How do you define beauty? University of Oklahoma student Kelsey Higley (opens in new tab) is showing the world vastly different beauty ideals and our desire to change to fit them for her school project, titled Manipulated.
Kelsey took one photo of herself and digitally altered it 126 different ways to fit different beauty ideals. She made her waist smaller and her eyes bigger, then her chest larger and her hips smaller. She's manipulating her body in different ways to show her own struggles with beauty, and the way the media is always changing what's considered beautiful. Big, doll-eyes and curves are "in" today, but what about in 20 years? Or 30? "The work is a commentary on not only these unrealistic idealizations of beauty, but also women's desire to be attractive," she said (opens in new tab) in her artist statement.
All 126 photos were then made into a stop motion video, giving the illusion that her body is changing throughout time.
"It felt very therapeutic editing each photo as my appearance became unrecognizable and less human with every click," Kelsey told HelloGiggles. "This project reminds me that these things I categorize as my flaws are what makes me human. And I love that."
Check out the entire video, below.
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