EveryBODY IS A GOOD BODY - The RE-FORMATION OF BEAUTY STANDARDS

Tarik Carroll–EveryBODY IS A GOOD BODY: The RE-formation of Beauty Standards
March 23 – April 26, 2022
Marsh Gallery
Eskenazi Hall

Tarik Carroll–EveryBODY IS A GOOD BODY The RE-formation of Beauty Standards

As a kid, I was always different. I'm sure it was challenging for my parents to raise an outspoken, headstrong, vibrant, eccentric Black child. When I began elementary school, I found myself in classrooms filled with students that looked nothing like me. As a child, I started to embark upon my first understanding of body concept. I began to develop perceptions of my body’s attractiveness, acceptability and functionality by comparing myself to others. In those moments, reality would hit me like tons of bricks. During my developmental years, I often felt isolated. I was consistently the tallest kid in class, the dude with a voice higher than most of the other boys, and (of course) I was always the chubbiest kid.

Early on I was labeled “different” which is something that has followed me throughout my life. At 6 years old, being “different” felt like a curse. But now at 34, being “different” feels liberating as I step further into my identity and authenticity. Society has always had this obsession with perfection. This obsession conditions most of us to never feel comfortable in our own skin because we never attain the standard of beauty that society places on us, and most likely will never be. Voices beginning to ring in our heads. Echoes of “you are not thin enough, thick enough, you're too pale, too black, or simply not beautiful enough” to be accepted. These deafening voices circled my thoughts throughout most of my life. We hear this from our coaches, our teachers, and surprisingly, even from our own parents. This idea that “perfection” MUST be achieved, no matter the emotional cost, distorted my perception of myself and my body for years.

It wasn't until I started working in the fashion industry that I began to see through the “4th wall" and embark on my own journey towards acceptance, a path that led to the realization of the supremacy of representation, inclusion, and diversity. Upon learning the powers of photo retouching commonly used in the fashion industry, I came upon the realization that perfection and beauty are purely subjective constructs. Once I started to build friendships and working relationships with various models, I quickly learned that body image issues didn’t discriminate. Listening to male models with bodies that rival Greek gods told me that they too suffer from body image issues. This realization was equally eye-opening and jarring for me.

Five years ago I decided to dig deeper within myself and truly shift the subject matter of my photography. I made the decision to create with intention by crafting imagery that not only showcased and celebrated a broader spectrum of body types and gender identities, but also create work that felt authentic, elevated and ultimately healing for myself and others who look like me. This exhibit is a visual conversation about inclusion and diversity which I intend to translate into an actual conversation about the positivity that begins within.

Every Body Is A Good Body

-Tarik Carroll

Winter, 2022

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity, there is beauty, and there is strength.” — Maya Angelou