What is beauty?

Georgina KorrisonFASH20031

Beauty before Truth

Beauty today is extremely hard to define; its meaning unknown. Since everybody’s tastes differ, ‘beauty must be subjective’ (Kirwan. 1999:2). Interpreting beauty is somewhat difficult to teach, particularly when ‘beauty has never been absolute’ (Eco. 2004:122) It takes on different aspects depending on a variety of contributing factors. We, as human beings experience a ‘variety of cul-tures’, thus can enjoy beauty in different ways, proving that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

To follow, it’s not just the observer that decides what’s beautiful; the image can speak for it-self. Beauty is described as ‘an attention-getter’ (Sircello. 1975:19), we suddenly notice it and ‘it breaks into our consciousness’ (Sircello. 1975:19). This cohesively links with the idea of ‘beauty before truth’ (Rossetti.2012: Tate Britain). A distinctive quote questioned in our photoshoot. Is beauty always truthful?

We are living in a retouched world. Imagery portrayed in the media is crossing boundaries be-tween reality and fantasy and Photoshop is the culprit. Magazines are hugely influential provid-ing women with ‘an invisible female authority figure to admire and obey’ (Wolf. 1990.74). They get drawn in, allowing them to ‘misread the ads’ (Wolf. 1990.74). This is where ‘the harm is done’ (Wolf. 1990.74). In our photoshoot, we wanted to see if we could depict the same level of un-truthfulness that the media has already latched onto. Do these models truly exist?

Dove is a particular brand that questions this theory of the excessive use of ‘painless plastic sur-gery in the form of Photoshop’ (van der Vyver: 2012.18). Dove is well known for its Real Beauty Campaign, exploring and embracing natural beauty. They released an educational video in 2006 called ‘Evolution of Beauty’, which showed the epic transformation of an ordinary girl into a model-worthy woman (Figure 1). It’s shocking to see how make-up and Photoshop can realisti-cally convert somebody so easily, something that consumers are unaware of.

Photoshop’s prominence in the media has been widely discussed. Two feminists, Manon van de Zwaal and Monique Bergen took a series of photos for HP de tijd magazine showing the before and after portraits of well-known people (Figure 2 and 3). They reveal a lot about the changes made to make somebody look different. Large beauty brands, such as Lancôme have been ac-cused of extreme manipulations on actress Julia Roberts (Figure 4). It’s important to consider if we would have noticed these manipulations if the advert had gone to print?

People aren’t just finding technological ways of changing their looks. The use of cosmetic surgery has risen with most ‘people not satisfied with what they are naturally born with’ (van der Vyver. 2012:8). Heidi Montag (Figure 5), an American television personality, gained particular media attention when news was released that she had had ten cosmetic procedures in one day. This display of surgery addiction isn’t conveying a positive message to the public. Mintel states that a quarter of adults aged 16-24 have grown up with exposure to celebrities who have gone under the knife (Mintel, June 2010). It’s starting to become more acceptable; breaking down social bar-riers, which in the long run isn’t positive for our body conscious young adults. Surgery is more appealing to younger adults with 63% of 16-24 year olds choosing to undergo surgery (Mintel, June 2010), making them the most susceptible.

Orlan, a performance surgery artist, views cosmetic surgery in a different light. (Figure 6) She uses plastic surgery as her medium to create stark, disturbing images of herself, often inviting the photographer to document the procedures. Her intention is to suggest that beauty is unattain-able and overall a horrifying process to go through.

The final photoshoot images illustrate serene young women. (Figure 7, 8,9,10, 11 and 12) Younger people are more critical about themselves; even older models are striving to look young-er, therefore it seemed logical to use a 16-24 years old age group. They have minimal make-up, natural hair and no jewellery or clothing. We purposefully didn’t want their personalities to be conveyed to the audience. Instead, their facial qualities and beauty wanted to be the main focus. They’re a random selection of people with cultural differences and ethnicities proving that beauty comes from a wide range of backgrounds. Their static positioning in the shot is dead centre, op-posing the rule of thirds. This keeps the eye central, again focusing the viewer on their face.

To further enhance the realistic quality of the shoot we chose natural lighting, because we want-ed to make sure the images didn’t look too glossy and edited. This meant that the colour satura-tion in the photos was reduced too. As a group, we felt that the images couldn’t be categorised into just one type; we decided that they are both an editorial and fine art image. Consequently, the suggested audience could compose of strangers who are viewing the photos as fine art, inter-preting them in their own way, and close family and friends who would notice the changes made. In post-production, we made subtle changes on Photoshop to our facial features, such as reduc-ing the size of our nose. As an experiment, we posted our photograph on Twitter to see people’s reactions. The feedback was strong with the majority of close friends noticing the manipulations, some even commenting on how beautiful we looked!

It is also important to consider how beauty came about. It used to be documented solely through works of art; over the centuries it was poets, artists and novelists who told us what they consid-ered beautiful. ‘Venus at the mirror’ by Paul Rubens is a prime example as one of the greatest depictions of female beauty in the Western world (Figure 13). Her figure is curvaceous and her golden tresses cascade beautifully down her back as she gazes into the mirror at her own reflec-tion. Another strong portrayal of how beauty has been distorted through time was during the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the founder, used to paint women to the extreme; legs were extended, hair was made thicker, any untruthful strokes were made to enhance the beauty of the model, such as in Figure 14.

The concluding message for the photoshoot was subtlety. We wanted the varying audience to perceive the images as a real copy of somebody. The reason for this is that we are constantly ‘shaping ourselves according to this conventional idea of what is beautiful’ (Van der Vyver. 2012:20) and it’s unhealthy. In the modern day, we are primarily influenced through the media. These images have been produced at a time when pressures to look beautiful are so great. There is a continual flow of images that stem from a certain ideology of what is beautiful, which is af-fecting the masses. To make these messages clearer in our photoshoot, we could have shown the images before they were edited, however we didn’t want to make the changes too obvious to the audience. Subtlety was key.

1100 words.

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List of Illustrations:

Figure 1. Evolution of Beauty (2006) by Tim Piper 2006: online at http://haleyvay.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/dove-evolution-real-beauty-campaign/

Figure 2. Sunny Bergman (2008) by Manon van de Zwaal & Monique Bergen Henegouwen 2008: online at http://www.nextna-ture.net/2008/12/the-photoshop-before-and-after/

Figure 3. Stine Jensen (2008) by Manon van de Zwaal & Monique Bergen Henegouwen 2008: online at http://www.nextnature.net/2008/12/the-photoshop-before-and-after/

Figure 4. Julia Roberts in Lancome advert (2011) by Mario Testino 2011: online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/27/loreal-julia-roberts-ad-banned

Figure 5. Heidi Montag (2010) by Pacific Coast News 2010: online at http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/heidi-montag/gallery/174043-heidi-montag-through-the-years

Figure 6. The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan (1993) by Orlan 1993: online at http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/reincarnation/images/2/

Figure 7. Alice (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 8. Ashley (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 9. Georgina (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 10. Rosie (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 11. Jodie (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 12. Nica (2012) ‘own photograph’ taken on 1st November 2012.

Figure 13. Venus at the Mirror (1555) by Paul Rubens 1555: online at http://yareah.com/was-william-shakespeare-a-brand/

Figure 14. Lady Lilith (1866) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti: online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9517270/Pre-Raphaelites-Tate-Britain-exhibition-visions-that-tell-us-who-we-are.html

List of References

ECO, U., 2004. History of Beauty. London: Secker and Warbung.

JACOBI, C., 2012. Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde. Exhibition held at The Tate Britain. 12th September 2012-13th Janu-ray 2013.

KIRWAN, J., 1999. Beauty. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

PIPER, T, 2006. Dove Evolution. [video online] Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U [Accessed 12/11/2012]

SIRCELLO, G., 1975. A new theory of beauty. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

VAN DER VYVER, L., 2012. Playing God. The Gerrit Rietveld Academy.

VAN MENSVOORT, K. 2008. The Photoshop Beauties: Before and After. Available at:http://www.nextnature.net/2008/12/the-photoshop-before-and-after/ [Accessed 15/11/2012]

WOLF, N., 1990. The Beauty Myth. London: Chatto and Windus.

Bibliography:

Books

ECO, U. 2004. History of Beauty. London: Secker and Warbung.

DEMELLO, M. 2007. Encyclopaedia of Body Adorned. London: Greenwood Press.

KIRWAN, J. 1999. Beauty. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

SIRCELLO, G. 1975. A new theory of beauty. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

WOLF, N. 1990. The Beauty Myth. London: Chatto and Windus.

Articles

QUIGG, S. 2011. Highlighting media modifications: Can a television commercial mitigate the effects of music videos on female ap-pearance satisfaction? Body Image. 8 (2), pp. 135-142.

KEE, E. 2011. A perceptual metric for photo retouching. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America. 108 (50), pp. 19907-19912.

Websites

PHILLIPS, M. 2005. The ugly truth. Available at:http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/29/history.highereducation [Accessed 13/11/2012]

MAI. 2011. Should Photoshopped images be labeled. Available at:http://blog.birchbox.com/post/13638720475/should-photoshopped-pictures-be-labeled [Accessed 13/11/2012]

CRIPPS, C. 2012. Ugly is the new beautiful. Available at:http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/ugly-is-the-new-beautiful-from-aesthetic-monstrosity-to-design-masterpiece-8219717.html [Accessed 15/11/2012]

WALLIS, L. 2012. Five photos that’s sparked body image debates. Available at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20252921 [Accessed 15/11/2012]

VAN MENSVOORT, K. 2008. The Photoshop Beauties: Before and After. Available at:http://www.nextnature.net/2008/12/the-photoshop-before-and-after/ [Accessed 15/11/2012]

Exhibitions

JACOBI, C., 2012. Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde. Exhibition held at The Tate Britain. 12th September 2012-13th Janu-ray 2013.

MODEST, W., 2012. The Body Adorned. Exhibition held at The Horniman Museum. 24th March 2012-6th Janurary 2013.

Dissertation

VAN DER VYVER, L., 2012. Playing God. The Gerrit Rietveld Academy.

Video

PIPER, T, 2006. Dove Evolution. [video online] Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U [Accessed 12/11/2012]

TV Programme

‘I want to change my body’, 2012, television programme, BBC Three, 19th November 2012.