A Letter To My Body - Community Engagement & Photography

A Letter To My Body
Martina Maya-Callen
Growing up, I never saw women loving, celebrating their bodies, or even just feeling at home in their bodies. I only heard whispers of crash diets and workout plans to shrink, change, or someday reach being beautiful. The world taught me that to exist in my body, I had to edit it first. As a queer Latina, a sexual assault survivor, and an eating disorder warrior, I spent years feeling like my body was an unfinished canvas, never worthy of display.
"A Letter To My Body" is an act of reclamation—a weaving together of words and imagery to transform the way we see ourselves. This series merges intimate writing workshops and individualized photoshoots, offering space to honor, soften, and witness our bodies without shame.
Through the writing process, participants craft letters to their bodies—love notes, apologies, offerings of tenderness. It is a ritual of becoming, of seeing oneself not as something to fix, but as something whole.
In the photographic sessions, no body is altered, no shape redefined—only honored. Every curve, scar, and shadow is an unspoken verse in a poem of existence. These photoshoots are for empowerment and to help people feel their own bodies are safe spaces and deserve to be celebrated!
This program has been created directly to combat the unrealistic beauty standards and eating disorders, instead working to uplift body acceptance! The feedback from participants and the general audience has been overwhelmingly powerful, with people feeling the joy and celebrations of the people within the images!