Plus size? Real size!

‘Plus Size Model’ is a term internationally applied to a woman who is engaged primarily in modeling as larger body sizes and types. What is a larger size? Well, the industry says size 14 or higher in North American sizing, 10 or higher in Australian/New Zealand sizing, size 40 or higher in Europe, and 10 or higher in UK sizing. The average size in New Zealand is Size 14

With all the issues relating to eating disorders and unhealthy models in the fashion industry today, plus-size models are increasing being employed by the media to stimulate debate on healthy self-esteem and body image. My concern is that, yet again, the wrong image is being presented! No, I don’t mean being Plus Size, I mean the fact that these models aren’t being employed for who they are… but for someone else’s agenda.

The requirements for plus-size models are no different from those of high-fashion models, excepting in larger overall bust-waist-hip measurements, they must have excellent skin, hair and teeth, and work well for the camera. The type of work that plus-size models engage in is also no different from that of their counterparts. Advertising campaigns, magazine editorials, catwalk work, etc…

Until recently I have always wondered,where do we draw the line of Plus Size? Is it Size 8 to Size 16 (Australia/New Zealand), and what do we call above Size 16? Is above Size 16 unhealthy? Who’s decides that, who defines where we start to do damage to self esteem and body image? I have met some very large and very happy ladies who are technically obese, but are happy with who they are. I have met models who are Size 6 and hate their bodies. They cry when someone walks past them with any more than a carrot.

We can’t all be models, we have to be realistic! Our teens need to understand that there are the “us” and “them’s”, and that just like I will never be an Astronaut, most will never be models. Should I become depressed and contemplate self harm because I can’t fit what I think I should be, or should I find my place in this world and become good with who I am, embrace the uniqueness of me? A loving partner, beautiful children, that amazing career, and the social life of Posh and Becks isn’t about a great arse, that slim waist, or the perfect breasts! It is about confidence, knowing who and where you are in life.  I know my words may not be appreciated by all, but they are here to create debate, to start people talking, and to start a quest for answers.

Doing research for this blog post I found some incredibly beautiful Plus Size models who have produced work that their’contemporary counterparts’ would have been proud to produce. The likes of Sophie Dahl, Kate Dillon, and Whitney Thompson stand out for me and again, many will ask how they can compete with these Plus Size supermodels. Get over it! You can’t! BUT what you can do is listen to their stories, find strength in their achievement, find yourself!

Plus size model Sophie Dahl (Above) for Yves Saint-Laurent perfume brand Opium

Sophie Dahl, the grand-daughter of children’s author Roald Dahl, Dahl made her name as a model and was hailed by the media and the fashion industry as a glamorous icon whose voluptous body stood apart from the prevailing trend for unhealthily thin models. Dahl was discovered by Isabella Blow, a Vogue stylist who lived in the same building as her family. Dahl was featured prominently in many large-circulation magazines, including Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and the British, Italian and American versions of Vogue. Dahl achieved a degree of notoriety in 2000 after she appeared in an advertisement for the Yves Saint-Laurent perfume brand Opium. The ad featured a photograph of her posing nude on a fur rug. Apparently, it was removed from UK billboards after complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Plus Size model Kate Dillon

Kate Dillon began her career as a size 6 with Elite NYC, but after overcoming health issues (anorexia) eventually relaunched her career as a U.S. size 14 plus-size model. Dillon enjoyed a fast rise to fame via the covers and editorials of MODE Magazine, and has since notched up scores of advertising campaigns for top plus-size clothing retailers in the world. Dillon has appeared in several language editions of Vogue magazine, and has been photographed for high fashion magazines and campaigns by such photographers as Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton, Francesco Scavullo, Albert Watson and Mario Testino, and has appeared in advertising for clients well outside of the usual plus-size œuvre such as Gucci, Isabella Rossellini’s ‘Manifesto’ perfume, and Nine West. Dillon was a featured guest during season 3 of the popular US network show America’s Next Top Model, talking to contestants about body image and self-esteem. Some of the best advice I have seen recently was in a letter to Living Pulse from Kate Dillon.  Click on the picture to enlarge!

A letter from Kate Dillon to Living Pulse

Today, Plus Size or not… the industry is starting to change but not for its own sake, but because the consumers are now recognising the need to be realistic and are demanding the same from it.   We see the affects of the media on every aspect of our life, and isn’t it time we at least had the ability to close our eyes and imagine our life the way we want it to be with out feeling guilty we don’t meet the expectations of the industry we look to for the inspiration and products to make it pretty. Dreams are great when they are happy, but the nightmare that so so many live and will do in the future is a cost that is no longer acceptable.

Whitney Thompson (Above) Season 10 of America’s Next Top Model was when plus-size models went prime time. That’s because a 5’10”, blond bombshell in a size 10 dress beat out scores of generic wannabe models to become the first plus-size girl to win.

As a photographer, Dad, husband, brother, and friend, my opinion has definitely changed. How I see plus size models now, the knowledge of sizing, I mean, how is Size 10 (Australia/New Zealand) plus size when the average New Zealand woman is Size 14+?  Look at the women above and do they look overweight? No? They aren’t! Its the industry that is fat from eating the cream off the top of its profits. Ignorance is always bliss, but now I know, I will make every effort to use ‘normal models’, those who we walk past in the street, those that fit our daily ideals, not the industries. If you want to pose for me in the future and are Plus Size or not, please email us at emailus@jamesprice.co.nz

Sexy Backs for Autism Awareness

This time last year I started a project to help raise awareness of Autism. Why? My youngest son was diagnosed just after his 4th birthday as having Autism (he just turned 6). So Sexy Backs is a photographic project to help raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders. The concept for “Sexy Backs” is to produce simple Black & White portraits, showing naked backs, something we all have, something that is cheeky, fun, and where sex, age, race, or autism was irrelevant.

The image above is of Shana, a mum, Tyler’s mum, and my wife! The first Sexy Backs photo!  The project is really just about awareness, inspiring those who see our images, or read the text, to learn more about Autism! We want you to tell others about Sexy Backs, and to support those on the Autistic Spectrum.

Please take the time to read the information and to look at the images on this site. And, if you want to be involved, please let us know! Please email us at info@sexybacks.org

I really want to thank all those very special people who have already posed for us and have made the project what it is, and what it will be! Without these wonderful people supporting the project, it would be nothing. Friends, family, colleagues, models, we honestly can’t thank you enough.

Please email us, keep in contact. As the project develops we want to hear from all those wanting to pose, men and women. Its a pity that not everyone can be, but please get in contact!

This link is to a PDF of a story in the New Zealand Women’s Weekly about my family, Tyler having Autism, and the Sexy Backs for Autism Awareness project. New Zealand Women’s Weekly – 20 October 2008

Here are the first photos from the Sexy Backs for Autism Awareness project!

All images Copyright 2008 – 2009 James Price

Real Beauty & Self Esteem

Last week after watching the latest episode of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, I wanted to put this together from previous blog entries I had written on my FaceBook page. One of the finalists, Ruby Higgins, has received some unfair attention over her size.

Ruby Higgins was cut last week, with much unfair attention about her weight! Shame! Shame on New Zealand's Next Top Model!

Ruby is a healthy, normal, beautiful young woman who has had some unnecessary negative attention because of the irresponsible opinions of the judges. What they need to remember is that if they were as good as they think they are, they wouldn’t be sitting on New Zealand’s Next Top Model… they wouldn’t have time because of their real careers!

It wasn’t until I discovered photography and delved into the task of teaching myself everything I could about it (and digital imaging) that I realized just how distorted the world of fashion was. Most images are professionally polished with many things contributing to that final image that makes it onto the magazine racks. No wonder so many people have so many issues about the way we look! My daughter has been an inspiration when it comes to how I photograph women, reminding me always of the fragile personalities of the amazing gender, women. Its simply really… I want our future generations to see beauty in any mirror, not in print.

An artificially manufactured beauty dominates mass media and the marketing industry growing from it, it is easy to see why a recent survey concluded that “Just 2% of today’s women see themselves as beautiful”.

In this way the impossible dream of beauty can be run endlessly. By continuosly and ever more subtly defining in artificial ways, modes and models of reference that are hard to reach for standard individuals, the corporate mechandising machine can keep its toy running indefinitely. And, if you really look and pay attention to it, with clean, detached eyes, you can see that the beauty model is cloned and repeated across the whole spectrum of communications you have chosen to receive from mainstream media. The irrelevant and needlessly expensive status symbols peddled at every commercial, you know it doesn’t take a genius to realize that all of what you are buying into has been created to fool you while significantly benefiting someone else.

Unless you open your eyes and realize that in this life, all those who benefit from the affects, you just become an unpaid extra in an extended commercial that you have been watching, but its your life. This warped, digitally distorted image of reality and beauty will continue to drive, shape and dominate your personal ability to make true sense and meaning of this beautiful gift called life.

Just recently I saw the work of a photographer that really concerned me. Not because the model was naked, not the context of the shots, and it wasn’t because of his technical competence, but because of the fact his less than flattering style is potentially destructive to this young, and in her own way, very beautiful woman.

My focus is on my own style, love it or hate it, I am me, and that is what we should all respect. If my images left women looking like the young woman I mention, I would feel an obligation through pure decency to sell my camera equipment and never subject another human being to such humiliation again, even if the model herself does not understand it.

Insight from another woman left me feeling that this young woman I have mentioned may have felt uncomfortable approaching someone like myself as she didn’t think she was attractive enough for my style of photography, and that the photographer she did use was real “warts and all” so his and her expectations were then lower across the board.

Why are women accepting this? They are the consumers the advertising is designed for, the marketing industry grows because of… It makes me sad to think that behind the beautiful eyes of my wife, daughter, sisters, mother, friends, and colleagues that there are others with this view of themselves. I am sorry, this has to stop! We may not all agree on what is beautiful, and don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for everything, but its definitely not at the expense of anyones self esteem.

I want to clearly state that I am not on a crusade to save women from the nasties of the fashion and beauty industry! The argument will never go away and I feel I can do more working with the industry rather than against it. Moderation and common sense should be the regulators, not the advertising standards board. Having only been in the industry for the past three and a half years I can only speak of my personal experiences. Yes, it is true that most of the women I have worked with have had some damaged self esteem, but I have also had the pleasure of building the self esteem of a few as a result of my style and love of women.

I love women and have always been proud of the fact that I openly discuss this. I grew up with three sisters, a mum, aunties, nana’s, and considering most of my friends are women I take it that I have learnt something that allows me to open to so many unique relationships with out the need for testosterone to damage them. My favorite thing about women are their eyes. So intimate are they that during the time I am setting up a shot I can see the little girl, the teenager, the love, ones ability to lust, and the insecurities we all hide. But, most of all, I can see the soul that cries and laughs, loves and hates, the essence of womanhood that holds and nurtures, that something that not only creates love but carries one as she makes love, its also something that there is no product you can buy to cover it up when damaged.

My passion for women isn’t to make them beautiful, God has already done that. However, using the light nature has provided it is my job to paint away what life has done, and then capture as much of the soul I can see in every one of my photographs.

I am not endorsing or promoting Dove or any other product, but I do get what they are trying to do (without the commercialism attached to it).