As I have written many times here, our lives contrast significantly with those of the people in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. Beyond the obvious differences in our day to day lives I have been looking at the differences with the perfect lives advertising creates all around us. When compared to what we have, they are clearly exaggerated but not unbelievable but it is interesting to compare them to the lives of the people in the third world.
To this aim, I have mixed some of my Omo Valley pictures with adverts from a random selection of popular everyday magazines. It is interesting how some of the messaging stands out and for me it highlights some of the hypocrisy we have in our lives. “You now have the power to transform your skin”; how nice, is this really important? Of course the advertisers believe it is critical and as a result I wonder how much hurt is created in our world because of this and other ideals that are fashioned for us?
As you review the pictures below, please let me know what comes to mind and your feelings. I am interested in pursuing this theme of contrasts further and your feedback will be extremely helpful.
Thank You!
Andy Robbins Photography 