Empowerment photographer helps Winnipeg millennials see bodies as beautiful

In an Exchange District photo studio, Jamie Newransky is wearing nothing but a bodysuit, a denim button-up shirt and her "thunder thighs" tattoo.

"Both my best friend and I were overweight in middle school and got teased for it. Thunder thighs was a really common one," the 36-year-old Winnipeg mom said. "My legs are the strongest part of my body, so we decided to harness that and get matching tattoos."

Winnipeg photographer helps people see all bodies as beautiful

8 years ago

Duration 1:04

Teri Hofford wants people in all shapes and sizes to feel proud of their bodies. She calls herself an empowerment photographer and does boudoir-style photo shoots.

Millennials have grown up immersed in technology, which has taken a toll on many Canadians' self-esteem.

• Selfie craze triggers surge in cosmetic procedures
• Hate seeing yourself in photos? Maybe it's time to take a selfie course

Young women feel immense pressure from social media to represent themselves in the best way possible online, according to a qualitative report called eGirls, eCitizens.

According to a study titled "Pretty and Just a Little Bit Sexy, I Guess," the ability to 'like' something online "means each image they post is judged by their peers, and certain images are more likely than others to receive positive attention."

Winnipeg photographer Teri Hofford, 33, is working to alleviate the pressure to be perfect.

"There are so many bigger things women can be doing than worrying about five pounds," she said.

Hofford calls herself an empowerment photographer and most of her clients are millennials. Her boudoir-style photo shoots are designed to help women like Newranksy accept and love their bodies.

"The biggest thing I've noticed from the people I talk to is insecurities are not something that happened in one day. It's something that's accumulated over years and years," she said. "So my job is to try and undo that a little bit at a time."

Along with her photography, Hofford created an eight-week body image boot camp — a place where women can talk through their insecurities.

"We have boot camps for weight loss, we have boot camps for nutrition … but you don't have support unless you go to an eating disorder clinic on how to talk about bodies," Hofford said.

Hofford, herself a millennial, thinks her generation craves the chance to talk about their insecurities without judgment.

"My mom doesn't really get why I do what I do, because it was a different conversation back then," she said. "But now we're in the digital age where you have selfies everywhere, and you have a bigger global community of people who are trying to [talk about healthy body image]."  

Critical thinking skills often 'shallow'

But this digital age has created a need for context. Matthew Johnson, director of education for Media Smarts, said media literacy has been part of Canadian school curriculums for 20 years, but that doesn't mean millennials are good at it.

"Our research has shown that young people's technology and critical thinking skills are often very shallow," Johnson said. "Growing up with computers doesn't mean you know how to use them in a sophisticated way, and it doesn't mean you know how to engage critically with the content on that computer."

One way to help children practice media literacy is by talking about it at home, which is what Newransky is doing.

With two daughters and a son, she said it's her responsibility to help them find peace with their bodies. That way, they might not have to deal with the confidence issues she fought through.

"I think a lot of plus women, and plus moms especially, try to make themselves invisible when photography comes in. We like to be behind the camera or we put kids in front of ourselves, and we tend to make ourselves disappear a little bit," Newransky said.

"Because we're so much more aware of our mental health and of our own ability to internalize things, the millennials' children have the chance to talk about it, and there's a constant dialogue there."