I Think We Need to Take More Naked Photos

Yep. I said it. I think we all need to take more naked photos.

And no, I don’t mean for your boyfriend or girlfriend. Or your spouse. Or because you finally lost the weight. Or because you’re feeling particularly hot that day.

I mean for YOU.

I’ve spent a lot of years photographing women, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we are really, really good at moving the goalpost.

When I lose 10 pounds.

When I get back into the gym.

When my stomach is flatter.

When I feel more confident.

Maybe next year.

And then next year comes.

And your body changes. Your life changes. You get older. You look back at photos from five years ago and think, Wait… I thought I looked bad then?!

Meanwhile, the version of you that existed in that moment is gone. That’s the part I wish more women understood…

You do not need to wait until you love your body.

I think we’ve turned body confidence into this thing where we’re supposed to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and be absolutely obsessed with ourselves.

That’s just not real life.

Some days I feel hot as hell.

Some days I don’t.

You can have insecurities and still take the photo. You can want to change things about your body and still appreciate what it looks like today. You can be working toward a stronger version of yourself while also realizing that the current version deserves to be documented.

Those things can exist at the same time.

Your body is doing a lot more than just looking good.

This is something I see constantly in my studio…women walk in worried about their stomach. Their arms. Their cellulite. The way their body has changed.

And then I photograph them and suddenly we’re looking at the curve of a back. The way the light hits their skin. Their laugh between poses. The little details that make them them. And somewhere along the way, the conversation changes.

It becomes less about fixing something and more about actually seeing yourself.

Not through the bathroom mirror or through the front-facing camera or comparison to another woman on Instagram.

Just you.

And someday, you’re going to want these photos.

This is probably the biggest reason I will scream TAKE THE PHOTOS forever.

Because we are all temporary versions of ourselves.

Your 23-year-old body was temporary, your 33-year-old body is temporary and your 43-year-old body will be temporary.

And I don’t mean that in a sad way. I think it’s actually kind of beautiful.

We get so many versions of ourselves in one lifetime. Why wouldn’t we document them?!

I want 70-year-old you to look back and say, DAMN. LOOK AT ME. Not, “I wish I would have appreciated myself more.”

Also… they don’t have to be for anyone else.

This might be my favorite part. Take them and put them in an album.

Keep them locked in your phone.

Print one and hang it in your closet.

Send them to your partner if you want.

Or literally never show another human being.

Not everything we do with our bodies has to be for someone else’s consumption. Sometimes you get to do something simply because it makes YOU feel good.

So yeah.

Take more naked photos.

Take them before you lose the weight.

Take them while you’re figuring yourself out.

Take them when you’re feeling confident.

Take them when you’re learning how to be confident.

Take them after your body changes.

Take them just because it’s a random Tuesday and you’re alive and you’re here and this version of you deserves to be remembered.

You don’t have to earn the photo.

You already belong in it.