This photographic series explores the pressures felt by adolescents about their body. Modern media has created a specific ideal body type that is projected in every movie, TV show, advertisement, or presentation. This constant bombardment of the ideal figure eventually makes most people aspire to it, whether they consciously made the decision or not. It puts incredible pressure on younger generations to fit this ideal figure, when those few who are happy with their body no matter what are much happier overall. The media benefits from projecting this image because then men and woman alike rush out to buy workout equipment or join gyms. But those who can’t afford these things and don’t understand the health problems are left to anorexia or bulimia. These cases are generally in adolescents.
My interest in this topic was founded in my younger brothers body image problems. He is thirteen, and in the awkward, pimply, chubby tummy stage. He is stronger than a lot of adolescents who I have seen tumble into a spiral of depression and health issues (largely girls) when it comes to their body image. But it still cripples him. He refuses to where just swim trunks when swimming, but also a swim shirt to cover his rolls. We all have been conditioned to be a little disgusted with that image, which is itself a problem. One’s health is something to take care of, but certain people can’t be stick thin. And some people become too thin in the journey to look more like Angelina Joli, who has suffered through her own body image problems. This pressure comes from agents, employers, family, friends, and the media. It’s impossible to escape.
When creating my images, I was influenced by the styles of Carrie Mae Weems with her inlaid text over existing images, as well as Lorna Simpson and her compilations of photos with text. I wanted to make another image similar to Lorna Simpson’s Necklines and use several words that make people instinctively think of a negative body image (namely “fat”) over a spread of photos with varying body types with the heads cropped off. I wasn’t able to find enough photos to make it work though.
