RACHEL PAPO

  I found these photographs by the very talented Rachel Papo 

 from her "Desperately Perfect" project as beautiful as

they were disturbing  ....

this is an excerpt by Rachel about the project ....

"This project is a look into the lives of a group of adolescents who, in their hope for a better, wider life, spend the majority of their youth in fierce competition. Based on my own memories of being a ballet student for nine years of my childhood, never being the best in class, these images emphasize the emotional side of these children’s uncompromising reality. They stretch their bodies further every day, desperate to stand out, while constantly being encouraged by their instructors to be uniform—identical to one another. Engaged in endless repetition of physical phrases, these students obsessively strive for a level of perfection that is always out of reach". 

Read more here

Found via here