Yet another post pulled over from the old blog; This one was first posted on October 21st, 2009
An article describing the "Beautification Engine" in the New York Times
last week has had me thinking more than a little.The "Beautification
Engine", uses a mathematical formula to alter one's original form to
arrive at a, theoretically, more attractive version…
"the goal was to tackle the challenge of altering a face according to agreed-upon standards of attractiveness"
A few thoughts for Tommer Leyvand, one of the developers of the
software and any others who share the need to issue universal standards
of beauty;
Who issued this challenge? Moreover, what if I like my face just the way it is?
In my mind I have images of focus groups sitting comfortably around
large screens, sipping fancy coffee concoctions determining what's
wrong with my face, or worse my daughter's face, all of course
sponsored by the behemoth Microsoft, good lord I can't stand their
dictionary so why on earth would I accept their definition of beauty?
So is it Microsoft's or a bunch of 25-40 year old Israelis' and Germans' definition of beauty I am skeptical of?
I cannot really decide, both send shudders down my back never mind the very small sampling, 92 females and 33 males - all white!
Seriously, I've photographed many brides & grooms, not to
mention the attendants and of course the parents, over the last 11
years. Spending more than a few minutes with each as I observe, find
and capture their beauty as I photograph them.
Perhaps it's not always beauty as defined by
Maybe it's the excitement, maybe it's joy or happiness, perhaps even a sense of peace. Whatever it is I see it, beauty, every weekend as I photograph bride after bride, irrespective of her age, size or other physical attributes.
Good news: The creators, of the beautification engine, report that they have not yet created a program with a "beauty estimator" for non-white & racial ethnic groups"!
Hey folks go take a wee read here before you get started on those estimators.
The Dove “Real Truth About Beauty” study is based on interviews with considerably more respondents that the one used to fuel the beautification engine 3,200 versus 125, and a much more valid age group 18-64 versus 25-40 and from ten countries as opposed to two.
There is hope: 89% of respondents strongly agree “A woman can be beautiful at any age” and 85% agree, again strongly “every woman has something about her that is beautiful”
As for myself, well there’s a reason that my logo and tagline state, “Capturing Art in Life” here are a few random examples.
