Last week after watching the latest episode of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, I wanted to put this together from previous blog entries I had written on my FaceBook page. One of the finalists, Ruby Higgins, has received some unfair attention over her size.
Ruby Higgins was cut last week, with much unfair attention about her weight! Shame! Shame on New Zealand's Next Top Model!
Ruby is a healthy, normal, beautiful young woman who has had some unnecessary negative attention because of the irresponsible opinions of the judges. What they need to remember is that if they were as good as they think they are, they wouldn’t be sitting on New Zealand’s Next Top Model… they wouldn’t have time because of their real careers!
It wasn’t until I discovered photography and delved into the task of teaching myself everything I could about it (and digital imaging) that I realized just how distorted the world of fashion was. Most images are professionally polished with many things contributing to that final image that makes it onto the magazine racks. No wonder so many people have so many issues about the way we look! My daughter has been an inspiration when it comes to how I photograph women, reminding me always of the fragile personalities of the amazing gender, women. Its simply really… I want our future generations to see beauty in any mirror, not in print.
An artificially manufactured beauty dominates mass media and the marketing industry growing from it, it is easy to see why a recent survey concluded that “Just 2% of today’s women see themselves as beautiful”.
In this way the impossible dream of beauty can be run endlessly. By continuosly and ever more subtly defining in artificial ways, modes and models of reference that are hard to reach for standard individuals, the corporate mechandising machine can keep its toy running indefinitely. And, if you really look and pay attention to it, with clean, detached eyes, you can see that the beauty model is cloned and repeated across the whole spectrum of communications you have chosen to receive from mainstream media. The irrelevant and needlessly expensive status symbols peddled at every commercial, you know it doesn’t take a genius to realize that all of what you are buying into has been created to fool you while significantly benefiting someone else.
Unless you open your eyes and realize that in this life, all those who benefit from the affects, you just become an unpaid extra in an extended commercial that you have been watching, but its your life. This warped, digitally distorted image of reality and beauty will continue to drive, shape and dominate your personal ability to make true sense and meaning of this beautiful gift called life.
Just recently I saw the work of a photographer that really concerned me. Not because the model was naked, not the context of the shots, and it wasn’t because of his technical competence, but because of the fact his less than flattering style is potentially destructive to this young, and in her own way, very beautiful woman.
My focus is on my own style, love it or hate it, I am me, and that is what we should all respect. If my images left women looking like the young woman I mention, I would feel an obligation through pure decency to sell my camera equipment and never subject another human being to such humiliation again, even if the model herself does not understand it.
Insight from another woman left me feeling that this young woman I have mentioned may have felt uncomfortable approaching someone like myself as she didn’t think she was attractive enough for my style of photography, and that the photographer she did use was real “warts and all” so his and her expectations were then lower across the board.
Why are women accepting this? They are the consumers the advertising is designed for, the marketing industry grows because of… It makes me sad to think that behind the beautiful eyes of my wife, daughter, sisters, mother, friends, and colleagues that there are others with this view of themselves. I am sorry, this has to stop! We may not all agree on what is beautiful, and don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for everything, but its definitely not at the expense of anyones self esteem.
I want to clearly state that I am not on a crusade to save women from the nasties of the fashion and beauty industry! The argument will never go away and I feel I can do more working with the industry rather than against it. Moderation and common sense should be the regulators, not the advertising standards board. Having only been in the industry for the past three and a half years I can only speak of my personal experiences. Yes, it is true that most of the women I have worked with have had some damaged self esteem, but I have also had the pleasure of building the self esteem of a few as a result of my style and love of women.
I love women and have always been proud of the fact that I openly discuss this. I grew up with three sisters, a mum, aunties, nana’s, and considering most of my friends are women I take it that I have learnt something that allows me to open to so many unique relationships with out the need for testosterone to damage them. My favorite thing about women are their eyes. So intimate are they that during the time I am setting up a shot I can see the little girl, the teenager, the love, ones ability to lust, and the insecurities we all hide. But, most of all, I can see the soul that cries and laughs, loves and hates, the essence of womanhood that holds and nurtures, that something that not only creates love but carries one as she makes love, its also something that there is no product you can buy to cover it up when damaged.
My passion for women isn’t to make them beautiful, God has already done that. However, using the light nature has provided it is my job to paint away what life has done, and then capture as much of the soul I can see in every one of my photographs.
I am not endorsing or promoting Dove or any other product, but I do get what they are trying to do (without the commercialism attached to it).
