Six years in the making, Uncovered is a visual homage to the female form as captured by acclaimed photographer Jordan Matter. From all walks of life, and of various ages, education and profession, over one hundred women volunteered to shed their clothes and celebrate the glorious nature of bare breasts, all for the advancement of a breast cause.
Modern Love has commented on breasts before, to the chagrin of some who can’t get passed either the sensual or utilitarian glory that is the female form. Truth be told, no matter what camp you are in (they are only for breastfeeding, no ogling allowed! Vs. Mine are his/hers/our breast friend), there’s no chance you’ll ever sway ML to one side or another. Breasts are both, for good and for better, and it’s time our culture gets over our shame about honoring what my toddler daughter called “Bubbles.”
Uncovered then is another effort to take back the bra, or leave it on if that’s her fancy, and make a few fantasies, dreams and cultural paradigms come true.
From Matter’s website: In her foreword, author Susan Seligson states what all men and women already know: "Breasts are an inexplicably big deal." Whether hidden under layers of clothing, half-revealed in the service of fashion (and flirtation) or laid brazenly bare, breasts matter. They demand response, provoke moral questions and force confrontation with the very notion of taboo.
Every subject faced reactions to her decision to defy convention, and many confronted feelings of shame and inadequacy. But after the shoots, the women were unexpectedly euphoric—and Matter wondered just what he had uncovered.
Many of the women agreed to interviews or wrote their own texts for this collection, revealing their journeys toward self-acceptance. The result is a remarkable chorus of shared experience, secret fears, optimism and wisdom. Uncovered celebrates the controversial female body. But it also honors the individual women who were willing to confront their culture and themselves. These are their images and their stories, in their own words.
Click here to purchase the book. Ten percent of the profits from sales of Uncovered merchandise will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a nonprofit public charity committed to achieving prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime.
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All Modern Love Examiner articles ©2010 by Tinamarie Bernard; PARTIAL reposts only permitted with link back to original article. All other rights reserved.
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