Before and After

 



 I was on Stumbleupon when I found this image and it's a project done by photographer Sacha Goldberger. He asked people jogging if he could take their picture when they were sweaty and fatigued looking and then if he could take their picture in a studio a week later. His main purpose for the project was to show the difference between people's natural side vs. the side people show to society. I think this photo is very gendered considering the fact that most of the photos were women. It's almost as if seeing women in a more natural or rustic way is surprising for some people. Personally my reaction was wow, some people really do look rough when they're working out. And the thing is, that's the whole point. Exercise is the one thing women can do without being expected to dress up for it. I feel like this picture is representing how society looks at women. They better be looking good and have makeup on to be out in public, but we'll allow one time for them to not look so hot. Which would be when they're exercising and that's only because even then they are "bettering" themselves. People look at the girl in the before picture differently after seeing the after picture because  they realize she has the potential to look good. If someone were to only see the before picture, they may judge her a little differently and think she is very rough looking and could use some soap. Just like the picture of the riots in Kenya and how people were saying things that weren't true about what was actually happening there. This before and after shot represents the same thing. If it weren't for the after people would assume this woman always looks like this. Grungy, dirty, and fatigued. There is always more to a person and more to a story than one single shot.