Image courtesy of Chloe Sheppard
At only 20-years-old, Chloe Sheppard has established herself as an acclaimed photographer and zine-maker.
Sheppard was barely fifteen when she first started working seriously in the industry and has since been featured on Hunger TV and in Nylon Japan and i-D. She creates colourful images of dreamy teenage girls, often accompanied with scrawled lyrics from Lana Del Rey or King Krule.
For her latest zine Lust For Life, she snapped topless girls against a powder pink backdrop, covered with glitter. With unrealistic bodies being portrayed constantly in the media, Chloe understands the importance of empowerment through recognition of girls with ‘non-model’ bodies.
“I wanted to do a series where I shot several girls who had different body types and try to create more of ‘that’ representation,“ Chloe told The Basement. “Once I got the photos developed I started posting a couple on Instagram, and I’d get comments like ‘it’s so great to see a girl with a body like mine for once’ etc.”
“I wanted to do a series where I shot several girls who had different body types”
Chloe talked to Dazed about how girls from Page 3 made her feel insecure whilst growing up and Lust for Life is a response to that.
The zine perfectly encapsulates self-love and acceptance in a world where impossible body expectations reign all over social media. As girls reject the misogyny that appears in the mainstream press, empowerment through her photographic portrayal of real girls holds paramount importance.
Lust for Life is available to purchase online here.
All images courtesy of Chloe Sheppard.