Janell – USA

I love posing, I’m a camera ham.  Before the shoot I was reluctant…I wanted to lose some weight before being photographed so that I had a thinner belly.  C’est la vie.  As the shoot neared, I considered the intent of the project and started to like the idea of pushing my belly rolls together so I could really show them off.  While that wasn’t how the shoot played out, I found myself in a fun and playful place with the process….and with my belly.  In other words, I kinda got over myself, and my body stories.

Even though I have a very close family, nudity was hidden growing up.  To this day, no one in my family gets nude around each other, other than my mom and me on rare occasion.  And although I’m very comfortable with nudity I don’t need to push it on the family front, and in fact, given how I grew up, it would just feel odd to be nude around my family.  On the other hand, my other family (tribe) is exceptionally open about their bodies, which I love.

I used to be very shy about my body.  At age 19, I still had hang-ups about letting even my gal pals see me nude.  I was so over being concerned that I decided to take up nude modelling.  Well, that knocked the shyness right out of me.  My first gig was for a freshman drawing class made up of mostly 18 year old guys.  Hasta la vista baby, I was pretty much cured after that.  Since then being nude has been a non-issue for me.

I love imagery that captures the essence of what’s real, and most of the mainstream media offers only a tiny sliver of that.  I wanna see cellulite, belly rolls, scars, body hair on women….the real deal of who we are and what our bodies really look like.

I feel sexier after being a part of this project, which for me right now generates feelings of self-acceptance and love.  And by sexier I mean I feel more connected to my divine feminine and an innate beauty.  Because of this, I’ve felt less inclined to judge my body.