A blast from the past. One of my very first family portraits. I did not plan to take it. I strolled around this lovely Indonesian town, and suddenly people started gathering from all around me, asking to be photographed. They brought their mothers, kids, grandmas, husbands and happily posed in front of my lens. They did not display any concern of appearing less than perfect on the LCD, and when I showed them their images they were all glowing with joy.
My photograph of the family is basically a snap shot, therefore is not perfect technically. The reason why I share it is the expression on the faces. The pureness of it all, pride, curiosity, shyness, connection, joy. The clear message that their faces and appearance is perfectly fine to be seen.
Ever since that day I have been wondering, how is that possible that there is such vast difference between peoples' self image in different parts of the Globe? Why do people in our Western countries so often hate being photographed and even turn away from cameras, and how do they in certain parts of Asia find it so much fun? Why do we so often find our faces unattractive, and something that we should hide, while on the other hand others are obsessed with their own features?
Of course, just like you, I, too, am aware of many of the roots the phenomenon comes from. The overuse and misuse of images in the media, the obsessive and narcissistic behaviour patterns developed in the recent decades, etc. , the list could go on and on.
The question remains, how do we re-gain our naiveté and clear approach to our own features and self? Is there any way to re-fresh our pride and innocence about how we look, without being obsessive? When are we going to be able to embrace our own beauty, to be "good enough" again?
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