WORD OF THE DAY: Beauty

Right on my desk, I have a box of little Angel cards, that single words written on them. I find that they help me focus and reflect on things going on in my life.
Today’s word made me laugh since I am in the business of a particular kind of beauty. It may sound cliché, but beauty is everywhere. It’s what some people look like to others in the morning. It’s the person giving you their seat on the subway. It’s when you are working on a project and your feeling good about it.
Often, and I am guilty of this myself, we overlook the beautiful things in our life because we are focusing on the beauty that’s being pushed on us. We focus on the airbrushed covers of Vogue and Marie Claire and beat ourselves up for not having that flawless skin, that perfectly fitting dress, those color eyes. Mainstream pushes these images so much that we forget all of the work that goes behind it. You have PROFESSIONAL photographers, who know how to pose the actor/actress and get that perfect shot. Speaking of the perfect shot, do you know how many frames they take to land THE ONE? More than likely, hundreds. Then, they have wardrobe people, who coordinate the threads to what looks good on the person and they have wardrobe changes. THEN, you got make up, where a PROFESSIONAL make up artist makes them up according to background, lighting, clothes and of course the person’s face. Then when they finally done with all of that, have the shot that they want, you get someone behind the computer to photoshop the whole thing. Removing shadows, correcting less-than-perfect complexions, removing stray threads, tags, imperfection from clothes. They have even gone as far as to remove limbs, like a stray hand or an awkwardly photographed arm.
Beauty should be universal and not this processed cheese that is being shoved down our throats. Beauty should warm the heart, inspire and touch the soul. Has there ever been a time where you were touched by beauty?

-sk