Despite body-shaming and unrealistic beauty standards being slammed, they still continue to persist in many ads, fashion events, and the entertainment industry. Of course, there is nothing wrong with skinny models and celebrities, but the point of body positivity is to implement inclusivity. To recognize the beauty of bigger women and girls, and to look beyond skin color.
A brilliant idea to promote this campaign is holding a photo shoot. But instead of hiring professional models, you and your friends will pose as the subjects. That way, the campaign will be more authentic, showcasing the raw and real beauty of ordinary people.
To make your photo shoot successful, enlist a professional beauty portrait photographer’s help. Consider their service an investment, because low-esteem and self-loathing are serious issues plaguing many women and girls. Therefore, professional quality photos will send a stronger message to them.
That said, let’s look into some incredible photo shoot ideas to make your campaign successful.
1. Do Power Poses
Many people, including a few photographers, discourage the “squared-to-camera shoulders” pose. This basically means your front profile, where your shoulders and head are directly facing the camera.
Such pose is deemed unflattering, because it makes the subject appear bigger. Instead, a pose with the shoulders turned away from the camera is more favored, because — as you may have already guessed — it slims down the subject.
While there’s nothing essentially wrong with this pose, encouraging it for the wrong reason makes it problematic. It implies that subjects needs to look smaller to be attractive on camera.
What’s worse, avoiding the squared-to-camera pose tends to be a tip given to parents of young girls. This can be detrimental to the young girls’ well-being, especially if they’re already having body image issues.
Therefore, disregard pose rules, and square your shoulders to the camera boldly. The resulting photo will be a powerful portrait radiating confidence and fearlessness.
2. Photograph Your Body Silhouettes
If you’d rather have the focus on different body shapes and sizes, photographing just your silhouette would be great.
Body silhouettes are easy to photograph without a pro. Simple stand in front of a background that’s brighter than you. Focus the camera on the background, so your body will appear like a shadow. Be on your side-profile so the outlines of your face can also be photographed.
Try out variations of silhouette portraits as well. If you’re skilled in Photoshop, you may just nail a double-exposure silhouette portrait. Just combine a photo of your silhouette with an image that’s related to your campaign. The results will be wonderfully stunning and unique.
3. Wear Body Paint as Clothing
If you’re brave enough to pose in the nude, with nothing but body paint covering your flesh, try the amazing body-positive photo shoot done by an Australian group of friends. They gathered at a beach at 2:30 AM, stripped down to their birthday suits, and adorned their skin with colorful body paint and glitter. Their beautiful photos blew up on Instagram, garnering largely positive responses.
This type of photo shoot is undeniably daunting, but the power it holds is steadfast. It shows that one doesn’t have to possess the physique of a supermodel to be confident and sexy. It also captures the curves and contours you’ll actually see in most women, not the sculpted and perfect ones that are usually just products of post-processing.
These amazing photo shoot concepts have great potentials for going viral and spreading an empowering message. Posing as your raw and real self may be intimidating, but once you overcome your hesitation, you’ll also feel more self-assured, confident, and beautiful.
