Angelika Buettner Celebrates Ageless Beauty
Jeanane Bernstein from KUCI radio station, CA 88.9 FM, and her inspiring conversations “Get the Funk Out” speaks with Angelika Buettner about I AM — Celebrating the Perfect Imperfect
Click here to listen to Jeanane’s podcast with Angelika.
What is age anyway?
We are all ageless spiritual beings continuing to explore and celebrate our shared journeys.
In I AM – Celebrating the Perfect Imperfect, photographer Angelika Buettner celebrates ageless beauty through the voices of 121 women between the ages of 40 and 99. The beautiful photography book pairs nude photography of the women with essays, quotes and poems that depict their powerful stories. To challenge the stereotypes of beauty and age, Angelika uses her camera as a therapeutic tool and instrument of social commentary, and in doing so, she encourages women to embrace their femininity.
The book features portraits of strong women who dare to step out of their comfort zone. One of the profiles is around Chiara D’Agostino, who is photographed on pages next to her emotional personal story about her journey of self-love as a result of her battles with breast cancer. “Am I still a woman without breasts?” Chiara asks. “I’m the same person inside [without them], and I believe we shine from the inside out, so sexy and beautiful is how I feel about myself.”
Rather than creating another nude book where women are portrayed as sexual objects, Angelika’s vision was to empower women aged 40 and older to feel more visible. She found women from all walks of life and captured them in various urban and suburban settings, from shooting in icy snow and on the Manhattan Bridge, to taking photos on a roof, in the outdoors and more. None of the images have been retouched, and no makeup artist or stylist was involved. Contrary to her regular approach to photography, Angelika had no staff at the shoots for the book – she conducted one-on-one sessions to create a comfortable and intimate experience for each of the women.
“121 is the number of pictures I chose to develop for this book, but I will never stop taking these kinds of photos,” says Angelika. “I cherish the process of creating art from photographing the female body in all its ages, shapes and ethnicities. I hope this book serves as a reminder or wake-up call that we, as a society, need to create a more truthful world that places more value on women’s thoughts and feelings rather than on their outer appearances. We must all participate in creating a better, more loving and respectful world.”
Inspired by her own experiences of working in advertising and on beauty and fashion editorials in Paris, Angelika spent seven years developing the photography for the book. She started in Paris and completed the project after moving to the New York City area. By working on advertisements and editorials where older women were rarely the protagonists, Angelika realized that as a photographer, she can provide a platform for women to share their stories. In the process, Angelika not only created a beautiful book, but also a movement – a safe place for women to celebrate their imperfectly perfect selves.
To further enhance the discussion around ageless beauty, Angelika joined forces with Karen Williams, a model and advocate for “Empowered Aging,” to create a series of videos that bring the stories of the women featured in the I AM book to life. The series includes a total of 15 video interviews with the women, hosted and produced by Karen. Select previews are available on YouTube and IGTV, and the full series will be released on YouTube throughout 2020.
The final product of I AM is a cross generational collaboration that touches on universal issues, expanding the definition of beauty for future generations and for all women and men to understand.