I probed a little deeper into this movie to find that it is a slightly
cropped version of a Dove Self-Esteem Fund advertisement. The full version
(1:14 minutes) of the clip can be seen on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz5IRdFIpvA
At the end of the clip, just before the closing-generic referencing to Dove,
there is a short sentence stating "No wonder our perception of beauty is
distorted". This reinforces my earlier statement that the movie is designed
to generate the same response in the viewer's mind as Darin's initial.
Equally enlightning is the video showing the "Making of" that clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fksMtc0OG
Emily Ferguson said:
More like it's wierd to care one way or the other. It's a porn site to
me.
I agree with you, Emily, (if I understand your statement correctly), that
this clip is "pornographic" in it's essence because it exploits both the
body of a human being - the model - and the mind of the viewer. This was
actually my first instinctive reaction upon first viewing (only slightly
watered down when viewing the full clip).
Guy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Darin Heinz" <spacecoastphoto@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students"
<photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 12:30 AM
Subject: Re: Unnecessary Measures?
...I didn't plan to start WWlll on this forum. Michael
Nor did I.
I am only left wondering if there is any facet of our lives in which we
are
not dosed with sugar-coated versions of truth. After last month's
discussion
about photojournalism, and now this, I cannot help but feel this way.
To clarify, I did not say anything about what Michael Hughes calls the
"homely, just got in from milking the cows look" being preferred to the
finished image. What I said was "earlier stages", that is, those in which
she looks like someone "normal", typical of a person one might find in the
general public (with, at the very least, brushed teeth), have a
conversation
with, relate to, et cetera.
I find it alarming that Western culture's vision of beauty is becoming
something which is increasingly unattainable without some form of digital
wizardry.
I was really impressed by the April 2007 issue of Vogue Magazine. Numerous
articles were devoted to challenging the "beauty myth". This falls in line
with Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty," which maintains that physical
perfection is not a singularity; it only comes in the form of diversity.
I would like to see the proliferation of "real-world" models become a
reality. Is it possible that marketing would stand to gain from this
development? Certainly more people would be able to relate to the model in
an advert...
How would this affect the way models are selected? Photographed? Images
handled in Post-Processing? If suitable models are found in literally
every
corner of the world, what would happen to photography budgets (primarily
within the fashion industry)?
Darin Heinz
Melbourne, Florida USA
See my photographs online at http://www.photo.net/photos/DarinHeinz/
