WATCH: Pop Star Demi Lovato Poses Nude To Overcome Body-Image Issues

Demi Lovato stripped down for an impromptu nude photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine this week, but the pop star had four conditions for the shoot – no makeup, no lighting, no retouching, and no clothing.

Renowned photographer Patrick Ecclesine happened to be in New York working on a piece about talent management firm Phillymack’s CEO Phil McIntyre when he met Lovato at a Greenwich hotel. Lovato’s great-grandfather had just passed away, and the pop star came up with an idea to help ease the pain:

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past day, it’s that life is too short,” Ecclesine recalled Lovato telling him.

“I’m about to launch an album that finally represents who I truly am. How do I embrace this new chapter in my life? How do I really walk the walk? What does it mean to be confident? It means letting go, being authentic, saying I don’t give a fuck and this is who I am. I want to show the side of me that’s real, that’s liberated, that’s free. What if we do a photo shoot where it’s totally raw? Super-sexy, but no makeup, no fancy lighting, no retouching, and no clothing. Let’s do it here, let’s do it now.”

In a video accompanying the photo shoot, Lovato explained that part of the reason she stripped down was to overcome body-image issues that have plagued her for years.

“I thought there was something incredible about the idea of no makeup whatsoever, no clothes and no retouching,” Lovato explained in the video. “I would have never thought that I would have ever got to a place in my life where I would feel comfortable doing that. It’s empowering me and it shows other women that you can get to a place where you can overcome the obstacles of body image issues and you can feel comfortable and confident in your skin.”

“I basically went from hating every single inch of my body to working on myself and trying to figure out ways to love myself and love the skin that I’m in,” the “Cool for the Summer” singer added. “I learned after working very hard on my spirituality and my soul and my body, I learned that you can get to a place where you love the skin that you’re in and I’m excited to share that with the world.”

Check out the full photo shoot here. Lovato’s new album, Confident, is due out October 16.