Four industry leading women reflect on beauty and body image
Julie Adams, Jeanne Yang, Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, and Sarah Dubbeldam reflect on beauty and body image
One of Australia’s leading fashion photographers, Julie Adams is widely known for her work in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Marie Claire and others. However, we were most interested to talk with Julie about her personal project titled, This Is Me. Starting a few years ago, Julie hosted a series of portrait sessions in beach shacks around Sydney. Women of any age were invited to show up, model for an unretouched photograph in their swimsuit, and share some of their own reflections about body image. What unfolded was truly remarkable. Women got real, they got vulnerable, and Julie photographed them in their full, joyful glory. She has since photographed hundreds of women for the project and her book was published in 2020. Julie reflected with us on how what started as a body image project targeted at young women quickly evolved into a more sophisticated reflection of womanhood that appeals across generations. The collection of images is beautiful. The sentiments that women shared are incredibly powerful and we were inspired to round up reflections on body image from other industry leaders who’ve joined us on Breaking Glass:
- Julie Adams – “I’m not against the beauty industry or celebrating beauty, but I just think that we need to be a lot more inclusive and especially make our younger girls feel special.”
- Jeanne Yang – “Being feminine is about feeling very comfortable and not giving a shit about what other people think.”
- Suzi Weiss-Fischmann – “Beauty is, of course, inner and outer. What’s inside is just as important as what’s outside…and I love the messages that we send today about individuality. It is about who you are.”
- Sarah Dubbeldam – “All that really matters is how happy we are on the inside, because then that’s where everything else flows from, and you can really learn to accept your body and how you look, no matter what. It’s very hard for a lot of us but it is possible.”