copyright 2009/2010 by thierry frisch

"looking_my_best" is an objective photographic documentation about the subjectivity of beauty which aims to show an infinite number of cognitive perceptions thereof.

Even though we are shown and told, in conscious and unconscious ways, what the current ideal of beauty should be, there are actually quite a lot different subjective perceptions.  By no means do I criticise our current ideal of beauty nor do I want to put it on a pedestal. I merely intend to show that there is more than one such ideal.

The photos for looking my best were taken at my place in april 2009 and at the carré rotondes in december 2009.

They are full-body portraiture in front of a neutral light background in order to focus the viewer’s eye onto the essence: The Model!

All of the models are non-professionals and enrolled after visiting my website,  hearing about looking my best by friends, on radio or television.

They weren`t given any directions as to posing. That way, they posed the way they thought one should pose.

As Posture is usually acquired by watching, reading and consulting the media we are exposed to, it is undoubtedly influenced by the current culture. The model had to represent himself/herself in a way he/she felt the most attractive: from completely styled to totally unstyled, from naked to totally dressed, whichever made him/her feel attractive.

"looking_my_best" is a social/ethnographic research in the form of a photographic documentary. Even though, the photos were taken in a "studio environnement", it still is a documentary. Indeed, since there were no directions except those where to stand, I merely documented the model and didn't impose anything on him/her.

The social/ethnographic aspect of this project is explained by the fact, that it reflects what people looked like and tended to look like in our country in the late first decade of the new millenium. It involves the models' self-image and body-consciousness which both are, most of the time, but not all the time, heavily, if not completely, influenced by today’s media culture.It is a mirror of our society, a visual narrative of the state of beauty.

A big thanks to:

all the models :)

the whole team of carre rotondes for their kindness, their help and support

rtl for the nice coverage

revue and all the other media who printed something about lmb

bruno pinto for the swift help with mysql database and the hosting

and finally the biggest thanks goes to myriam, without whom this would never have been possible