"Nothing standard will ever be beautiful"...sure, supermodels are hot and perfect in every way and everything but who says beauty has to be defined by long legs, airbrushed skin and fierce hair?
Inspired by a 12 year old albino girl he met at a bust stop in Manhattan, fashion photographer and founder of Positive Exposure, Rick Guidotti, decided he didn't wanna be told what was beautiful anymore. Beauty, he realised, is everywhere and in everyone.
"As a fashion photographer, I was always told what was beautiful, but I saw beauty everywhere," he said. She had white blonde hair, eyebrows and lashes, pale skin and light eyes, "she was gorgeous," he says.
After searching medical textbooks for more images of people with albinism, he discovered the only photographs he could find were of young people with black bars blocking out their eyes, as if they were unidentifiable.
He then called an albino support group to arrange to photograph another albino girl named Christine, the first of thousands of people with genetic and developmental conditions he would come to photograph.
© Rick Guidotti
Originally, the aim of the photo series was simply to challenge beauty ideals and transform the perception of people living with genetic, physical and behavioural differences but now Rick's work has evolved into a not-for-profit organisation aimed at building a community and celebrating difference through the art of photography. Not only that, but his work is now part of a documentary called On Beauty.
You can watch the trailer here:
He added, "We need to get rid of those black bars. It's not about what you're treating it's about who you are treating." We're with you Rick!
Refreshing hey? Are you loving the Positive Exposure project? Tweet us @sofeminineUK!
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