We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric around how fashion magazines and their kin impact how people feel about themselves. A part of me decided I wanted to take it this idea to it’s most logical conclusion.
Of course I don’t look like this. Nobody does. This is what I look like.
I shaved so you can see my sketchy complexion and less than ideal skin. To say this particular angle only accentuates my chin would be being polite.
I would love to say that I was completely secure in my own skin but I’ve been guilty of doing things like this… [Click image to open at full size in new window]
This is a photograph of myself with singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins (a great personal hero of mine). She’s holding a djembe drum which I won and she handpainted. The boat and wave embellishes are taken straight from the drum itself. This is a real photograph – only my face has been altered significantly. In truth it was after a concert and I was hot and sweaty and gross. The camera flash literally bounced off my shiny head. (Somehow Sophie, despite performing the wildly energetic shows she’s celebrated for, looks great.)
This photograph in it’s natural state seems fine to me now. But at the time it really bothered me, enough certainly to actually ‘rework’ it.
I wish I had some great conclusion to share with you, but I don’t. This was just something I was musing over and thought I’d share.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
The other day I was watching a program with a 60 year old woman entertainer and a 16 year old. There was no difference in their faces. The 60 yr. old had been stretched and pumped and well-lighted. It was creepy b/c everywhere I looked I started to see old actresses and singers who looked just like her. They are old but they appear, when their surgeon is particularly skilled, perfectly unlined. Now your visual is something else…interesting but not in a vanity way. It’s almost paranormal.
This is just a really great post, and I’d love it if you did a series on this – i.e. “the ideal and the non-ideal.”
Also, I LOVE Sophie B. Hawkins. Just adore her.
the first face reminds me of a doctor who episode