14 DAY TRIAL // Demi Lovato has a new album coming out on October 16, “Confident,” and she’s been promoting it heavily by pushing the message that beauty isn’t limited to a certain body type or size. The former Disney star has been very open in the past about her body image-related issues, but this time, she’s doing more than just talking the talk.
She’s also walking the walk, as she explains to Vanity Fair photographer Patrick Ecclesine. Because she seeks to empower her female fans and to show to the world just how “confident” she is, she came up with the idea of a photoshoot that would best convey this.
Demi Lovato bares all
It’s not uncommon for pop stars to do nude photoshoots (artsy or not) to promote a new project, but Demi’s for the latest edition of Vanity Fair is different. First of all, it was completely spontaneous, and secondly, it had only 3 rules that she wanted followed: no makeup, no clothes, and no retouching.
Ecclesine admits that the idea took him by surprise, especially since it came about during a conversation about the death of Demi’s great-grandfather, whom she regarded as a personal idol. The experience had taught Demi to seize the moment and live without regrets, because life’s too short for them.
“I’m about to launch an album that finally represents who I truly am. How do I embrace this new chapter in my life? How do I really walk the walk? What does it mean to be confident? It means letting go, being authentic, saying I don’t give a [expletive] and this is who I am,” she says. “I want to show the side of me that’s real, that’s liberated, that’s free. What if we do a photo shoot where it’s totally raw? Super-sexy, but no makeup, no fancy lighting, no retouching, and no clothing.”
Said and done: the series of portraits captures Demi that is vulnerable but strong because she’s embracing it and daring to show this side of herself to the world. It’s also strangely intimate, which will probably help fans relate even more to the message of the material included on “Confident.”
A long history with body image-related issues
In a video posted on the VF website (where you will also find the entire series of portraits), Demi admits that she too was surprised by the idea of doing this photoshoot.
She would have never imagined that she’d have the guts to suggest it back in the day when she was dealing with severe body image-related issues and emotional problems, which forced her to go on hiatus and to rehab for many months.
Still, she says, she went from “hating every inch of [her] body” to embracing her figure, and the journey has not been an easy one. This photoshoot was her way of showing that she was finally happy with who she was, happy in her own skin.