Topic of the Week 1--The Century Project Monday, March 12, 2007

Trying something a little new this week.

We have quite the range of personalities on this blog. I don't think any of us are the same when it comes to politics, religion, etc. So, I'm opening up some dialogue. I figure it'll amuse the snot out of some readers, and (most especially) us. Plus, it'll give you a chance to get to know us. For better or worse.


So this week, I'm opening things up with a link. You really should be 18+ to take a look.
Go ahead, click here. It'll open in a new screen, and you can see what we're talking about. You can even keep it open while we're talking, which is cool.

In short, the link goes to The century project, where a photographer has taken photos of women of different ages, completely nude. The first shot is a very brutal shot of a baby's head crowning during delivery, which astonished me when I first saw it. (I've been through childbirth three times, however, and that photo hit me with an emotional impact as much as the shock--it really wasn't what I'd expected.)

I'm opening up this post for the rest of the Shades to add their thoughts, but hope some readers will weigh in in the comments section. From now on, I'll be by on Mondays to post the 'Topic of the Week.'

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, and I'll be back to chime in with more of my own.

Dayna Hart


Okay, my weigh-in on this. First I thought...ewwwww...I so would not let someone take a picture of that angle. Which, yes, is totally juvenile. You wanted the real Shades here, right?

The second thought I had was: this is beautiful. What an inspired idea. I love that it's normal looking people, short, fat, skinny, floppy, wrinkled, stretched out. Imperfect. Which really just made the whole project, well, perfect.

I was also like. Oh. Hell. No. would anyone get a shot of my naked breastables at ANY age after like 3. Baby Crystal was a porker too. But then I thought, you are some seriously BRAVE women. Rock on, twisted sisters!

Crystal Jordan



There were two of those photographs that got my attention. The first was the woman who lost a breast to cancer. The tattoo!!! Awesome!!! That's how I want to be in the face of disease or tragedy.
The second was the big woman who resembled one of the statues of early man's goddesses. Having been fat all my life, I viewed that picture with a biased eye. However, I realized that it WAS beautiful.
The stories behind the pictures were fascinating. As the 94 year old said "Some picture, Kid." LOL.
Thanks for showing these, Dayna.




Oh, but I'm not done with you, folks ;) A recent book review (here) spurred on controversy because one of the photos chosen to accompany the review was that of a 12 year old girl. Fully nude.

Lead to letters to the editor. One of which noted: “A 12-year-old is not old enough to make a decision about that kind of thing,” Cumpson, a local resident offended by the photo’s publication. “If [the women] want to do it, that’s fine, but as far as a child goes, that’s totally unreasonable.”

(The full story, including the quoted comment can be found at "Picture Stirs Debate", Kingston Whig Standard, Feb. 23rd.) *

The photo in question is here, in fact with the accompanying story:

"And as for publishing a naked photo of a young girl, the girl herself has something to say about that. The picture of Nora was taken when she was twelve. Four years earlier, Nora almost lost her family and everything she knew. “My mother was charged with child pornography for taking pictures of me in the bathtub when I was 8 years old,” she writes. “The prosacuter [sic] said that she had committed a crime.” But for Nora, her anguish didn’t arise from the photos her mother took, but from the effects of the criminal proceedings on her family. “My worst memory of the case was one morning when I was eating breakfast and we got a phone call, and my mother answered, hung up, and started sobbing. ‘I can’t take it anymore,’ was what she said.” Nora writes that she wanted to be in The Century Project to get her story out to the world. “I want people to see how stupid it was for my mother and many others to be prosecuted. Do I look abused to you? Or do I look like a happy child with wonderful parents[?]”

(From Women through the ages; Bodies and Souls challenges conventional images of women A review by Renée Stephen, (c) Renee Stephen, for the Independent Voice)

(I, myself, have to wonder if the person who had such issue with the photo read Nora's words)

Both the reviewer and the publisher replied . The very next day, in fact. (click the links for the full versions rather than just my summary ;) )

*note: Although that was the actual headline, the weblink which lead my husband to this controversy was (from memory, so not quite accurate): Nude photos of 12 year old girl spurs controversy about book.

So, what do you think? Is this book pornographic? Is my disclaimer at the top, that you should only click if you're 18 or older valid? Or a byproduct of puritanical morals gone amok?


Interesting. I don't see this image as child pornography, and I hate to say it, almost every parent on this planet has some picture of thier own child doing something silly in the bathtub, myself included. As well as mashed food in the hair, and who knows what all else I have to blackmail... er... embarrass... um.. Well, to reflect on at a later time in our lives.

While looking at the whole collection, and the women and girls who are in it, I assumed (yes, I know what that means) that the legal ramifications for their participation were met, especially the underage photos. As a collection, this doesn't come across to me as pornography in the least.

I do think the 18+ disclaimer is appropriate, simply becuase of the nudity factor, yet I wouldn't be suprised if the fact that it's art would hold less weight in general concensus. I wouldn't call any of it pornography. It's not done with any kind of sexual undertone, the women are completely natural in pose, expression, and environment. The simple fact of nakedness does not automatically decry pornography, not to my mind.