Foxy Body Liberation Art Project

Nudity is normal

Nudity is freeing

Nudity doesn’t have to be sexual

Being a woman and photographing women I am well aware of our complex struggles with body image.  It’s hard to be at peace with our bodies when we mostly see and compare ourselves to perfect tv bodies and photoshop bodies in magazines. It does us good to see normal bodies that come in all different shapes, sizes, ages, and shades. It also does us good to have fun together, laugh, dance, and be in nature. Hence, the foxy body liberation art project. It’s a semi-nude photoshoot in nature with a community of badass women who want to feel more liberated in their bodies.  

Here are some photos and stories from our very first one!!

We started off by hiking into the woods in Mt. Horeb's beautiful hipcamp site. The camp is cultivating a partnership with the land, restoring it so that healing and restoration can be offered with humans. I can say personally, it worked for me!

Nichole Baumbach came and taught a dance lesson and had everyone laughing, getting warm, and having fun.

After dancing in the woods we did a body image healing practice. We took a moment to center, give gratitude to the earth and our bodies. We asked nature to help us along the journey of embracing ourselves just as we are. Then it was time to take off our clothes and surrender to the elements and giggle and play!

I was on CLOUD NINE the whole day and the next after the event!! Participants felt the same way and gave rave reviews on the experience. One woman, Kate, shared this reflection and her wisdom was too good not to share.

“As I was breathing into the forest and thinking about what part of my body I’m most critical of, my inner asshole was quick to remind me of all the new wrinkles and grays I’ve noticed this last year.

Then I remembered that Nichole (a fellow participant who is about to turn 50) shared that she LOVES getting older. That resonated in my mind as I thought of the trees all around me, especially the Maple tree, who is amazing, beautiful and exciting in all the seasons of the year, but arguably the MOST magnificent in the fall. After sprouting, blossoming, living full and green in spring and summer, then just before all the leaves wilt away and die, the Maple beams with all its glory, full of color and life!

Now every time my inner asshole pipes up, with false truths about the signs of growing older as something to avoid, be afraid or ashamed of, I’m gonna tell him to shut the fuck up, bc I’m like a Maple, my fullest beauty yet to come!”

This was such a fabulous experience, and even better than I imagined- which is usually the case when I get together with badass women and new experiences. This is 100% a developing project and we’ll do it again- body liberation is an ongoing and ongoing process. I plan to at least twice a year. Contact me if you’d like to find about the next one.

xoxo, Maureen