You may have heard of The Beth Project, a pop culture-themed portrait series depicting a dramatic 150lb weight loss that went viral last month. The series features Toronto’s own Beth Beard interacting with campy versions of herself pre- and post-gastric bypass surgery. The slick images were shot and edited by fellow photographer and friend Blake Morrow (though her body was not retouched) and featured in the Contact Photography Exhibit at Vistek.
Having gone through my own physical transformation but still too shy to rock a red dress, I wanted to pick Beth’s brain on owning your sh*t. I was expecting to hear of a sad childhood and a life of limitation, but that was so not the case.
On childhood labels and habits
Beth describes herself as an active child who ate “too much of the good stuff” and was naturally larger framed. People labeled her as a “big girl” before she really was one and her family taught her to “eat everything on her plate,” even if she wasn’t hungry. At the same time, her “tough love” grandma was critical of her size, funding weird diets in her teens that didn’t stick.
On life adventures and datin
Having grown up all across Canada, including a long stint in the Yukon, Beth satisfied a yearning for travel and adventure by applying to various government-funded programs out of high school, because the odds were in her favour. She spent three years travelling across South America as a team leader for a theatre group.
“Did I hold back from doing things? No…I mean I might not have sat on certain chairs. Even now, folding chairs seem precarious to me.”
While a particularly painful breakup in her early 20s had Beth avoiding dating, she sees that as a separate issue. “I just want to find someone whose baggage goes along with mine, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m okay with that, too.” Beth believes a “knight in shining armour” is one that hasn’t been tested and cites the feminist fairy tale Petronella and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s A Blue Castle as favourite reads.
On committing to a lifestyle change and life after surgery
At her heaviest Beth weighed 330lbs and climbing the stairs was a challenge. In her late thirties, she chose gastric bypass surgery because she knew she couldn’t “yoyo out of it” and that it would force her to completely transform her lifestyle.
There are so many ways to talk yourself out of a scary change, including harsh judgments from others. I was curious whether Beth faced a similar stigma to those who elect for plastic surgery. Thankfully her friends and family were supportive and she felt zero shame around her decision. Physical change can be the tip of the iceberg in terms of mental shifts that need to take place. So did life change for Beth?
“I liked hanging out with me before and I like hanging out with me now. I can just do more things. I’m still awkward in social situations, but this is just easier and more fun.” (Side note: she’s not awkward at all.)
Over two years, Beth took up fun forms of exercise like cycle commuting and roller derby three times a week, while consuming much more protein. We still split churros at La Cubana in Roncey, so you know, everything in moderation.
On being Internet famous
After the series was rejected from several local galleries, Beth and Blake feared it wouldn’t resonate beyond family and friends. But when journalists around the world picked up the story from India to Brazil to Asia, things got real. “We were most popular on Buzzfeed for a week. I mean we beat #LipGate. It was wild,” she grins at the memory. “But no one is stopping me on the street or anything.”
So what was her favourite portrait? “I liked Frida Kahlo the best…her story of perseverance and the whole Latin American connection. It was the last image Blake sent me and I almost cried. He also hand lettered my favorite quote on the scroll.”
I couldn’t think of a more fitting ending: “I’m not a bit changed – not really. I’m only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME – back here – is just the same.” Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Check out Blake Morrow’s page to see more images from The Beth Project.
Vanessa Danielle emotionally eats blogs at www.daremytruth.com about matters of the mind and heart.
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