come to the forefront to show the human body in all its glory big and small, smooth and wrinkled, young and old.  The more often young people can be exposed to images of real and diverse people, the better the chances we have to help them develop healthy relationships with their bodies.

References:

Baell, J. (2014) A Beautiful Body Project. Retrieved [March 2014] from:  http://www.abeautifulbodyproject.com

Noland, C. M. (2006). Auto-photography as research practice: Identity and self-esteem

research. Journal of Research Practice, 2 (1), Article M1.

Retrieved [March 2014], from http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/19/65

Weiser, Judy (2010). Using Self-Portrait Photographs During Therapy Sessions to 

Help People Improve Their Lives. Photo Therapy Center Canada. Retrieved [March 2014] from http://www.phototherapy-centre.com/Weiser_Self-Portraits_Piccini_book.pdf