“I’m heinously bored with the sexualisation of nudity!” Julia SH emerges from behind her Canon and glares at me. We’re in the middle of our body positive photoshoot in a Downtown Los Angeles studio and, as always when I shoot with the Swedish-born photographer and artist, I understand exactly why models are lining up to work with her.
“The attitude to nakedness in the US and much of the world is unhealthy”, continues Julia, who studied at Central St Martins and The Slade in London, before settling in LA. “We’re conditioned to evaluate every naked body we see as either a potential sexual partner or rival. But we’re not even making our own evaluations! They’re based on what society currently dictates to be attractive, be that big boobs, small boobs; big butt, small butt; curvy, skinny.”
Having been a teen model and actor, Julia is no stranger to the pressures placed on women. “There’s a lot of beauty fascism out there. People might think it’s got better because of the plus-size industry, but there’s an equal amount of hypocrisy going on there.