The Honest Body Project is a collection of photographic portraits and stories from women aimed to empower and encourage

self-love Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour-propre, conceitedness, eg ...

. The project was created by photographer Natalie McCain from

Rockledge, FL Rockledge is the oldest city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida. The city's population was 24,926 at the 2010 United States Census, and is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay−Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne−Titusville, Flori ...

. The collection contains hundreds of portraits and stories on various topics of womanhood, photographed in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

and without manipulation to alter the appearance of the women. The women are often accompanied by their children. There have been many series taken from the project.

Series

* "The Beauty in a Mother" featured pregnant mothers sharing their stories, including a plus-size mother shamed for her maternity photos. * "After The Baby is Born" was the follow up series to The Beauty in a Mother and featured the women 4–6 weeks

postpartum The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal perio ...

. * "We Are Not 'Still' Nursing, We Are Just Nursing" featured women who

breastfeed Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that brea ...

their children from ages 2–5, sharing stories on

extended breastfeeding In Western countries extended breastfeeding usually means breastfeeding after the age of 12 to 24 months, depending on the culture. Health benefits and Psychological effects Health benefits Longitudinal research shows breastfed toddlers age ...

. * "Defined By Our Hearts" featured mothers sharing stories about their children with various

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

. * "True Faces of Depression" shared stories of women who have various mental illnesses, such as depression,

anxiety disorder Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal function are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physi ...

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

, and

postpartum depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and chan ...

. * "Balancing Both Worlds" shared the stories of

working mothers A working parent is a father or a mother who engages in a work life. Contrary to the popular belief that work equates to efforts aside from parents' duties as a childcare provider and homemaker, it is thought that housewives or househusbands count a ...

and how they balance motherhood with their career. * "No Mother Should Be Ashamed" featured mothers who bottle feed their children for various reasons and shared their stories.

References

External links

* Human appearance Photographic collections and books Portraits of women {{photo-stub