Artist and photographer Aoife Casey recently embarked upon a project, an upcoming exhibition, to celebrate natural beauty in Korea, a country known as the plastic surgery capital of the world. In Casey’s words: “The Natural Beauty Project is a body of work consisting of black and white portraits of Korean women, specifically those who have not had any plastic surgery to date. The project has originated from a strong realisation upon moving to Korea the huge impact plastic surgery has on the culture. The work is a comment on notions of beauty ideals and the effect of the phenomena of plastic surgery in Korea.”

Here are a selection of photographs from the project, profiling a few of the all-natural females Casey has worked with.

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Choi Min Jeong is a student of French, literature and Business administration who believes people are beautiful the way they are.

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Kim Dauphin is a painter and Korean adoptee. She recently moved back to Korea from Belgium where she was raised to reconnect with her birth mother and be close to her roots. 

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Ssophee Park is a visual merchandiser who has lived in Spain and Ireland. Her dream for the future is to open a vintage shop in Jeju and write a book about Irish and Spanish native life.

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Jui Ryu works at the Hanguk Performing Art Centre (HanPAC). She wants to be a perfect femme fatale and lives by the phrase “Enjoy every moment as life only happens once”.

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Freyia Han is a major in psychology and philosophy. She is interested in communication between people and hopes to be able to help people to interact with each other honestly and freely.

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Ara Jo Zjesty- ARA is a Korean based fashion designer who studied at Central Saint Martins and graduated in 2009. Her collections are produced in South Korea. Ara makes clothes for women who embrace their confidence and beauty.

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Hwamok Kim is a Jazz student who loves taking photos, cooking, art and music. She finds inspiration in meeting new people and all natural beauty.

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