National origins of beauty. A project that proves: the women of our planet are beautiful

The project was launched in 2012, and in 2014 it was presented at an exhibition dedicated to International Women's Day in March 2014 in Paris and received recognition from UNESCO. To date, the project includes more than 100 photo and video portraits of representatives of more than 50 nationalities from 15 countries on four continents.

The project continues to this day; any girl aged 18 - 30 years old, with regular facial features, belonging to the same nationality for at least three generations, who knows and is aware of her ethno-cultural identity, can take part in it.

The Wolof are an ethnic group primarily found in Senegal, Gambia. The total number is about 6 million people.
Martinicans are the main population of the island of Martinique. Number of people: 500 thousand people.
The Congo are a people of 10 million people in Central Africa.
The Ewe inhabit the southeastern regions of Ghana, the southern regions of Togo and Benin. Number of people: about 4 million people.
Fulbe, or Fula, Fulani are a people living over a vast territory in West Africa. Number 23–25 million people.
Haitians are a people in the West Indies, the main population of the Republic of Haiti. A total of 7.2 million people.

The Anyi are a West African people present in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana. The number of Anya is about 1.25 million people.
Cape Verdeans, Green Mystics, Kriolu - the main population of Cape Verde. Number of people: 310 thousand people.
Guadeloupians are the people, the main population of Guadeloupe, numbering 300 thousand people.
Reunioners are the population of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Number of people: 250 thousand people.
Bengalis are one of the largest peoples in the world. Major population of Bangladesh and West Bengal state in India. Number - over 250 million people.
Indo-Mauritians are the main population of Mauritius. Number of people: 800 thousand people.

Shloh, or Shilkh - Berber people living in the western part of the High Atlas mountain range and the Anti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco, in the valleys of the Tensift and Sousse rivers. Number - about 8 million.
Tunisians are one of the Arab peoples, the main population of the Tunisian Republic. Number - 10 million.
The Rifs are a people living in northern Morocco. Number of people: about 3 million people.
The Kabyles are a Berber people in northern Algeria. Total number - 6.5 million.
Armenians are the state-forming people of Armenia. Number - 8 million people.
Georgians (Kartvelebi). Most of the Georgian nation is concentrated within the borders of Georgia. Number - about 6 million.

Kalmyks are a Western Mongolian people living mainly in the Republic of Kalmykia. The number in the world is about 200 thousand people.
Han ranks first in number among the peoples of the Earth (19% of the population), and is the largest nationality in China, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in the Republic of China and Singapore. Number - 1.3 billion people.
Buryats are the indigenous population of Buryatia, the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug, and the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug. The total number is 520 thousand people.
The Uyghurs are the indigenous people of East Turkestan, now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Number of people: 11 million people.
Altaians, Oirots - the people of the Altai Republic. Number of people: 71 thousand people.
Uzbeks are the main and indigenous population of Uzbekistan. Number is about 29 million people.

Ossetians mainly live in the Caucasus, Russia and Georgia. The total population is about 700 thousand people.
Bashkirs are a Turkic-speaking people living on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The number in the world is about 2 million people.
Kumyks are a Turkic-speaking people, one of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan. Number of people: 505 thousand people.
Kazakhs are a Turkic people, the main population of Kazakhstan. A total of 14.5 million people.
Chechens are a North Caucasian people, the main population of Chechnya. The total number of Chechens around the world is 1.55 million people.
Circassians are the indigenous population of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Krasnodar Territory. Number of people: about 3 million people.

The Abazins are one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of the Caucasus. Number - about 45 thousand. They live in the Russian Federation, most compactly in Karachay-Cherkessia.
The Ingush are a Vainakh people in the North Caucasus. The total number worldwide is 700 thousand people.
The Shugnans are one of the Pamir peoples in Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan. The largest in number of the Pamir peoples.
Germans. A huge number of Germans live outside of Germany. The number in the world is about 140 million people.
The French are descendants of Celtic peoples and are now a mixture of several ethnic groups. The number of French people is about 63 million people.
Lezgins (Lezgiar, Lekier) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus, historically living in the southern regions of modern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan. Number of people: 800 thousand people.

The Portuguese are the indigenous people of Portugal. Number - 31.2 million people.
The Lorraine people are a Germanic people (almost completely assimilated with the French), the main population of the French region of Lorraine. Number of people: about 1 million people.
Tatars are the main people of Tatarstan. The total population is 7 million people.
Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group. The total number is about 9.4 million people.
Russians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world. The total number is 137 million people.
Finns are a Finno-Ugric people, the main population of Finland. There are about 6.5 million people in the world.

Informative

Current trends in the world are such that the boundaries that separate people are increasingly blurred. People have become freer in their choice not to divide the world into friends and strangers. I am fascinated by the fact that more and more projects and creative programs are appearing that prove how beautiful our Earth is in its diversity, that what distinguishes us is only a tribute to prejudices and stereotypes.

One of these, large-scale in its design and very valuable in its essence, is the project of the Russian photographer Natalya Ivanova “National Origins of Beauty”. In it, the ethnic diversity of our planet is presented through the beauty of women of all nationalities. Representatives of more than 50 ethnic groups from 15 countries have already taken part in the project, which started in 2012. But the organizers of the project do not stop there; their goal is to create a complete collection of the ethnic diversity of humanity at the beginning of the 21st century.

Why girls? Because female beauty is charm, youth, tenderness and strength, which is clear to all of us without words. Any girl who meets the appropriate criteria can take part in the project: preference is given to girls from 18 to 30 years old, with a photogenic face and belonging to a certain ethnic group in the third generation. Each ethnic group is represented by three photographic portraits.

In the project you will not only see photographs of girls of different nationalities, but you can listen to their video interviews, where they talk about their national identity and the customs of their people. And also expand your knowledge about the peoples of the world: each photo is accompanied by a small historical note about its origin and residence.

The “National Origins of Beauty” project has received recognition and support from UNESCO for its peacekeeping activities and strengthening of tolerance through the prism of beauty.

We are all so different, we have so many differences in opinions, customs, religions, cultures. But don’t we all feel the same, don’t we rejoice equally when we are happy and cry when we are hurt? Don't we love our children equally, no matter where they are born? Be it a metropolis or a mountain village? We are different in our unity, we are beautiful in our diversity. Just like these girls from Natalia Ivanova’s project.

Russians- East Slavic people. One of the indigenous peoples of Russia. There are about 133 million Russians in the world

Kalmyks- Western Mongolian (Oirat) people living mainly in the Republic of Kalmykia, a subject of the Russian Federation. The number of modern Kalmyks in Russia is 183,372 people (All-Russian Census 2010), there are also small diasporas abroad.

Kabyles- people of a group of Berbers in northern Algeria. Total population: 6.5 million.

Rwanda, Banyarwanda (self-name) - people, Bantu groups, the main population of Rwanda. They also live in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania. The total number is more than 8,300 thousand people.

Kazakhs- Turkic people, indigenous population of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs have also long lived in the regions of China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and western Mongolia adjacent to Kazakhstan. Number is about 14 million.

Armenians- people who speak the Armenian language, which belongs to the Indo-European language family. They are the state-forming people of Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Total population: 8 million.

Buryats- people in Russia, the indigenous population of Buryatia, the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug of the Irkutsk Region, the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug of the Chita Region. They also live in some other areas of these regions. The population in Russia is 421 thousand people.

Baule(Bouli, Baure) are the people of the Akan group in the central and southern regions of Côte d'Ivoire. Number 3940 thousand.

Belarusians(Belarus. Belarusians) - East Slavic people, ethnic group, nation. Total number – approx. 9.4 million people.

Kikuyu- people living in central Kenya. Kikuyu is an anglicized form of the Gikuyu self-name. They are close in language and culture: Meru, Embu, Mbere. Number of people: more than 6 million people.

Diola(Jola, Yola) are a people inhabiting the Atlantic coast of Southern Senegal, Gambia and Portuguese Guinea-Bissau between the Gambia and Cacheu rivers. Number: 650,000.

Martinicans- the main population of the island of Martinique (“overseas department” of France). Number: 500 thousand people.

Germans(German: Deutsche) - a people descended from the ancient Germans, the main population of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Number: about 140 million.

Chechens(self-called Nokhchi) - a North Caucasian people living in the North Caucasus, the main population of Chechnya. The total number of Chechens around the world is 1,550,000.

Wolof(self-name - wolof; jollof, woolof) - people in West Africa. They live mainly in the area between the Senegal and Gambia rivers - in western Senegal. Total: 4,800,000–6,200,000 people.

Jews- an ancient people of Semitic origin, dating back to the population of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, living in many countries of the world. The population in 2012 is 13.855 million people, of which 43% are in Israel and 39% in the USA.

Uyghurs- the indigenous people of East Turkestan, now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Number: 11 million.

Portuguese(port. portugueses) - a people in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, the indigenous population of Portugal. Number: 31.2 million.

Georgians(self-name - Kartvelebi) - people of the Kartvelian language family. Most of the Georgian nation is concentrated within the borders of Georgia. Number: 6 million

Tatars- people in Russia, the main population of Tatarstan. The number in Russia is 5522 thousand, the total number is 7 million.

Serbs(Serbian Srbi) are a South Slavic people whose representatives live in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Austria and other countries. The total population is about 12–13 million people.

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Natalia Ivanova- independent photo artist and photojournalist, photojournalist for the ITAR-TASS agency in France, author of the project "National origins of beauty"(Les origines de la beauté), in which she creates a single media encyclopedia of all the peoples of the world, consisting of the author’s photographic portraits and video interviews of young women of various nationalities with accompanying information notes about each nation.

Natalia and her team plan to work with representatives of every nationality in the world within 7 years. There is no Ossetian girl in the collection of portraits yet, but she will definitely appear soon. About his readiness to come to filming in Ossetia Natalia Ivanova told Madina Temirova.

- Natalya, tell us about how the idea for the project came about.

The diversity of ethnic groups and cultures, the originality and uniqueness of each of them has interested and fascinated me since my studies at MGIMO.

When I began to engage in photography professionally, I began to think about how to create a project that could collect and capture all the peoples of the world, show the full beauty of the existing diversity of humanity, without leaving out any nationality, no matter how small it may be. Unfortunately, the rare attention to sometimes not at all small nations is attracted mainly by military conflicts.

But in ordinary life, people focus only on countries and races. In fact, about 90% of existing nations remain unnoticed.

With this project, my team and I strive to partially correct this injustice. This is a very ambitious task in terms of volume, and it was necessary to find a form that would be technically feasible and at the same time beautiful, interesting and understandable for the widest range of people.

Find something we could see in any ethnic group. Soon enough this form was determined: p portrait of a beautiful female face of a representative of the nationality. Each nation has its own specific features, its own special beauty.

Another reason that prompted me to create this project was the limited standards of beauty that reign in the fashion industry, advertising, and show business. The debate about the parameters of a beautiful figure is well known to everyone, and it will be endless.

Here I mean faces. I don’t know about you, but as a portrait photographer, for example, I’m not interested in watching modern beauty contests. I don't see faces. The individuality of the beauty of each girl, her ethnic features are hidden under the same type of stage makeup. It seems that everyone looks the same. For this reason, in our project we try to minimize makeup in order to show all the richness of the diversity of natural beauty of faces, its shapes and colors.

- Tell me, why did a woman become this person? Why, say, not a child?

I focused exclusively on young girls for a number of reasons. In order to notice and compare all the ethno-physiological nuances and facial aesthetics, it was necessary to determine clear boundaries of age and gender. As for age...

A child is not yet a fully formed person, so ethno-physiological features on him are difficult to notice. Adults already have clearly defined personality and age features on their faces; ethnic features become less noticeable.

It should also be said that against the backdrop of the fight against discrimination, there is a tendency not to notice skin color and ethnic differences.

On the one hand, the logic is clear: it lies in the struggle for equality of rights and opportunities. But, on the other hand, in this struggle, people sometimes go too far, choosing not the best methods, such as simply ignoring, raising the concept of “indecent” questions about ethnic origin, as if we are talking about some kind of physical disability, illness, etc.

This is humiliating and provokes exactly the opposite effect. People are becoming embittered and nationalist sentiments are brewing. Why not look at these differences from a different perspective?

From the point of view of the uniqueness and importance of the existence of every shade and nuance in the universal ethnocultural rainbow. We decided to present the entire palette of ethno-physical nuances in their most aesthetic form and thus make it clear that “beauty” can be found in any nationality, and, deprived of its “shades,” the world only becomes worse and poorer.

- Why a woman and not a man?

- Firstly, many men wear beards, in addition, men's facial features are rougher, while women's faces are more refined and nuances are more visible on it. This is one moment.

Secondly, All our portraits assume a neutral facial expression, so a smile and any other facial expressions distort them. Accordingly, if we take even a very handsome young man who looks straight into your eyes from the portrait and does not smile, you will agree that the energy will be a little different. No matter how handsome he may be, a man is, first of all, a warrior, and his nature is courage.

It is important for us that the beauty of each portrait pacifies and does not provoke. Not to mention that the concept of beauty is traditionally associated with women.

- How long have you been working on the project, and what problems have you encountered?

We have been working on the project for more than 2 years. It all started in Paris, where I currently live and work. Last year we connected Moscow.

In the future we plan to travel to other large and nationally rich cities.

One of the main difficulties that we have encountered is a clear definition of the list of ethnic groups.

The concept of “ethnic group” has a fairly clear scientific definition. However, there are still no exact lists of existing peoples. Linguistic, regional ethnic groups, clans, castes, etc. - often these and other social formations are mistakenly perceived as separate ethnic groups.

It takes a lot of effort and resources for us to represent each nationality, so we cannot afford inaccuracies, not to mention the importance of correctly mentioning each ethnic group. To do this, we cooperate and continue to invite various ethnologists to cooperate, who help us understand the most confusing issues.

- What is the target audience of the project, has it changed during the work?

The project has an educational task for people of all ages and nationalities. For this purpose, we have chosen, first of all, the language of beauty, which is accessible and understandable to most people.

For those who want to get to know the girl’s personality in more detail, as well as get basic information about the people she represents, we are doing a video interview, and also plan to compile information notes about each nationality with the help of specialists. Moreover, we translate this material into Russian, French and English. That is, we do not have a target audience as such; it is very important for us to arouse in as many men and women as possible a healthy and positive interest in understanding the world of people and ourselves.

- Natalya, what can you say about the situation that is now developing in large cities? Both in Paris and in Moscow there is a problem of clashes between people with different cultures and different views on life. Often, in the interests of politics or less-than-quality media, such conflicts are artificially inflated. Do you think your project can combat this problem?

Based on my personal experience and observations, in addition to overtly political provocations, many existing problems of interethnic coexistence are mainly associated with the lack of basic basic knowledge: cultural, religious, historical and many others. This project is designed to contribute to this education and arouse interest among people with different levels of education.

I have traveled a lot and lived in different countries.

Paris and Moscow, the cities whose way of life I know best, are very different in their level of intercultural communication. This is immediately noticeable.

In Paris, you get used to seeing representatives of different races, nationalities, and religious denominations cheerfully talking at the same table in a cafe. In one company you can see Africans, Europeans, Asians. You often notice girls in hijab in the company of friends with a less formal style of clothing.

This is cultural dialogue - the desire to communicate, share, discover new things and respect other beliefs. In Moscow, ethnic preferences in friendship and communication are still found. To notice this, just walk down the street. This is a problem of society and politics as well. Nevertheless, healthy trends and initiatives are actively being formed in Russia.

Today, with the development of a free interactive Internet space, people have become more entrepreneurial in their desire to change society for the better, no matter how “poor quality” the media may be. Today, any individual person can, with the help of the Internet, become, in a certain sense, a means of information and influence public opinion.

But serious and noticeable changes require the coordinated actions of many, the support of government or other influential structures and, of course, the people themselves in all their diversity.

HELPFUL INFORMATION:

Official project website: www.lesoriginesdelabeaute.com

Instagram: lesoriginesdelabeaute

To the attention of girls who want to take part in the project:

To participate in the project you must send an email [email protected] an application containing the following information:

- Your age
- your national roots span three generations
- what city do you live in
- your contacts (phone number and links on social networks)
- several full-face photo portraits without a smile (like for a passport) and without makeup.
- if possible, a short video message

Criteria:

18-30 years old
- belonging to the same nationality for at least three generations
- beautiful/photogenic face in full view
- preferably without radically dyed hair

Presentation of the project “National Origins of Beauty”

Have you ever wondered how many nationalities exist on our planet? You won’t get a 100% accurate answer—this number changes every year. About 180 people live in Russia alone—and even this figure cannot be called the only correct one.

Russian photojournalist Natalia Ivanova decided to do the almost impossible - to embody all ethnic diversity in photography through female beauty. A woman is a symbol of peace, home, homeland and, of course, true beauty. Natalia’s main goal is to demonstrate each unique ethnic group, no matter how small in number it may be, and no matter what political status it may have.

The website of the project “National Origins of Beauty” (Les origines de la beauté) already includes more than 57 different ethnic groups. Any girl can become the face of her ethnic group, subject to certain conditions. Firstly, she must be a representative of any nationality for at least three generations. The second condition is age from 18 to 30 years, visual attractiveness and photogenicity. Despite the fact that the point regarding appearance is quite subjective, Natalya successfully selects truly beautiful girls to participate in the filming. See for yourself.

Bengalis are one of the largest peoples in the world. Major population of Bangladesh and West Bengal state in India.

The Shugnans are one of the Pamir peoples in Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan (the left bank of the Pyanj River). The largest in number.

The Jews are an ancient people of Semitic origin who can be traced back to the populations of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Representatives of the people live in many countries of the world (since 1948 there has also been a Jewish state of Israel).

Kumyks are a Turkic-speaking people, one of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan, the second largest Turkic-speaking people in the Caucasus after the Azerbaijanis. At the same time, they are the largest Turkic people in the North Caucasus and the third largest people in Dagestan.

Serbs are a South Slavic people whose representatives live in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Austria and other countries.

The Lorraine people are a Germanic people (almost completely assimilated by the French) living in northeastern France on the border with Belgium and Germany, the main population of the French region of Lorraine. They speak the German dialect Platt (Saarländischer Dialekt). Today their language has been almost completely replaced by French.

The Wolof are a people in West Africa. They live mainly in the area between Senegal and Gambia, as well as in Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and France.

The Shloh, or Shilkh, are one of the Berber peoples living in the western part of the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountain ranges in Morocco, in the valleys of the Tensift, Sousse and other rivers. They live mixed with the Arab population. Shloch are divided into separate groups: Agbar and Fruga, Glaoua and Xima, Menaba and Mtuga, etc. The Shloch language belongs to the Berber language group, some also speak Arabic. Religion, like that of other tribes, is Islam.

Just recently I came across an interesting international project “National Origins of Beauty” (Les origines de la beauté). This is a non-profit artistic, documentary and research project about the ethnic diversity of humanity, represented through the beauty of women of all nationalities.

Natalya Ivanova (photo correspondent for ITAR-TASS agency, France), initiated the media project “National Origins of Beauty”, which has already received UNESCO recognition. In 7-10 years, she and her team plan to collect a collection of portraits and video interviews of girls from all nationalities of the world. The goal of the project is to fully, systematically and at the same time creatively show the real scale of the ethno-cultural multitude of people, to illustrate each unique ethnicity, no matter how small it may be and no matter what political status it may have. It is ethnic groups, and not states, that are the basis of the project in order to clearly demonstrate the entire multinational flavor of the world.

The basis of the implementation is the author's photo portraits and video interviews of young women representatives of nationalities, with accompanying information notes about each nation. They talk about their people, their traditions, problems, experiences, happy and sad moments, and most importantly, they do not forget their roots and are proud of them.

Bashkir. Part 1.

Altaika. Part 1.

Armenian. Part 1.

Kazakh. Part 1.

Tunisian. Part 1.