Self Love Through The Lens

The lens of a camera is a peculiar thing. It is an eye that beholds the eye of a being capturing what they see. Be it a moment, an emotion, a state, an event, a shape, an essene, a scene, a feeling.

The lens is the extension of the eye. Immortalising what it sees in the form of a picture.
And a picture tells 1000 words.

So, what if those words were ones of Self Love.

I met Cim Ek while living in Angsbacka. She was one of the festival photographers, a tall, alluring, tattooed Goddess of a human. She would swiftly move into workshops and capture moments of vulnerability, intensity, pain and passion, and then she would be gone.
I was intrigued by her and her lens.

I soon found out that Cim ran her own photography projects: Body Love, and Glitter Yoni, and of course, I immediately volunteered to be a subject.

By now I was on the path to realising my life's mission: to work with womxn and return them to their original Radical Radiance. I wanted to know how Cim’s work was playing its own role in returning womxn to their Radiant Self Love.

“Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love means taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others. Self-love means not settling for less than you deserve.’’

The absence of body love is the absence of Self Love. And the absence of Self Love usually means one or more of the following: the presence of Self Hate, of feeling unworthy/ undeserving, of feeling too much, of being disempowered, disenfranchised, and disconnected.

The absence of Self Love is an epidemic. Womxn are suffering the relentless pain of trying to be what they are not - not seeing what they are.

But the lens can.

For my Body love project with Cim, myself and a new friend went into the Swedish forest. Cim asked us to share the story of our relationship with our bodies, and as we took off each piece of clothing to let go of old, outdated stories.

With all three of us naked she allowed us the forest to simply be, be with our bodies, be with nature, be with each other, and be with the lens.

At first it was confronting to hear the click, and to look down its barrel, but Cim was so encouraging, her genuine awe and excitement filled us with raw fuel, and we moved with more deliberation, more power, more acceptance, and more Self Love.

There was nothing to hide, no good angle or bad. We simply were and we let the lens capture it.

So often our view of ourselves can be distorted. How many times have you objected to your friends' words of self criticism - “You do not look fat you look amazing!” “Of course your face is beautiful”. “Yes you can totally pull off that style of top”. “I love your smile.”

We cannot see ourselves because well... we cannot see ourselves! Our eyes point outwards to take in the world around us. In prehistoric times, it was only the reflection of a still lake that might have revealed your face.

But today mirrors, cameras, magazines and the internet have brought with them comparison. We started to look in the mirror and see what we were not, and our Self Love slipped away.

A few days had gone by since our photos in the forest and Cim called me and Margot with glee - come see your photos! We huddled on the couch with a turmeric latte in hand and watched what the lens had captured.

1000 words. Beauty. Depth. Raw. Pain. Real. Sexy. Womanly. Wild. Free. Liberated. Bright. Colourful. Elegant. Grace. Playful. Creative. Luminous. Joyous. Open. Expressive. Juicy. Fierce. Goddess. Queen. Pixie. Mischievous. Witchy. Lover. Curious. Radiant. Bursting. Alive. Compassion. Warmth. Safe. Whole. Sassy. Embodied. Undefined. Exciting. Hot-mama. Dynamic. Spectacular. Effervescent. Passionate. Kind. Soft. Sweet. Powerful….


Cim’s project taught me that having your photo taken, letting the lens see you is a Radical act of Self Love. The lens can see what you cannot.

So...would you take the journey of Self Love through the lens? What 1000 words might the picture say?