Eye of the Beholder - STEVEN R. TABOR

Eye of the Beholder

What makes someone beautiful?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Social norms and values condition us to distinguish those we think are beautiful from all the rest. But social norms and conventions change over time, particularly as different groups stand up to declare, quite simply--look at me.

This is a photo series of a young, Italian model named Drew. Drew models and serves as the Amsterdam-based photographer for the "Suicide Girls", an online community that was formed in Portland, Oregon in 2001. The term "Suicide Girl" comes from Chuck Palahniuk's novel Surivor (1999) and it describes girls who commit "social suicide" by breaking away from societal norms. The Suicide Girls website celebrates beautiful women, many with multiple piercings and tattoos, who choose not to fit into society's norm of what is considered beautiful, and who come to a corner of the internet where outsiders can congregate and be appreciated for being themselves.

If you'd like to see the full series, download the PDF catalogue here.