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Hannah Altman holds a self-portrait June 26.  Ms. Altman, 20, a Point Park University junior from Flemington, N.J., is part of an exhibition at Runaway Studios in Bloomfield, showing her photographs.
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Point Park student, photographer examines standards of female beauty in 'Everything Nice'

Bill Wade/Post-Gazette

Point Park student, photographer examines standards of female beauty in 'Everything Nice'

Hannah Altman, a 20-year-old student at Point Park University, has credits a professional photographer would envy: BuzzFeed, the Huffington Post and Cosmopolitan magazine, just to name a few.

Some of her photography will be on display as part of a collaborative mixed-media project at 7 p.m. Saturday at Runway Studios in Bloomfield.

Her photo series “And Everything Nice” appeared first on her Tumblr page, helping to launch her into the public sphere. The photos have been altered with glitter, and sometimes burned as a commentary on the standards of beauty that women often strive to attain. On her Tumblr page, she wrote:

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“The ongoing series consists of women in states of affliction; the body fluid of the models have been replaced with glitter to visualize the concept of girls invariably needing to seem attractive regardless of the actual situation.”

Much of her feminist photography seeks to “desexualize the human body” and to stop “shaming women for existing,” she said in a recent interview. 

This message has resonated with women of all ages across the country. It’s evident in the letters and emails she has received.

“It’s important that women feel not alone in this world,” she said. “It’s really nice to know that they are reaching out and not feeling as isolated.”

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Ms. Altman said that her inspiration for this series comes from her own experiences, as well as witnessing the effect that these standards have had on women around her. Her friends volunteered to serve as the models for her project. Their involvement began they walked into the bathroom and caught Ms. Altman taking a picture of herself with glitter between her teeth, she said. Once she explained the project, they were thrilled to help.

“A lot of my friends are artists in their own respects, so they were super excited to be involved with the project,” she said. 

Ms. Altman has also employed her photography skills while abroad in Israel by taking pictures of people engaging in normal day-to-day activities such as petting a dog.

“The Western world’s constant exposure to conflict in the Middle East causes a certain desensitization regardless of what news source the information is coming from. ... Sharing individualistic portraits of quieter moments focuses on an entirely different facet of the country,” she wrote on her website.

Much of her photography strives to show the different facets and aspects of human emotion. 

“Overall, the common themes are analyzing society around me and noticing what doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. 

Jewell Porter: jporter@post-gazette.com or on Twitter @jewell_porter.

First Published: July 8, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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Hannah Altman holds a self-portrait June 26. Ms. Altman, 20, a Point Park University junior from Flemington, N.J., is part of an exhibition at Runaway Studios in Bloomfield, showing her photographs.  (Bill Wade/Post-Gazette)
"Along with the Rest" by Hannah Altman.
"Yours" by Hannah Altman.
"Pretty on the Inside," by Hannah Altman.
Bill Wade/Post-Gazette
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