15th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest People
Beauty inspired by nature

What defines beauty? Is natural beauty ever better than constructed beauty? Do beauty and happiness go together? What is the relation between beauty and the sublime? Beauty has varied throughout time, various cultures and the vast different perceptions of the world. Beauty has been described and depicted through pictures and concepts penetrating our minds. Beauty has been defined in so many ways. It’s Concept that haunted poets, artists, academics for centuries including myself. With this thought in my head I decided to be the square peg and embarked on the quest to present it in a unique way that can provoke and lead viewers to engage in conversations about the concept itself. Drawing inspirations from the environment and in particular the Australian flora and the tribal people body decorations and paintings from faraway lands I came with the idea to show it through the portrait of my niece Delfina. For the purpose of this project I did substitute jewellery with Australian native flowers and make up has been substituted by natural colours such as ochre and chalk. I hope I will leave you, the viewer to start thinking what beauty is for you.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 01.2017
Date Uploaded: 08.2017
Photo Location: Sydney, Australia
Camera: NIKON D750
Copyright: © Biljana Jurukovski