ART GALLERY PROJECT BY PHOTOGRAPHER. SUBJECT: STRETCH MARKS

A couple of years ago, there was a movie out called Little Children
starring Kate Winslet. I was reading a review of the movie and the
writer mentioned "how brave" Kate was to show her stretch marks.
That one sentence really knocked me for a loop. It never occurred to
me that people, men and women, might feel this way. Why was such a
move brave? Ms. Winslet is quite lovely and I cannot imagine her
feeling ashamed about anything.

So I started talking to women I knew and they started telling me their
stretch mark stories. I learned from them that men of just about every
age have no idea that women have them. They think that women look like
the cover of the bathing suit issue of Sports Illustrated or the
layouts in Playboy.

Well, yes, some women do look like that. But most don't and that
creates a problem. The real look of the vast majority of women is
swept under the rug. I guess there's nothing inherently wrong with
being under a rug....if you're a piece of dust! so, is that what we
are? dust?

My vision of the project is to have all black and white photos. The
subjects would wear black pants and white shirts while showing their
marks. Each photo would have the woman's feelings about her body/marks
in text next to the photo.

I feel that presenting such a thing to a gallery would create a buzz
and this topic would be out in the mainstream, even if just for a few
days, where it belongs. I am in the northeast so initially I would
present this idea to galleries in Provincetown, Cambridge and
Northhampton Massachusetts. There may be galleries throughout the USA
that would be interested, too.

I am seeking women brave enough to pose for me [a female photographer]
or to send their own photos and words. How do you feel about your
stretch marks?

On Jun 29, 5:52?pm, Medium Raya wrote:
A couple of years ago, there was a movie out called Little Children
starring Kate Winslet. I was reading a review of the movie and the
writer mentioned "how brave" Kate was to show her stretch marks.
That one sentence really knocked me for a loop. It never occurred to
me that people, men and women, might feel this way. Why was such a
move brave? Ms. Winslet is quite lovely and I cannot imagine her
feeling ashamed about anything.

So I started talking to women I knew and they started telling me their
stretch mark stories. I learned from them that men of just about every
age have no idea that women have them. They think that women look like
the cover of the bathing suit issue of Sports Illustrated or the
layouts in Playboy.

Well, yes, some women do look like that. But most don't and that
creates a problem. The real look of the vast majority of women is
swept under the rug. I guess there's nothing inherently wrong with
being under a rug....if you're a piece of dust! so, is that what we
are? dust?

My vision of the project is to have all black and white photos. The
subjects would wear black pants and white shirts while showing their
marks. Each photo would have the woman's feelings about her body/marks
in text next to the photo.

I feel that presenting such a thing to a gallery would create a buzz
and this topic would be out in the mainstream, even if just for a few
days, where it belongs. I am in the northeast so initially I would
present this idea to galleries in Provincetown, Cambridge and
Northhampton Massachusetts. There may be galleries throughout the USA
that would be interested, too.

I am seeking women brave enough to pose for me [a female photographer]
or to send their own photos and words. How do you feel about your
stretch marks?

You might want to take a look at the website The Shape of a Mother.
It's based on the same idea and you might be able to find willing
contributors there.

Leslie