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For decades, the beauty photograph promised something remarkably consistent: smooth skin, controlled proportions, youth and a body close enough to an ideal that the viewer could recognize it immediately.

Then the photographs began to change.

Freckles became visible. Cellulite was no longer always concealed. Older women appeared. Bodies became larger, curvier or less conventionally proportioned. Advertisements increasingly presented women who looked closer to the population buying the products.

The change was not sudden, and it was not complete.

Fashion photography had already begun experimenting with ordinary people and visible imperfections in the 1980s and 1990s. The Victoria and Albert Museum notes that publications such as i-D challenged glossy perfection by featuring alternative forms of beauty and, often, people who were not professional models. Photographers including Corinne Day later developed a naturalistic approach that celebrated individuality and everyday life. “370 words to go. A donation keeps you reading and supports our independence. Thank you!”

By Edge of Humanity Magazine