Variety shows: Beauty gets a black eye

If you picked up a magazine from 10 - or even five - years ago, you'd notice that nearly all of the models would fit one certain beauty ideal: young and Caucasian.

Fast-forward to 2016, though, and it seems that the fashion and beauty industry is gradually waking up to the idea of a broader range of looks in magazines and campaigns.

But for New York-based photographer Alexi Lubomirski, this change isn't happening quickly enough.

On a shoot with the Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o last year, Lubomirski was taken aback when the actress turned to him after shooting and said that he had to make sure her skin wasn't lightened in post-production.

''I was bemused at first, as I didn't think skin-lightening in post-production happened," he said. ''Then I looked through my archive and noticed there was a percentage of people I'd shot with darker skin, who had been lightened before the magazine had published the photographs."

Lubomirski recalls times in which his requests to shoot certain models had been denied: ''I'd give them my list of the 10 models I wanted and the first two to get knocked off the list would be the black girls," he recalls. ''They'd say, 'We love her but ...' They'd say she was too dark or, if she was lighter-skinned, that she was 'too light to make a statement', which I found completely bizarre."

The vetoes would keep coming: too freckly, too big, hair too crazy.

''Invariably, you'd end up with the two Caucasian girls you shoot all the time anyway," says Lubomirski.

''We're beginning to see more diversity - an H&M campaign featuring a girl in a hijab, for example - but it's sprinkled. Every month in magazines there should be a representation of our world."

And so the seed for his new book, Diverse Beauty, was planted. ''For any model about whom anyone had ever said, 'She's too something', I wanted to celebrate that 'something'."

The book is comprised of shots taken over a three-day period, and also uses images of subjects he'd shot previously, including Nyong'o, who wrote the foreword.

Proceeds will go to Concern Worldwide, an anti-poverty charity for which Lubomirski is an ambassador.

- ©The Daily Telegraph

MICHELLE HARPER
 

''Beauty is about being comfortable in your skin and not being afraid of the way you look because it's not represented in magazines," says Lubomirski. And it couldn't be more true for the Colombian brand consultant Michelle Harper, who's become known for her directional haircuts and fantastical dress sense. Harper has her own signature take on surrealist, quirky beauty.

LAUREN WASSER
 

It was a severe case of toxic shock syndrome in 2012 that led model Lauren Wasser, then 24, to have her right leg amputated. Following her recovery, Wasser was convinced she would never model again - but made a comeback this year at New York Fashion Week. She now campaigns to raise awareness of toxic shock syndrome. "Being part of this shoot was empowering for the models - it was a nice change for them to be themselves and not have to fit into a box," says Lubomirski.

PHILOMENA KWAO
 

There's much more than meets the eye to the Ghanaian-British model Philomena Kwao. If she wasn't modelling, she'd be putting her first-class degree in international health management from Imperial College London to good use, and working with the British government on health policy. ''Philomena has this presence about her. She loved this project and I love this picture because it's so rich in everything. Her personality shines through," says Lubomirski.

LINDA RODIN

The 68-year-old stylist, who's worked for everyone from Harper's Bazaar to Victoria's Secret over her 40-year career, has taken on the beauty world, too. Her line of face and body oils has a permanent spot in the bathroom cabinets of everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Alexa Chung. "I've always been a fan of Linda's," says Lubomirski.

LUPITA NYONG'O

Growing up, Nyong'o says she always felt excluded from beauty. But that changed when she saw the model Alek Wek in a magazine; the first dark-skinned woman who looked like her. "Until then, if she was to believe the pictures in the magazines, her look was not aspirational or beautiful," Lubomirski says.