TITLE: SKIN (The Scars that Remind)

SKIN (The Scars that Remind) is a nude photographic series that exposes more than just flesh—it reveals the quiet, violent aftermath of chronic illness etched into every scar. Through stark black and white imagery, I bare my body completely, not for sensuality, but for truth. I strip away the layers society demands we wear to be acceptable, beautiful, whole. What remains is the raw, unfiltered evidence of survival.

Living with Hidradenitis Suppurativa means living with a body that turns against itself. It means open wounds, medical interventions, permanent scars—and the deep, unseen trauma that lingers long after the flare-ups fade. These photos are not retouched. They are not posed to please. They are a reckoning. Each frame captures me standing in full vulnerability, naked not just in form, but in grief, rage, and resilience.

There is no hiding in this project. I give the viewer no escape from what chronic illness looks like when it is not wrapped in bandages or cloaked in modesty. The nudity here is not erotic. It is defiant. It says: Look at what I have endured and still I stand. Look at the skin I live in, the skin I once hated, the skin I now honor by showing it exactly as it is.

SKIN (The Scars that Remind) is a love letter to the broken, the marked, the wounded—and a protest against a world that tells us we must be smooth, flawless, untouched to be worthy. My body tells another story. A story of fire and flesh, of pain and perseverance. A story that needed to be told in the barest form possible.

This is not just nudity. This is liberation. This is what survival looks like.

AUTHOR: Destineé Spruell (United States)

Destineé, known as “Your Favorite Shooter,” is a passionate creative director, photographer, and entrepreneur behind “Awaken Your Destineé” and “Just How Life Goes.” As a Black lesbian woman living with chronic illnesses like Hidradenitis Suppurativa and PASH Syndrome, she transforms pain into purpose. Through heartfelt storytelling, apparel, and advocacy, she empowers others, raises awareness, and creates safe spaces for healing and connection.