Phillip Toledano

"A new kind of beauty" is a series of images that portray people who have gone trough extreme plastic surgery and have changed their appearance almost completely. His work explores the definition of beauty and how beauty is created considering the possibilities today.

"When we re-make ourselves, are we revealing our true character, or are we stripping away our very identity? Perhaps we are creating a new kind of beauty." Toledano

The subjects are in static poses which suggests detachment and their expressions are frozen probably because f the surgery. Is that what they were looking for? A false appearance?

The light used by Toledano gives the subjects an air of power in a way. Also, the way they pose remind me of the Greek statues, of Apollo and Aphrodite who embodied perfection.

I still cannot believe these people are actually real. :( 

Research again

In one of the many papers I have read ( Tiggemann, Slater, Bury, Hawking and Firth, 2012), it is clearly stated that the current standards for female beauty emphasize thinness and the mass media represents " by far the most powerful and persuasive sociocultural transmitter."

Many women  compare themselves with what the adverts, for example, illustrate and because the media presents an ideal that it's almost impossible to achieve, some women experience body dissatisfaction issues and that's the moment when they try to modify their body in order to be as close as possible to the idealized image.

From another point of view, male voyeurism has been present from Newton to today. Women have been objectified since the 1970s and today the degree of objectification is even higher. The male gaze made women begin to self-objectify themselves which increased women's anxiety about their physical appearance. (as stated in Szymanski, Moffitt & Carr - 2011- “Sexual Objectification of Women: Advances to Theory and Research). They are becoming their own spectator.

This problem has existed for many years but because society has evolved, the danger to fall into the trap of the mass media is even higher, considering the accessibility kids and teenagers have got to media.

"The National Eating Disorder Association (2006) reports that in the past 70 years national rates of incidences of all eating disorders have dramatically increased across the board.  The cause of these staggering statistics has yet to be determined, but research has shown that body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem put women at high risk for developing eating disorders. Today in our culture, the “thin ideal” is portrayed in every avenue of the media. Magazines, television shows, movies, commercials, etc. portray attractive women as being extremely thin. It is nearly impossible to escape the influence of the media and children are being exposed to these portrayals earlier and earlier in life. 
[Health Psychology page]

Another story in my story - part 4

I never thought about my past in this way like I am doing now for this project and it is interesting but overwhelming at the same time. Sometimes, it feels like I am saying too much...but because I want to find out more, I am willing to dig deeper which is something new to me.

The next part of the story that I want to portray is not part of my own story. The next step for me would have been the moment when I met someone but before that, I would like to introduce something else to the table.

 By reading papers for my dissertation, I came across a lot of articles that discuss the problem of teenagers who are influenced by the media in a negative way due to the bad message that it showcases to the public. Because the media advertises the idealized image, teenage girls believe in that which influences them in a very negative way. Therefore, in order to meet the standards of the idealized image that advertises a perfect body, many teenagers use aesthetic surgery or other forms of correcting their body such as starvation in order to become perfect. This situation starts from interacting with the media no matter if it's paper based or virtually.

To mention that this is nothing to do with me this time, I would like to portray the obsession for the appearance. I found a connection between being stuck inside with the virtual world and the obsession for something superficial which clearly comes from that.

My story part 3

 I am really happy with what I have made so far and I can't wait to dig deeper. What's next then??


 I was in my first year at uni, completely new medium, new way of studying and thinking, different language – a lot of obstacles and barriers between me and the new me. I followed what society says: I went to university. When I look back now, I realize that my first year was so depressing. It was fine for me at that time as it was something new, I had to get used to everything. I only went to university and back home and that was it. That is the only thing I did in my first year. No social life, no friends, no fun just university. I was alone but happy I made my dream came true. It’s the price that you have to pay for your dreams. I understood that as well.

 So I kept going. I was used to being a school freak. I was told that that is the way to live a good life. I wished for friends and having fun and being 20 but I only had the age: I was 20 and that was it.  Society says that you should go to university and be a good student, have fun with friends that you make there and make the most of it. What happens when you don’t have that? Does society show you how to deal with that, how to deal with loneliness and boredom? I was happy and  in my own world. I thought that was normal, that is what it was suppose to happen. I became obsessed with the virtual world because that was my only friend.   

I don’t think I regret growing up so early because I knew from when I was little what I want to do with my life and I understood how life is. I don’t regret that but in a way I wish I could go back to my childhood and live all the moments that I missed as a child. I suppose, though, that the saying “You will always be a child within” is true. 

Part 3 - Final

The final image I have chosen is:

I have no words to describe how pleased I am with this image. I literally haven't done anything to it and on top of that I used natural light. I think it is very beautiful.

This is the moment when Andrea has started her new life somewhere else. She is on her own, in a new place. She is up on the rooftop and she is looking scared at what's in front of her which is her new life.Her body suggests insecurity and she is frowning because she is alone,she doesn't know anything about the place.

The reason why she is holding a teddy bear is because it represents her childhood, all her memories, in a word her past. That is the only thing she has got with her, the only thing that brings back memories from home, from her family. It hurts but Andrea knows she has made the right decision.

The fact that she is not holding the whole teddy bear means that she is not very attached to her past and when she feels confident she will be ready to let go in order to make her dreams come true, in order to be happy.

What she sees in front of her and behind is the new world in which she now lives. It's a different world but it's her world now. The image is taken at sunset to show the result of the fight with time, to show that she finally managed to get there, she became addicted to it, so stressful that she decided to transform it into an obsession in order to succeed. 

Part 3

Obsession for a new beginning

We went to the Madison Bar which is somewhere near St Paul’s Cathedral. I needed a rooftop because that’s the place where I could catch the sunset best. The reason why I had the sunset in mind because both the sunset and the sunrise mean something new, a new beginning and that’s what I was looking for for this scenario. She is at that stage where she finally managed to go live her life somewhere else, far from home. She looks a bit uncomfortable because it’s a new place she has to get used to and she is scared as well. The teddy bear in her arms means her past and her memories from home. That’s the only thing she’s got in this new world, in this new home. The fact that she is just holding the teddy bear by one paw means that she doesn’t want to let go to her past. It was a bit cloudy that day so we were afraid we would lose the sunset but managed in the end to catch a bit of it. I really like this image as it is very natural and I love the colours. Her ambition to succeed transforms itself into an obsession.

Before going to London, I saw a video with 2 ballet dancers dancing on the rooftop of a building from which I got the inspiration.

Using that, I tried to create my own version.

Part 2 - Final

The final image I have chosen for this obsession is:

Water and sea means freedom so that is why I have chosen to shoot at the Little Venice. Andrea needs to be free and that's the reason why she became obsessed with time. The water is travelling which means it's going in all sorts of directions, it moves which is what Andrea needs. She needs to move on and live her life.

There is tension in her legs this time and that connects with her expression. She is thinking if she is doing the right things, if she has taken the right decision. She doesn't look very happy because she is unsure of the whole situation. 

She sits on the edge of the boat and she can fall over anytime which suggests insecurity and fear and anxiety. She holds the margin of the boat just in case, the same as she is holding on to her past because she wants to be free but at the same time she doesn't want to let go yet.

The sea might mean loneliness as well and Andrea is alone, just with her thoughts. It also means foreign exactly how the new life is to her. Water means truth which is what Andrea wants from her life. It can also mean danger and instability which is what I wanted to portray.