The Acte2 Gallery is exhibiting until June 05, 2010 a series of portraits taken by photographer Susan Anderson from the book High Glitz, at the heart of the Mini-Miss contest so popular in the United States. These photographs were all taken in 5 minutes, time granted by the organizers of beauty contests on all the American territory, shortly before the beginning of the contest. A real industry in the United States, they are worth millions of dollars between preparation fees, registration fees, custom-made toilets for participants, teething fees, make-up….
And the result is there, the photos, of an extreme quality, show perfectly made-up faces, mouths tinted with lip gloss, sequins, frills, but above all expose little girls trying to be as perfect as possible, conditioned in female attitudes. They alone represent the shortcomings of the American dream, this obsession with success at all costs, the race to perfection that eats away at this society from the inside.
And the least we can say is that these photographs of little beauty queens are both frightening and fascinating.
From a very young age, these little girls are ultra-prepared in a perpetual race to an illusory perfection. Make-up, dental prosthesis, false nails, fake hair or even bleached to match the fantasy of the perfect girl, nothing is spared to them. And they do it, raised to win and be the most beautiful, they play very easily with the lens in an unhealthy and desperate appeal to seduction. Disembodied dolls, consenting victims, the child always exists behind this absurd quest for an abstract beauty. A child crushed by an adult dream, a projection to excess, very often under pressure, which make them become portraits without soul. Seeing them, the expression “little model girls” takes all its meaning.
In the preface to her novel Les petites filles modèles, Comtesse de Ségur wrote:“Mes Petites Filles modèles are not a creation; they really do exist: they are portraits; the proof is in their very imperfections. They have flaws, slight shadows that bring out the charm of the portrait and attest to the existence of the model.” These few words perfectly describe the feeling in front of these photographs: by dint of wanting to be real little model girls, in the end their imperfections come out stronger. And that’s why they are so scary, because behind this fantasy of beauty and perfection are little girls who don’t want to disappoint and give everything they can to be the best. Except that the goal is unattainable.
Susan Anderson is a Los Angeles-based photographer specializing in art, advertising and editorial production. She excels in the art of portraiture, fashion photography or for beauty series. His fashion editorials have been published in many magazines such as Glamour, People or Playboy.
What I retained from this exhibition is that in fact the mini-beauty queens crystallize in themselves all the malaise of an America that runs after an unattainable dream of perfection and success, in total victim of the American Dream.
Finally, I like being perfectly imperfect….
Photo credit: © Susan Anderson Courtesy of
acte2galerie, Paris
Acte2galerie
41 rue d’Artois – 75008 Paris
t e l : 0 1 4 2 8 9 5 0 0 5
e-mail: [email protected]
www. a c t e 2photo. com
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Saturday: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
and by appointment
Marie-Odile Radom
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