IN OUR SKIN PHOTO SERIES

Client: @WEARESTOOSH

This campaign was designed to shine a light on and combat cultural and social stigmas young women struggle with. We created an Instagram campaign giving space to young British woman to tell their stories of how and what they have been unfairly shamed for in the past. This photographic project uses controversial (to some) tightly framed images of these young women to highlight the focus of their story. Shot in a natural light studio and intentionally avoiding retouching, so as to capture the beauty of realism.

The campaign captured the interest of multiple media outlets including the Metro, Huffington Post & Grazia magazine who featured it, spreading it’s powerful message and growing Stoosh's following.

“I was born with albinism, a condition that reduces the amount of pigment in my skin. It makes me look incredibly pale even though I’m Nigerian. This affects my health slightly as my skin’s more sensitive to the sun and my eyes to the light. But the biggest struggle is the bullying.

I was bullied by everyone, from the moment I entered nursery all the way to college. But what’s berserk is that I got bullied by black people too, which is my own creed. Because in black culture, the whiter the better, expect when you’re too white. See, I’m too light to be considered black. It shows the madness in valuing skin colour.

In a way though, my skin’s a blessing in disguise. It has shown me everything I’m capable of withstanding and overcoming. It has let me know how strong I can be.

When I stopped trying to fit into moulds, stereotypes or assumptions, I stopped trying to please others. That gave me freedom. Freedom to be myself, to love me. Now, I embrace my body and how uniquely beautiful I am. I own my shade, I show my skin proudly. And, it’s funny, I now get Insta comments telling me how iconic I look.

If I’m doing modelling today, it’s for someone to see my pictures and be like, “Yes!” Because it resonates with them and what they’re going through. It’s goals.”

–– Joanné Dion

“Since I can remember, I’ve always seen my mum grow her body hair out. Always. She has bushes under her arms and even a big bush down there. It often came out of her bikini a little when she used to take us to the pool in the summer. I thought it was so beautiful. As a kid, it made me really excited about hitting puberty. I was looking forward to having hairs everywhere and looking like a real woman. I was like, “Bring on puberty!” It’s only when I started dating I realised it wasn’t a thing for everyone. Let’s just say I got some wild reactions from boys. I did contemplate shaving, but I told myself, “Put the razor down, girl. Why should they decide what you should do or not do with your body? Screw that. It’s my body, I dictate the rules.” Hairs on ladies are normal too, you know. I do sometimes get looks on the street and remarks and stuff. But it doesn’t faze me. And I feel what I’m doing is important. By rocking my hairs, I can show other girls they can do it too. You can do whatever you want, whatever makes you happy, hairs or no hairs.

Maybe I’m paving the way for more of us to be proud to grow it out. Imagine that!”

–– Tallula

“I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries at the age of 12. Which means I have more male sex hormone in my body than female sex hormone. And that has allowed me to grow this gorgeous beard.

At first, adjusting to the changes was hard. I was being horrendously bullied. I was skiving school a lot. But when I turned 16, when I hit my lowest point, I thought, “Why am I being punished? When my body is naturally growing like this, when I’ve done nothing wrong.” I made a stand that I was going to keep my beard and embrace her and celebrate her.

I decided to call my beard ‘her’ and I gave her a name as well, Sundari, which means beautiful. Because if you truly love someone you don’t call them ‘it’ or ‘that’. You wouldn’t say ‘it’ to your mum or ‘that’ to your best friend, so why would I turn around and call my beard ‘it’? Nah…

And, you know, there are amazing positives to having a beard. Other than looking buff with it. Thanks to her, I’m a lot more confident, a lot more resilient, a lot stronger. I can use my story to help those going through their trials. They can find inspiration in my voice and my stance in life. I’m here to challenge stereotypes, break down barriers in society. That’s why I was born this way. Fuck it if I don’t fit into society, I’m happy. And people should see that.”

–– Harnaam Kaur

“Growing up as the only African kid in primary school wasn’t easy. I was always considered the outsider, the odd one out.

One day, one of my classmates asked the teacher why I was brown when the rest of the class looked peach. That comment hit me so hard, I started using whitening lotion. But it didn’t take long for me to have mixed feelings about my decision. Using the lotion was like trying to be someone else and it just didn’t feel right. I thought, “This is not me. I am of complete African heritage and I should just own that.” That was a turning point.

Now I couldn’t be prouder of my skin tone. My striking melanin defines me. It makes me so unique, so distinct, I feel like I’m shining. People notice me when I enter the room. I stand out. It’s cool. I love my natural features and absolutely every inch of my body.

–– Desiree Dansa