UK body positivity activist Michelle Elman is making sure the world knows brown is beautiful, choreographing a Instagram photo shoot celebrating plus-size South Asian women.
Elman, who partnered with photographer Linda Blacker for the shoot, said she wanted to promote the visibility of body-diverse Asians in the public sphere.
"Plus size Asians exist and deserve representation, but are so often excluded from mainstream media," she wrote in an
"They deserve to be seen.
"Together, we created this photoshoot to support this important push for inclusivity for plus size Asians and ask for change in the industry!"
Elman reached out to bloggers and the Instagram community to find models of South and East Asian background for the shoot including Mina Kumari, Vanessa Sison, Simsimma Sandhu and Saalene Sivaprasad. Elman herself appears in the shoot (standing, centre).
The picture was celebrated online attracting more than 11,000 likes.
"I have no words for how much I love this! We really need this kind of representation and this is such a beautiful and powerful way to do it. Amazing job to everyone involved!" one user commented.
"As a plus size Asian myself I love seeing this issue being brought out into the mainstream," another Instagram user wrote in response to the picture.
Elman was pointed to critics who justified the lack of Asian representation in the UK on the basis of their minority status.
"Asians make up the largest ethnic minority in the U.K.," Elman told . "And the reason why it seems like such a small minority is exactly due to their underrepresentation and the fact that they aren’t seen as much in the media."
