LYP presents About Face, a photographic exhibition, in partnership with Carmell College. The purpose of the exhibition is to explore the concept of identity in a society and culture pre-occupied with the pursuit of physical perfection.

The mass media plays a huge part in governing our life choices, influencing our value systems and dictating the social norms that we adhere to. As a combined force the media, capitalism and consumerism have created a set of strict rules and regulations about what it means to be a woman, and more specifically, what it means to be a 'beautiful', and thus culturally valuable, woman.

Beauty has great social and economic value in contemporary society. Women are encouraged to pursue physical perfection at all times. The subtext of advertisements, women's magazines, and consumer industries, is that being beautiful also means being happy and successful. Beauty is presented to us as being synonymous with personal fulfillment.

Chasing the socially-constructed ideal that we see depicted in imagery all around us is an all encompassing and time consuming endeavour. An inevitable symptom of idealised beauty is the de-construction of individual identity. In order to represent a specific ideal of attractiveness we must erase and modify parts of our authentic selves.

Visual imagery in the media and advertising is constructed, pieced together like a jigsaw in order to form the perfect picture. The images are intended to communicate an aspirational reality but in actual fact they present an unattainable fantasy.

‘About Face’ explores the ways in which our identities are systematically under attack from industries such as the media and capitalist-consumerism. The exhibition is an exploration of the beauty that is inherent in our natural selves.

Is anybody their real selves? Are we all wearing masks? How does the pressure to be perfect affect our self esteem? Is it time that we ‘about face’ and reject the pressure to be anything other than who we naturally are?

The opening event takes place on September 7th at Supercollider Contemporary Art Projects Gallery, Blackpool, UK. For more information or queries please email info@loveyouproject.org. Add yourself to the guest list and share the event with friends on Facebook.

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