Beauty is something found worldwide. Ester Honig, a freelance journalist from Texas, decided to investigate global beauty standards around the world. Her bold research project titled “Before and After,” empowered her to send a basic photo of herself to Photoshop enthusiasts around the world. She told them, “make me beautiful.” Honig left it up to them to make her appeal to their country’s beauty standards.
More than 40 Photoshop experts world-wide added, cut and changed her photo. She was surprised by the results she got back from each country, and found the project to be an interesting success. According to BuzzFeed, “when taken in totality, the project becomes much more striking, and an interesting launching point into a global conversation about unattainable beauty standards around the world.”
Honig had mixed reactions to the experiment due to the unique and individualistic qualities of the photos. “What I’ve learned from this project is this: Photoshop may allow us to achieve our unobtainable standards of beauty, but when we compare those standards of beauty on a global scale, achieving the ideal remains all the more illusive.”
CLICK HERE to see the BuzzFeed article, with all of the images.
I remember seeing this a while ago! It’s amazing how much beauty differs when you go to different parts of the globe. Like how in certain parts of the world it’s normal not to shave but in other parts it’s repulsive if you have armpit hair. I enjoyed reading your account of the details behind these photos.