"I was really inspired because a lot of people on social media started posting things about body positivity and self-acceptance, but I felt like there was an absence of people with acne."

- Peter DeVito

ARTIST RESAERCH

PETER DEVITO IS A 20 YEAR OLD AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER WHO IS BASED IN NEW YORK. HE IS WIDLEY KNOWN FOR HIS PORTRAITURE SPECIFICALLY FOR HIS INCLUSION OF ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODELS. DEVITO'S WORK BEGAN TO RECIEVE ATTENTION IN 2018 WHEN HIS ACNE NORMILIZATION IMAGES WENT VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE FIRST TIME. PETER APPLIES BLACK LETTER STICKERS OF COMMENTS OR QUERIES THAT HAVE BEEN SAID TO OR ASKED OF THEM TO PORTRAITURE PHOTOGRAPHS OF PERSONS WITH SOME FORM OF "IMPERFECTION". DEVITO DOESN'T SIMPLY PHOTOGRAPH "IMPERFECTIONS";HE ALSO PHOTOGRAPHS MEMBERS OF RACIAL MINORITIES WHO HAVE BEEN RACIALLY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, AS WELL AS PEOPLE WITH UNSUAL SKIN DISORDERS WHO HAVE BEEN QUESTIONED FOR NOT BEING "NORMAL". HE DOESN'T SIMPLY PICTURE WOMEN;HE ALSO PHOTOGRAPHS GUYS WHO ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

MOST PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE MODELS THAT ARE CLASSED AS "PERFECT".THAT ARE TALL, BEAUTIFULL,HAVE A CLEAR FACE,AND NO FAT. ALL THESE MODELS ARE VIEWED AS THE IDEAL BEAUTY STANDERD,AND WHO HAVE EVEN BEEN EDITED TO MAKE THEM EVEN MORE "BEAUTIFUL". HOWEVER,PETER DEVITO PURPOSFULLY DOESN'T USE RETOUCH OR PHOTOSHOP AND EVEN TEMPORARITLY TATTOOS THE MODELS FACE WITH THE WORD "RETOUCH" ALL OVER THE MODELS ACNE. HE ALSO USES STIKERS TO RAISE AWARENESS TO BODY SHAMING OR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

I CHOSE TO DO PETER DEVITO BECAUSE HE HELPED ME UNDERSTAND MORE HOW MUCH WORDS CAN HURT SOME PEOPLE AND HOW IMPEFECTIONS ARE WHAT MAKES PEOPLE BEAUTIFUL. HE ALSO SHOWED ME HOW MUCH THE MODEL INDUSTRY DECIVESS YOUNG PEOPLE TO THINK THAT YOU HAVE TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY FOR YOU TO 'FIT IN' IN LIFE. PETER DEVITO'S WORK ALSO CONNECTS TO ME IN SOME WAY BECAUSE I MYSELF AM A YOUNG GIRL WHO IS A MUSLIM AND WEARS A HEADSCARF WHICH IS 'WEIRED OR DIFFERNT' FOR SOME PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND. WHICH CAUSES SOME PEOPLE TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ME FOR NO RAESON BECAUSE THEY FOLLOW THE STEREOTYPE THAT MUSLIMS ARE 'TERRORISTS'. I THINK HIS WORK IS VERY SUCCESFUL AND MORE PEOPLE SHOULD SEE IT TO INSPIRE THEM BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE SUFFER WITH INSECURITIES AND I THINK PETER DEVITOS WORK WOULD HELP THEM ACCEPT THEMSELVES MORE AND HAVE A BETTER MINDSET ABOUT THESE THINGS. peter devito also does a set of photographs and told his models to write about their experience with racisum or anything that made them 'different' from others. I think this would help others to cope with being ok with not fitting in because many people could relate to some of the models stories.

HIS WORK

HOW THEY FEEL

"BACK IN THE DAY THE COMMON JOKE WAS 'YOUR SO WHITE YOU LOOK LIKE A GHOST' I ACCQUIRED UNWANTED NICKNAMES LIKE 'CASPER' AND 'SNOW WHITE'. THIS REALLY BOTHERED ME BECAUSE I KNEW THAT REGARDLESS OF MY SKIN COLOUR, I AM BLACK. ALBINISM IS A CONDITION THAT EFFECTS THE EXTERIOR. I AM FIERCE, FUNNY, COMPASSIONATE, AND NURTURING. THESE ARE SOME OF THE QUALITIES THAT MATTER THE MOST".

"WHAT'S ON YOUR FACE?"

MY BIRTH MARK DOES NOT DEFINE ME.MY BIRTHMARK DOES NOT MAKE ME UGLY.MY BIRTHMARK DOES NOT MAKE ME WEAK.MY BIRTHMARK MAKES ME STRONG.MY BIRTHMARK MAKES ME CONFIDENT.MY BIRTHMARK MAKES ME BEAUTIFUL

WHAT'S ON MY FACE SHOULD NOT MATTER

"WHY DON'T YOU LOSE SOME WEIGHT IT WILL MAKE YOU SO MUCH PRETTIER" WELL, I TRIED THAT . I LOST ALOT OF WEIGHT AND I STILL FELT INSUCURE. AT ONE POINT IN MY LIFE, I WAS A SIZE FOUR AND STILL FELT AS IF I WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. I ALWAYS WONDERED "WHY CAN'T I JUST FEEL PRETTY AT THE SIZE I AM NOW WITHOUT SOMEONE TELLING ME WHAT I SHOULD DO TO FEEL PRETTIER?" I SEE #PLUS SIZE AND WONDER WHY WE HAVE TO BE CATEGORISED. WHY DO I NEED TO BE LABELED PLUS-SIZED AND NOT JUST BE A WOME?" LETS'S STOP WITH THE LABELS-WE ARE ALL ONE.

PHOTOSHOOT

THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A PHOTSHOOT INSPIRED BY PETER DEVITO. FOR THIS PHOTOSHOOT I ASKED MY MODEL WHAT HAS BEEN SAID TO HER THAT EITHER HURT HER OR EFFECTED HER THEN I PUT SMALL ALPHEPET STICKERS ON HER FACE EXPRESSING WHAT SHE TOLD ME.

the pictures with the black circles around them are the pictures that I think are the most successful and that I want to develop/photoshop. the ones that are not circled are either blurry or I don't think they matches my photographer peter devito. I plan to add a more warmer tone to my photographs and make some black and white to add effect. In my second photoshoot I plan to get more stickers that match with my photographers and show a lot more messages that can inspire people.

DEVELOPMENT 1

FOR THESE DEVELOPMENTS I EXPERIEMNTED WITH DIFFERENT COLOURS AND EFFECTS. I EXPERIMENT WITH ONE OF THE IMAGES THREE TIMES TO SEEE HOW THE IMAGE TURNS OUT AND IF IT IS MORE LIKE PETER DEVTO. I THINK THIS WAS HALF A SUCCES BECAUSE IT DIDEN'T TURN OUT THE WAY I WANTED IT TOO AND I THINK THE LIGHTING IN THESE IMAGES TURN OUT HORRIBLE. FOR MY NEXT SHOOT I WILL BE TAKING MY PHOTOS IN A ROOM WITH NATURAL LIGHTING AND A PLAIN WHITE WALL/BACKGROUND BEHIND THE PERSON THAT I AM TAKING A PICTURE OF. I WILL ALSO BE USING STICKERS MORE LIKE THE ONES PETER DEVITO USES IN HIS IMAGES IN MY NEXT PHOTOSHOOT AND MAKE MORE MESSAGES THAT EFFECT MY MODELS IN MANY WAYS.

MOST SUCCESSFUL

BLACK AND WHITE DEVELOPMENTS

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

FOR THIS IMAGE I USED THE CROP TOOL FIRST TO MAKE A CANVES FOR THE EDITED IMAGE THEN I COPIED AND PASTED ANOTHER IMAGE I EDITED TO THE CANVES TO MAKE A COLLARGE.

FOR THIS IMAGE I USED ONE OF MY MOST SUCCESFULL IMAGE FROM MY BLACK AND WHITE DEVELOPMENNTS. I THEN USED THE CROPPING TOOL AND MADE A CANVACE OUT OF IT. AFTER THAT I MIRRED THE IMAGE AND ADDED A LITTLE DETAIL LIKE ADDING CONTRAST AND USING THE PLASTERING TOOL TO RUB OUT THE WORDS THAT I DON'T WANT.

PHOTOSHOOT 2

FOR THIS PHOTOSHOOT I WILL BE USING A CANON CAMERA AND A IPHONE 10 TO EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT CAMERAS AND SEE WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR MY PHOTOGRAPHER. I FOCUSED ON THE FACE AND THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY e.g. FACE. I USED DIFFERENT MODLES THIS TIME TO EXPORE MORE INSECURITES AND TO GIVE MORE MESSAGES. I HAVE CIRCLED ALL THE IMAGES I WANT TO EDIT/INPROVE WITH A BLACK CIRLE. I PLAN TO CHANGE THE LIGHTING A BIT AND TO BLUR THE BACKGROUND SO IT LOOKS MORE LIKE PETER DEVITO'S WORK.

PROCESS LOG

step 1. MY FIRST STEP TO DEVELOPING THIS IMAGE IS CROPPING IT TO THE SIZE I LIKE. I did this so the photo could look more like peter devito's work.

STEP 2. THE NEXT STEP TO DEVELOPING THIS IMAGE WAS TO MAKE THE IMAGE BLACK AND WHITE. AFTER THAT I INCREASED THE CONTAST AND LOWERED THE BRIGHTNESS A LITTLE BIT. THEN I LOWERED THE CURVE A LITTLE BIT TDO DARKEN THE BACKGROUND EVEN MORE AND TO MAKE MY MODELS FACE STAND OUT.

STEP3 3. I THEN GOT THE TYPE TOOL AND TYPED THE WORDS PHOTOSHOPED AND PHOTOSHOP ON MY MODELS FACE WHERE SHE FELT NSECURE AND WHERE SHE FELT SHE HAD TO EDIT THEM BEFORE POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA. FOR EXAMPLE THE EYE SOCKETS AND HER FORHEAD AND HER LIPS. FOLLOWING I CROSSED THE WORDS OUT TO SEND A MESSAGE TO PEOPLE THAT THERE DON'T NEED PHOTOSHOP THEY ARE PERFECT AS THEY ARE.

STEP3 4. FINNALY I ADDED SMALL DETAILS LIKE CROPPING THE IMAGE EVEN MORE SO ITS JUST HER FACE AND NOT THE BACKGROUND AND ADDED TWO MORE WORDS TO HER FACE.

BLACK AND WHITE DEVELOPMENTS (7)

for these developments I first made them black and white. then I used the brightness tool to brighten the image and inharnsed the contrast. I then used the curve tool to darken the background to make my models face stand out.

MOST successful

I think this was MY MOST SUCCESFUL LOOK BECAUSE I LOVED THE WAY I EXPERIEMENTED WITH DOUBLE EXPOSURE and still linked it with my photographer peter devito.