It’s safe to assume everything we see in the commercial beauty industry has been altered in some way. Somewhere in my relationship with beauty I started wondering, does it have to be altered to be high-end? Could I turn the lens on my own average skin, my average makeup skills, take away my airbrushing crutch and still feel like a valid artist? This is how my series Unretouched Self Portraits began in January 2020.
When COVID-19 hit, my portraits became my main outlet. What was once snapping a quick photo of my makeup before I left my apartment evolved into covering my entire body in stickers and filling my bathtub with Orbeez. The project became less and less about not Photoshopping out pimples and more about allowing myself to create without rules, judgments, or expectations.
My aspiration for this series is to inspire even just one person to express themselves, for themselves. What can we create with the extra head space after we let go of the fear of perception? What can happen when we celebrate ourselves amidst the so-called “imperfections”?