This Woman’s Before-And-After Weight Loss Photos Are Goddamn Masterpieces

We can't decide what's more impressive: Beth Beard's 150-pound weight loss journey, or the incredibly creative before-and-after pictures that came of it.

According to Yahoo, Beard reached out to her friend Blake Morrow, a photographer, right before she underwent gastric bypass surgery about three years ago. Beard had an idea for a photo series — "The Beth Project" — that would compare her body before and after the operation, and Morrow was happy to help.

Neither Beard nor Morrow was a fan of the bland before-and-after photos that they usually saw, so they came up with a new idea: To use Photoshop to combine a shot of Beard before the surgery with a shot of her after the surgery into one image that emphasized "celebrating change," Yahoo reported. 

Right before Beard's surgery, Morrow took a dozen photos of her in various poses. Since they weren't sure what Beard would look like in the "after" shot, this stage of the process was a little challenging.

“Basically Beth had to project interacting with this ‘after’ self, not knowing what the results would be,” Morrow said in an interview with Yahoo Canada, adding that although Beard's theater background helped her know how to work the camera, this stage of the project forced her to get out of her comfort zone. 

“Some of the images are not flattering," he said. "In the ‘before,’ she has a lot of courage, letting us show this."

Two years passed, and when Beard reached a certain weight, she teamed up with Morrow again to complete the project. The finished photos are absolutely amazing (and hella inspiring). 

"I learned a lot about gastric bypass in the sense that ... I thought it was a quick fix, and had no idea," Morrow told Yahoo. "I have a lot of respect for it. I’m hoping that when people find out the gastric bypass part, they’re able to learn more about it somehow."

As for Beard, she said she hopes the project will promote body positivity.

"Body image and consciousness are such a divisive idea in our society," she told Cosmopolitan. "I'm hoping that images like 'Diva Beth' (above) show that people on both sides of the spectrum can love themselves."

Work it, Beth!