Picture Perfect

Photo exhibit looks at the troubling side of self-image.

By Cris Glaser on Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 4:00 am

Cleveland theater

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The first time Annemarie Grassi saw the 58 photos that make up the new Girl Culture exhibit, she cried. Themes of body image and peer pressure especially hit home for Grassi, a member of the Junior League of Cleveland, which brings the display to town. “You remember being that kid who didn’t have the perfect body,” she says. “I walked past it and had tears in my eyes.”

Snapped by L.A. shutterbug Lauren Greenfield, the exhibit -- opening today at the Gallery at Trinity Commons -- focuses on self-image. Pics of female celebs (like tennis star Venus Williams, checking out her body fat in a mirror) mingle with photos of ordinary teens (a 15-year-old girl sizes up her breasts in a department-store dressing room). “We’ve taught our kids to believe that the prettier you are, the more popular you are,” says Grassi. “That plays upon our self-esteem. We’re often desensitized to these issues, because we see them on TV every day.”
Saturdays, Sundays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesdays, 1-8 p.m. Starts: March 3. Continues through April 29