Showcasing Indonesian Beauty Standards and its Impact Through a Photobook

I aim to create a photobook that explores the impacts of Indonesian beauty standards in society/mass media on Indonesian women. ​This photobook shows photos of what women; specifically those in my community, go through while pressured by the expectations of society and mass media. Leading to the development of insecurities and changing our true selves for the body image and behaviour our society expects to see. I am aware that this discrimination against men is as severe as women’s, but due to time constraints, my prior knowledge, my limited connections and resources, I predicted that it would be more manageable for me if I were to only focus on women.

This is a highly challenging goal for me because I decided to model in the photos. Even the thought of this scares me since I am still fighting my own insecurities. I want to be confident in myself and defeat these looping negative thoughts within myself. I am not very familiar when it comes to modelling, photography and creating a photobook, but it is something that I have always wanted to expand my knowledge on.

I dedicated a plentiful amount of time conducting in-depth research to efficiently develop a proper creative photoshoot, developing ideas for the photos, enacting the actual photoshoot, and designing the photobook itself. My photographer who studied architectural photography assisted my photoshoot, but everything will remain organized and instructed by me.

Global Context

The global context for my personal project is ​Identities and Relationships​. I chose this because it focuses on an individual’s ​identity, personal health, physical health, mental health, social health, and human relationships ​including families, friends, communities​. All these strands under identities and relationships are connected to my personal project. Identity is shown since women change who they are and their body image to please society and feel belonged. This process would affect their personal, physical, mental and social health, which leads to affecting their overall human relationships with others. Why humans desire to “fit in” is also interconnected to another strand in ​what it means to be human​.

Product

My final product is a photobook that presents photographs which explores the impacts of Indonesian beauty standards in society/media on women in my community. I titled it as “Unveiled Masks''. Every photo possesses a symbolic meaning based on the data gathered through primary and secondary sources,​ and my own thoughts and opinions as a woman.

I would conclude that my product succeeded in fulfilling the requirements that my goal demanded. I was able to exceed my own expectations and goal with the total amount of photos I produced, and inserted thoughtful and deep symbolism in each photograph taken.

My product is able to satisfy the requirements of my chosen global context; ​Identities and Relationships because it relates and obliquely discusses the connecting strands of identity, beliefs, values, personal, physical, mental social, and spiritual health, human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures, and what it means to be human. ​

The photobook has a very modernistic design and is organized skilfully to ensure that its contents are descriptive and easily comprehensible. Its charm relies on the photos which are evidently original and imaginative.

Reflection

Personal project gave me an opportunity to develop as a person. I have been struggling with confidence for as long as I remember, and putting myself in this project helped me address all my insecurities. This project succeeded in improving my fear against cameras, but for me to be fully confident in myself, I require more time; but because of this, I feel like that time may come in the near future.

In addition, I was able to find others in my community with mutual struggles. Their different insights and perspectives demonstrated in the survey improved my depth in understanding insecurities and pressure for physical appearances.

I gained an enhanced understanding of my global context ​identities and relationships and a tighter grasp of its connection with my project. I learned how appearances can simultaneously mean so much and yet so little in what it means to be human and where it lies within our identities and relationships. One’s identity can be determined through the eyes’ ability to recognize bodies and faces, but it is what lies deep within ourselves that is beyond our eyes' reach that can truly define a person. It taught me how interconnected these expectations are to highly impact our ​personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health​. I realized that the way these pressuring standards affect our health contributes our ability to interact with others and therefore influence our relationships with them.

IB Learner Reflection

As an IB student, I was able to further develop myself as a risk-taker throughout the process of making my product. I was incredibly insecure of my face and did not think that I was even worthy of appearing on cameras for such pictures. After all this time, I was finally able to heal. I forced myself out of my comfort zone and posed as I heard the camera shuttering before me. I had to face my social anxiety as I presented my photobook to other students for feedback. I was aware that they may think negatively and even harshly criticize my hard work, but I accepted these risks and demonstrated my product anyway.

Working with a photographer enhanced my ability to communicate. I efficiently communicated with my photographer so that we were able to get satisfactory results in all 25 photos. I always compelled myself to speak out regarding some ameliorate photos for the better of the project. As I work from photo 1-25, I was forced to repeatedly voice out my thoughts which emboldened me to speak up my mind. As we kept going, I got more comfortable and transparent to communicate.

Most importantly, I was reflective towards myself. In the process of the photoshoot, deep down I still felt uneasy to go in front of a camera, the sounds of the camera clicking already set off my anxiety. I knew I couldn’t go on like this, so after being shaken up by the end of the first day, I reflected and mentally prepared myself for the following days. Even though I couldn’t fully convince myself, I was able to crawl out of my shell eventually.