Esther Honig, a 24-year old Missouri based journalist, took an untouched image of herself and sent it to designers around the world with one request - “make me beautiful.”
This project is a classic case of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” When Honig sent the untouched portrait of herself to 25 Photoshop designers worldwide, she was stunned at the results. The photos were collected and posted on Honig’s blog titled Before & After, which offers insight into various countries and their cultural assumptions of what beauty looks like to them.
In a world where we double filter and take time to edit photos for our social media pages, this project has major relevance regarding how we, and others, see our “online” selves. It almost seems every photo we take is never good enough and has to go through a process to make it look exactly how we want it. Remember when all photos were #NoFilter?
To further enhance her project, Honig should follow up with the designers and ask why they lightened her skin, added more hair or gave her different eye colors. This certainly is a fascinating project that makes you think twice about the overall perception of beauty.
What do you think of Honig’s project? Tweet us your opinions @FASHIONOTES or comment below!
Original photo
Argentina
Bangladesh
Chile
Morocco
United States
Vietnam
Via. The Atlantic
