BuzzFeed News spoke to Hannah Altman, a 19-year-old photography student at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, about her photo series And Everything Nice, an "unflinching analysis of the standard for female beauty".
Here she explains why the popular photos show women with their body fluid replaced with glitter.
The series is an unflinching analysis of the standard for female beauty. The ongoing series consists of women in states of affliction. The body fluid of the models – which includes blood, tears, and vomit – has been replaced with glitter in order to visualise the concept of girls invariably needing to seem attractive regardless of what is actually happening in each scenario.
The project is intended to be a pictorial representation of the unreasonable female standard of beauty. By creating set-ups that would normally be considered grotesque would it not be for the glitter, the sparkle stands out because it is the only facet of the photo that is abnormal. The women models do not seem to acknowledge the glitter as something any different than natural body fluid, which supplements the idea that women have been conditioned to go to any length in order keep up an attractive appearance. The project is meant to raise the awareness of such a ridiculous standard, and to question its morality.
I published the photos on to my Tumblr on 15 Feb to a modest amount of followers. The intimate project quickly began to circulate, and in 24 hours had gained over 130,000 notes. What began as a personal project shot in a college dorm has turned into a relatable and relevant statement that calls the perception of beauty into question.
The eight photos published are the only ones she's sharing from this series for now, but more of her work can be found at hannahaltmanphoto.com.