"Love Me"

Zed Nelson

Freelance

From the series ‘Love Me’ by Zed Nelson. Intro: Love Me reflects on the cultural and commercial forces that drive a global obsession with youth and beauty. The project explores how a new form of globalization is taking place, where an increasingly narrow Western beauty ideal is being exported around the world like a crude universal brand. The project spans five years, and involves photography in 17 countries across five continents. Image: Oxygen administered to exhausted contestants during ?nal round of judging. The strain of intense dieting, dehydration and muscle-?exing, places high levels of strain on the heart and lungs, rendering many contestants dizzy, light-headed and weak. Ronnie Coleman, winner. Mr Olympia Competition. Las Vegas, USA.

Zed Nelson, ""Love Me"," in POYi Archive, Item #43782, http://archive.poy.org/index.php/items/show/43782 (accessed June 19, 2025).