Beauty is something that heavily dominates our media, industry and daily lives. Yet, there’s such a huge divide between the way perceive and define beauty. For me, there’s only two kinds of beauty— artificial and natural beauty. Artificial beauty mainly feeds from women’s insecurities and the notion of perfection, making it a popular choice for young women to more mature ones, who desire to be at least worth a glace in our highly selective society. Meanwhile, natural beauty has more layers to it. It can range from our eccentric natural-born features to authentic qualities we radiate; it’s beyond physical and harmonizes every part of our being.
I know that posting projects or homework is not generally accepted as a worth-while read in blogs. But, this photo-analysis essay is a simple work that I’ve always been passionate about. I hope guys take interest in it and appreciate its content. Enjoy!
Two Worlds of Beauty Meet
By: Mariell Hombrebueno
African Woman Reading Vogue
Source: Copyright: Eric Lafforgue www.ericlafforgue.com
“And that’s what my mother meant when she said, ‘you can’t eat beauty,’ was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul.” –Lupita Nyong’O.
With all the distinct and diverse images of beauty the world has to offer, our society only seems to heavily try to conform to one ideal form of beauty— lean body, flawless, sun-kissed skin, perfect hair, symmetrical face and Barbie-like proportions. If you possess all these qualities, you are considered the apex of perfect beauty everyone is hopelessly striving for. However, the African woman in this picture is far from what our society would deem as perfect since her exposure to our subjective society is minimal to none. This is clearly shown in her slightly asymmetrical facial features, nonchalant poise, untouched skin pigmentation and unusual body decorations. At the center of the picture, our eyes are drawn to the vibrant Vogue magazine she is reading, something that signifies that our society is inevitably focused on the idea of perfection and immaculate beauty. The photographer is trying to convey to us that the highest form of beauty reflects our identity and what we are natural given, instead of letting society force you to accept the idea of “perfection is beauty”.
Beauty only truly exists when our unique identity and naturally given features merges together, not when we use artificial devices such as photoshop to enhance our physical attributes like the models on the cover of the magazine. If you observe the rawness of the African woman’s skin versus the model’s fake tan and flawless skin, you can see that ethnicity truly shines when you leave your skin untreated just like the African woman. She is a beautiful chaos; the placid look on her face in contrast to the asymmetrical and disproportionate shell arrangement around her head perfectly shows it. Also, the fact that she is reading a fashion magazine, something that’s not really accessible to her normally, shows us the open-mindedness and vast curiosity she encompasses. This proves that she possesses intellectual beauty as well. The gashes in her knuckles and her uneven skin shows the strenuous labor she does on a daily basis. From this we can tell that she is disciplined, hardworking and responsible which can also be a representation of true beauty. In contrast, we see that the models are busy doing poses that strikingly projects lust which is a very low and cheap representation of sensuality and beauty. The peachy undertone of her nails share a great similarity to the color of the cursive text on the left region of the magazine. It shows that beauty in every sense: color, texture, patterns etc. originated from nature, and only gets copied to plastic for mass produced products that aims to advertise societal beauty. The fresh shells enveloping her head shows that she does not go by conventional ways, and in the end, truly shows the eccentricity of her tradition and how nature is a prominent factor in her life. The photographer also captured the distinct, colorful, chalk art she has on her slightly protruding face. This shows us that we are beautiful in any way we desire to express our individuality. In contrast, the models are obviously wearing a full makeup coverage that tells us that every visible imperfection had to be covered to be considered beautiful. The frontal angle the picture is taken from causes the outward folds of the magazine to pop-out more. It signifies that no matter how much we force to manifest perfection in ourselves and in our lives, we will always inevitably fail. Somewhere along the line of beauty, perfection has an end, while imperfection will always thrive because it is what feeds the beautiful growing soul in every human being. The African woman shows a beauty that is grounded on nature, eccentricity of tradition and inner self beauty.
This picture makes me feel inspired, grounded and also a little bit conflicted. The prominent shells in contrast with the blurred hay background makes me feel like we can always find beauty in nature, whether it is just a background setting for us or an item we own. However, the cone-like structure and discorded colors of the shells somehow gives me a jarring and unsettling feeling, just because of the way they are so tightly woven around her head. But, I think it is a very clever way of saying how vulnerability to negative forces such as fear has the capability of elevating beauty in a more poignant way. I do feel upset and conflicted when I see the seductive looks and sexual poses the models are showing because it signifies how beauty in our society now lacks class and natural foundations. But at the same time this picture gives me a spark of hope that class and will reemerge once again because of the way the African woman is holding her magazine. She is holding it at chest level which hides her breasts, an action that gives me the impression of class and self-respect. In comparison, I feel agitated how one of the models is deliberately squeezing one of her breasts. It seems cheap and further shows that beauty now is increasingly being tied to sexual ideas. Lastly, her mellow gaze towards the magazine shows her indifference to the compelling content it has. It shows how she embodies full confidence as a woman because it seems that she does not let the subject that is meant to compel her to conform to society rattle her at all. This makes me feel empowered to take pride to what I already have and separate myself from the rest of society.