I wanted this moment
On the way to the park I felt anxious about spending time with strangers from all walks of life, but it was that same diversity that created such a rich and fun space. The walk was full of stories and laughter; I felt welcomed and at ease, modesty gradually falls away and hang-ups get lost within this safe space. I end up feeling more confident in myself and in the bond that formed with these wonderful people, and always looking forward to coming back to this little moment where I feel freest.
Gaby
IG: @gabriela__garrido
SEPTEMBER 10, 2022
I had received earlier invitations to join the group photo sessions, but for some reason I could never make it. Third time was the charm.
I was very anxious, not about the photos themselves but about the trek; I hadn’t been to the Quebrada de Macul in a long time and didn’t know if my legs would be up to the challenge.
I had two special moments that day. The first was during the photo in the tree. I heard the girls’ voices: it’s cold, how do we climb up, people are coming, careful with our things, my butt hurts… until finally everyone was in position, there was a silence of concentration and the whole world vanished. I closed my eyes, hugged the tree and a little bird sang. No one else existed. We were one, together with the earth…
The other moment came later. We were ready for the photo and some people came by. We huddled behind the rock and the helpers; everyone was laughing and saying funny things to each other. For some reason I got a huge fit of laughter and couldn’t stop. I spent a long time trying to concentrate and not laugh, but it only got worse. So I gave in to the laughter, hoping not to ruin the photos or the vibe in the air. It was very special. Without knowing each other, we connected. I hope it happens again. Thank you for the experience.
Consuelo
IG: @ consusalas
Once again I meet Pralad at a defining moment of my life, where by shedding my clothes I completely free myself from prejudice, ties and the misconceptions of the world I live in.
Surrounding myself with powerful women, all vibrating at our highest frequency, will always be a gift I thank Pralad for.
Art transcends when it’s made from the depths of the soul, and that’s how I feel in each of these moments.
Thank you
Lili
Fear’s purpose is to sink into your bones and hurt from the depths of your soul, but what can cause it? It’s not an easy process to understand what makes me afraid. I only know that my body and mind prepare to function day by day and also to fight great battles, and here we are… fighting so that fear doesn’t take over me.
Sometimes I need a hug, or simply to curl up in the fetal position, think that all this will pass and cry to ease the sorrow or calm the anxiety, connecting with my mother’s womb, where I’d like to belong again.
Thank you for this session, Pralad and girls; it was a boost of energy for these intense weeks.
Maggie
IG: @maggie.barrales
I always wanted to take part in a project like this, and I’m infinitely grateful for the opportunity, Pralad.
It took a long time before I could calm my mind and enjoy the present moment, and yes… that was 10/09, the here and now. During those hours nothing mattered but me, my emotions and sensations, and yes! today I feel privileged to have been able to be selfish and give myself so much.
Sometimes you just have to let the part of you that wants to give up win.
Thank you, a thousand thanks.
Constanza
IG: @kona0610
Changes
Today, at 27, I’m discovering a new stage in my life, a stage full of changes.
It’s true that making changes is scary, but as the saying goes, every change is for the better.
I’m no longer afraid, I no longer feel repressed; today I can get naked in front of a group of women without fear of being judged, pointed at or humiliated.
I feel free, I feel good and above all, I feel loved.
Katya
IG: @k4ttyamichelle
What a beautiful experience this was! Ever since I discovered Pralad’s photography I’ve wanted to be in his photos, because I find what he captures through the camera incredible. Once I had the chance: Pralad was photographing two girls in a house’s swimming pool, I was only there to keep one of them company, and he invited me to join right then and there. It was all lovely, although back then nudity was a bit harder for me. This time, though, was different. I knew in advance I’d be taking part, this time with many more women, in a beautiful natural setting, so there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around that moment as it slowly approached.
The day came. I didn’t know how the experience would flow, since it was my first time in that whole context, and everything that happened was truly precious. I met awesome women, all aligned somehow so that the session would happen beautifully, while having a good time, getting through the cold moments with lots of laughter and stamina, laughing a lot too when we saw people coming and had to run to get dressed hahaha. A lovely complicity formed so that everything around this photo session turned out beautiful and super smooth.
Getting naked in front of so many people, without the taboo so often imposed on nudity and without feeling judged, was one of the best parts of this, I think. I loved feeling that free while enjoying this whole experience. I’m very grateful for this whole moment.
Mariana
IG: @mariahna_om
The word freedom had never been as meaningful as in these photos: free from prejudice, from fear, from nerves and above all from insecurities. Coming together with this group of wonderful people just to enjoy our existence in nature will always be an experience I remember with love.
Margareth
IG: @margarethfire
Perhaps the most complex process I’ve had to face has been accepting my body free of prejudices and accepted standards that decide what a “perfect” body is or isn’t. A constant struggle, even against an upbringing where you’re made to hate your body and want to fit a pattern you simply don’t fit, because we are all diverse and complex, from the physical and outer self to our very essence. And I’ve discovered in art that love for myself that empowers me in my figure and my story.
This is my first experience with more people, where vulnerability is at its maximum, and it’s precisely that vulnerability that makes you strong. Having nothing to hide, even in front of strangers, because there you are, face to face without clothes or prejudice, surrendered to the magic I was able to experience that day. I’m grateful for it, because in that vulnerability I discover my strength, my love for myself and my feelings about my story, through nothing but skin and freedom.
For me it was making way for the purest and most honest love I can have for myself.
Simply, thank you!
Coni
IG: @conitostyle
Like many of the girls here, I had wanted for a long time to do something as a group, with lots of girls, and what better than in nature itself. I remember asking Pralad to do a group shoot, and it happened. This was truly beautiful. I love the sisterhood that forms between women, not being ashamed to show ourselves, having each other’s backs in everything, enjoying and connecting with each other, even though for many it was the first time getting naked like this and meeting everyone. Honestly, I didn’t know anyone except Pralad and a few girls I’d seen in passing on Instagram, but I still loved it. I had a wonderful time; we laughed, we were cold, I fell about 20 times and ended up all bruised and scraped, but despite all that I’d do it again.
A kiss and a hug to all the girls who shared this wonderful experience with me, and as always my congratulations to the Chef (photographer) for making this happen <3.
Toti
IG: @avecestoti
Union
Union is not only strength.
Union is trust.
Union is empathy.
Union is waiting.
In union there is company, complicity and coexistence. An alliance or bond, permanent or
temporary. A connection that allows a fusion and, with it, moving forward.
In union there is variety. A diversity willing to blend and combine, to link together in a
purpose or goal.
And in that link, a pact. An agreement. An agreement of well-being. Of common well-being.
Union doesn’t only make strength.
Union builds, supports, welcomes, shelters and accepts.
Union gives refuge, protects and encourages.
Nathali
IG: @pecociraptor_
Happy to be writing here once again. This was my third session with Pralad and my first time in a group session. A totally new and wonderful experience. Sharing something as beautiful as nudity with so many women ♡ an act of love, revolution, empowerment and liberation.
Grateful to everyone who was there, getting naked, having each other’s backs and creating such a safe, comfortable, pleasant and nourishing space.
Thank you once again, universe, for filling me with powerful moments like this.
And of course, thank you Pralad for never ceasing to surprise with your immense talent, your support and your good vibes!
Berni
IG: @bern4sty
A place and a moment in the world
Nature and the body: what else in the world is more genuine, strong and vulnerable at the same time? May our bodies be looked at with love and respect, naturally; showing our bodies is just that, period! I’d had this experience pending for a long time, until everything flowed toward these waters and these women. I came alone, set 2 alarms to make sure I’d get there, and from meeting the first girls everything went well: “are you here for the ‘Pralad thing’?”, “you have ‘Pralad faces’”. Until everyone arrived, even the last one, who had to find us almost by instinct. The first photo was in the water, with no warning of how cold it was, but it was perfect for bonding as a group: girls, we can all do it, “hurry up, I can’t feel my feet!”, and the rest of the photos were as if we’d been posing as a group for ages. Just like magic, which is something you can’t explain but happens, when you’re among women, nature and the body are lived differently and trust becomes the atmosphere. Pralad is a pro, always up for it, and such a good partner; thank you for making this possible. May Pralad keep photographing us forever!
Xime
IG: @ximefuentesteger
In 2019 I had my first experience with Pralad in a group session, and it was a wonderful experience, in a place full of nature and tranquility, where there was no shame and no one to judge you for what you were doing, and I felt so free, even with women next to me I didn’t know.
It was very hard for me to find a time to take part again, and yesterday the opportunity came.
A while ago the anxiety came back, the kind that won’t let me be calm, that stirs me up and keeps me from doing many things. Yesterday, being out there, I felt anxious, but at the same time being in nature, hearing the river and being calm made me forget everything; the cold of the water and the warmth from the walk itself brought me into the present moment.
I needed that moment of connection with myself, with the place and with women who, like me, wanted to show themselves just as they are and wanted to feel free.
It’s an experience I’d repeat a thousand times, because it lets me be myself, without masks, and makes me feel comfortable with myself.
I’m grateful to Pralad for this moment, and to the girls who make all this work and turn into beautiful work.
Fran
IG: @luna_deprimavera
I once read that waiting doesn’t transform. On my skin, the ink reminds me: “and why not?” Life taught me that conditions are rarely ideal, that you have to play and live now, because sometimes the right moment, the way I’d like it, never comes.
I wanted this moment and kept putting it off. I was expecting a “better body” from myself, one I wouldn’t be ashamed to look at in photos or in the mirror. Many things happened, emotion was stronger, and my body asked for a pause. It changed, and not in the direction I expected.
I thought about holding back, I thought about hiding, I thought about continuing to wait for that moment when months of discipline would “allow” me the experience of the photos, as if my body weren’t already enough, as if it weren’t already the container and enabler of so many good experiences, as if it weren’t the constant evidence of my ability to keep going after so many difficulties.
If you want to know whether I like my body today, the answer is no; but if you want to know whether I love it, I’d tell you: deeply. The best part of not waiting, the most valuable thing about reminding myself “and why not?”, is that today I have a visual record, a reminder, of how I look, of daring and of everything I’ve been through.
This year I’ve enjoyed nature a lot. The Quebrada has been a recurring destination and a challenge for my body, my mind and my feelings. It’s absolutely meaningful that this was the place.
Then, the experience. Without many expectations or any idea of how each image would be built, or what the moment of taking off our clothes would be like, I just joined in, as if I knew what I was getting into. With a naturalness I only grasped after getting home, a “now without clothes” came, and that was it. That simple, that easy. There was no shame, no doubt, no judgment. The girls and Pralad just made me trust. Without realizing it, there I was, with my body, incredibly comfortable and surrounded by other women, very different from each other in shapes, colors, occupations and personalities, but all of us, in that instant, being art.
In the act of shedding my clothes, the noise in my head, and at times even the deep cold, I managed to connect with myself only in the present, in silence. There was nothing more than simply being, feeling immensely alive while I was still, with my eyes closed.
I’m grateful to my companions, to Pralad and to myself.
Evelyn
IG: @eveeeeeem
