Demi Lovato is being inspiring once again. The singer has made another powerful statement about body image in a emotionally open, nude photo shoot for Vanity Fair. The unretouched images, by photographer Patrick Ecclesine, are honest and powerful, and feature a makeup-free Lovato.
Lovato speaks about her decision to do the shoot in an accompanying video, where she discusses her own struggle with eating disorders. "I thought there was something incredible about the idea of no makeup whatsoever, no clothes, and no retouching," Lovato says. "I would have never thought that I would have ever gotten to place in my life where I could feel comfortable doing that. 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 in your skin."
In an essay, Ecclesine explains that Lovato's great-grandfather had died the day before the shoot, and that Lovato was "emotionally drained." Lovato came up with the concept, he writes.
According to Ecclesine, she said: “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.”
The resulting photos exude a combination of vulnerability and confidence. Confident also happens to be the name of Lovato's upcoming album, and right now she's embodying that word. You can see all of Ecclesine's photos over at Vanity Fair.