Alina Ahh – USA

I loved being a faerie in the wild. Being naked with only my wings on! For years, I have been playing wildly and creatively as a faerie stilt-walker, but I have never thought about doing it naked. I loved the idea of trying this, something so new and unique. Wild in body and wild in nature.

I was excited and a little nervous ahead of time. But Erica made me feel so comfortable. And while shooting, I had so much fun playing with how I moved my body, and I loved being high up in the trees and with the large boulders. Being photographed made me feel special and queenly, and being high up magnified this experience.

I sometimes love my body and sometimes wish it were different. I grew up feeling awkward in my body and it took awhile before I enjoyed being in a body, and being in this body. It’s not anything like the so-called female ideal body. My mum was quite comfortable being naked around us girls and I marveled at her long pendulous breasts and round belly. I thought she was beautiful. My mum always told me I was beautiful, and I’m so grateful she did. Sometimes I feel beautiful and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I don’t care how I look to others. Sometimes I don’t look in the mirror for days and I ignore my appearance. I want people to see beyond the surface. I want them to feel the energy of who I really am. Which has very little to do with my body. Who I am is an eternal being of love. Who I really am is joy and freedom. And yet that being is housed in a wondrous physical body.

Here’s what I want to tell my body: Dear sweet body, you are beautiful. You are the perfect container for this perfect being of pure light and love. You are magnificent. You can move in so many ways. You jump, you swirl, you sway, you jiggle, and dance. You have taken this beautiful soul all over the planet. You have clamored over rocks and salsa danced in sweaty Guatemalan barrooms; you have flown in airplanes and climbed temples; you have swam in oceans and dead seas, stood in awe in redwood groves and hugged trees all over the planet; you have kissed yourself and other beautiful beings. You have perceived through these wonderful senses, and your perspective is entirely unique and valuable. You are a strong body. You love to move. You love to feel the breeze on your skin. I am so glad you are clothing this precious being.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.