lifestyle

The photos that take something "disgusting" and make it beautiful.

 

You’ll never guess what these photos are made of…

Welcome to Mamamia’s art endeavour, the Voulez-Vous Project. Every week we celebrate emerging artists, designers, illustrators, creators and cats who dress like their owners (not joking). Our aim: to help the internet become a slightly more beautiful, captivating, or thought-provoking place by making art accessible.

To find out more about the Voulez-Vous project, click here. Click here to see all the previous Voulez-Vous posts.

If you look at this picture, you’ll probably be as impressed as I was when I first saw it.

Can you guess what this photo is made of? Designer, Jen Lewis. Photographer, Rob Lewis.

You may be thinking how incredible the effect is, how nice the colours and the patterns are. You may be wondering what this artwork would look like hanging up in your lounge room.

But you might want to hold off on that when I tell you what these photos are made from…

Blood. Period blood, if we want to be specific.

Created by designer/photographer duo Jen and Rob Lewis, their aim is to remove the stigma surrounding periods and have them be seen as the natural thing that they are.

“It is a natural, messy but beautiful part of life,” Jen and Rob’s website states.

A photo from the Beauty in Blood photo series. Designer, Jen Lewis. Photographer, Rob Lewis.

“Just because it is not a shared experience doesn’t mean it needs to be a divisive topic that aids in gender inequity. Beauty in Blood asserts that menstruation needs to be seen to help normalise the female body and to acknowledge this part of the female experience by inviting the viewer to take a closer look and reflect on their personal gut reactions to the subject of ‘menstruation’.”

Oh, and the best part of all this? Jen, who calls herself ‘Menstrual Designer’, signs off her emails saying “all the bloody best”. Amazing.

For more on the series, you can visit their website by clicking here.

Click through the gallery below for the entire series.

Want more from Voulez-Vous? 

Cats dressed exactly like their owners must be part of your life immediately.

The harrowing emotional and physical scars of people who are affected by gun violence.

Jack Daly takes one thing about people and focuses his photographs on that alone.

Do you know an artist (or are YOU an artist) who creates beautiful or thought-provoking work and whom you think should be featured on Mamamia’s Voulez-Vous Project? Send an email to caitlin.stower@mamamia.com.au.