"This project is an all black and white photography book about women. Actresses, models, dancers, portrayed without asking to be anything else than themself at ease. I wanted to represent their personality under natural sunlight; I didn't want any fashion poses. I wanted them to feel they don't need to look like a standard. For years I tried to shoot the model as she looks when she walks into the studio, her natural self, before the makeup and clothes. I never wanted to shoot a standard imposed by someone, and I see the struggle of trying to conform to an idea. That struggle kills the beauty of the person entirely. We live in a world where people are trying as hard as they can to look like something deprived by poetry and soul. Instagram beauty filters, the unreal Photoshop skin retouching, are today the same base standards of Social Media aesthetics. These impossible beauty standards change contemporary society's view, especially for the women who are often chasing an unattainable digital image. The shots of this book project don't have any digital retouch or alteration. The objective is to show a more sincere view of female beauty and a person's character over how she needs to look to be accepted. The Art's tone is not celebratory nor tends to enhance anything other than the model's personalities. Here in Thailand, where I've shot the whole project, the beauty standard's perception is dictated by Social Media. Thai youngsters spend more time on Social Media than anyone in the World, and digital images strongly influence their perception of beauty."
M. Baldi
