Bodies and Souls: The Century Project [Paperback]

This magnificent creation...No one encountering Century is likely
to forget it.

Cordelle's goal is to use photography as a vehicle for social
change.

Viewed in exhibitions by over 100,000 people across North
America---now a book! Frank Cordelle's work is an inspiring series of nude
photographic portraits accompanied by personal statements. The subjects are
more than 90 girls and women aged 0 to nearly 100 and of very diverse
shapes, sizes, and conditions. They also write powerfully about their
bodies and experiences.

A book turned down by American publishers is now published in
Canada and distributed everywhere. It should revolutionize America
nonetheless, as well as other English-speaking countries. And it could.

Bodies and Souls: The Century Project is a new book by the American
photographer Frank Cordelle. It is a chronological series of nude
photographic portraits of women from the moment of birth through nearly a
hundred years of age. The photographs are accompanied by statements,
usually written by the women themselves, and often extremely moving.

The book presents very diverse girls and women as they are, not as
projected in most popular culture! It focuses on body image and acceptance,
eating disorders, abuse, illness, recovery, growth, and aging.

The Century Project has been exhibited in public for 14 years. Tens of
thousands of viewers of all ages have honoured it with acclaim that few
artists ever receive. Here's a comment, from a woman who took in the
exhibition in 2000: "I never saw anything more compelling in my entire
life." Unusual? No. Typical!

The nudity in the book is essential for the urgent messages about life that
the people in it want to communicate. The USA and other countries harbour
groundless fears and harmful myths around bodies and nudity. This book
overturns those thoroughly.

Nothing like this has been done on such a scale or with so powerful an
effect. The photographer has been called "an amazing healer" and "a
photography genius." He has too much integrity to agree, but others will.

The war on the body stops here.

The Century Project is a chronological series of nude
photographic portraits of women from the moment of birth through almost a
hundred years of age.

While the biological continuum is an important part of the project and
provides a vital framework for other issues, this is much more than a mere
developmental chronicle. The photographs are accompanied by statements,
usually written by the participants themselves. These are often highly
personal and intensely moving. The combination of words and pictures has
proved to be very powerful.

Century is about real women in real bodies, not the caricatures in the
worlds of media and advertising. The subjects portrayed are not stars or
models. They span all age and body types, and have a rich variety of
experiences to draw upon and share.

The project has shown how art may bridge educational and therapeutic gaps,
and perhaps most importantly, may stimulate thought and discussion about
subjects that are often taboo in our culture, or sometimes too personal,
too painful.

For many of the women who participated in this project, the act of being
photographed nude has been an important growth experience, and occasionally
a therapeutic one as well. Men and women as viewers often respond to these
photographs in different, gender-specific ways, though there is certainly a
substantial commonality of experience as well.

The comments I hear most often from women have to do with the healing
impact of the photos. To be able to see others with all their
"imperfections," to share their laughter or their pain, to understand how
they have survived, and often simply to admire the way a person accepts who
she is: all this can be very empowering.

For men---who are often uncomfortable looking at pictures of nude women,
and who often have difficulty distinguishing between nudity and
sexuality---the impact of this collection of photographs has been largely
educational. They see women who are real human beings, as opposed to a
series of impersonal toys in a sexual (and frequently violent)
environment.

A primary goal of Century is to provide a healthy alternative to the way
women are represented in the media. The education of children and the
re-education of adults are equally important.

A gallery showing in Taos, New Mexico a few years ago provided two dramatic
examples of the impact Century may have. First, in the professional opinion
of a therapist there, one woman's life was saved as a direct result of some
connections she made while viewing the exhibit. A second woman came to the
show with her therapist as part of the weekly work they were doing on
serious body image issues. After an hour in the gallery, she decided not to
have breast implants.

Century has been exhibited nationally in galleries and at universities,
usually at the invitation of staff therapists or women's studies faculty,
and normally with classroom or workshop discussion of the issues. It has
also appeared in churches and has been used extensively for group and
individual therapy by psychologists. It is even the subject of a woman's
doctoral thesis in psychology!

How likely is it for photographs and words of naked girls and
women to illuminate, even heal? How likely is it for a man to have made
those photos?

Tens of thousands of people have seen The Century Project exhibited and
been overwhelmed by it. They have laughed, they have cried. Some have
hurriedly left the exhibition space---and returned, with every friend and
family member they could find.

What are these girls and women doing here? They are exposed---but so are
we. What are they telling us? "See us and hear us, for our bodies and souls
are your revelation."

They eliminate any pretense, from viewers as well as themselves, by their
personal physical and emotional disarmament. That on its own defuses
concern over nudity. The nudity here does not suggest degradation or
immorality but embraces sincerity and valour. It represents both
vulnerability and strength.

The people in The Century Project may be funny or sad, placid or severe.
Many reveal calm or exulting spirits, refusing to be embarrassed about
their lives, refusing to be ashamed of their bodies.

On seeing The Century Project, some women contemplating breast augmentation
have suddenly and explicitly rejected it. Abused women have felt able for
the first time to talk about their issues. Older women have accepted their
radiant selves.

The Century Project has, in fact, saved lives.

And men? They may come to this work expecting salacious entertainment. Many
leave stunned by the honesty they see, the struggles and triumphs of lives
they might never imagine.

This book is haunting and provocative, deeply so. No one encountering The
Century Project is likely to forget it. So confront it in your own way, and
be challenged, even shocked---into recognition and resolve.

From well beyond these pages, the people in them direct us to peace and
hope, to life in its transcendent dignity. The Century Project is
ultimately about the indomitable human spirit. Trust women to reveal
it---and an astounding artist to present it, and unbind us all.

"I never saw anything more compelling in my entire life."

So wrote one woman on seeing The Century Project in 2000. In the project's
exhibitions across North America, it has earned high praise indeed:

"You are an unbelievably brave man. THANK YOU---so, so much. I work with
teen girls who are struggling with eating disorders, self injury, sexual
abuse history, drug addiction, physical abuse---you name it---and what I
really want to do now more than anything is to magically
transport them all here and just watch them see your exhibit. Just sit and
watch. Thank you."

"I think you should have the boxes of tissues start earlier in the exhibit.
;) I don't cry. Well, I do, but not in public. But I did. There are no
words to describe this, yet I still have to try and tell you how this may
be the most incredible exhibit I will ever see in my life. You present a
STRENGTH to women, even during/after some of their weakest times. This I
will never forget."

"We have a brief time in this life, and it is the rare individual who
breaks out of the day to day and moves to add something beautiful, strong,
and curative to life. You have done a great thing."

"I came expecting to be uncomfortable. What right had you, a man, to try
and help women understand their bodies? I left in awe. Thank you."

"This is the most moving art exhibit I have ever seen. I was not expecting
to sit down to write with tears in my eyes..."

"Something not many college kids are exposed to: nudity without sex. I hope
it opens their eyes."

"Best use of a camera I've ever seen."

"At first, it was strange to see women of all ages, physiques, and
backgrounds fully naked--nothing protecting them from the world. As I went
around the room, the nudity became less and less important. The
personalities of the women became what stood out most. I felt my
countenance change as I moved from one picture to the next. This exhibit
made me think how it really is our inside that makes us who we are, not our
outside."

Frank Cordelle has been working on The Century Project for
nearly 25 years, and has been a commercial photographer for even longer.
His clients have included magazines (Life, Newsweek, and dozens of others),
ad agencies, and companies/organizations producing their own media. He
built and operated a studio in Bennington, New Hampshire, and has travelled
widely on assignment around the USA as well as to Mexico and Guatemala. He
now resides in Oakland, California.

At first I was completely against doing the photos. I don't like
my body. I'm not at all comfortable with it either. My breasts are very
large and the first thing people notice. My
back bothers me constantly. I've thought about a reduction, but being only
15, the doctors won't touch me.

I sometimes feel unnoticed, but when I get attention, I get it because of
my breasts. It makes me wonder if guys even look at my face or are
interested in getting to know me because of my personality. But you know
what? This is me. I'm not hiding any more. You can see me. If you don't
like what you see, don't look at me. I have enough insecurities where I
don't need any more from someone giving me a sarcastic comment.

I'm uncomfortable, and I'm pouring my heart out to people I don't even
know. Why? Because I know other girls feel the same. I'm not alone, I want
to help someone. I'm not a size 3, I probably never will be; as nice as it
would be, it's not me.

The Century Project has shown me so much. I've come so far with my
insecurities and I'm damn proud of myself. I am just another woman, growing
up with millions of thoughts going through my head. I'm taking a look at
society, seeing all the beautiful women. Seeing what's expected of women,
wanting it, but hating every second of it, and trying to learn to love
myself. Instead of trying to change who I am.

Kelsi, 15