A 2024 Embody Project Update

In the years since I photographed and interviewed the first few Embody Project participants in 2010, our world has changed dramatically, and we have all changed as well. The good news is there is more inclusivity and freedom of expression than ever before: LGBTQIA+, transgender, non-binary, gender neutrality, gender fluidity, body positivity, fat activism, body neutrality and other ways of identifying and living fully are now part of our lexicon. The growing visibility of and advocacy for bodies of all skin colors, races and cultures around the world, and older people being better represented in ad campaigns: all these and so much more are more accepted, more embraced and more deeply understood today. This is long overdue and extremely needed progress, and is well worth celebrating.

Yet tragically, at the same time, our awareness of the many ways bodies are being marginalized is growing every day. We on this planet have a long way to go until we reach true inclusivity of all people, all bodies, all expressions of humanity—one of the initial visions of this undertaking. I am painfully aware of the multitudes of people not represented here on this website, and if I was still conducting the Embody Project today, there would no doubt be an entire genre of human expression represented here that simply wasn’t visible, available, or even named ten years ago when the Embody Project was most active.

I had a big, bold vision for this body of work (you can read it on the Purpose page) which I still hold dear and know is possible. However, the amount of time and resources I spent on the Embody Project without supportive funding became impossible for me to sustain, so I’ve shifted focus to my other photography work. I imagined that I would eventually turn back toward the Embody Project, but that hasn’t come to pass and I must now declare this body of work “decidedly incomplete, yet complete as it is.” Perhaps perfectly so.

I am incredibly proud of the Embody Project as you see it here, even as I am disappointed that my vision for the vast spectrum of humanity to be represented did not come to full fruition. But I trust that this work will continue through the eyes and hands (and more diverse bodies) of others, in new and powerful ways. Because work like this, which shows the beauty and tells the truth of being human in all our unique-yet-united forms, is a tremendous healing force in our cultures, and in us all, including me. 

I stand in gratitude, deeply honored to have had the opportunity to represent the courageous people you see on this website and in the pages of my book. I thank you for being here. I thank you for resonating with this work. I thank you from my heart for your support throughout these years. I thank you for being you.

May you be well, and may you be happy naked.

~Erica