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Pro-anorexia websites inspire controversial photo exhibit
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A photo used in Ivonne Thein's new exhibit
A controversial new photo exhibits opens tonight in Washington D.C. that has many people grimacing in disgust. The exhibit features a collection of work by German photographer Ivonne Thein and is titled 'Thirty-Two Kilos.' If your math is rusty, thirty-two kilos is roughly seventy pounds. Why is that important? The collection of photographs features extremely emaciated models.
If it makes you feel better, none of the models are truly that thin. They were digitally manipulated to look anorexic. The models are not professionals, either. They are friends of Thein's. Whew, right? It makes it so much easier to take a gander at those photos now. Wait, it doesn't?
'Thirty-Two Kilos' is Thein's response to the shock she felt when visiting 'pro-ana' websites after reading about them in a magazine. These sites are essentially support groups for individuals suffering eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Users can offer encouragement to one another to get thin, stop eating, and take measures to maintain whatever methods of weight loss an individual chooses. Thein said to the Washington Post, "It's important for people to know that every teenager can get this information on the Internet."
As you might expect, a few of these pro-anorexia sites are rather fond of Thein's latest work. The photos offer what is called 'thinspiration' to the users. Instead of forcing the individuals to open their eyes to what is happening to their bodies, they see beauty and strive to attain it. One visitor to a pro-ana site wrote "Those pics are so, so beautiful! I want to look like them! They look so fragil [sic] and like an angel." How does Thein feel about this? "That's not what I wanted," she says. "It's important for me that if I show my pictures, there's a statement that it's a critical position and I don't glamorize anorexia."
After some quick research, I learned some things about eating disorders. Anorexia is most common in white, 15-24 year-old women. The mortality rate for anorexia is 6%. About 78% of adolescent girls wish they were thinner. 90% of teenage girls in junior and seniors of high school diet regularly. Cases of eating disorders have doubled in the past ten years.
W. Eugene Smith, a famous photographer in World War II, once said that “Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.” This seems to be Thein's goal. The question is, will the right people listen?
You can read the full article about Ivonne Thein's exhibit, 'Thirty-Two Kilos,' here at the Washington Post.
For more information about eating disorders, please visit FamilyDoctor.org, gURL, and ANAD.org.
If you're traveling to or live in Washington D.C. and are interested, 'Thirty-Two Kilos' will be on display from now until March 6 at the Goethe-Institut Washington.
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