Showing Vulnerability

When I saw the details of October’s Sinful Sunday prompt, I recoiled! What?! Let someone else see an unedited picture of me? Entrust them with editing away all the bits that I don’t like and enhancing the bits that soothe my vanity rather than agitating my insecurities? Hell fucking no! I even wrote a thread about why I was noping out.

And then my lovely friend Little Switch Bitch gave me loads of reassurance and offered to edit a pic for me. Gulp. I took the plunge – careful to offer a photo that didn’t scare me too much in its original form.

LSB’s edit of a pic of me on my knees wearing a chain around my neck and looped between my legs

Don’t you think she did a stunning job? I do. I love how she has used shadowing to bring out the details of the chain, and enhance my brown skin (which I usually lighten for contrast, nothing to do with internalised racism, oh no, surely not…).

I’m massively grateful to LSB for reminding me that we all have body hangups which look worse to us than they do to others, and giving me the confidence to place my unfiltered pics into her skilful hands.

My editing always involves a lot of airbrushing and smoothing to soothe my hang ups about skin blemishes and freak hairs – it comes out as an idealised view of myself, which is why it kinda feels like ‘cheating’ to pretend it’s what I really look like.

My edits on photo of me  kneeling wearing chains - blue tinge and glamourised

I feel like I’ve made a tiny increment of progress in my own body positivity thanks to this challenge. Thanks again to LSB for your patience and kindness, and to Molly for prompting me into this little journey.


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18 thoughts on “Showing Vulnerability

  1. That’s a beautiful photo! Thanks for being brave and sharing.

  2. I was distracted at first glance, but upon review I like the chain a lot too. 🙂

  3. They are both lovely edits. I do love the warmth in LSBs version and well done for trusting someone else to edit it. I think it’s a massive step.
    Missy x

  4. The edit is my favorite! Love the use of color! A modern kinky MonaLisa!

  5. This post made me really happy to read. Love both of the edits and always love all your photos.

  6. It is a lovely photo, and both versions are beautiful. Well done for being brave. LSB has accentuated rather than altered and I love that.

  7. Before I saw who had edited this, I just *knew* it was LSB. She has done an utterly fab job but then she had a brilliant model to work with.

  8. I am so glad LSB reached out to you and you decided to trust in her. I LOVE her edit of your image and how it has picked out the detail of the chain and for some reason the shape of your mouth in that edit just catches my eye

    Molly

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