photography

Projects

(If you have been a model for this project, please click here unless you're absolutely certain that I have your current contact info.)

My ongoing photography project, entitled UnCommon Women, is my way of poking holes in the cultural assumption that women have to look like Playboy or Vogue models in order to be considered beautiful.

As you can see from these images, I don't consider this to be the truth--and many others agree with me. The women in these pictures are all volunteers; none of them are paid models (except that they get copies of the photos I take of them—my TFP arrangement can be reviewed here). They are in the project because they want to be, not because they are earning money by doing so.

The thrust of the project is to show these women as people instead of just bodies. The fashion magazines and "men's" magazines in this country do their best to hide the person behind an airbrushed façade of fantasy; this project is the antithesis of that practice. Not only are models photographed as they are--scars, freckles, birthmarks and all--but they're also interviewed with a mind towards understanding who they are, not just what they are. (And these are not the superficially titillating "interviews" one sees in Playboy, either; you can't know someone by what color their car is and what pop star they'd like to sleep with.) I am hoping that this project, which I will be publishing as a book (no dates yet), will open people's eyes to the beauty and attractiveness of all different kinds of women.

MODELING FOR THE PROJECT: I am always looking for new models for this project, and I am espeically looking for women in the following categories: Latinas, Native Americans, Middle-Easterners, east Indians, women with extensive tatoos (half the torso or more, full "sleeves", an entire leg, etc.), older women (minimum 40, 50+ preferred), and pregnant women..

If you are interested in participating in this project, or know someone who does and is, please contact me at ebenbrooks@ebenbrooks.com.