“Epidermis”: A Candid Series on Skin by Sophie Harris-Taylor
“Facial skin is the first thing you see when you meet someone. It’s a such a big part of who you are, yet even within the ‘body positivity movement’ -which I’m all for- the subject continues to be off-limits”, Sophie Harris-Taylor told Mindful Feminism.
The British photographer picked up on this silence and created Epidermis in response. A stunning & candid sequence of what ordinary women with different skin types truly look like behind a lens. “I wanted to make a beautiful series of images that at first was loosely based around acne, but is really about showing skin that we don’t usually see -real skin.”
As of right now, there are 34.6 million posts on Instagram under the hashtag #skincare, so it’s no secret that flawless skin is a current societal obsession. And with that backdrop Epidermis becomes even more relevant as one of the few counter discourses on the matter.
The collection of photos is set up as a beauty editorial, although stripped of all the falsity mainstream media frequently employs. “As a photographer, you’re constantly asked to manipulate images and retouch heavily, which is something I’m quite against,” Sophie mentioned. In fact, she only shoots with natural light, guaranteeing a certain rawness to the images she creates.
