Sequence/Narrative Documentation

For this week's assignment I chose to focus more on the sequential aspect of the guidelines by creating a photo series about idealized beauty. It seems to be common knowledge nowadays that magazines and advertisements shamelessly photoshop/manipulate images of young, beautiful women in order to hide their "flaws" and perpetuate a cookie-cutter perception of what is attractive. Companies recognize that certain looks or faces sell, and with access to even crude technology, any woman can be turned into a supermodel. But even when girls recognize that these images are fake or unnatural, they still strive to be like them. They pick apart their own flaws and wish for clear skin or voluminous hair or high cheek bones, even when such features are only the result of extensive editing.

My project attempts to illuminate natural rather than artificial beauty. I posed four models in two different shots and then created panels of 3 segments. For the first image, seen on the left of each panel, I asked the girls to take off any make up they were previously wearing and look at the camera straight on. I then asked them to apply the amount of make up they would typically wear to school/out on the weekends and took the shots seen in the middle. The final photos on the right side are the result of photoshop editing. I airbrushed their skin, darkened their eye make up, brightened their eyes, and made other extraneous tweaks until the image no longer even seemed to resemble the original. I showed the final images to the models and they were shocked. One exclaimed that it didn't even look like her. Another seemed oddly fascinated and asked if I could change her eye color.

By juxtaposing these three images I am not trying to promote airbrushed images but rather discredit their appeal. The girls on the right look alien-esque. They've lost their natural aura and glow. While some may disagree, I think the girls look even prettier without make up or with minimal make up compared to when they were photoshopped. Beauty should not be idealized the way it currently seems to be in our society. The sequence of these photos is not progressive but rather regressive--instead of striving for the look on the right, women should realize that less is more.

Here's the link to the photos: "Is this beautiful?"

And here's a link to the video that inspired this project: Dove Evolution Commercial