#SHOWUS

#SHOWUS

As part of the XI Moscow International Biennale of Fashion and Style in Photography 2019 the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents the exhibition ‘#ShowUs’, created by Dove in collaboration with Getty Images and Girlgaze. This exhibition supports the international movement Project #ShowUs, which advocates the diversity of female images in media and advertising.

From December 2018 to February 2019 the Edelman Intelligence consultancy conducted a survey in which the participants were 9027 women aged 18 to 64. Research was conducted in eleven countries with various cultural traditions, different economic and social systems. The list included the UK, USA, Canada, France, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, India and Russia.

The survey showed that 70% of women do not feel represented in the images relayed by mass media. That is why Project #ShowUs was launched on 27 March 2019, created by the Dove brand together with Getty Images and Girlgaze. Their goal is to expand the range of female images in media and advertising.

The #ShowUs library compiled from Getty Images, the world’s largest stock photo bank, features more than 5000 images of women from 39 countries worldwide. As a matter of principle these photos were not subject to digital processing: their aim is to show real people, their unique beauty and diversity of appearance. The creators of these images are members of Girlgaze, the international association of women photographers.

«The Girlgaze agency was born from a need to bring the image of women closer to reality, and this must be done on a global scale. Project #ShowUs is a game-changing initiative, as we know that photographic reality should be as diverse as the reality surrounding the photographer. Uniting in a global community of women photographers, we create portraits that truthfully depict female beauty,» says Amanda de Cadenet, Founder and CEO of Girlgaze.

Although the mass media have already made an effort to move on from unrealistic and artificially constructed female images, women around the world consider this is still not enough. The images you see on the pages of glossy magazines, in advertising, films, serials and social networks convey ideal standards of appearance and limit our perception of how a woman should look. This can have a serious negative impact on self-esteem, health, relationships with others, and a woman’s self-realisation.

Every image from the #ShowUs collection used by the mass media will support women photographers and take another step towards making the female image more natural and diverse in the media and advertising industry.

Dove was founded in the USA in 1957, when the brand launched a unique cream soap with a patented blend of cleansers and its signature ¼ moisturising cream. Women have always been the inspiration for Dove. From the start the brand was wholly committed to providing superior care and to showing real women in their advertising. Dove believes that beauty is for everyone, that it should be a source of confidence rather than anxiety.