The SCARS Project is Highlighting Beauty In a Unique Way

Alberta-based photographer Lorna Dancey didn't have the SCARS Project in mind when she began taking photos of women. But in the course of photographing women for her other projects something dawned on her: the emotional baggage so many women were carrying when it came to their body-image were profound.

Through her two prior campaigns, the Mom Project and the Freckle Project – which themselves aimed to shift the negative narrative that surrounds women's self-esteem – she began to see a trend. "Almost every one of [the women I photographed] told me what they hated about themselves," Lorna told Allure. "It was disheartening because I didn't see any of what they mentioned. I saw their smile, their eyes, their faces light up, their heart and soul through my lens. I felt I needed to do something to show them what I saw."

To that end, the SCARS project is a series of photographs that feature women and their physical scars – sometimes from birth, sometimes from tragedy – and in doing so, aims to raise awareness about body diversity, and that "what we look like on the outside should not reflect who we are on the inside." Lorna said she wanted to inspire people not to judge others on their visible scars, or really any physical attributes that don't impact who a person really is. "We all have scars, some you can see and some you cannot, but when a person is teased for their physical scars, scars they already hate, that can bring someone down even more so. Words are powerful and can lift someone up or bring them down," she said. "I wanted people to realize what they say [has an impact], so why not impact someone in a positive way."

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Each of the women in the series has a moving backstory, and Lorna noted a few that she found to be the most profound: Reka is a woman in the series that had to jump from a 4-story building when her apartment was on fire. She was faced with the choice to either burn to death, or throw herself out a window. Jillian was born with a birth mark that required skin extenders for almost 8 years (she's 11 years old now). Despite being mocked for her whole life, Lorna says she remains "kind, sweet, gentle and fun."

Through the project, Lorna hopes that women begin to realize that the seemingly benign stares, comments and giggles hurt. She wants to inspire people to be more kind, thoughtful and understanding to help lift people who have already been through so much. "As an observer, you have no idea what people have been through or what more they can take," she said. For Lorna, beauty is more than just one thing. "It's vulnerability, strength and courage," she said. "It's being a kind and a caring person... It's the light that shines from within and you can see it on someone the moment they walk in the room and they draw you in because of it."

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