The Definition of Beauty

Photo by Maxim Vakhovskiy

As a society I think we are often misled when we talk about beauty. We equate beauty with  physical appearance when in reality one  has nothing to do with the other. On some level, we are all aware of this. 

I've met attractive people with very ugly personalities. And the more I interacted with them, the less attractive they became. Likewise, I've met other people that became more attractive the more I got to know them. In both cases though, nothing about the person physically changed. But my perception of them was completely different.

"Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks. 

Not in what they say. Just in what they are."

                                         -Markus Zusak

I've always perceived people in this way, but after this debacle, I realized that I see my body in the same way.The difference though, is that my physical body is constantly changing and so how I perceive it must also change. My self-worth must be stable; it cannot come from a body in flux. How I  perceive my beauty cannot come from how I see my physical body.

I realized this the moment I saw these images. I stared at them for quite some time, trying to figure out what made them beautiful. These women are comfortable in their skin. They are at peace with who they are. And because of these things, they are beautiful.

I love Maxim's body of work for so many reasons. For one thing, although his subjects are mostly nude, they are not generally sexualized or erotic. His work is an honest picture of women of all colors in all shapes and sizes. But what I love most about it is that it challenged me to confront how I see myself. It was just what I needed.