Perfect 'shopped' looks #her

There has always been speculations about the ideal beauty. But what is it? What does it look like? I personally think that this cannot be determined. But there are a number of interesting project about this issue. For example the work of Esther Honig. The journalist who was photoshopped all over the world.

What

Who is Esther Honig and what did she do? She is ajournalist proved via photoshop the ideal beauty varies by country and culture. For her research “Before & After” she used her own profile picture and had it photoshopped in 25 different countries. The only instruction she gave was: “Make me beautiful”. This study clearly shows the trend “Roots & Wings, Shifting Identities” because the ideal varies by culture and country. All pictures were added, some more than others. The entire series can be found at http://www.estherhonig.com/.

Why

Esther Honing showed in an innovative way how different cultures think about beauty. Photoshop has been well known all over the world. Companies and celebrities are using it all the time. There are several groups taking action against photoshop. But in the future I do not see any changes coming in the industry or with celebrities. It is fun and interesting to see how cultures think about beauty, but it will probably nog improve someone’s  quality of life. Or maybe it will when you look close to ‘perfect’.

http://www.estherhonig.com/

Conclusion

It is clear the ideal of beauty is viewed from different perspectives from each person, but also by country of culture. This project, which is all based on the ideal of beauty, is about the different standards. But the results are very similar to each other: there is no example for what beauty really is and beauty standards aren’t permanent.