photographer looking for models

from photographer Erika Kuciw

Beautiful, Confident, Vulnerable Women
Since I conceived this project in December 2004, I've seen the continuing progression of a female movement—an emerging culture that reminds us, "it's not about looking perfect." This project is about women learning to accept themselves. It's about rejecting false "perfection" and embracing what is real.

Beautiful, Confident, Vulnerable Women strives to find what is real in the female form; to expose the raw beauty of the feminine spirit, without the labels that society ascribes to it. The impossible ideals personified in television and magazine ads coalesce into the singular image of an empty, plastic woman who does not exist.

The women in this project do. We are real, and we have revealed ourselves to the camera as we really are. Don't just look at us—look into us. The hope and loss, rage and joy, fear and defiance of our everyday lives are the beautiful truth of our existence.

This is an ongoing project. I am looking to broaden the diversity of my subjects in any and every aspect - age, weight, ethnicity, physical attributes (tattoos, no hair, piercings, challenges/injuries), etc. - there is no discrimination though. I am open to any woman interested. To see the complete BCVW photo library, visit me on the web at shutter-girl.com and click on "Series."