Sophie Harris-Taylor: the photographer helping women to embrace their acne

Full-coverage foundation, light therapy, chemical peels: When it comes to hiding or ‘improving’ our natural skin, there’s no shortage of anti-blemish solutions available. 

Living with acne or other skin issues can have an impact on more than our wallets. According to the British Skin Foundation, 95 per cent of acne sufferers say acne has an effect on their daily lives, with two-thirds reporting a fall in self-confidence due to acne. In an age of polished, painstakingly curated social media feeds, the pressure for perfect skin is real.

A movement has been quietly rallying to combat unrealistic beauty ideals, with a growing number of influencers choosing to ditch the smoothing and spot-covering apps and go filter-free. Yet while the hashtag #skinpositivity now has over 24K posts on Instagram and counting, we’re still a long way off widely celebrating the varied appearances of skin.

Chances are you’re one of the 80 per cent of people who have experienced acne by the time they’re 30 – so why are we so committed to covering up something that is more common than wearing glasses?

Throughout her teens and early twenties, photographer Sophie Harris Taylor suffered with severe acne. “At the time I felt shame and embarrassment and it affected my self-esteem,” she tells the Standard. “I wish I’d realised I wasn’t alone and talked about it more openly because the more we do that, the less stigmatised it becomes.” 

The experience of living with the common skin condition led the London-based photographer to create Epidermis – a series of portraits of bare-faced women in the UK that explore “real skin in a beautiful and honest way.” Harris-Taylor invited the women, who were mainly recruited via social media, to her intimate home studio where they were captured in nothing but natural light.

“Anyone agreeing to partake knew that it would be make-up free. However, for some of these women, this experience was something quite daunting as they’d struggle to even leave the house without makeup. To do so in front of the camera was, at first, a real challenge but often actually became incredibly liberating.”

Harris-Taylor isn’t the first to highlight negative attitudes towards skin. Em Ford, who in 2015 posted a YouTube video called You Look Disgusting, was one of the first voices to put the skin conversation onto our social media feeds. The video showed the shocking comments received in response to Ford showing her acne on screen and has since had over 31 million views. “I learnt a lot around the psychology of online abuse,” Ford tells the Standard. “It’s not about you, it’s about them unleashing their pent-up anger and frustrations with their life and the world, on someone who just so happens to be you.”

The beauty blogger has since set up a campaign, Redefine Pretty, to encourage others to share their real-life stories and “convey a powerful message to the beauty industry to stop putting unrealistic pressure on young women”. The first step to breaking down the stigma surrounding skin issues is to support each other, says Ford. “Believe them when they say that they can’t just ‘get over it’. Acne affects every part of people’s lives, and a kind ear can make all the difference.”

Now, Sophie Harris-Taylor’s Epidermis project is about to open up the conversation for even more women in London, as it goes on show at The Print Space Gallery in September. We caught up with her to find out more ahead of the exhibition.

You suffered from acne as a teenager – is there anything you wish you’d known that would have changed how you felt about it at the time?

I think most importantly that looks don’t define who you are, and in the end don’t really matter. Your friends love you for who you are – your stupid laugh, your kindness, your terrible taste in music – skin doesn’t come into it. That’s not to belittle the struggles people have, because they do and the pressures from it, both external and internal, are real. But I wish I’d realised I wasn’t alone and that there are so many people around the world with acne and other skin conditions. I wish I’d talked about it more openly. 

Where do you think the biggest pressures come from for us to hide our skin conditions?

We need to be more educated about skin conditions. Broadly speaking the pressures come from society and the culture we live in. I think it can be too easy to blame the fashion and media industries because really, they’re just a reflection of their consumers. I think it’s important for us all to take responsibility and set an example to the younger generation by embracing those things that make us unique.

The body positivity movement is garnering increasing coverage on social media and in the press – Tess Holliday’s Cosmopolitan cover last year is one example. Where do you feel skin positivity sits within this? 

Part of my inspiration came from seeing so much body positivity stuff out there, but skin had rarely got a look in. We were starting to use larger models and see stretch marks appear on ads, but still air brushing facial skin so it looked inhuman. With a lot of these type of projects there’s an element of trying to shock, but that was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve.

I really wanted Epidermis to be seen as a beauty shoot first, and a commentary on skin second. I wanted to avoid the extremes you often see around body shape in the fashion industry – fetishizing first ultra thin models and now ultra plus-size models, neither of which are necessarily realistic.

What do you think about the ‘beauty’ editing apps that are often used for social media posts? 

Honestly, I think they’re a bit mad. I wasn’t really aware of them until I started this project. I ended up downloading a couple to find out more. The saddest thing about them is that they warp not just people’s perceptions of others but of themselves too. They are always just a click away and I think in the long term can probably cause quite a bit of damage mentally.

The interesting thing about social media, particularly Instagram, is that whilst this can be the source of a lot of negativity, it is also where these positivity movements spring up and can be a real place of support too.

Who are the women in Epidermis? 

I approached a few people who were already sharing their skin stories and, through this, finding a voice and an outlook. Once I’d started sharing a few photos, it was much easier to put out an open casting as people realised it wasn’t in any way exploitative, I was actually trying to find beauty in this. Most of the women had never done anything like this before. But I think this worked in my favour. It meant each shoot felt really exciting and organic. The models often started in quite a formal reserved manner but towards the end they became a lot more familiar and confident. It was quite remarkable to see.

Have your own perceptions towards skin been changed since working on Epidermis?

I think I’ve realised we are a lot more self-conscious of our own skin than others realise. I think that’s true in most things.

Can you see the beauty industry changing its view on ‘normal’ in the future?

There’s always going to be beauty ideals but hopefully what these ideals are will broaden over time. As cliché as it sounds, beauty is subjective. I think it’s really positive that a younger generation, teenagers in particular, seem a lot less prescriptive in their views and are keen to break down boundaries.

What impact do you hope your project to have?

I want the project to be relatable. I hope that it makes others on similar journeys feel less isolated too, as well as bringing more awareness to what a range of skin we all have.  I’d love to help people feel empowered and more comfortable in their own skin. It’s still something I personally struggle with but hope one day I can practice what I preach.

Epidermis by Sophie Harris-Taylor is presented by Francesca Maffeo Gallery at The Print Space, September 6 – 13, 2019 www.francescamaffeogallery.com/epidermis-sophie-harris-taylor