Hilary Swank photographed by Norman Jean Roy for the March 2005 issue of Vanity Fair.

Beauty CULTure, a new exhibition at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, examines photography’s role in both creating and questioning our cultural ideal of feminine beauty.

Featuring work by more than 100 photographers, including Albert Watson, Guy Bourdin, Herb Ritts, Ellen Von Unwerth, Mary Ellen Mark and Lauren Greenfield, the show seeks to celebrate the feminine image while also acknowledging the adverse effect the pursuit of an unattainable ideal of perfection has had on individuals and the culture in general.

With more than 175 prints, documentary films and digital galleries, the show is the most ambitious yet for the young photography venue.

“We have so many different kinds of photographers in this show, and they are all coming at [the idea of beauty] from their own perspective,” says Annenberg Space content director Patricia Lanza, who worked on the show for two and a half years with curator Kohle Yohannan, who created the concept for the exhibition.

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