Nudes don't always get the respect they deserve. They're often seen as scandalous or even in poor taste, but if you're taking a photograph of yourself that you think is beautiful or deserving of being captured, more power to you. Of course, you have to be careful about who you're sending nudes to — and maybe it's a good rule of thumb to keep them to yourself or, at least, in the confines of a relationship. Still, those choices belong to individuals and vary from one person to the next.
Regardless, nudes aren't typically seen as fine art. But one woman is totally changing the conversation when it comes to nude selfies with a new business — and it's for an amazing cause. Maraid "Maz" Mcewan is a London-based artist pursuing her master's degree at the Royal College of Art, where she studies art and design. She was recently inspired to start drawing her friends in the buff as a source of inspiration while in lockdown. "The drawings gained a lot of traction and my friends told me how much this made them feel confident and empowered."
But Maz couldn't get the thought that not everyone feels safe in their own homes. There's where she got the idea to start a new business and donate the profits to victims of domestic abuse.
Maz told LittleThings that realizing how many people are in real danger during lockdown was jarring to her. "I had been struck by the news and statistics on the rise of domestic abuse during quarantine," she wrote in an email. So she decided to take her drawings to the next level by starting a business to not only raise awareness of the issue but raise funds, too.
She took her drawings to Instagram, where she started a page called lock.downladies. On it, she made a strange request — she asked people to send her their nude selfies. Of course, she made clear that her intentions were good. She'd turn the photos into drawings for the brave selfie-taker. Then, she'd donate the proceeds to Refuge, a UK-based organization that supports domestic abuse victims.
"Not everyone is safe during lockdown," she says of her efforts. It's an important reminder because while there are definitely unpleasant things about not being able to go the places we're used to going, there are many people, particularly women, who have much bigger concerns, and we simply can't forget about them. Maz is making sure that doesn't happen.
She says she's done over 100 drawings from the nudes she's received. And in addition to all of those donations, she also hopes that women feel empowered by their bodies at the same time. "In the digital age that we live in what better way is there to do that then taking back the ownership of our nudes?" she asks.
She makes an interesting point, too, saying that the scandalous nature surrounding nudes comes from the context in which they are usually sent. When they are shared in a public space without permission, she says those incidents can lead to "breaking down trust and illuminating them to be something wrong or branded as distasteful." Maz wants to flip the script completely. "I hope that @lockdownladies can rebuild that trust for women (and others) that your nude is not just a picture for desire or ridicule, but an appreciation of your body and the beauty of it," she says.
Maz does share some of the drawings on her Instagram page, but those are all shared with permission. Especially because creating that safe space for the "models" is so important to her. She's definitely succeeding in that aspect of her project, too. She says she's received nudes from people who say they had never taken one before.
"I think that's a beautiful thing," she says. "That these women have never felt comfortable to take a nude in the first place but LDL has given them the opportunity to do so."
Not only that, but the final products are downright beautiful and completely unique.
Maz says she can't wait to keep drawing, and we're guessing she won't have a shortage of inspiration. People seem genuinely excited about the project, and why wouldn't they be? It's empowering women in so many ways all at once.
The world is changing bit by bit every day. But Maz hopes her project will stick around for the long haul. "I am looking for this space to become as inclusive as possible to everyone, and hopefully progress even in a time when lockdown is over!" she says.
There have been so many tough parts about being home for weeks on end. Still, amazing business ventures with kindness at their root have been born from it, too. Lockdown Ladies is just one example of someone taking their passion and turning it into something beautiful at a time when the world needs all the good deeds it can get.
If you ever needed a reason to snap a nude, it might just be your moment.
