My initial ideas for my current practice were inspired by Zed Nelson, a photographer, he focuses on the lives of people, and he learns a lot about their life experiences through his photography. He has created many different projects around the world focusing on individual people; the result of this is stunning photographs. Recently he has increasingly turned his focus on Western society, adopting a conceptual approach to reflect on contemporary social issues.
Love Me – Nelson’s recently published second book – reflects on the cultural and commercial forces that drive a global obsession with youth and beauty. The project explores how a new form of globalization is taking place, where an increasingly narrow Western beauty ideal is being exported around the world like a crude universal brand. The project spans five years, and involved photography in 18 countries across five continents.
Beth May Daniels 