Me(i)

A photography-based project I did. My Chinese name, 美榕 (měi róng), means beautiful, but if written differently as 美容 it could mean to improve one’s appearance and make themselves more attractive. I focused on showcasing how beauty standards can cause us idealize different things until eventually we scratch beneath the surface and realize we are beautiful as we are. The last image in the set has the Chinese written on the mirror, 你好美 (Nǐ hǎoměi), meaning “you are beautiful”. Each photo has a slight variation in lighting in order to showcase the journey of one’s own self-discovery, evident in the contrast between cool and warm palettes as the set continues.