The Girl Next Door: A Photo Project Celebrating All Bodies

Spring is officially here! As soon as the sun comes out particularly people here in Barcelona seem to become even more obsessed with losing weight for the perfect beach body. Of course it is good to stay fit and healthy but in my opinion beauty does not always go hand in hand with a flawless shape and a size zero. I enjoy diversity!

Recently I came across an interesting photo project called “Nu Project” by the Minneapolis-based photographer Matt Blum, which finally breaks with the pattern of “super skinny equals super sexy”. Blum takes nude pictures of women in all different shapes and sizes to celebrate the beauty of a natural body. The participants of the project are photographed in their homes with no or hardly any make-up. Blum does not see his “un-models”, as he calls them, or their places before he shows up on the door step and starts to take pictures.

Over 150 women from all across the globe, various social and ethnic backgrounds, from skinny to chubby, from strictly female to transgender volunteered to be photographed already. And the project is still growing! Depicted in natural poses, having a coffee or relaxing on the couch, these women often look like the girl next door: sexy, fresh and self-confident.

I think, these pictures capture truthful moments and break with the stereotypes we frequently find in mainstream media. We get bombarded with photoshoped and color-corrected images of fellow women, who look like they never fail in sexiness. No surprise, we don't recognize that very same shine on our own faces, when we take a look into the mirror. In comparison to high gloss nude photography the “Nu Project” presents more honest pictures. They express a natural attitude towards nudity. These women are proud of their bodies – imperfections included.

Only a few people are naturally blessed with a physique that has the ideal size and shape, while the rest of us is all too familiar with those little flaws. I think it is important to see a diversity of bodies in photography, in advertising and in movies. We want to be represented in the media by women who are like us, women we can relate to. We need to remember what the female body really looks like when it´s not digitally improved, and appreciate that certain glow that results from individuality and self-confidence.

Real should be the new sexy!