Fine Art project for Breast Cancer Awareness & Research

As many of you know, I have been working on a fine art project called the "Strips Project" to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Research since March of 2010.  This has been a tremendous amount of effort but I have been privileged to share this project with some of the most amazing women in the world.  Through the long hours, and dozens of sessions we are finally coming to the final chapter of this project....The finished book.  We are looking for an October release, and will be having an exhibit and book release event at that time. 

Here are just a few of the shots featured in the project.  

I cannot possibly thank everyone enough for their participation, support, encouragement, and selfless efforts to help make this possible.

For more information, please go to our website.  www.StripsProject.com

The misleadings of good intentions!

There is an awful lot of talk about the new photo in Glamour Magazine with Model Danielle Line. 

I am very disappointed in the obvious manipulation of this image. I shot with Danielle less than two weeks before this was shot, and I know she did not look like this.
Here is what she looked like with our session:

While I totally agree with their direction and their attempt to stop stereotyping, I do not agree with modifying an image to get their point across!
Very disappointing indeed!

The following is my viewpoint, taking from a discussion on a social networking.

My goal with this post is not so much to expose something as to educate. The media constantly throws out images like this which have been modified using techniques and tools to exaggerate their points. Lighting techniques as well as image perspective and cropping can change the perception of an image. Photoshop is only one tool used in photography. It appears that these two subjects were shot using different techniques, then Photoshop was integrated to create a composite image. I will leave the concept of photo-shop being used to shape their bodies up to the individuals who look at the images. For those of us who know and work with Danielle, we know without a doubt that this is not an accurate representation of her. It would have been nice to see these two shots executed exactly the same way, same lighting, same focal length, perhaps standing next to each other under the exact same conditions. 

This article is to help educate people to the stereotyping that society has been taught about people, not to show a difference between two body shapes. The photo is supposed to reinforce their article, however, in this case I feel the photo fails to relay the message of the article. In contrast, on it's own, this photo actually reinforces the idea of stereotyping. 

I was asked why this photo seemed to be viewed as unflattering.   

It's unflattering in that the areas of size stereotyping are mainly against bigger sizes, and they did not equally exaggerate the other extreme. It is yet another example of biased media coverage, even though they attempted to go the other direction. 

I think it would have been very appropriate, had they used a graphic in the photo reinforcing their concept, which is to not stereotype, but instead they used terms for both girls which are not the most flattering definitions. The majority of people who have commented on this photo have not read the article, but are commenting on the photo exclusively. The terms, Ambitious, and confident are positive terms, where Lazy, careless, and undiciplined are not very positive terms at all. 

If you take this photo at face value, without any knowledge of the story behind it, you walk away with unflattering ideas towards the girl on the right, and very positive thoughts about the girl on the left. This.....was not done by accident! and that is why this is striking a nerve with so many of the people who view the photo.

   If a photo says a thousand words.....

....what does this photo say to you?