After years of self-esteem and body issues, Demi Lovato chose to pose nude for Vanity Fair only if her three rules were agreed to by the photographer:
No Makeup. No Clothes. No Retouching.
It’s so refreshing to see a celebrity do a fully natural, completely raw photoshoot. It is wonderful to see it from someone who has been so openy about her own body image issues in the past. It was just five years ago that Demi entered rehab to deal with bulimia, substance abuse and her tendency to self-harm. She has since been very open about her struggles and has become a big advocate for healthy body image.
Appropriately, her new album is titled Confident and she decided to go all out to celebrate it.
When I think of confident, I think of many things, but one feeling in particular is feeling comfortable in your own skin. There was something incredible about the idea of no makeup whatsoever, no clothes, and no retouching. You know, that says—I would’ve never thought I would have ever gotten to a place in my life where I could feel comfortable doing that.
Lovato, who has spent much of her life hating “every inch” of her body, goes on to explain why taking these photos felt so right.
It’s empowering and it shows other women that you can get to a place where you can overcome the obstacles of body image issues and you can feel comfortable and confident
The idea for the shoot was actually very spontaneous. Sadly, it was just one day earlier that Demi’s great-grandfather, Buddy Moore, passed away. She had always thought of him as one of the most important people in her life. Photographer Patrick Ecclesine was working on a project shadowing the music firm Demi works with. He was asked to follow them to a hotel where they were going to meet with Demi to make sure she had the support she needed to get through this time. Ecclesine said that when she entered the room, at midnight, she looked emotionally drained, had her hair pulled back and no makeup on. She sat down with him and poured out her grief in what sounds like a very deep conversation.
She spoke about her sadness, and then she got an idea.“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past day, it’s that life is too short,” she said. “I’m about to launch an album that finally represents who I truly am. How do I embrace this new chapter in my life? How do I really walk the walk? What does it mean to be confident? It means letting go, being authentic, saying I don’t give a fuck and this is who I am. I want to show the side of me that’s real, that’s liberated, that’s free. What if we do a photo shoot where it’s totally raw? Super-sexy, but no makeup, no fancy lighting, no retouching, and no clothing. Let’s do it here, let’s do it now.
Ecclesine goes on to explain that the shoot was very quiet and respectful. They barely even spoke, they allowed the raw emotion to guide them and communicated with gestures. When they were done Demi thanked him for making her feel pretty, he thanked her for her confidence. The photos really captured the raw emotion in the air that night.
