Photographier le corps des femmes tel qu’il est, c’est le défi que s’est lancé la photographe américaine Jade Beall, 38 ans. Elle explique dans la présentation de son site Internet vouloir créer un “contrepoids” aux clichés photoshoppés proposés par les médias mainstream. La jeune mère, installée en Arizona, publie sur Instagram des photos sans retouche, “fidèles à la réalité”, de femmes tatouées, enceintes, avec des vergetures, de la cellulite, des bourrelets, bref, au naturel. Elle explique sur son site vouloir “libérer le corps de la femme” et accompagne ses photographies d’un texte qui relate “le chemin qu’elles [Ndlr: les modèles] ont parcouru pour construire leur confiance en elles.”
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Hold it in. Hide it. Hate it. Those words once replayed themselves in my head like a broken record. I was obsessed with hoping no one would figure out that I was not skinny. – I was 10 years old when I learned that I was less than because I was « big boned » and had a belly that made rolls when I sat down. The loathing led to hard self-judgment which directly led to comparing my body to every single girl around me and judging them, too. – If they had a flat belly, I would search for another « flaw » to judge them by. If they had a bigger belly than me, I would internally high five myself for being better than them. And because I did this, I assumed everyone else judged me too and so i trusted no-one. – But why did I do this? How did I learn to be disgusted with the physical manifestation of trillions of molecules that was and is my body? When only a few years before being 10 I ran around naked and thought that my body was my vehicle to PLAY and FUN! – Why did I waste so much time trying to change my body and dreaming to have someone else’s body every single day when I could have been writing poetry or being nicer to my dad that is now in heaven? – Why did I date a man that left me because I was too fat, when I knew he would never like my body in the first place? Why was I attracted to being told I was worthless because of my softness? – When I made this photo of Laura and Sergio, I had to hide a few tears because of the epic beauty they presented to me. They were both laughing and grabbing her soft perfection that held all four of their babies and he was saying that this was his favorite part of his wife’s body. He said, « Be sure to make plenty of photos of this part of her, please! » But what made me joyous was that Laura didn’t doubt his words. She didn’t judge herself. She was happy to break the « rules » and make a photo grabbing and LOVING the forbidden soft and non-washboard mid section that is now my photographic obsession! And now that I smile at my own soft rolls instead of hate them, l am free. – May we dance in these bodies now, because tomorrow may be too late. Grab, love, jiggle, sway, marvel at the miracle that is: being alive. – *censored
Une publication partagée par Jade Beall Photograpy (@jadebeallphotography) le 6 Sept. 2017 à 9h08 PDT
Ces derniers temps, Jade Beall a également fait parler d’elle en dénonçant le tabou autour des règles. Le 10 mars, puis le 6 septembre, elle a publié une photo d’elle, en legging blanc, une tache de sang entre ses deux jambes écartées. Elle l’a accompagné du commentaire suivant: “Cet autoportrait est une illustration de ce que le monde me rappelle tous les jours: je suis sale.” Avant de conclure, avec ironie, que “le sang menstruel est dégueulasse. (Mais celui des films sanglants violents et gores est normal)”.
instagram.com/jadebeallphotography/
Margot Cherrid
