We all have butts. But no two butts look the same.
Which is why Montreal-based artists Emilie Mercier and Frédérique Marseille founded 1001 Fesses — which is French for 1001 Butts.
Their mission? To showcase the wonderful array of backsides in the world, and to challenge traditional notions of beauty.
The pair started documenting butts in Quebec, and have since taken photos of volunteers in Mexico, Cuba, Switzerland, Malaysia, and the US.
They photograph all the butts themselves — using film — which is part of the magic.
As great as the photos are, the pair say it's the conversations they have with their subjects leading up to the photo that's actually the most important part of the process.
"We talk, we laugh, we learn to know this woman who is willing to unveil her body to our camera and to herself through images that will be developed only a few days or weeks later," they said.
"This whole process feels like a female ritual, bringing unknown women together in a safe and authentic environment, to chitchat about girl stuff and feel better about ourselves," they continued.
And sharing the photos with their subjects can often be transformative. "Sadly, most of the models have a first impression that they are ugly. But they love the pictures anyways...and slowly, most of them start seeing their beauty. We receive a lot of emails and calls from the models after a while, saying it helped them feel good about themselves."
Mercier and Marseille are always looking for new models, so if you're feeling brave and want to bare your butt to the world, you can volunteer here.
