This morning, I was stopped firmly in my 'I Have So Much To Do Today" tracks by this one e-mail ... I get messages from Andrea Schroeder, and this has been of the most personal and eye-opening (for me) yet.
I have lifted it, in its entirety, from Andrea's message:
just as i am
Posted: 26 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST
my friend robbin participated in this amazing project called just as i am. this is from the just as i am website:
"Over the past few years I have been amazed at the number of people who have come into my studio with “body issues”, I’m always amazed at this and am saddened by how many people don’t see the beauty that is inside of them. Just As I Am is a project that has come out of this desire for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come together in a project to see that we are more similar than we are different. Through this project I hope that more people will also have a greater appreciation for the beauty and complexity that is the human body and come to a place of feeling that we are all beautifully made.
Thousands of years ago Job wrote “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.” Most of us seem to be able to accept this, it’s the in between time that many of us struggle with.
Most of the time between birth and death it seems we are all slotted somewhere in the pecking order from first class to baggage and one of the beautiful things about this project is that whether a millionaire or a homeless person we will all be depicted as equal; there will be no suits or jewellery to hide behind, it will simply be a person photographed “Just as they are”.
Who we are is so much more than simply our bodies or what we look like, the reality however is that when people look at us the first thing that they see is our appearance. I have found in the past that when I’m with clients photographing nudes that it is much easier to see into the soul of my clients. It seems that when there is nothing to hide behind the real person emerges.
This project involves a 10 minute photo session for each participant and each person is asked to come with a couple of sentences or phrases that they think are descriptors of who they are.
Our hope is in the next few months to put together a gallery show of images from the sessions and if all goes well possibly a book as well as the website where many images will be posted along with the phrases of who the subject is."
they did put together a gallery show!
and that show opens tonight.
I (Andrea) am in turkey and not able to be there but i wanted to join in on the celebration somehow so i thought i’d share it with you here. if i was at home, tonight i would be going out for dinner with robbin to celebrate this amazing event, to celebrate that openness and willingness to be seen just as we are. and to acknowledge the courage it takes to do this.
we tend to think of bravery as being strong and taking action and doing big things out in the world. but this is real bravery. opening up, being real and allowing yourself to be seen.
please use the comment section to send robbin your congratulations and good wishes. and if you’re in winnipeg – go see the show! http://www.justasiam.ca/index2.php
andrea schroeder creates creativity workshops, downloadable creativity kits, art and guided meditations to support you in knowing and remembering that you are a creative being and you can create anything.
I will be referring to this post from over on my other blog, because I believe everyone I know and love is, and even those who visit my blog/s that I do not (yet) know -- can relate to this concept in one way or another. Wow.
-- your ever-faithful and oft-gathering-to-embellish the nest ...
PRINCESS MAGPIE (aka, Davielle)
