can artists and influencers change the way we think about advertising in our society through social media?

The beauty industry and advertising for these products have developed an unhealthy habit of representing men and women idealistically. However, people are becoming more aware of this issue and the problems that arise for adolescences. Things like depression and anxiety have been recorded as rising problems within young people due to the burden of looking flawless like the models shown in beauty and fashion magazines. Harris-Taylor and Devito, are among the rising artists that explore the effects photo-shopped images have on society and capture the significance of untouched portraits through their works ‘Epidermis’ and ‘#AcneisNormal’.

‘Epidermis’ was created to empower people who were struggling in a society where there is immense pressure to always look your best. Having already suffered with acne, Sophie Harris-Taylor understood the insecurities that lie when youths admire women advertised across billboards presenting seamless skin, “Whether not shown or simply disguised, many women suffer from conditions such as acne, rosacea and eczema, and most of these women feel a pressure to hide behind a mask of make-up, covering up what actually makes them unique. Here these beautiful women proudly bare their skin.” (Harris-Taylor, 2018).

In a world where it is impossible to find raw imagery, Taylor makes a statement showing how our society needs to stop lying and generating a fantasy that is impossible to live.

Similar to Taylor, Peter Devito produced brilliant portraits of himself and others that struggle with all kinds of skin conditions, and in particular, acne. Devito recognised the overuse of Photoshop and printed words such as ‘retouch’, and ‘I’m so sick and tired of the Photoshop’ onto models to illustrate the problems with editing and how we should “empower people and help normalise skin conditions” (Devito, 2018).

Advertising has made us believe that only one type of beauty is beautiful, but these artists are starting to change that. However, how did we get to where we are today? Why have these advertising images from the fashion and beauty industry made us believe “that only tall, skinny girls and tall, muscular men” are beautiful? (Devito, 2018).

Interestingly, in a research study that looks at ‘The impact of physically attractive models on advertising evaluations’, it was found that when “the product is related to romance (e.g. perfume), men had higher purchase intentions when the female model was attractive” (Baker and Churchill, 1977). This suggests that advertising companies find that by creating idealised lives within their commercials; consumers are more likely to purchase their products. “Models may be more credible if they either have some physical characteristic that is associated with a product schema or demonstrate some characteristic that indicates that the product has accomplished what it claims” (Bower and Landreth, 2001), because customers believe that if they buy these products they will be able to resemble to some degree the same life that is shown within the ad.

Obviously, this is not what we actively do, but to some level, advertising convinces us that we should be working towards a better life – much like the ‘American Dream’.

 Nevertheless, activists and members of our society who have felt pressures to conform to these ideals are fighting back. Social media has become a powerful outlet for people to voice their opinions and share the negative impacts that ‘photo-shopping’ can have on our youth. An example of this in social media is the ‘body positivity’ movement, where women would use Instagram platforms to post selfies to “challenge dominant ideals of feminine beauty, including the demands to produce smooth skin, adhere to body size norms, and avoid bodily fluids” (Cwynar-Horta, 2016). Individuals like Jameela Jamil are amid the people who confront the public and consistently speak up about these issues. She states that whilst Instagram is “an amazing way for us to share, is in many ways, hurtling us at light speed towards the demise of what the suffragettes were building” (Jamil, 2018). Social media, although a place full of idealised men and women, is our gateway to alert everyone in our society the damages images within advertising can have.

In conclusion, I believe that the awareness introduced through artist works and influencers on social media has made a huge positive impact on our society. Harris-Taylor and Devito’s photographs are a hopeful stepping-stone for the beauty industry to present and use ordinary, real people to advertise products that are made for everyone in an all inclusive world.

References:

 Baker, M. J., & Churchill, G. A. (1977). The impact of physically attractive models on advertising evaluations. Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (4) pp. 538-555.

TAYLOR, SOPHIE. 2018. "Sophie Harris-Taylor Breaks Down the Stigmas of Skin Issues with Photo Series Epidermis". It's Nice That [online]. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/sophie-harris-taylor-epidermis-photography-080518 [accessed 24 Mar 2019].

FULLER, BETH. 2019. "Photographer Peter Devito Is Changing the Perception of Acne". Noa Vee [online]. Available at: https://www.noavee.co.uk/2018/02/05/peter-devito-changing-perception-of-acne/  [accessed 23 Mar 2019].

WEINSTOCK, TISH. 2018. "This Photographer Takes Beautiful Portraits of People with Acne". i-D [online]. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/j5ajg7/this-photographer-takes-beautiful-portraits-of-people-with-acne [accessed 24 Mar 2019].

 CWYNAR-HORTA, JESSICA. 2016. "The Commodification of The Body Positive Movement On Instagram". Stream 8 (2) pp. 37.

 BOWER, AMANDA B. and STACY LANDRETH. 2001. "Is Beauty Best? Highly Versus Normally Attractive Models in Advertising". Journal of Advertising 30 (1) pp. 1-12. [online] Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00913367.2001.10673627?casa_token=tv4UvXL6D2oAAAAA:JuM6eBWm-Kt5ckVjRDfPeSgev9eN_3yxx7QH2hcH1HG07LzK6ArE9sdC-jlOB6x5hW04y35tvYfLlw  [accessed 27 Mar 2019].

 JAMIL, JAMEELA. 2018. "I Weigh". Jameela Jamil - Diary of a Goon [online]. Available at: http://jameelajamil.co.uk/post/171287759245/i-weigh [accessed 26 Mar 2019].

 Image References:

DEVITO, PETER. 2018. Retouch [image]. Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjP6tDN2aLhAhVV6uAKHRHVDMgQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.noavee.co.uk%2F2018%2F02%2F05%2Fpeter-devito-changing-perception-of-acne%2F&psig=AOvVaw0fcF3h_217Swk4KppWUh3g&ust=1553789100843389 [accessed 22 Mar 2019].

HARRIS-TAYLOR, SOPHIE. 2018. Epidermis [image]. Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiPl_KE2qLhAhUSmhQKHVm2BKIQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.itsnicethat.com%2Farticles%2Fsophie-harris-taylor-epidermis-photography-080518&psig=AOvVaw1MvSKDQMD6wt1tBYaIGEzY&ust=1553789215890240 [accessed 22 Mar 2019].