The following is an account of the development of The Century Project as told by its creator, Frank Cordelle.

Antecedents. Photography changed the world during the 1960s. Suddenly a camera became a powerful tool for sociopolitical progress. This inspired me to shun my biochemist lab coat and pick up my camera again. A little later, I spent parts of several summers photographing the physically handicapped at track and field meets. After looking at some pictures I took at a wheelchair sports event, a friend remarked, “These are real people.” Through my photographs she was able to satisfy her normal human curiosity about handicapped bodies and look beyond them to make direct eye contact for the first time with the persons she saw before her.

Women. The idea for The Century Project stemmed also from my memories of a spa in Germany. Clearly, the relaxed acceptance of their bodies by people in certain European countries is a whole lot healthier than our own puritanical, Victorian hang-ups towards our very physical essence. It’s not much of a stretch to conclude that our taboo-laden, guilt-ridden attitudes towards naked bodies are among the reasons why our society has so much sexual obsession, pornography, abuse, violence, and dysfunction.

The age range. While the biological continuum is an important part of The Century Project and provides a vital framework for other issues, this is much more than a mere chronicle. As a biological scientist, I had been fascinated by the whole process of development, maturation, and aging. In a real sense, that provided the framework for The Century Project, the notion of showing more or less the complete human life cycle, using that as a context to explore other socially relevant areas.

The young and the old. Naked children are a taboo for North Americans. Conversely, we are not culturally interested in looking at older bodies, because they’re not perceived as sexy. Emotional situations, like rape and abuse, are considered off limits because of their very nature. A single-breasted woman is mutilated, grotesque, says our society. But they’re not!

The result. By its very nature, nude portraiture involves a degree of intimacy. This often extends beyond the mere fact of disrobing, into opening up and talking about personal issues. It has been noted many times that all photographs are really a picture of the relationship between two people. While my presence is unavoidable, I want you to see and learn something about the woman in front of the camera, less so the guy in back of it!