Body Images Zine Re-release

Join us for the re-release of "Body Images: Photography, Technology, and Beauty Culture" by Liz Barr, now in its second printing. The zine explores how photography, editing, and publishing technologies have influenced beauty culture from 1839 through the present day.

The event will feature readings by Liz Barr, Maya Arthur, and Connie Yu.

Liz Barr is an artist, zine-maker, and printer based in Chicago. She previously lived in West Philly, but is originally from Delaware. In addition to making her own work, she takes on small Riso print jobs under the name Saddle-Stitch Press. She has written two other zines about American beauty culture, Body Works (2016) and Conditioner (2019), both originally published by GenderFail.

Maya Arthur is a poet living in Philly. She finished up at UPenn with her English & Creative Writing degree. These days her poems dig into memory, nostalgia, and making sense of herself. Right now she's stuck in corporate life but she'll soon be trading that for student life out in Iowa's cornfields. You can find her wandering around the city.

Connie Yu is a writer and artist based in Philadelphia. Their practice takes place in poetry and printmaking, cooking and strength training, and takes shape from the administrative aspects of these data — asking the limits of work and its measure, measure and its work. Connie co-curates, edits, and publishes work by/for queer and trans Asian artists with their print collective FORTUNE, and tends to its small-scale risograph imprint Many Folds Press.

More About “Body Images” :

“Body Images" explores how photography, editing, and publishing technologies have influenced American beauty culture from 1839 through the present day. From the manual retouching processes of the 19th century to the instantaneous beauty filters of the 21st century, how has photo-editing shaped the way we see ourselves and each other? Do manipulated photos warp our perception of reality? Do un-manipulated photos exist? Has the ubiquity of digital photography and publishing platforms exacerbated our insecurities, or helped to expand our ideas of beauty? Liz Barr grapples with these questions while providing historical context to our contemporary anxieties.

Host or Publisher Ray Philly