"I want to empower people to be proud of what they have"

Hannah Martinig, 36, from Aylesbury wants to help empower people to love themselves for who they are.
Holly sat for the Hannah's pictures - which want people to celebrate the real them!Holly sat for the Hannah's pictures - which want people to celebrate the real them!
Holly sat for the Hannah's pictures - which want people to celebrate the real them!

Hannah, who works as a account manager is also a part time photographer.

Over the weekend she took photos of her friend Holly Miller. The idea was for her to bare all, to embrace perceived flaws and to show how beautiful people are naturally, normally.

Hannah, who sat for the body confidence shootHannah, who sat for the body confidence shoot
Hannah, who sat for the body confidence shoot
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She wants people to embrace themselves for who they are, and not compare themselves to others.

Hannah said: "Holly knew exactly what shots would work, she took direction amazingly and I think she looks absolutely stunning.

"I see no 'flaws', no ugliness, nothing she should be ashamed of. And that is my aim with these sessions; to show people how beautiful they are naturally, normally, effortlessly. This is Her. This is You. This is Me. Embrace your beauty; inside and out."

Hannah explained that she has always struggled with body confidence, but hit an all time low in 2016 and 'absolutely hated everything about herself'.

Body empowerment is the message of Hannah's photoshoot sessionsBody empowerment is the message of Hannah's photoshoot sessions
Body empowerment is the message of Hannah's photoshoot sessions
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Hannah said: "Last year I embarked on my fitness journey and started doing a lot of personal development

"There are so many people out there, not just women, who have no self confidence when it comes to their own body and we as a culture are obsessed with how we look and altering it to 'fit in' with what the media, Instagram influencers and society thinks is beautiful.

"I think this is very dangerous especially in age where teenage self harm, mental health issues and suicide are on the rise. We need to learn to love ourselves as we are and be proud of the journey our bodies have been on. I have a daughter who is 7 and the thought of her hating herself terrifies and saddens me.

"So I want to help people feel good about themselves."

Hannah has criticised a lot of contemporary body confidence photography sessions - as many of them still involve airbrushing and altering of final images to fit into what society deems 'more acceptable'.

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She added: "I refuse to do this. The only things I alter are colour balance and change some images to black and white. Nothing else. What comes out of the camera is the real person.

"And this is for people with any insecurity whether it be their shape, weight, skin colour, disfigurement, skin conditions, post baby effects, absolutely anything that the person having the session, feels is getting in the way of their self love."

Holly Miller, who sat for Hannah said: "I think the main ethos is on normalising the female form in the many different shapes it comes in.

"We both work in social media beauty and there is such a vast stream of filtered, unnatural images that have become the norm which has such a negative impact on women especially those who are postnatal and feeling most vulnerable.

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"It's all still in the very early stages - it started as a new concept for Hannah's photography business but it's grown legs and feels like the beginning of a movement."

To view more of Hannah's work,or to enquire about a 'body confidence' photoshoot, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/HannahMartinigPhotography/posts/