Negative body image is a widespread social issue that can lead to serious mental and physical health problems. Learning critical thinking strategies and developing strong media literacy skills helps build resistance against any negative impact from the many ‘perfect’ images we see every day.

An ongoing project, No Bodies Perfekt uses augmented reality to disrupt outdoor advertising spaces. Overlayed messages prompt viewers to critically examine the images they see to cultivate a more realistic perspective towards their own bodies. 

No Bodies Perfekt aims to educate participants that images that they see in the public sphere should not be viewed as, or compared to, reality. Images of people in advertising have often been carefully constructed using professional models, photographers, studio lighting, and digital retouching to fit within a narrow ideal of what a person looks like. These images and techniques have become so normalised it is easy to forget this manipulation has taken place.

No Bodies Perfekt uses it’s own brand of digital enhancement, incorporating augmented reality to disrupt the one-way dialog of these images. Viewing selected advertising spaces through smart phones, users reveal messages designed to raise their awareness of the underlying cultural influences and processes behind the images they see. Being able to critically evaluate what they are seeing is a crucial first step to developing more body-positive, empowered thinking.