“The last 8 years have been such a struggle for me, I’m my own worst enemy and just completely lost my self confidence. Within half an hour they made me feel so at ease. I truly enjoyed my experience it made me feel empowered & actually like what was looking back at me in the mirror. Just for one day I wanted to feel the way my husband sees me and that I certainly did. - I think every woman needs to have a shoot done like this.”

— Tracey

WHAT IS THE PERFECT BODY SHAPE FOR A WOMAN?

I bet you’ve thought about this. In fact, there’s a fair chance you think you don’t have the perfect body shape.

I don’t even know you and yet, I feel confident saying this because it’s based on many years of experience, photographing hundreds of women.

No matter how beautiful you look to everyone around you, the chances are, you’re not happy.

it’s nothing to do with weight either. the vast majority of women we see tell us they want to ‘loose a few pounds’ but the worst, most critical, are those women with stick thin ‘model’ looks.

So , is there really a perfect body shape? is it more Kate Moss or Marilyn Monroe? Does the ‘perfect bodyshape’ change over time?

IS IT ALL THE FAULT OF THE MEDIA?

Not long ago, the media was portraying the perfect body to be ‘size 0’ – Stick thin super models. Now there’s a tough role model to aspire to. A starvation diet.

Before the stick thin era, it was cool to aspire to an hourglass figure. Sexy, shapely, curvy, like Cindy Crawford and Madonna, yet still high maintenance. Keeping all the curves in the right places requires real effort and dedication.

Today, pop culture is swinging back to curvier figures again. Videos from the likes of Drake, Kanye West and Justin Bieber are portraying curves in a positive light and this may well see the end to the size 0 brigade.

The media certainly helps shape our perception of perfection yet is this reality?

Common sense tells us that the media has a very distorted view of the world.

In fact, every single image you see in glossy magazines is retouched to perfection. (You can read so many articles on the subject such this one on Victoria’s Secrets models HERE )

After many years photographing hundreds of women, many of whom have been brave enough to undress in front of the camera I have come to the conclusion that there really is no ‘perfect’ bodyshape. Almost every woman is unhappy with their body. no matter what size or shape they may be. The women who look closest to the media’s version of ‘perfect’ … They are the women most critical of themselves. (We see it in viewings all the time. The “oh my gosh, my thighs look fat” when in reality, their thighs are the width of their ankles. )

For many women, minor details can become major issues.

What I find most fascinating is that as a women spends more and more time aspiring to her perfect bodyshape she becomes more and more self critical. Those women, however, that accept who they are and the body they are given, seem far more radiant and beautiful to those around them. I genuinely believe that ‘beauty’ comes from within and has nothing to do with bodyshape.

It sounds like a cliche but ask yourself who the most beautiful people in your life are and I bet they don’t all have ‘perfect’ bodies.

WE HAVE ONE LIFE AND IT IS ALL TOO BRIEF SO MAYBE WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT WE HAVE

We may not like growing old but it’s inevitable. Maybe we should stop fighting it and just enjoy living it. instead of worrying about our flaws we should celebrate our lives. Cherish what we have. Work on learning to love ourselves. (The subject of this blog article HERE ) Look at the women in the slideshow above. Every single woman is different yet every single woman is beautiful. Who could disagree?