Every butt has a story to tell. Here are 1,001 of them

Émilie Mercier and Frédérique Marseille have been friends since they were teenagers. They're also photographers, and they began their 1001 Fesses project together on Facebook in 2014. It's been going on for six years now. What does that mean? To be concise, it means they've been photographing women's bums.

Even before 1001 Fesses began, Mercier was photographing the bodies of women. But as the friends spoke together, they realized that bums are a real source of insecurity. And their interest in taking pride in bums drove the project, which began as light in tone but eventually took on a more and more serious cast.

Watch the video:

Émilie Mercier and Frédérique Marseille's 1001 Fesses

5 years ago

Duration 4:53

In their ongoing photography project, Émilie Mercier and Frédérique Marseille are telling powerful stories of women — through images of their bums. Flmmaker: Josiane Blanc

Everybody has a bum (even if you don't want to admit it). It's a body part that can allow you to pose anonymously. It means that in photographs, we only need see the shape. And the bum is a reference that's been ubiquitous in art since antiquity (yes, there are a lot of butts in Greek sculpture). So the goal of Mercier and Marseille's project became to present a diverse array of bodies, and a diverse array of stories.

After the duo began by photographing their friends and family, many women began to reach out to be part of the project. As they started working with more and more women, the encounters they had — learning the women's stories and hearing about their lives — took on as much weight as the photoshoots themselves.

In this video made by filmmaker Josiane Blanc, you'll see how the duo and their 1001 Fesses project have fought online censorship and had to find new ways to get their work to the public. You'll also hear the heartbreaking story of one of their subjects. And, let's face it — you're going to see a lot of butts.

Marseille and Mercier are now working on a book that will combine their pictures with writings inspired by the conversations they've had with the women they've met. You can keep up with them here.

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