Young Beauty
The beauty of a model is measurable and weighable, and for most people unattainable. These young people most often enter model agencies in their teenage years in order to sell products and a lifestyle to consumers of a different age group and, more often than not, a different income bracket. Placed in the hands of a photographer, stylist and make-up artist, they are positioned as flawless symbols of beauty and sexuality, despite their own insecurities, self-doubt and lack of experience.
A newly recruited model’s first photographic experience in their new role is usually the so-called “test shoot”, when a photographer takes images for the model’s portfolio without a client and without payment, with the aim of creating pictures that showcase the model’s potential as broadly as possible and help them secure lucrative commissions in the future. I have worked in fashion photography for nearly fifteen years and have photographed countless model tests, both for my own portfolio and in order to realise my ideas — conceptual as well as technical. I have always been particularly interested in the first meeting, when the model — young, anxious, confused and insecure — arrives at the studio for the first time. At that moment, an experienced photographer meets a young person attempting to play the role of a model, most often without fully understanding what is expected of them, guided instead by examples seen in the media and on social networks. They look into the camera slightly stiff, holding their breath, gripping chairs with their hands, shoulders subtly raised and eyes wide with fear. This game is not fair. Yet in my project Young Beauty, I deliberately began to observe and photograph precisely their fragility, which usually remains outside the glossy facade of the fashion industry.
Kristīne Madjare (1987) obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Photography from the Tartu Art Academy in 2011. She has also undertaken additional studies at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Germany and at ISSP. She has participated in group exhibitions in Germany, Estonia, Latvia and elsewhere. In her professional practice, she works in fashion photography and event documentation. This photographic series was created in the framework of FK Photostory programme.
