PHOTOS: The Distressing Worldwide Boom in Cosmetic Surgery
Photographer Zed Nelson traveled the world documenting how body improvement has practically become a new religion
- By Joseph Stromberg
- Smithsonian magazine, October 2012
(Zed Nelson / Institute)
In ancient China, where foot binding was invented, a stunted foot signified a prized comeliness. In modern Manhattan, the pursuit of beauty has led some women to surgically shorten their toes and secure them with metal pins to fit more easily into three-inch Jimmy Choo stiletto heels (Kristina Widmer’s foot, post-surgery).
For his new book, Love Me, photographer Zed Nelson traveled to 18 countries over five years, documenting extreme measures undertaken in the quest for cosmetic perfection. Nelson’s unsettling images of plastic surgeons, beauty queens and bodybuilders underscore the seduction of narcissistic compulsion. “Beauty is a $160 billion-a-year global industry,” he says. “Body improvement has become a new religion.”
Comments (5)
It's as if the young beauty queen and the older woman in this picture are trying to look the same age. Our faces, hair etc all have to be the same. Can't we even be different ages now ? How sad for the little girl and for the older woman.
Posted by Mary Fletcher on February 8,2013 | 11:01 AM
Those are some nice puppies, err......I mean, knockers.
Posted by Ran on January 31,2013 | 07:35 PM
Sally Walker looks OK until you see her hands, which place her at least in her 70's
Posted by lynne Lance on October 31,2012 | 01:56 PM
The good doctor might consider a liposuction treatment of his own. His wife is no credit to his work either.
Posted by William Bergmann on October 30,2012 | 05:40 PM
I am going to defend my profession a little bit here. True, there are extremes. Cosmetic surgery is not for everyone. In my practice I have changed people's lives. I have had women run up to be in public thanking me. Of course, I work on ordinary everyday patients who just mostly want a little help to look better and enhance their natural beauty. I think what we have here is a systemic issue, as this photojournalist points out. Now that these procedures are possible, people will want them. Cosmetic surgery goes back to ancient times of Romans removing scars from their backs. The pursuit of beauty is not new. Dr Rhys Branman Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center
Posted by Dr Rhys Branman on October 24,2012 | 06:54 PM