‘No Bleach For Me' - Documentary Project by Yana Binaev

‘No Bleach For Me’ Documentary Photojournalism Project Creative Direction and Photography by Yana Binaev Follow us on Instagram: @nobleachforme | @yanabinaev Visit: www.yanabinaev.com/no-bleach-for-me-project A message from the photographer. ‘No Bleach For Me’ is a Documentary Photography Project focusing on Brown and Black beauty. Where does it come from and why did I do it? It comes from my love and admiration to brown and black women and the passion towards race and gender equality. The idea rose up in my mind on a Summer night in August 2019, on a film screening event curated by the very talented script writer and film director Tomisin Adepeju . The night hosted a few film makers who shared their stories accompanied by a creative and freedom seeking audience, discussing the pictures on the screen. All of the short films screened that night touched the issue of bleaching, one of many unhealthy norms created in our society for the sake of approval. A rule that comes together with many other skin, hair and overall appearance related agendas, all in order to be accepted. This is something that I have always been aware of and yes, was personally affected as well. But only to a certain extent. That night, I witnessed the stories of a few young people for whom the dictated rules of society have not only changed many things in their life but also affected their entire self perception and in many cases created a trauma that is either irreversible or one that will take many years to heal. When in fact, all I see, is beautiful, talented, kind and graceful young black people. That discussion enraged me and after sitting there with a sore throat and worried heart, the words ‘No Bleach For Me’ came to mind. I wanted to create a project that will scream how I felt at that moment and celebrate everything I love so much. I was upset with the world for a very long time but that moment especially, I thought to myself, how can the world not see the astonishing beauty of dark skin? So I decided to make a documentary project about it and called it ‘No Bleach For Me’. The project was initially created with the aim to document 100 women, be published and exhibited. Due to the world entering a lock-down, the process was stopped and after some thoughts, I didn’t want to delay it much longer and as it felt right for me, I decided to close the project on 48 participants and share it with the world. I had a one on one meeting with each one of the stunning in and out women whose portraits are a part of this project. I had the amazing opportunity to meet 48 co-minders, tribe sisters and beautiful on the in and out women and hear their stories. I asked each one of them to think of a quote that they relate to and has a meaning in their journey of growth and transformation, the embracing of self and the becoming of the women that they are. I am grateful to each one for the participants for taking the time to meet with me and share their story. Each one of the portraits is accompanied with their chosen quote. ’No Bleach For Me’ tackles a deep social problem which stands in the programming of young girls of all ages and not only, of course also the society we live in as a whole. It challenges the false necessity for darker skin women to bleach their skin in order to be pretty and accepted by society, because with diversity, that is when we are most surrounded by beauty. Of course, as we know, the problem does not end with programming regarding beauty standards and programming of isolated groups of the population, but comes to a wide and global normalizing of something that, is far from being normal. Young people fall victims to this social programming along with the rest of the society often contributing in negative ways to the experiences and creation of a sense of “otherness” for specific groups of the population. Very sadly, our society lives in a world full of prejudices towards black skin, the beauty of it and the invented propaganda of "The whiter the better, the whiter the purer, the whiter the cleaner etc". A list of prejudices that I, don’t agree with, refuse to accept, or live by. All of these and more ideas dramatically curated in our society and engraved in the brains of so many, created an irreversible ripple effect that negatively affects the self perception of talented and beautiful black boys and girls, taking years to heal before being able to stand strong and believe in themselves. With this kind of programming, our society does no less but robbing young people off their ability to view themselves objectively and with confidence. Those ideas, which are solely convenient to our capitalistic society for certain reasons, create radical consequences on the mental health of many young people and on their ability to navigate their lives. ‘No Bleach For Me’ is a collection of portraits of beautiful women, standing tall, brave and strong, in beautiful attires and prints representing and celebrating the culture. Thank you for reading this far and for showing interest. May we be surrounded by love and acceptance at all times. I hope you enjoy the project and fall in love with each one of the women participants like I did. With Love, Yana