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Redefining Beauty: A Photographer’s Powerful Portrait Series That Celebrates Imperfection and Body Positivity

Peter DeVito, a New York based photographer debunks the notion of a 'perfect picture'; re-establishing beauty standards and championing acne, scars, and wounds. 

24 July, 2020
Redefining Beauty: A Photographer’s Powerful Portrait Series That Celebrates Imperfection and Body Positivity

In the age of beautifying apps galore, a New York photographer, Peter DeVito took on the prodigious task of challenging, as well as re-structuring well-defined beauty norms and standards. Proving body positivity to be more than just a trend, he directed and photographed the 'real human' side of models. No touch-up, no photoshop, no beautification. 

One of his most famous portrait series, reiterating the idea 'acne is normal' through slogans on human portraits, also caught the attention of Cara Delevingne, who then re-posted the same on her Instagram. 

In the world of fashion and beauty, where 'covering-up', 're-touching' and 'concealing' scars, wounds, and blemishes are conventional, Peter chose to confute the long-standing tradition, breaking stereotypes and celebrating self-love and individual differences instead. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Every time I see this image reposted, I always see people comment things like “What? I can’t be curious?” or “Everyone is entitled to ask questions.” Yes, you’re allowed to be curious, but just because someone has vitiligo doesn’t mean it is their responsibility to educate you on it. How many times do you think they have been asked about their skin? Do you really think they want/need another random person whether it’s in public or online to ask them again? Some people don’t mind answering questions about their skin, but that doesn’t mean all of them want to. And some aren’t 100% comfortable with their skin, so why are you going to take the chance of putting someone in a situation that may cause them to feel uncomfortable? Just because you’re curious? If you’re reading this, you have access to the internet, you can do your own research. SWIPE through to read some facts about vitiligo. All of the facts are from the Global Vitiligo Foundation & the American Vitiligo Research Foundation. #WorldVitiligoDay

A post shared by Peter DeVito ?? ?? ?? ?? NY? (@peterdevito) on

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Don't assume that every Asian has the coronavirus just because they're Asian. Don't blame all Asians for the coronavirus. Don't treat Asians differently than you would treat anyone else. We're all human and should be treated like it. I've seen way too many stories of Asians being assaulted recently "as a result of the coronavirus"...the coronavirus is not an excuse to be racist...attacking people and insulting them is not going to get rid of the coronavirus. It will only distract you momentarily at the expense of others who haven't done anything wrong. They tell this to little kids to teach them values, but I'm just gonna say it because apparently some people never retained it: TREAT EVERYONE HOW YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.

A post shared by Peter DeVito ?? ?? ?? ?? NY? (@peterdevito) on

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

If you're not from NYC or you're not familiar with NYC, we have signs all over our subways that say "WATCH THE GAP", so I thought it would be cool to photograph models with gaps in their teeth in the subway - SWIPE all the way through to read about @justice.carlone and how he learned to embrace his gap?- 7/? - I'm working on a personal project where I'm trying to take beauty shots of all different types of models(models of all different races, models with skin conditions, models with features that are deemed "unconventional" by society, etc.) I thought the project would be a cool way to show that there is beauty in everyone. If you think you'd be a cool fit for the project comment and DM me:)

A post shared by Peter DeVito ?? ?? ?? ?? NY? (@peterdevito) on

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

For my senior project, I decided to create a piece about body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia is a mental disorder where a person is preoccupied with an imagined physical defect or a minor defect that others often can't see. As a result, people with this disorder see themselves as "ugly", and often turn to plastic surgery or other measures to try to improve their appearance. For this project, I photographed a few models with this condition, collaged measuring tapes over the images to look like bandages, layered the word "ugly" repeatedly across their faces to look like cosmetic surgical marks, and had each of the models write about their experiences with body dysmorphia. This piece will be displayed at my senior show on Tuesday, May 14th at 5:00p.m. If anyone wants to come, the address is 227 W 27th Street, New York, NY, 10001 - there are lots of cool artists I'm graduating with, so the show is gonna be GUD???

A post shared by Peter DeVito ?? ?? ?? ?? NY? (@peterdevito) on

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Asians come in all different shapes and sizes. - Model: @scarletthalo_ - A few months ago, @khrystyana & I came up with the "More Than A Trend" project. The aim of this project is to show how things like body positivity, inclusivity, gender, diversity, sexuality, etc. are NOT trends. We wanted to come up with a project that touched upon how these things shouldn't be categorized as trends because a trend is a short-lived statement and these things are an important part of people's lives. Hashtags are a symbol of a 'trend', so each photo is accompanied by a video of the model removing the hashtag sticker from their face. If you want to see all the images, check the link in my bio?

A post shared by Peter DeVito ?? ?? ?? ?? NY? (@peterdevito) on

 

 

 

 

 

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