The Gorgeous Reason This 22-Year-Old's Homework Assignment Went Viral

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As part of a University of Maryland photography course project, Eva Woolridge, 22, decided to photograph her friends. After one of said friends posted her photo to Tumblr from the "Embrace Your Essence" series, Woolridge's photos went majorly viral earlier this year. Now, Woolridge explains to Business Insider, she understands why her homework blew up so big.

"There's at least one thing about every single person that's beautiful, so I think it's extremely important for women to remind themselves of that beautiful feature," Woolridge told BI. "In doing so, can you imagine how much more beautiful the world will be if we did embrace all of [the] essences that make us unique?" She sought, among other things, to point out that beauty.

Her goal was also to help her friends "move away from constantly critiquing themselves," a demeaning practice that was caused by other people's beauty standards. "I was surrounded by such beautiful women with such gorgeous souls," she explained, "who sometimes let their light dim."

More than 100,000 people have viewed her series and you can see her work here.

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