Here at SoFeminine, we're all about celebrating women's beauty, which is why we absolutely love Mihaela Noroc's new book. 'The Atlas Of Beauty' is a result of Noroc quitting her job in Romania in favour of touring the world with just her savings, a backpack and her camera. She travelled to 37 different countries and found beauty in all different shapes and sizes, photographing natural women in their own culture.
The women portrayed in Mihaela's book challenge the beauty ideals set out by fashion magazines, showing that there is no one way to be beautiful. Her photography strips down the scene, requires no hair and beauty expertise, to capture women as natural as possible. What we're left with is an elegant and honest portrayal of cultures through the portraits of their women.
All the women in her project are different and unique, although Mihaela sometimes found it hard to convince some of them to agree to the photographs. She told The Independent: “There were funny moments when I was showing them my photos and they didn’t believe that they were taken by me. The fact that I’m a woman too helped a lot. In the beginning, I was really nervous and I was taking all the refusals personally.”
The experiment taught Mihaela a valuable lesson when it comes to being beautiful. She told The Huffington Post: "Now I can say that beauty is everywhere, and it's not a matter of cosmetics, money, race or social status, but more about being yourself... Global directions make us look and behave the same, but we are all beautiful because we are different. In the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is always somebody else."
The Atlas of Beauty is a constant work in progress, a journey that will likely be a never ending one for Mihaela. But mapping the world by its women is essentially a passion project and a labour of love. As well as her book, Mihaela also has an Instagram and Facebook page, where you can see even more of her stunning work. Check out our favourites below.
What do you think of Mihaela's project? Let us know! @sofeminineUK
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