This powerful picture, captured by an onlooker in London, shows one incredibly brave woman inviting strangers to write and draw hearts on her body to promote positive body image. Jae West, the woman who stripped down to nothing but undergarments in the middle of London, is a positive body image activist. She put a blindfold on herself and stood with arms stretched out, with markers in both hands and asked people to draw hearts or write words on her bare and exposed skin to show their support of self-acceptance and self-love. She wrote her intentions on a white board and with doing so, revealed that she herself had previously struggled with an eating disorder, making her display even more powerful. This image that was captured shows that everyone should accept themselves just the way they are and love themselves for who they are and what they look like. What Jae West did, was very powerful in itself, but the pictures from it that went viral, had an even larger impact.  This picture is powerful, to be sure, but the actions of the surrounding people in the picture, isn't actually the most important part of the whole. It's what the viewers of this photograph, do with it that matters.

On this day in London, Jae West, took to the streets of London with a whiteboard and markers in hand. After writing her message on the whiteboard and setting it up for everyone to see, she started to remove her clothing. She continued until she was left with nothing on but undergarments. After she was left with nothing but undergarments on, she proceeded to put a black blindfold over here, as seen in the photograph. She stood blindfolded in the middle of London, unaware of what was happening around her. Slowly, onlookers started to come up to her and place hearts on her body, as seen in the picture. Spectators are placing hearts all over Jae’s body to show their support for self-acceptance. Jae choose the location of London because it is a very populated city, with a large population and a large tourist attraction. Everyday many people walk through the city of London, giving Jae a good reason to test out her experiment there, for many people to see.  

The hearts drawn all over Jae Wests body are a major symbol in this picture. They represent self-love and acceptance. The hearts drawn all over her body show that other people support Jae and what she is promoting and shows she is not alone in speaking out about this issue. Hearts all over the body are the biggest symbol in the picture because as they just appear as hearts, they have a deeper meaning in that other people feel the same way as she does and support the social experiment that she is doing and what she is trying to help others with.  

Another important feature of this photograph is the significance of her standing in nothing but undergarments. This goes with the whole theme of the picture, which is self-acceptance. For Jae to be standing in the middle of packed city, in nothing but undergarments, shows that she is comfortable in her own skin. She wants to send out a message to others to remind them that she as well should be comfortable in their own skin and love and accept themselves and their bodies. 

A notable thing about this photograph is the faces of the onlookers. A few people appear to be confused by what is going on here, but most everyone is smiling, showing their love and support for what Jae is doing. Both men and woman are watching and showing their support for self-acceptance, which is extremely important. It is important that I is both men and woman because it shows that both genders are affected by negative body image. Most people think that only girls can be affected by negative thoughts about their body, but males have those thoughts too, it is just often not as publicized. So the fact that both men and woman are watching, drawing hearts, and showing their support is a key component of this photograph. It is also important that there is a child in the picture too. Negative body image can start in children at a very young age, so the fact that young children are showing their support and love for positive body image as well, means that this can have a big impact on future generations to come, and it promotes positive body image early on. 

In doing this act of bravery, Jae West and photographers of this, intended to reach anyone struggling with body image and self-acceptance. In today’s world, many people struggle with these, as the media tries to portray what the “ideal” body type is. This image sends a powerful message that no matter what, you need to accept and love yourself. Key features of this picture make it even stronger, such as the blindfold, standing only in her undergarments, the location of this picture, and all of the hearts drawn all over her body. Seeing the over whelming amounts of hearts she has drawn all over her body shows the support the public is giving her and their support for self-acceptance. What Jae West did was brave and courageous of her, and had a huge impact, and not just in London. Photos of what she did and her story have gone viral and are found all over social media, in magazines, and on popular websites. This image really brings forward a powerful message about positive body image in a different way. 
