A Beautiful Body Media LLC blog

"I Hate Being Naked" Dena's Story

Jade Beall — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:35:57 -0700

(Images of the Beautiful Dena by Jade Beall, more images below)

Why Loving Ourselves Helps Us Love Others

Jade Beall — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:33:15 -0700

(All images of these 3 beautiful women by Jade Beall)

I had the tremendous honor of photographing these gorgeous women a few weeks ago. It was not in the plan to do nudes, but somehow these ladies decided to entrust me with their precious vulnerability and the results give me such abundant inspiration! I simply LOVED seeing several beautiful bodies next to one another because it's just so obvious that diversity IS truly exquisite!

5 Things I Do To Create Artistic Prenatal Photographs!

Jade Beall — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 11:33:00 -0700

All images by Jade Beall, more images below.

I love photographing the shape of pregnant women. I always have, since my early twenties. I think I am passionately drawn not just to the shape of her belly, but the shape-shift of her breasts, sometimes a woman's face changes, and yes I even love the plumpness of swollen ankles of a ripely pregnant woman! I love when some women have texture on their skin while pregnant, I love the tiered or alert eyes! There is a story in all of those precious states of being, there is life running strong through each of those women with 2 heartbeats being nourished from one miraculous body. There is no one way to be pregnant and that diversity is GORGEOUS.

Can Raising Mentally Healthy Children Begin With Loving Ourselves?

Jade Beall — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 13:05:00 -0700

All photos of Gorgeous Tina and her twins by Jade Beall. More images below.

The effects of depression has been on my mind a lot over the past few days. I think it has been on a lot of our minds as we mourn our beloved Robin Williams. And I think it is time we, or at least I, start talking about depression and redefining how we and those closest to us talk about and honor it. I have journeyed with depression since I can remember. Others called it "moody" ("moody Jade" was practically my nickname) and rolled their eyes when I was in such a state. Nobody wanted to admit that I might be a depressed 10 year old beautiful little girl living in a tropical paradise in a small village in Mexico. But I was depressed on top of being sexually abused for years, believing all the while it was my own fault. But guess what? I have lived to tell the journey, the painful and amazing journey I can proudly say has made me into a compassionate and phenomenal woman.

The Secret To Mending Broken Hearts Is...

Jade Beall — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:25:00 -0700

(All photos by Jade Beall, More below)

Three now. Three times I have been dumped by someone I loved so deeply. First time was my first love, when I was 15, he was 25. He left me for a super cool french woman much older than I and way more accomplished. I think I cried for a month straight after that heart-break. Next was my photography mentor when I was 27. The third was my best friend and the father of my beautiful child at a ripe 35 years old. And each time I have been surprised at how quickly I can spiral into complete overwhelming insecurity and how easily I simply feel unworthy: of everything. Why does this happen? I mean, I know that "it's for the best" each time, but damn my heart feels like it's a trillion little shards of beach glass: broken and scattered all over the planet, but still soft and precious. Have I not learned yet that broken hearts do in fact mend? Am I really that untrusting of my worthiness?

Birthing & Breastfeeding 4 Children: Kiersten's Story Of Becoming A Mother At 17 Years Old

Jade Beall — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:32:00 -0700

All photographs of Kiersten, mother of 4, by Jade Beall. More images below.

I asked Kiersten if she would model for me after I found our that she tandem breastfeeds her newborn and her 2 year old. I was struck by her calmness as a mother, her gorgeousness and her lovely tattoo circling one of her nipples which has fed 3 little humans into toddler-hood. I also asked her to write about how she feels about her body and that is when I learned that she became a mother at 17 which in turn cultivated even more awe in my heart for her awesomeness.

Kiersten: I remember when I was growing up, I loved that my mother was beautiful. And I remember being sad, angry, and confused when she made that disgusted face and called herself fat.

I became a mother with a surprise pregnancy at 17 years old. For my entire adult life I have had a mother's body. I used to compare myself to my thin, smooth skinned friends and hate what I saw in the mirror. But when you have a child and you hear your words repeated back to you, it gives you some perspective. It made me remember how terrible it felt to hear my mother talk badly about her beautiful body.

My Children Tell Me I Am Beautiful: Jody's Story.

Jade Beall — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:36:35 -0700

(All photos of the gorgeous Jody, Mother of 5, by Jade Beall, more images below)

Jody came to be photographed with her beautiful daughter because Jody is ready to look at herself in an un-photoshopped image and love what she sees: her irreplaceable beauty. Here is a little of what Jody wanted to share with these images we made:

I have been struggling with my self-esteem for a while now. I haven’t been able to pinpoint why exactly. It could be mental caused by the lack of affection as a child or the sexual and physical abuse as an adult. Maybe it’s more physical because my breasts don’t sit quite as high as I would like or the extra little pooch in the front of my belly or it could be the stretch marks all over my hips and thighs. I know all of these things are what have made me who I am today and I should be proud of my marks internal and external. My sagging breasts and stretch marks are stories of the journeys of creating and growing all five of my miracles. I try to remind myself of that daily.

Transforming Self-Loathing into Self-Love is Beautiful

Jade Beall — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:05:00 -0700

All photos by Jade Beall of the gorgeous Alexis and her family. More photos below.

Alexis found me on Facebook after giving birth to her 3rd child because she was ready to start feeling beautiful in the gorgeous skin that she is in. Last month she was visiting family in Arizona and asked if I might want to photograph her while she was in town. She shared with me her story of feeling self-loathing since she was a little girl. I had a really deep connection to her emails and was excited to photograph her! I had no idea what she looked like nor did I know how old she was, I just knew she and I shared something in common: overcoming self loathing and transforming it into self love to live more powerful and beautiful lives! We both agree that feeling beautiful is a part of a more enjoyable and whole life, and that we MUST model feeling beautiful in the skin that we are in for our precious children.

How I Transform My Bouts Of Fear & Darkness Into Art & Joy! (NSFW)

Jade Beall — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:08:00 -0700

(All photographs by Jade Beall of Heather, mother of 3, in her phenomenal Taos based studio Sparrow Photography, more images below)

I have taken the last three weeks to decompress from working 24/7 over the last few years in the lush Sangre De Cristo mountains in Northern New Mexico. It's just me and my 2 and a half year old, in a cabin far away from most everything. I came here to find balance with my fear and darkness, or what one might label depression/anxiety which was becoming more and more difficult to turn into joy like I have always done with my 'depression' since I can remember. And since I have been on this 3 week retreat, I have been cared for and loved for by old friends and I had the honor to make these images of my best friend, Heather Sparrow of Sparrow Photography in the beautiful pueblo de Taos. And I am proud to say, I have successfully turned the darkness that was nearly paralyzing my brain and my heart back into something beautiful, into art that gives me enormous joy!

10 Things I Have Learned About Calling Everyone Beautiful & The Body Positive Movement In One Year

Jade Beall — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:00:00 -0700

(Many more photos below text)

Today is my 35th birthday, but more important, to me at least, is the celebration of the one year anniversary completion of my Kickstarter Campaign for my book which launched me into an unexpected euphoria of blessed attention and a slightly frantic Body Positive Stardom. Because I took some images of myself nude and 50lbs heavier than I had ever been in my life, breastfeeding my 5 week old perfect baby boy as an attempt to redefine what beautiful means to me. And because I then proceeded to photographed over a 100 women who reached out to me wishing to redefine our concept of what is gorgeous, celebrating the skin that we are are in, I became the body love expert for a spell, a particular memorable moment was the BBC calling me up for my thoughts on Kate Middleton's post birth body. This surprising attention I most definitely adored but was not fully prepared to receive. But I did my best receiving that incredible blessing of some amazing global press, love and hate emails from strangers all over the planet, raising my toddler and yes, photographing, completing and publishing my first ever book. Today I write these words from a rustic cabin in the very secluded mountains of northern New Mexico at about 10,000 feet with very slow satellite internet connection and my toddler playing at my feet with two toy airplanes I bought him as a gift that he likes to call helicopters. This is my first "time off" besides a few Sundays here and there since this radical ride I have been on over the last year. I have had some time to reflect about what I have learned in the last year and I wanted to share it with you, the gorgeous folks who have made my dreams come true.

Freedom From Shaming Each Other and Ourselves!

Jade Beall — Fri, 13 Jun 2014 14:40:00 -0700

All photographs by me (Jade Beall) of the incredible mother/dancer/breastfeeding advocate/blogger Ms Wright's Way. More photos below.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I signed up to go study abroad through the Rotary Club for my junior year in Argentina. I went to all the meetings, paid all my fees by babysitting and was ecstatic for the trip and beyond ready to go! A stack of guide books lived next to my bed which I would hungrily study every night, Argentina saturated my dreams. But then a week before I was to depart, the Rotary Club called my dad to tell him they regretted to inform him that they thought I was too flirtatious and too "risky" to send to Argentina under their agency. I heard those words as "you are a slut and we don't wan't you." Mind you I didn't have a boyfriend at the time because I was obsessed with dance performances and photography competitions and had a 4.0 GPA. And had I truly been "too risky" I still do not understand why they didn't give me the news instead of having my dad deliver me the heartache, as if I were not worthy of being told in person that they had judged me. I never heard from them again, after months of preparations, there was just abrupt silence. They dumped me without even talking to me about their decision, that is to say, their assumption of who I was. It left my heart dented like a sweet and tender apple after an unexpected hailstorm. I am still recovering, because they were not the last to slut shame me.

When we were little innocent girls, many of us learned from other confused adults who led by example to distrust women and for that matter ourselves. We were taught to size each other up/tear one another down based on who had the cool toys and who had the name brand undies with the days of the week printed on the waist band (I wanted those undies so badly and secretly resent deeply that Marina had them) and latter on who was promiscuous and who was not, etc. We learned to size each other up and then to release that built-up pressure of dislike, we learn to talk in deeply dishonoring ways about one another with our friends. For me this meant that as a little girl and then as a teen I trusted no one, not even myself. I desperately wanted to be anybody but me, and I wanted the clothes that Heather had. I was in a bit of a pickle. But it felt more like hell.

I No Longer Cringe At My Stretchmarks: Leah's Story

Ash Nayler — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:10:58 -0700

When I first decided to be photographed for ABBP, it was because I wanted to have done something my kids could be proud of me for, something inspirational. It turned out to be so much more than that.

Surrogate Gives Twins To Mother Unable To Birth Herself

Bri Luginbill — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 07:49:00 -0700

Erin’s story starts when she was 23 years old and told she would not be able to have children. Her desire to be a mother had been a strong one and this news was heartbreaking. She had to have her tubes removed that year.

Life After Being Hit By A Car: Claire's Story

Natasha Komoda — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 08:49:45 -0700

Reflecting on life after being hit by a car, Claire wrote: "Of course, I cringed. In fact, I felt like crying. Looking through the 77 photos Natasha had just sent me, it seemed all of my worst fears were coming true. It was painted clearly there before me in the black and white images on my computer screen. My hair really did look dirty. There was navy blue t-shirt fuzz stuck to my freshly shaven armpits.

I Dream Of A day When...

Jade Beall — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 07:39:49 -0700

I dream of the day when we no longer say disempowering words to ourselves or to others like: "You need to loose weight"

We Were Taught That Growing Older Is Ugly And It's Time To Relearn The Truth: Growing Wise Is Beautiful

Jade Beall — Thu, 29 May 2014 11:02:00 -0700

I have been noticing for quite some time that images I often see in both media and in local photographer's work alike of older women are missing something gorgeous: truthfulness.

As if the truth of what miraculously happens to our sweet and tender bodies is not worthy of being photographed without erasing away with photoshop the lines on our face and neck and arms, the possible darkening under our sage eyes or whatever else sacred all of which are filled with laughter and heartbreak and possible birthing or loosing a child and maybe divorce and lovemaking. We have agreed to call our wise skin 'saggy' and 'wrinkly' and many other disempowering words. We have been convinced we need creams and magic potions and plastic surgery and most always photoshop to feel worthy of seeing ourselves as beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I love my special face cream and scented body oil that I put on day and night. However, I indulge in those pleasantries for my body because it brings me pleasure and it smells like the desert after rain and I love anointing my body with loveliness, not because I think I need them to be beautiful 'one day' or because I need to look like the "after" photo of an untruthful infomercial.

I am 35 years old. I look 35 years old, some people tell me I look older. That does not offend me! In some cultures that would be a tremendous honor, to be thought of as an elder. In our culture, however, we tell our Wise Women that they need to change, and try and look like our granddaughters. You see in most of our older women magazines of women over 50 we might see images of celebrities like my beloved Madonna with animation looking pore-less skin and women smiling without a trace of crows feet or heaven forbid some age spots or veins or a soft under-chin.

A Photo Journey Of Several Years Breastfeeding

Jade Beall — Mon, 26 May 2014 17:31:00 -0700

I had the honor to photograph the gorgeous Alexis when she was pregnant with E, who she is nursing in these photos, and several times through E's nursing years, and then into Alexis' 3rd pregnancy. Alexis is in my book, but so many of the photos that I loved were not able to be included because of space. So I thought I would share some here. I love Alexis' skin, the color, the texture, the delicate lines like sacred tribal marking gifted from womanhood and simply Living One's Life. I love how at ease she is breastfeeding E as an infant and as a toddler. Thank you Alexis for sharing your beauty with this world in this powerful way.

I Didn't Lose My Hair and Breasts, Cancer Took Them

Ash Nayler — Wed, 21 May 2014 09:52:00 -0700

All Photographs by Ash Nayler

"It must be hard to lose your boobs." Even my breast cancer surgeon, aka the guy who cut off my boobs 4 times, says "of course you're upset, you've just lost your breasts".

Surviving Severe Body Burns: Kara's Story

Kara Marola — Fri, 09 May 2014 14:19:54 -0700

All photos of Kara by Mallory Taglia

My body is far from perfect. I have put it through the ringer. Stretch marks from 2 children, bumps and bruises from sports, and a few surgeries along the way. I never realized how important my body was until I was 16 and it took the beating of a lifetime.

A Simply Breath-Taking Familial Bond

Belle Verdiglione — Thu, 08 May 2014 12:51:00 -0700

ABB Project's photographer Belle Verdiglione's reflections on a recent shoot: