MODEL / Hannah
PHOTOGRAPHY / JASON LEE
INTERVIEW – CHAPTER II
“[Modeling nude] is the most powerful thing to do.” – Hannah
Leading up to their final shoot together, Hannah and photographer Jason Lee take a moment to record a conversation about her experience overcoming personal battles post-sexual assault, and reclaim confidence through nude modeling. Explore themes of vulnerability, self-love, and societal perceptions in this compelling interview series. {Read Part One Here.}
Note: the first part of this entry talks about Jason’s Personal Spaces Project, which features photos of models at home in their own space, being naturally nude and doing whatever it is that strikes their mood. The photographer and model collaborate to capture a personal vibe and natural body energy in a relaxed, chill home space. The Personal Spaces Project explores the personality, mood, creativity and environment of each model. It is shot in high contrast black and white.
Hannah is a treasure. We have worked together on several occasions and on the drive out to our most recent shoot, I got to ask her a few questions and she agreed to allow me to record our conversation and share it. She wanted to share with me about how the experience of shooting nude with Genesis Modeling and Photography has helped her overcome personal battles following sexual abuse. It was a long conversation and so we’ll break it up into a few chapters. We talk about some heavy topics, so if that triggers you, be forewarned. Hannah and I were privileged to shoot together on multiple occasions and this interview is excerpted from an audio-recorded session.
Jason Lee
Here’s part two of our interview:
Personal Spaces and Standing Strong: Navigating Criticism After a Nude Shoot
Jason: Of the shoots that we’ve done so far, which ones were your favorites?
Hannah: I really like the Personal Spaces apartment shoot. And I liked the waterfall one. I liked the winter one too, but it was cold! Basically all of them!
Jason: How did it feel to be in your own personal space?
Hannah: In that environment? Yeah, I felt really good. I just felt very relaxed. I normally feel relaxed, but it was a different feeling.
Jason: You seem like you’re really able to relax and get into the moment.
Hannah: Yeah, it was a really cool experience. I’ve never done anything like that before. I love how we did the football helmet… and the flowers were so fun.
Jason: How would you contrast the Personal Spaces shoot with those we’ve done in nature?
Hannah: I dunno. Outdoor – is more… expressionist. I mean, indoor is expressionist as well, but I feel like outdoors is very, like “floaty.” In my house, I felt very, very, like, I guess, intimate. Intimate is the best way to describe that experience. I’m in my space, and I’m naked, and I’m embracing it right now. It’s so weird because normally, I never think about it. I’m thinking “I don’t usually do this. I mean, why don’t I do this more often, you know?” It was eye-opening. It helped me realize how comfortable you can really be in your space without having to wear clothes!
Jason: So talk to me more about – that feeling.
Hannah: It’s what I’d call comfortability and safety… very open… a feeling of love and acceptance in your own home. I think we criticize ourselves more when we’re in our own space – more so than we do out in public – because we don’t want to seem insecure around other people. But when you’re home alone… In that moment when we were together in my space, it was different. I did not feel any insecurity. I feel like I was in my own element as well. I didn’t really need to worry about anything. It felt like… well, it was a really good experience. I loved how we took concepts from around my place and using those elements.
Jason: Switching gears a little. How do you think nudity can be used to overcome trauma?
Hannah: Falling back in love with yourself! For sure. I think that’s the main thing. Because when you go through trauma, you start to waste away. It’s really easy to give up and be like, “Well, this is where my life is now.” Embracing nudity can help you bring back what you lost by being vulnerable again with yourself, putting yourself out there again. I think that’s the best step to actually get there. After you go through any sort of trauma, not just sexual abuse, also mental or physical trauma, reclaiming yourself is powerful.
Jason: If you had to put that into words, what would the steps be?
Hannah: You have to forgive yourself first. I think that’s the biggest step— forgiving yourself and realizing that every choice that you make has a cost. But you can’t control other people’s actions. You can only control your reaction. So you can either let things get to you and become a depressed, anxiety-ridden person, or you can take back your life and be like, “I will not let this define me.” I think forgiving yourself is probably the biggest step; loving yourself again is the next step as well. And definitely putting yourself back out there even though you’ve been hurt by people. Not everyone is out to hurt you. There are still good people out there.
Jason: So what do you do if you take that step to embrace nudity—you decide to do a nude photoshoot like you have—and then people in your circle come after you?
Hannah: Well, I don’t think that they’re really meant to be in your circle. If people can’t respect your choices and decisions, then they don’t really care about you. Unless your decisions are going to hurt you, if someone really loves you, they should respect you.
Jason: Something I run across more often than I would like is people who experience freedom and joy from doing this. And then a little time goes by, and somebody—a boyfriend, a parent, a boss, or really, anyone else—starts putting pressure on them or teasing them, bringing negativity.
Hannah: Uh-huh. Yeah, and it’s frustrating because you go into it with confidence, and you feel great about yourself. But then, suddenly, someone else’s opinion makes you second-guess everything. And it shouldn’t be that way.
Jason: And I’ve seen models who were so confident after a shoot, but then later they become totally afraid.
Hannah: Like the complete opposite of how they were when they first did it?
Jason: Yeah. I get messages like, “I know this was amazing and everything was awesome. I loved our photos, but these people are saying such-and-such… Can we take them down?” Because now they’re feeling that pressure externally.
Hannah: Mmhmm. And that’s the part that gets to me. Why do we let other people dictate how we feel about ourselves? They weren’t there. They didn’t experience that moment of self-acceptance. So why do their opinions carry so much weight?
Jason: I wrestle with what to do in that situation. Because I don’t want to just say, “Well, your friends are right.”
Hannah: Yeah, because they’re really not. They just project their own discomfort onto you. People act like nudity is this shocking thing, but really, it’s just a body. It only becomes controversial when people make it that way.
Jason: Right. And I feel like that’s exactly the kind of thing we’re speaking against—trying to push back against. Because whenever we shoot together, we have these great philosophical conversations.
Hannah: Mmhmm.
Jason: And we build that intimacy and trust. We make our mark. We take a stand.
Hannah: Mmhmm.
Jason: And then for someone to roll back on it—it’s like, okay, what do we do now?
Hannah: I think that really shows a lot of insecurity still inside them. And I think society puts a lot of pressure, especially on females. Like, guys can go to the beach and be shirtless, no problem. But if a woman does the same thing? Suddenly, she’s being “indecent.” That double standard is exhausting.
Jason: Yeah.
Hannah: If you show your body, people assume you’re asking for attention, or that you’re in sex work. It sucks. But that’s how a lot of people view nudity. In order for it to change, we just have to keep fighting for it. I do think people are starting to come around, though. Personally, I see nudity being more normalized, at least in my social circles. But again, a lot of it is still sexualized, and that’s the problem. People struggle to separate nudity from sex.
Jason: That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot too—how much of this is because we’ve been conditioned to see bodies in only one way? If we were exposed to non-sexual nudity more often, do you think that would change how people react?
Hannah: Absolutely. I mean, look at cultures where nudity is normal. They don’t have the same obsession with it that we do. It’s just part of life. But here? We’re bombarded with the idea that nudity equals sex, and that mindset is hard to break.
Jason: It’s frustrating because I see so many people go through this cycle—first, feeling empowered, then feeling ashamed because of outside judgment. And that’s what I want to change. I don’t want people to feel like they have to hide from something that made them feel strong in the first place.
Hannah: Exactly! It should be about your own experience, not what other people think. If it made you feel free, powerful, and beautiful in that moment, then that’s what matters. People will always have opinions, but at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to live with yourself. And I’d rather live with confidence than regret.
Jason: Anything else you want to say?
Hannah: Well, I want to speak to people considering a nude shoot. First of all, you’re my favorite photographer. I definitely feel super safe and very comfortable with you. And I know that it’s not anything remotely sexual when it comes to nudity. It’s just loving yourself and experiencing and expressing who you are as a person through your body without clothes. So I just enjoy the comfortability and safeness; and that you allow me to work in an artistic way that’s safe and comfortable.
Hannah: Now, for readers who are thinking about doing a nude shoot and you’re scared, because I definitely was terrified my first time! Just remember, it’s about you, it’s not about anything else. It’s about expressing yourself and loving yourself again, finding that comfort within yourself and being vulnerable again for the first time. It’s really empowering when you can look at yourself naked and be like, “Wow, I love that.” You’re not scared of how you look or how other people will see you. It’s definitely an empowering thing, and you should just go for it. Don’t let anxiety get in the way of things in your life.
Jason: Thanks, Hannah. You’re amazing!
