Sheffield photoshoot aims to break 'stigma around stomas' with beautiful images

The photoshoot, inspired by the Boots body confidence campaign, Be Real, took place with ten women with stomas to raise money for Colostomy UK.

A stoma is an opening in the abdomen that is connected to the digested or urinary system to allow waste to exit the body into a pouch attached. More than 100,000 people in the UK have a stoma.

Through participating in the photoshoot, Elizabeth Askam, from Walkley, hoped to inspire body confidence among people who have stomas.

Elizabeth said: “As a group the idea is to show fellow ostomates that we are still beautiful. I think that it is definitely quite taboo. “People don’t want to talk about poo but everybody does it, we just do it in a different way."

Elizabeth, aged 29, hopes that the photoshoot will help address some misconceptions about stomas.

She added: “A lot of people assume that it only happens to older people. But some people are born and need to have a stoma, some people get ill like I did, some people get cancer.

"Having a stoma has had a big impact on me. The life I led when I got ill, you couldn’t call it a life. I am living my best life now and I am so grateful I had it done.”

Elizabeth is in an online support group of thousands of people who are living with stomas, and says that is has helped to connect her with people who understand what she is going through.

She added: "The support group is amazing - it is easier if you have people around you who are walking in your shoes. The support from the NHS and the stoma nurses has been amazing too.”

A fundraiser has been set up by Jody Baker, who is also involved in the photoshoot and has so far raised over £600. Jody said: “I am trying to break the stigma around stomas, we are all beautiful, we are all different and we should be able to talk about them more openly. Let’s let the world see us without feeling as though we should hide it.”