With all these nude and semi-nude selfies on social media featuring the perfect bikini bodies, artist Aleah Chapin thought she would show the world something different.
For her newest exhibition “Body / Being,” Chapin showcases honest nude portraits that explore gender and agings of the body. Inspired by the recent transition of her cousin, Qwill, the artist painted all types of different bodies, including both females and males, to show how similar we all really are in the end. “The whole point of [my current exhibit] is to show that we are all the same in the end, no matter if we are an 84-year-old man or a 30-year-old trans individual," said Chapin. "We all have struggles and experiences of being in a body, and if we could just focus on what we have in common instead of being afraid and judgmental of our differences, I think the world would be a much kinder place.”
More info: Body / Being | Aleah Chapin (h/t: attn)
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Yep, yep, see that look on her face? I KNOW what that look FEELS LIKE!
I like it! I haven't seen a lot of artists do portraits of trans guys like that!
Lots of people in the comments who seem shockingly confused by him being transgendered on a very basic level. On an unrelated note, I take this guy as an example of why you should think out tattoos before getting them. These ones are not very inspired.
there is nothing to be confused about. it is a female who have removed her breast. see Simple.
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why can't children see this? What's wrong with this? All they see our half naked models on magazine covers, the women posing in those pictures don't even look like they do in the magazine covers. And yet this is mature content and only 18-year-olds are supposed to see it? Oh no God for bid we teach our children to actually love themselves.
Beautifully done. The artist captured the raw emotions in his eyes perfectly. His strength is awe inspiring. It took an immense amount of courage to undress and stand while the artist painted him.
Ok he's a man all over except the private. So was he man to woman or woman to man? He looks like man to me. No judgement. Just curious.
I see scars on his chest so I'm guessing he was once a she. His breasts have been removed (masectomy) and he's taking hormones now to look masculine.
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This was a woman but decided to change. He is a male now but has not undergone sex reassignment apart from the breast.
You have good intentions, but that's not how we (trans people) typically describe being trans. He was not a woman at any point. He's a man regardless of genitalia, and regardless of what gender he was assigned at birth. He was likely assigned female at birth, but he was not a woman, he was always a man at heart.
Load More Replies... We should learn from children because they see the world as it is around them before sociaty destorys their reality and make them question themselves and more teenagers will get more and more depressed. the only reason transgender exist is because of depression. And teenagers who are not comfortable with who they are they will try to find the answer where ever they can. And sadly many come to the conclusion that they must have been born in the wrong body but that is not the case. They just need help with their depression but supporting their disillusion will not help anybody. We should help them be comfortable in the body they are born with.
"HE" is a she who has had surgery to remove the boobs. That is all. Sorry if I upset others, but yoou are still the same as you were born. thinking otherwise is a psychiatric condition and no physical surgery will change your original gender.
Did you know that some people who are born with the chromosomes that define being 'male' look exactly like women due to other genetic issues? They even have vaginas - although they can't get pregnant. So just because a person looks female on the outside, they could actually be male if you look at their chromosomes. Would you classify that person as a male or as a female?
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It is still natural if he was born this way, it is a very brave person to show everybody their body.
Please don't use the term "shemale". That, "he-she", "shim" and "tranny" are comparable to calling a gay man a "f****t" or a black person the n word.
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Beautiful work. Beautiful pallet. I love the life and energy in these portraits. You've painted the person and captured their spirit.
This is me in about ten years. I hope I have this kind of confidence that she exudes.
Pretty sure the point of this is not what anyone finds appealing but rather the truth behind the skin. That we are all the same. These people showed great trust in the artist to reveal themselves this way and by turning it into what you do or do not find appealing you are most likely missing the message. Im sorry for you in that aspect and hope you find the message with more thought.
Boobs and genitals are the only physical difference between males and females :) the rest is the same (a male can have a lot of female physical elements and vice versa)
Would love you to do a life size painting of me! Is there a way to have this done? My email is ajfjrbjb@yahoo.com
My only question is...why do most of these pictures reflect women? Why are we, as a society, so scared to present men the same amount as women in posts and stories such as this?
lots of them (not all) are a bit too grey for my taste...make it look like more sad that it really is. but the degree of details is great!
I never understood this idea of "what real people look like." It is inspiring to see portraits of people whose bodies are not in top shape or have not been photoshopped or have aged, but it's not nice to say that people who work out and eat healthily their whole lives are not "real people" just because we can't have their bodies. These double standards don't need to exist. This world should have tolerance for ALL types of bodies and if people worked hard for it we shouldn't make them feel bad about it by calling OTHER body types "real" and theirs not.
I don't think it is the "fit" people being targeted here. It's more those pictures broadcasted that are photoshopped within an inch of reality, no matter if it's selfies on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. or the media. What's wrong with a wrinkle, scar, uneven skin or the little imperfections each and everyone of us owns. In my opinion, nothing, yet it seems almost a crime in the media and on social platforms.
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Aleah chapin you are super amazing and thank you for helping me to live my imperfections even more. I would love for you to paint me lol!! Thank you once again :-D
I've seen myself in a few of the Pictures..glad to know I'm not alone.. but I think it is wonderful to see real people .. not retouched ! <3
I love her artwork and her inspired reason as to why she has done this art exhibit. She is right, we are all the same and not different. I love my curvy imperfections even more now thanks to this wonderfully unique and daring art work. Thank you.
For myself even when I was young and had a nice body I was very self conscious but only saw my beauty later, as this went on for years until even now at a low spot in my self esteem not in shape and in my late 50s and don't have an attractive body shape, I wish I had seen and enjoyed my youth and was not self conscious. So even though I at one time was a good looking woman I didn't see it then, I do now see that I wasted my life not being happy ever with my body. So when I see women of all ages and sizes with confidence I privately celebrate for them, because I have embraced the difference in people. It is important to me appreciate indivisualallity in all people.
Load More Replies... It takes a special kind of person to bare all like that. I am NOT one of those special people!
Not that people who work hard and take care of their bodies are any less "real" than the people in these photos. Unless youve had implants or plastic surgery... but a LOT of people use photoshop and programs like it to smooth out wrinkles and blemishes, alter the shape and color of their bodies, which makes their photos NOT the real them. Perhaps this artist didnt intend to mean that fit/in shape people are fake, but that a lot of these "perfect" looking photos that people post of themselves are fake. And the artist meant that these are REAL people because this is what unadulterated photos of these individuals look like? I could be wrong... of course.... but thats just my opinion...
I think these photos are beautiful it actually embrace the real human body not all that fake stuff plastic breats and plastic butt these pics are great I'd buy to put on my wall n my house
Can someone explain to me what exactly is beautiful about flabby old hairy bodies? By old I don't mean the peoples' ages, but the fact we all succumb to gravity, aging etc. Whether you believe that's down to nature or the fall (as in Christianity for example) is irrelevant really, but the effects are obvious. Perhaps you deal with the harsh reality as seeing beauty instead of flaws? Similar to the whole 'fat shaming' malarkey.
The beauty is in their courage. Their spirits shining through.Theyre reminding us that if we are only showed images of physical perfection, we forget how incredibly diverse humans are.Its reminding us that we all deserve to be comfortable in our skin and enjoy our bodies,whether we think they're perfect or not.Make sense now?
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Why do they include lots of beautiful cis women, cis men, and trans men, but zero trans women? Kind of odd.
Theres no hope in flesh.... Nakedness is the most outer face of death. We need to beautify our souls... which is eternal...
Made them a little too hairy. I don't know people that uniformly fuzzy.
Gosh the guy had no penis. I feel let down alittle bit. But over all beautiful photos of real people ❤
Absolutely an amazing artist, and in a world where so much "perceived perfection" is constantly put in front of us, it's refreshing to see a touch of reality. There is nothing ugly or disgusting here. It's just natural beauty. We all have it if anyone takes the time to look and find it. "Judge not, lest you be judged"
I feel these portraits are beautiful and real. Thank you for sharing them.
This is about one artist who has decided to show us what real woman with hair and different shapes and sizes ages and men look like, men beautiful art and capturing the human figure, I'm an artist myself and I'm not inhibited by a naked body cause at the end off the day we all have breasts, penis,vaginas with hair only difference is we are different shapes and sizes and ages and cultures. Great art and artist.
I really love this. As a human race, we all tend to forget that we have bodies that have more in common than not. I was wondering where the artist was from, because the 2 men that were portrayed here were circumcised. When I realized she was from the US, I understood. haha Hopefully routine infant circumcision will be done away with soon (percentages are going down).
I agree in that some poses are odd but it is nice to see different body types, as people wearing clothes sure can put on a different personna. Not saying that is bad just the way it is really. Kind of like a book with a cover. this may be a very different annalagy but a rock that looks different dry but when wet can look so different and pretty as the colors can show up that weren't seen as a dry rock. My thoughts, I know probably a lot of you who may read this won't understand my minds eye but it is OK because I understand that it is OK to be different and this is what this whole thing is about in the artist minds eye and it is okay.
I think anything that shows that people of all types can be beautiful is a good thing, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that these are anything but photos with a Photoshop filter over the top. Which, if that's the case, why not just showcase the actual photos of real people?
If I'm wrong and these are physical paintings, I apologize - it's hard to tell these days. (And I'm too lazy to do the legwork)
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This is the work of an extraordinarily talented artist! Simply beautiful!
It's amazing work...and the reality which all of us know but often denied in art...
I find the 2 paintings of the trans people are the only artistic ones because they bring a fresh concept to the nude painting genere. The rest is just nude peple without much interest. I don't like the paintings of the ladies playing lesbic games, not because of the lesbic topic but because it falls off the concept of the series. It is not clear what the message of the series is. It is disturbing in some cases, you jump from a deep touching concept to a bacchanal without reason, that simply makes you go "nope". I also don't understand the backgrounds or the situations... I assume the dry gray fields are a paraphrase of "being old" but again, why the artist wants to make me see the sadness of aging with a bacchic meeting as the main theme. And the title of the post is misleading... the people I know "real people" does not go to nude meetings to rub their titties against each other with expressions in their faces as if they had been smoking weed.
They don't look like real photos of everyday people to me,they have some kind of filter so the bodies skin looks old and damaged and the lighting creates negative effect,i've noticed that on the baby'skin too.People who train and are on a healthy diet can have great bodies,but,if they don't make their living by this,no one can live like this after a certain age,unless if we talk about rich people.So,I would ask for photos of good looking everyday people,the ones that don't have big blobs with tiny waist,or 6pack abs,the ones that have the appearance as it was given by nature.Too much edit in everything these days makes us ignore the natural beauty.
Not that people who work hard and take care of their bodies are any less "real" than the people in these photos. Unless youve had implants or plastic surgery... but a LOT of people use photoshop and programs like it to smooth out wrinkles and blemishes, alter the shape and color of their bodies, which makes their photos NOT the real them. Perhaps this artist didnt intend to mean that fit/in shape people are fake, but that a lot of these "perfect" looking photos that people post of themselves are fake. And the artist meant that these are REAL people because this is what unadulterated photos of these individuals look like? I could be wrong... of course.... but thats just my opinion.
out of 31 people, twenty-seven (ostensibly) cis women, two cis men, two trans men, zero trans women. I guess the artist doesn't associate trans-bodied women with "real people".
How do you work that out? What percentage of the population would be transferred? Is it a fair representation per capita?
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Go back to your Dolly magazine. There, all better?
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So.. all the other naked people aren't real? Pretty nice paintings tho.
Yes don't show the people who took and take care of themselves and got better bodies lets show the people who dont lol.
Am I the only one who noticed that the artist looks better than those she calls "real people"?
why are these all women or trangender men ? where are the men ? does the artist think that men don't need positive reinforcement about their bodies? only us women are crippled with self confidence issues?
Is she entitled to paint whatever the he'll takes her fancy?
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No black nudes or Asians. Not enough d***s? I guess those never existed during the renaissance huh?
Ö for god's sake! Why is everybody whinging about who was included and who wasn't and how many men and not enough transgender and not enough Asians??!! Let the woman paint whatever the hell she wants! She's brilliant! She's got off her phone and done something with her life! Has the world gone mad?
Load More Replies... My biggest issue was a lack of dramatic posing. I feel like we see a lot of modern art showing off "not conventionally attractive bodies" and what-not and I'm not opposed to that, but there was a lot of standing around in most of these, which I didn't find evocative. Also, I found the grey / blue in some pictures excessive, making the people look very corpse-like, which I don't get the impression was the intention for a picture of say, a mother holding her child!
I'm not big into photorealism, but these are beautiful. Congratulations on your show.
This is so good. But she has really seen a handful of naked old women hahaha. The art is that good.
"real" yet they're all cartoon. Fatties gotta feel better about themselves somehow, I guess.
lots of them (not all) are a bit too grey for my taste...make it look like more sad that it really is. but the degree of details is great!
I never understood this idea of "what real people look like." It is inspiring to see portraits of people whose bodies are not in top shape or have not been photoshopped or have aged, but it's not nice to say that people who work out and eat healthily their whole lives are not "real people" just because we can't have their bodies. These double standards don't need to exist. This world should have tolerance for ALL types of bodies and if people worked hard for it we shouldn't make them feel bad about it by calling OTHER body types "real" and theirs not.
I don't think it is the "fit" people being targeted here. It's more those pictures broadcasted that are photoshopped within an inch of reality, no matter if it's selfies on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. or the media. What's wrong with a wrinkle, scar, uneven skin or the little imperfections each and everyone of us owns. In my opinion, nothing, yet it seems almost a crime in the media and on social platforms.
Load More Replies... Aleah chapin you are super amazing and thank you for helping me to live my imperfections even more. I would love for you to paint me lol!! Thank you once again :-D
I've seen myself in a few of the Pictures..glad to know I'm not alone.. but I think it is wonderful to see real people .. not retouched ! <3
I love her artwork and her inspired reason as to why she has done this art exhibit. She is right, we are all the same and not different. I love my curvy imperfections even more now thanks to this wonderfully unique and daring art work. Thank you.
For myself even when I was young and had a nice body I was very self conscious but only saw my beauty later, as this went on for years until even now at a low spot in my self esteem not in shape and in my late 50s and don't have an attractive body shape, I wish I had seen and enjoyed my youth and was not self conscious. So even though I at one time was a good looking woman I didn't see it then, I do now see that I wasted my life not being happy ever with my body. So when I see women of all ages and sizes with confidence I privately celebrate for them, because I have embraced the difference in people. It is important to me appreciate indivisualallity in all people.
Load More Replies... It takes a special kind of person to bare all like that. I am NOT one of those special people!
Not that people who work hard and take care of their bodies are any less "real" than the people in these photos. Unless youve had implants or plastic surgery... but a LOT of people use photoshop and programs like it to smooth out wrinkles and blemishes, alter the shape and color of their bodies, which makes their photos NOT the real them. Perhaps this artist didnt intend to mean that fit/in shape people are fake, but that a lot of these "perfect" looking photos that people post of themselves are fake. And the artist meant that these are REAL people because this is what unadulterated photos of these individuals look like? I could be wrong... of course.... but thats just my opinion...
I think these photos are beautiful it actually embrace the real human body not all that fake stuff plastic breats and plastic butt these pics are great I'd buy to put on my wall n my house
Can someone explain to me what exactly is beautiful about flabby old hairy bodies? By old I don't mean the peoples' ages, but the fact we all succumb to gravity, aging etc. Whether you believe that's down to nature or the fall (as in Christianity for example) is irrelevant really, but the effects are obvious. Perhaps you deal with the harsh reality as seeing beauty instead of flaws? Similar to the whole 'fat shaming' malarkey.
The beauty is in their courage. Their spirits shining through.Theyre reminding us that if we are only showed images of physical perfection, we forget how incredibly diverse humans are.Its reminding us that we all deserve to be comfortable in our skin and enjoy our bodies,whether we think they're perfect or not.Make sense now?
Load More Replies... Why do they include lots of beautiful cis women, cis men, and trans men, but zero trans women? Kind of odd.
Theres no hope in flesh.... Nakedness is the most outer face of death. We need to beautify our souls... which is eternal...
Made them a little too hairy. I don't know people that uniformly fuzzy.
Gosh the guy had no penis. I feel let down alittle bit. But over all beautiful photos of real people ❤
Absolutely an amazing artist, and in a world where so much "perceived perfection" is constantly put in front of us, it's refreshing to see a touch of reality. There is nothing ugly or disgusting here. It's just natural beauty. We all have it if anyone takes the time to look and find it. "Judge not, lest you be judged"
I feel these portraits are beautiful and real. Thank you for sharing them.
This is about one artist who has decided to show us what real woman with hair and different shapes and sizes ages and men look like, men beautiful art and capturing the human figure, I'm an artist myself and I'm not inhibited by a naked body cause at the end off the day we all have breasts, penis,vaginas with hair only difference is we are different shapes and sizes and ages and cultures. Great art and artist.
I really love this. As a human race, we all tend to forget that we have bodies that have more in common than not. I was wondering where the artist was from, because the 2 men that were portrayed here were circumcised. When I realized she was from the US, I understood. haha Hopefully routine infant circumcision will be done away with soon (percentages are going down).
I agree in that some poses are odd but it is nice to see different body types, as people wearing clothes sure can put on a different personna. Not saying that is bad just the way it is really. Kind of like a book with a cover. this may be a very different annalagy but a rock that looks different dry but when wet can look so different and pretty as the colors can show up that weren't seen as a dry rock. My thoughts, I know probably a lot of you who may read this won't understand my minds eye but it is OK because I understand that it is OK to be different and this is what this whole thing is about in the artist minds eye and it is okay.
I think anything that shows that people of all types can be beautiful is a good thing, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that these are anything but photos with a Photoshop filter over the top. Which, if that's the case, why not just showcase the actual photos of real people?
If I'm wrong and these are physical paintings, I apologize - it's hard to tell these days. (And I'm too lazy to do the legwork)
Load More Replies... This is the work of an extraordinarily talented artist! Simply beautiful!
It's amazing work...and the reality which all of us know but often denied in art...
I find the 2 paintings of the trans people are the only artistic ones because they bring a fresh concept to the nude painting genere. The rest is just nude peple without much interest. I don't like the paintings of the ladies playing lesbic games, not because of the lesbic topic but because it falls off the concept of the series. It is not clear what the message of the series is. It is disturbing in some cases, you jump from a deep touching concept to a bacchanal without reason, that simply makes you go "nope". I also don't understand the backgrounds or the situations... I assume the dry gray fields are a paraphrase of "being old" but again, why the artist wants to make me see the sadness of aging with a bacchic meeting as the main theme. And the title of the post is misleading... the people I know "real people" does not go to nude meetings to rub their titties against each other with expressions in their faces as if they had been smoking weed.
They don't look like real photos of everyday people to me,they have some kind of filter so the bodies skin looks old and damaged and the lighting creates negative effect,i've noticed that on the baby'skin too.People who train and are on a healthy diet can have great bodies,but,if they don't make their living by this,no one can live like this after a certain age,unless if we talk about rich people.So,I would ask for photos of good looking everyday people,the ones that don't have big blobs with tiny waist,or 6pack abs,the ones that have the appearance as it was given by nature.Too much edit in everything these days makes us ignore the natural beauty.
Not that people who work hard and take care of their bodies are any less "real" than the people in these photos. Unless youve had implants or plastic surgery... but a LOT of people use photoshop and programs like it to smooth out wrinkles and blemishes, alter the shape and color of their bodies, which makes their photos NOT the real them. Perhaps this artist didnt intend to mean that fit/in shape people are fake, but that a lot of these "perfect" looking photos that people post of themselves are fake. And the artist meant that these are REAL people because this is what unadulterated photos of these individuals look like? I could be wrong... of course.... but thats just my opinion.
out of 31 people, twenty-seven (ostensibly) cis women, two cis men, two trans men, zero trans women. I guess the artist doesn't associate trans-bodied women with "real people".
How do you work that out? What percentage of the population would be transferred? Is it a fair representation per capita?
Load More Replies... Go back to your Dolly magazine. There, all better?
Load More Replies... So.. all the other naked people aren't real? Pretty nice paintings tho.
Yes don't show the people who took and take care of themselves and got better bodies lets show the people who dont lol.
Am I the only one who noticed that the artist looks better than those she calls "real people"?
why are these all women or trangender men ? where are the men ? does the artist think that men don't need positive reinforcement about their bodies? only us women are crippled with self confidence issues?
Is she entitled to paint whatever the he'll takes her fancy?
Load More Replies... No black nudes or Asians. Not enough d***s? I guess those never existed during the renaissance huh?
Ö for god's sake! Why is everybody whinging about who was included and who wasn't and how many men and not enough transgender and not enough Asians??!! Let the woman paint whatever the hell she wants! She's brilliant! She's got off her phone and done something with her life! Has the world gone mad?
Load More Replies... My biggest issue was a lack of dramatic posing. I feel like we see a lot of modern art showing off "not conventionally attractive bodies" and what-not and I'm not opposed to that, but there was a lot of standing around in most of these, which I didn't find evocative. Also, I found the grey / blue in some pictures excessive, making the people look very corpse-like, which I don't get the impression was the intention for a picture of say, a mother holding her child!
I'm not big into photorealism, but these are beautiful. Congratulations on your show.
This is so good. But she has really seen a handful of naked old women hahaha. The art is that good.
"real" yet they're all cartoon. Fatties gotta feel better about themselves somehow, I guess.
