The Latest From Sarit Photography: Interviews and Imagery

Back in November, I had the opportunity to photograph a group of yogis to help launch the Yoga and Body Image campaign for the Yoga and Body Image Coalition (check out the video from Funk Films HERE).

The coalition was birthed by Melanie Klein and Gigi Yogini after the release of Yoga and Body Image: 25 stories about Beauty, Bravery, and Loving Your Body, co-edited by Melanie Klein and Anna Guest-Jelley.

Images from the shoot were showcased in Mantra Magazine, Yoga Journal and countless others. And the tag line “This is what a yogi looks like” began flying through the ethers like wildfire. It felt good to be a part of something that had such inspired movement behind it. It also supported my long-standing advocacy for positive body talk in the media, my photography, and my own recovery.

It’s not uncommon to hear me talk candidly about body image, the overuse of photoshop, and our collective self-deprecation around the way we look and the way we perceive ourselves. It’s not uncommon for photographers to be asked to change anything from the breadth of one’s thighs, to the shape of ther eyes. Since picking up a camera, shifting this conversation has always been at the fore–even when I was shooting pinup–a world that thrives on hyper-real imagery.

Photographing yogis is more in line with my own ideologies but even within the confines of a “spiritual” community, delusion still reigns, supported by the shape-shifting industry we have to navigate. The Yoga & Body Image Coalition is a refreshing move out of this narrow way of thinking.

That said, I wanted to share this 2-part interview with me over at YBIC:

The Illusion of Perfection–Part One

Combatting Weapons of Mass Perfection–Part Two

We are simply enough, just the way we are.

Sarit Photography Stretches Out

Front cover image: 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics and Practice
© Sarit Rogers / sarit photography 2012

I know haven’t posted in what seems like a month of Sundays, but it’s not because there hasn’t been anything going on. If anything, I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had time to write. At least not when it comes to writing for myself.

My last entry honored my grandfather. A man whom I discovered I knew very little about. Turns out he also held the patent for the Ion engine. It’s all starting to make sense now: my penchant for nerdy things, electronics, and tech. Anyway, I digress. After his passing, I took a break from shooting and focused on nursing myself through the processes of grief–I had to honor the fact that processing grief isn’t always the time for creative endeavors.

A month or so ago, I got a call from my friend Melanie Klein asking me if I was interested in shooting the book cover for 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice, in which she was a contributor. That call from Melanie snapped me out of my fog and stoked my creative flame. It was exactly what I needed: a kick in the ass to work outside of the confines of my norm and dip my toes back in the pool of conceptual photography. Better yet, I was going to be photographing yogis: a population I already feel connected to. I found myself in a fantastic position: I was bringing some feminine energy into a field where most of the photographers are male. That initial flame of creativity became a roaring bonfire, with me producing a small series of yoga images in a short period of time. It was something I was honored to photograph while feeling naturally connected to my subjects and environments. I was finally back on track.

I photographed my friends Keri-Anne Telford, a yoga teacher at Exhale and burgeoning trapeze artist, and her husband, Joe O’Neill, who’s an incredible visual artist. I was honored that two of my images were chosen to grace the front and back covers of 21 CY, highlighting a new breed of yogis: unique and outside of the Yoga Journal box of perceived perfection. Now, that’s my kind of yoga imagery!

Back cover image: 21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice
© Sarit Rogers / sarit photography 2012

21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice is finally ready for you all to dive into! You can purchase it here or here. The book’s contributors are broad and thought-provoking and include Roseanne Harvey, Carol Horton, Tommy Rosen, Be Scofield, Melanie Klein, Frank Jude Boccio, Angela Jamison, Chelsea Roff, Matthew Remski, Michael Stone, Nathan Thompson, and Julian Walker. Needless to say, the content and contributors are mind-bending, proving yoga is so much more than a pretty pose. Get read to sink your teeth into something truly thought-provoking.

That said, there’s more new imagery to come, in the meantime, I’ve updated my website and given it an entirely new look and feel! Check it out.

Love and shutter clicks,

Sarit