Since I can remember I have had bad skin. It is very dry and bumpy on my arms and legs, and in recent years I have discovered it is a condition called Keratosis Pilaris. There is no cure. It used to really embarrass me and I still very rarely wear clothing that shows my skin. The media has been no help to me as every person in every magazine, film, advertisement etc. flaunts skin that's been airbrushed flawlessly. I was thinking this is also a form of distortion. A distorted reality of perfection that is fed to us everyday. I thought it could be interesting to collage "perfect" skin out of a magazine onto my own. I used lad mag 'Zoo' as it has a lot of skin to show.
Here I have photographed my legs using only the natural light. You can just about see the condition of my skin. I then played around with aperture, exposure and movement to create a more airbrushed effect. I then took photos as I gradually stuck the pieces to my leg which I used to make a short time lapse.
I am pleased with how it all turned out. It feels geometric and I like the variety of tones. It also reminds me of a broken mirror which would be an interesting direction to look at as mirrors play a big part in distorted body image.
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| My legs photographed using natural light to show my skin as it is |
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| Using low aperture and moving the camera slightly to look like I have perfectly smooth skin |
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| "Perfect" skin cut out of Zoo Magazine, collaged onto my leg to give me "perfect" skin |
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