Baring It All

Today is a pretty dark day for celebrity news. Last night a 4chan user posted nude images of a leading Hollywood actress online. Her spokesperson described the incident as ‘a flagrant violation of privacy’ and says prosecution will be sought. Other high-profile names are also allegedly set to fall victim to this crime while the authorities search for the responsible party. In 2012 a man was sentenced to jail for ten years after hacking the personal accounts of women such as Scarlett Johansson and Mila Kunis.

Meanwhile, in consensual female nudity news, Trevor Hart’s BARE project is simply the most beautiful thing on our radar.

BARE is a collection of naked portraits of Irish women shot by the talented photographer. Stylist and entrepreneur Sonya Lennon is one of the many impressive women featured – as well as our own editorial director, Laura George. Sonya Lennon explains that she jumped at the chance to get involved. “Wonderful friend and incredibly talented photographer Trevor Hart came to me with a proposal. Would I pose nude for a piece of work that he was creating around women’s’relationships with their bodies? Of course my interest was piqued. Then the clincher: he wanted to turn the work into an exhibition and book called BARE, with all proceeds going to support the work of Dress for Success. I was naked before you could say Spanx!?”

All the portraits in BARE are accompanied by text explaining how the women within feel about their bodies and how that personal relationship has evolved over the years.

Sounds empowering, doesn’t it? However, BARE needs your help to become a coffee-table reality. Trevor and company are running a FundIt campaign, which closes in just fours days – it’s €2,000 off its €9,000 target. Any profits from book sales will go to support Dress for Success Dublin, which helps women secure professional clothing and practical training programmes to aid them in their careers. The charity was brought to Dublin by Sonya Lennon and supports women by giving them the clothes and skills they need to succeed at interviews. Since Dress for Success’s inception, 800 women have been helped and 100 more are on a rolling waiting list.

Get your debit cards out and click here for more information.

The BARE book will be launched in the RHA Dublin on October 9^th 2014

Jeanne Sutton @jeannedesutun

Bare Project from Trevor Hart on Vimeo.