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 | | This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes by Rosanne Olson ISBN-10: 9781579653637 ISBN-10: 1-57965-363-4 ISBN-13: 9781579653637 ISBN-13: 978-1-57965-363-7 Hardcover 2008-04-01 Artisan Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Fifty-four portraits of women that are striking, beautiful, and real. The bodies in this book have been shaped by the full sweep of the feminine experience. They belong to 54 women from all over the country, ages 19 to 95, of all sizes and shapes, ethnicities, and life experiences, who were willing to expose their naked physical forms in This Is Who I Am. They are ordinary women only in the sense that none is a professional model. They are in all other ways extraordinary—courageous, curious, thoughtful, speaking unflinchingly about their bodies, then allowing themselves to be photographed to inspire other women to make peace with their physical selves, "to glorify the real beauty of all women." Certainly, the feminine nude form is not new to artists and photographers. But the portraits in This Is Who I Am, taken by award-winning photographer Rosanne Olson, with a steady, unjudgmental eye, speak loudly to the American obsession of feminine perfection—slim hips and full breasts, high cheekbones and tiny waists, taut skin and eternal youth—and even more loudly to the way real women, with real bodies and real lives, look. By turns tender, personal, and moving, this tribute to contemporary womanhood is the perfect gift for mothers to give to daughters, daughters to cousins, cousins to friends. | ||
Reviews | ||
Untouched portraits, touching stories _This Is Who I Am_ captures a true portrait of the feminine experience where women yearn to make peace with their bodies while living in a society that constantly wages a war against them. Although the 54 women featured in this book are of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, shapes and sizes, they all share the courage to expose both their inner and outer secrets. From the 29-year old who once struggled with anorexia and is now trying to reclaim her body, to the 35 year old who has learned to become comfortable in her own skin, despite being considerably overweight, to the 44 year-old whose self identity hinges on the size of her stomach, to the 95 year-old who has achieved an appreciation for the vitality of her body, each of these women struggles and strives to make peace with their bodies. The underlying theme of the book seems to be captured quite poignantly in the advice that a 42-year old mother bestows to her two young daughers: "I see the intense pressure in our culture to be beautiful and sexy and thin, and I see so many women and girls who reject their bodies because they don't fit this mold. Try to remember that all of this is an illusion. It doesn't define you...You have been gifted with life in a body. Open your heart to the wonder of that" (page 46). _This Is Who I Am_ is a work of art, a reflection of contemporary society, and a catalyst for self acceptance. | ||
A great book all should read it. Being a semi retired photographer and a former medical tech. I say Ms. Olson hit the nail on the head. This book is an anthology of how women see them selfs and to awaken the people of the world that we all need to take time to appreciate our own bodies and when looking at others to look deeper than the surface and don't be so judgemental. The media has put pressure on both men and women that you must look like this or your not worth anything. I have photographed both men and women clad an unclad and unclud (nude) when they get comfortable the radiate which brings out the inner beauty. I would strongly suggest this book to people I know and anyone else that might ask. | ||
Wide appeal This is a lovely book that will appeal to many, especially to women aware of or working on body-image issues. The wide range of ages (up to age 95) and body types, as well as each woman's text that accompanies the photo, help create the wide appeal. A photographer-friend loved how well the photos capture the unique beauty of each woman. The short personal vignettes bring up wide-ranging body issues including self-esteem, health, strength, and outer vs inner beauty. When the book arrived, my daughter (age 21) and I (55) looked at it together. We both found it amazing. The photos are art-quality, and the book contains such good messages that I leave it on display in the living room. Rosanne Olson has provided a great service (to both women and men) by turning her insights about beauty into published reality. | ||
Real women, real beauty That model on the cover, Dana, could you ever believe that she has doubts about her loveliness? Her brief blurb about herself sounds far less than certain about the incredible beauty of a perfectly ordinary woman like her. That is a crime and a tragedy, one that this collection confronts directly. The models range from 19 to 95, with every decade between represented. Constance, age 80, peers back at the viewer with an elfin smile. Kia, at 37, stares off with a gaze that seems far older than her face and figure. Moods of the other models range in every direction. Emily, an archetype of blonde slederness, battles betrayal by her body as genetic lung disease takes its toll on her. Mothers and mothers-to-be bring children to the images they use to define themselves. Beautiful women from East Asian families talk about how they were too tall, or curvy, or tawny, or strong to be worth a second look back home - what a difference a continent makes! Beauty does not mean being pretty, although the two do appear together some times. Instead, it's about the varied and complicated lives people live, and about the figures and features from every corner of the human planet. It's about all of people's ages too. I wish all women happy loves in their lives, however long they live. For that to happen, the woman and the one who loves her must love her look at every age, and after every demand on her body. This book is really about loving all those looks. -- wiredweird | ||
Five stars aren't enough "I think if people are graceful and have some peace within them, then they are beautiful." Ellen, 52 (page 108) Rosanne Olsen's book, This Is Who I Am is an absolute must read.* The pages are filled with women, each beautiful and courageous, and their thoughts about bodies and beauty. Every woman's story resonates in me. "I could have written that." "That was me." "That is me." "Will that be me?" This book is a reflection of me. Of every woman. I have yet to meet a woman who is completely in love with herself, her body, her being. The women in Ms. Olsen's book are no different. And yet, their words are inspiring. Full of hope as they each strive for peace. While each woman's words echoed in me, the most profound statement which sums up the theme of this book came from Jami, a wise woman at 19, "Perfection is a myth." (page 69) Perfection most definitely is a myth. Beauty is found in the imperfections. In the wrinkles and cracks, scars and sags. It's in these "blemishes" that our uniqueness lies. Our uniqueness is what makes us beautiful. Each and every one of us. Rosanne Olsen celebrates this uniqueness in the pages of this book. Her skill with the camera captured each woman's soul with gentleness and respect. The women glowed from the pages, making their words come alive. I could hear each woman speak to me, through their eyes, their expressions, their body positions. I found myself talking to these women. To Rae Ellen, 59 (page 56), who described her attempts to lose weight over the years, I cried, "You're beautiful just as you are! Stop the dieting cycle. Stop the yoyo!" To LaRae, 25 (page 58), when I read, "Maybe I can inspire women everywhere to love themselves, no matter their size, naked or clothed," I shouted, "ROCK ON!" To Susan, 48 (page 86), who wrote "It frustrates me that this is a lifetime challenge: the tongue versus the chin, the taste buds versus the circumference of my thighs." I moaned, "No! I refuse to believe that it has to be that way. I refuse to believe that one has to choose deprivation to be healthy." The women in This Is Who I Am are powerful. Each is amazing. It is only fitting that Ms. Olsen chose to end this book with Maya Angelou's poem, "Phenomenal Woman." Each of these women are indeed phenomenal. I applaud their courage in showing themselves to the world - emotionally and physically. I applaud Rosanne Olsen for her bravery. For showing to the world that beauty is inside each and every one of us. | ||