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Photographer Challenges Beauty Standards With Women of All Shapes and Sizes [NSFW]

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I dislike people who define the undefinable.    No, there is no singularly “best” flavor of ice cream; it is impossible to prove that Concierto de Aranjuez is the most inspiring piece of music ever written (although it is!); and beauty simply cannot summed up in a 10-point, bulleted list.

This is the fundamental message of Carey Fruth’s American Beauty portrait series.  “The images are meant to speak about real life sensuality and femininity,” says the San Francisco-based photographer, who drew her artistic inspiration for the project from the movie of the same name.  “America is made up of all types of women. Women who are hungry to see themselves represented in a beautiful way. And why shouldn’t they?”

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Photographer Shares the Heartbreaking Horrors of Leprosy in Iran

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Leprosy is almost unheard of in Western cultures, or we gloss over it by calling it “Hansen’s Disease.”  While there are an estimated 200 cases per year in the U.S., modern medicine has rendered it no more lethal than the common cold, if properly treated.  But, in some locales around the world, it is still a very real and viable threat.

Photographer Ali Hamed Haghdoust wanted to further explore the legitimate threats of leprosy in the Middle East.  In a project called “The Lost Beauty,” he spent six years in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan, Iran documenting the social and cultural impact of the horrifying disease.

(Warning:  Graphic images after the jump.)

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Photographer Crafts Elaborate and Funny Photo Sets From Paper

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There is absolutely nothing that says you have to stop playing with paper and scissors when you become an adult. I mean, heck, you can now legally buy your own scissors, so why not!

Adriana Napolitano is pretty much the Edward Scissorhands of set design. “I started to create sets for stop motion videos,” she says. “I always loved to create stuff with my hands. I think it’s a family thing.” But, regardless of her genetic predisposition, Adriana truly has a natural talent for creative flare. So, when her boyfriend, who is a photographer, started teaching her more about lighting and how to best capture her projects, she set about developing a portraits series with elaborate props and costumes – all made out of paper.
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‘Shelter Dogs’ Captures Human-Like Emotions from Dogs in City Pound

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Photographer Traer Scott, probably best known for her work with animals, has an impressive resume.  In addition to authoring five books, her work has been featured in numerous magazines, including National Geographic, Vogue, People, Life, and others; she has been the recipient of the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts Photography Fellowship Grant and the Helen Woodward Humane Award for animal welfare activism; and has appeared as a guest on Fox and NPR, among others.

Her portrait series “Shelter Dogs,” which was turned into a book of the same title, is a beautiful and stunning collection of work that focuses, literally, on canines living in a local pound, almost anthropomorphizing them in hopes of increasing adoptions.  Traer provides some insight into the project as well as some unique advice for aspiring photographers.

 

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Remarkable Photo Series Of Sorrowful Dogs Waiting In Cars For Their Owners To Return

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Looking at Martin Usborne’s collection of photographs, aptly titled “Dogs In Cars”, you experience a range of emotion. Some of the dogs in the photos have a markedly melancholic look in their eyes, while others remain still as a look of sad desperation takes over their expression. Then there are other dogs, who look fearful and aggressive as they protect their beloved owner’s automobile from the stranger holding the camera.

Regardless, you can’t help but feel compassion as you sympathize with dogs who gaze out the window longing, searching for their owners. Some seeming to ask the camera, “What if they never come back?” That question, Usborne explains, is very similar to the question that sparked this inspiring project in the first place.

“I was once left in a car at a young age. I don’t know when or where or for how long, possibly at the age of four, perhaps outside a supermarket, probably for fifteen minutes only. The details don’t matter. The point is that I wondered if anyone would come back. The fear I felt was strong: in a child’s mind it is possible to be alone forever.”

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