Meet Jenifer Fairchild | Nude Portrait Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jenifer Fairchild and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenifer, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
There were things in me wanting to come out that couldn’t be contained within the traditional ‘work-for-someone-else’ system.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve had a fascination with the camera, with ‘light writing’, since I was 3 and the moment I discovered what it was, was caught on videotape by my mother. I was immediately enthralled and instantly wanted my work to look like the work I saw in magazines, but because it didn’t, I became discouraged and gave up more than once. It always called me back, though, and I couldn’t stay away. The curiosity and desire was incessant. This eventually led to the purchase of a DSLR at the age of 20, and I haven’t really looked back since though there have been many detours, as slowly, I began to realize that the work that was calling me was going to require everything I had, and I would have to allow myself to surrender fully to life in order to embody it and embrace it. I wouldn’t have it any other way, of course, as that’s all anyone wants is to live a life of purpose and fulfillment, but I’m glad I didn’t know what hurdles would have to be crossed in order to get there, beforehand, as I’m not sure I could have faced it. How did I overcome the challenges? By accepting myself, my task, and this life fully, without reservation, and to surrender to flow, and the guidance of my higher self. For me, there was no other option, it was either this, or to leave this life, and because that wasn’t an option, I had no choice but to face my demons head one and recognize that I am actually a warrior, and that the fears of being who I am are the greatest illusions this life offers. In terms of the work I do and the project I’m growing, it first fell into my life very organically through a sort of fever dream in response to a deeper call I felt among women to come together and celebrate our bodies and how they naturally look in order to experience a sense of belonging that is lacking in our current media/marketing/magazine world. The response led to me photographing 160 women in 9 days, to their preferred level of nudity, so they could experience themselves being seen as a work of art and collectively recognize one another’s similarities, despite how society would have us view ourselves. What ended up happening, building this project as I was executing it, was something more special and beyond what I’d originally imagined for it, which was to not allow any woman that participated in a photoshoot to see her image until the reveal event, where over 300 people, the women and their community of people, gathered to view all 160 images, in person, for the first time, through a curated slideshow experience. The amount of healing that experience provided to us as a whole, to see ourselves and one another, and ourselves ~within~ another — through our shared humanity — was profound, and it ignited further the recognition that this was my path and purpose. The work culminated in a Fine Art Photobook, a 5 person team, and a plan to execute the project again, however, that event happened on March 6 2020, and one week later the world changed forever. It has taken me 5 years and a loss of every outer system of support, including the original team of people that brought the first one together, in order for me to realize that *I* had to be the one to believe in *myself* and that my own belief in this project was enough to bring it to life and see it through to it’s full realization. I’m currently in the process of organizing a 5 year Reunion/Relaunch for the project that will take place in Salt Lake City, UT — the home of the former project and my former home state — in order to catapult it into it’s next iteration, which will be to offer nude portraits to 100 people at a time through a 2 week traveling installation project, and to open the invitation to be photographed nude to all bodies, of all genders, all abilities, and all orientations. This Reunion/Relaunch installation will take place March 8th, in connection with International Women’s Day, and immediately after the conclusion of the project I will be embarking on a solo cross-country/cross-continental tour to spread the word about the project in the ‘old-fashioned’ way, through face to face, person to person, human to human connection in hopes of building a network to support it’s expansion. If you’re interested to learn more about my work and the project, you can visit my website at maywerise.com, and can offer your support through your business in the list of cities I’m planning to visit, by offering your time to volunteer for future installations, for employment as a photographer under the May We Rise umbrella to bring the project to more cities than I am individually able to to visit, or through financial support and ‘Travel Stipends’. Learning to see ourselves, accept ourselves, know ourselves, and love ourselves, learning to see one another as human first, and the role’s we all play, second, is, I think, the way we’ll bring profound change to our rapidly changing world, and navigate the current transition of humanity.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’ve been roaming this city for the past 4.5 years since I moved here, and my favorite haunts are mostly museums, hikes, and coffee shops: Lamill Coffee in Silverlake and Intellegentsia in Venice both have a great atmosphere, and I always seem to be able to focus and get work done. Le Cafe de le Plage in Santa Monica has the best beignets you’ll find anywhere, and their black vanilla ice cream (and all of their handmade ice creams, for that matter) should be deeply indulged in. I think Los Liones trailhead is the most beautiful hike in LA, lots of foliage makes it feel like a fairytale, and the views of the city at the top are worth the sweat. The Getty Museum really can’t be missed, all of the exhibitions are typically top notch, and the Italian/Renaissance section is my favorite. Otherwise, catching the sunset at Point Dume or Westward Beach in Malibu is a very ethereal and magical way to spend an evening.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family who’s supported me in all of my creative endeavors, Tessa Arneson of Maven District in Salt Lake City for seeing my vision and work when I couldn’t, the 160 women who participated in the first intimate portrait project without whom my life purpose wouldn’t have been realized, my mother.

Website: https://maywerise.com

Instagram: jenfairchild_world

Other: jenfairchild.com for personal long form nude portrait art sessions

Image Credits
All photos taken by me, copyright @jenFAIRCHILD Photography