EMBRACE

Swedish mass media often stereotypes women of color as sexual and urban. They love to frame us as strong, cool, edgy, and somewhat cocky. Of course, these are empowering qualities, but that’s not all that we are.

In an attempt to reshape the Swedish perspective on the identity of women of color, I submitted this editorial to Krull. I used Hara the Label underwear and did not use a stylist or makeup artist.

Hara the Label is a sustainable underwear brand where every piece is made out of bamboo fabric and dyed with plants straight from Mother Earth. In natural and comfortable underwear, and without outside observers, this editorial is all about the natural humans in front of the lens.

Photographing these models as they naturally are, and not how society wants them to look, I aim to portray women of color in a space all about love … love for oneself, love of our bodies from every single angle, and love without the male gaze. This is a space where we are not expected to exist. Yet it is in this space that women of color belong the most.

Thanks Krull!

– Felicia Masalla