Renowned Photographer Asks Teens To Edit Their Selfies Until They Feel It Looks Good Enough For Social Media, And The Results Are Shocking

Source: https://fashionweekdaily.com/

At this day and age, the pressure teenagers go through to feel like they fit in the society is at an all time high. There is an obsession to look and act a certain way, that is in line with what society showcases. But how far will these teenagers go to fit in the mold?

The creative agency M&C Saatchi has partnered up with Rankin, a renowned British photographer and MTArt Agency to research and explore the mental health imagery of a group of adolescents. As a part of the campaign called Visual Diet that this collaboration is working on, they have asked a group of teenagers to take selfies and edit them before posting it on social media.

“In the series ‘Selfie Harm’, I was specifically looking and experimenting with the apps that are actually targeted at teenagers,” Rankin told Bored Panda. “They are like playing computer games and consequently are really good fun. I’ve personally enjoyed messing around with them but they are very addictive.”

As part of the project, Rankin then shot a group of teens from the age of 13-19 years old. After the photoshoot, these teens were asked to edit their own photos until they thought it was good enough. “Initially, we used models and then I wanted to expand it to other teenagers, so we did a call out looking for [more] subjects.”


Source: https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/

“The program we used was one of many like Facetune but there are hundreds of these apps,” the photographer added. “The main thing is that we weren’t casting people that used these apps, but found teenagers and asked them to try them out. They were shown how to use them, which literally takes seconds as they are very easy to work out, then they did the editing themselves.”

“What you can do on these apps is way beyond what even a great photoshop operator can do. The technology is moving forward very quickly and the idea of being somebody in any way different from the person you are can be exciting, but what are the pitfalls around it. That’s what I’m asking. If you can be even just a ‘more polished’ version of yourself, how hard does it then become to accept who you actually are? This is a mental health minefield and this project is only just scratching the surface of it.” Rankin said.

Check out the photos and see the difference between their selfies and the edited versions they would think is good enough for social media.


Source: Rankin
Source: Rankin
Source: Rankin
Source: Rankin
Source: Rankin

 

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