Amerika

Russian photojournalist Natalia Ivanova has put together a project, Les origines de la beauté (the origins of beauty) which features pictures of different people around the world which are grouped by ethnicity, showing through similar photographs the detailed differences between ethnic groups.

While this project may not have political intent, it shows us the power of Nationalism: each group has its own standards, values and conception of beauty and excellence. These are not the same (“universal”) but instead vary with the environment and choices of each group. This in turn defeats the idea of an objective standard, and with it, the idea of diversity, which imposes an “objective” standard which denies each group the ability to have its own and so creates constant conflict.

Tags: ethnicity, natalia ivanova, nationalism, the origins of beauty