«Make knees younger, soften skin, remove all wrinkles and imperfections, enlarge breasts, make butt smaller, flatten stomach, even the light and color, clear the stray hair, remove everything that is not perfect»  — most of human body images we see in media and advertising were retouched. Body in modern culture is far from real bodies around, everybody knows that fashion shoots create another reality but it doesn’t make them less appealing or less persuading.

For this project Elena asked people, what they would want to change in their bodies and after taking photos, retouched them as she does on her daily job. Working with industry that portrays people with BMI<19 and often without nasolabial folds, really helps to notice how beautiful everyone around is.

Computer games allow player to visit Barber Shop and change in-game appearance in a few clicks — something that would be in an extreme demand, reflecting different ideas of identity in an attempt to deal with self-doubt.

How do we see ourselves? How do we see others?
Can beauty be measured by the width of a hand?


2013 Vizii Festival, Kyiv, Ukraine;
2012 Lensculture Exposure Awards Grand Prize in Multimedia;
2012 III Place at Photovisa Festival in multimedia projects.
2012 Leisure Gallery, London, UK

Barber Shop from Elena Bulygina on Vimeo.