The fantastical, edited world of fashion photography builds unrealistic expectations for everyday women but one of the leading figures has walked away from the industry after becoming increasingly uncomfortable with taking certain images to pursue a radical alternative approach to his profession. London based photographer Jez Smith feels conflicted that such photographs could make him complicit in undermining the self-confidence of women after 25-years of photographing models.

“Photoshoots are fantasies and should be treated as such,” Smith says. “They have nothing to do with what’s real or actually what I find really beautiful. It’s just an idea, a creative concept, and it’s no different to someone writing a fictional novel. It’s just another art form.” Once a face of Next Top Model in Australia and the US, Smith is one of the few serious players to speak out against it.