Photographer captures striking images of women practicing yoga naked in celebration of the 'strength' and 'power' of the female form
- Jonathon Harrington, from Ottawa, Canada, photographed 57 women for his project, which he then turned into a book, titled 'I'
A
Canadian photographer is celebrating the strength and flexibility of
women in a stunning series of images, which see 57 female subjects
practicing yoga naked.
Jonathan Harrington, a photographer and the owner of Icon Imaging in
Ottawa, captured dozens of beautiful black-and-white images of women of
all ages and backgrounds, each performing a unique yoga pose while in
the nude.
The striking photographs have also been published in a book, titled 'I', which is aimed at celebrating the power and strengthe of the female form.
Pretzel pose: Photographer Jonathon
Harrington called on 57 women to perform yoga poses while naked as part
of his project 'I', which celebrates the strength and beauty of the
female form
Inspiration: Mr Harrington first started the project after attending his first yoga class a few years ago
'The
project was born out of my interest in the human figure combined with
my first yoga class experience,' Mr Harrington explained on a Kickstarter page for the project.
'During
the class as I participated, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful
shapes and lines as we went through the different poses.
'The central concept of the project is ‘everyday women, nude, showcasing their abilities of strength and flexibility.'
When
it came to choosing the participants for the book, which retails for
$29.99 Canadian dollars, Mr Harrington added that he had no specific
criteria each woman had to meet; instead he was eager to find people who
felt comfortable and confident enough in their own bodies to pose
naked, even if that confidence only emerged during the shoot.
Respect for the female form: The
photographer noted that, during his yoga class, he began to gain a new
appreciation for the artistry involved in each different yoga pose
Inner beauty:
There was no specific criteria used to choose the 57 participants; Mr
Harrington explained that subjects simply had to be willing and able to
perform yoga poses while naked
Good cause: Inspired by one of his
models, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Mr Harrington
explained that 25 per cent of the book's profits will be donated to the
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
'The
subjects of the book are a cross section of society – there were no
conditions or requirements to participate other than being over 18 and
interested in the concept,' he explained.
'Subjects
ranged from women totally comfortable with their bodies to the
camera-shy who had never posed for a photo shoot – let alone nude.'
Each
woman will also have required a fair amount of stamina; according to Mr
Harrington, the models were required to go through up to 40 poses while
being photographed over two to three hours.
'All
shoots took place at my studio, and consisted of 20-40 poses (many
inspired from yoga and dance), and took anywhere from 2-3 hours,' he
explained, before adding that, despite the hard work each woman had to
put in, the shoot actually turned into something of a therapy session
for all involved.
Flexible form: Mr Harrington says that $500 has already been donated to the foundation
Horizontal view: One woman moves through the sun salutation series
The end: Mr Harrington has photographed the womens' bodies from every imaginable angle
'During
the shoots, there was a lot chatting, laughter and fun; many opened up
about things like jobs, relationships, travel, etc,' he said. 'It almost
seemed like a therapy session sometimes.'
Mr
Harrington was particularly inspired by the personal story of one
model, who revealed during the shoot that her mother had recently been
diagnosed with breast cancer/
'Originally
this project was about me wanting to share with others something I have
been passionate about for many years,' he recalled. 'However, after
that session, the project started to evolve.
'Instead
of creating something on a smaller scale that I would benefit from, why
not create something larger that would benefit many people. This is
when the concept of this book began to form.'
Mr Harrington noted that 25 per cent of the profits from the sale of the book will go towards the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, adding
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