The pursuit of beauty can be an ugly game -- especially when you're talking about the hours and days following a plastic surgery procedure. Photographer Ji Yeo was interested in exploring the pain and bruising that so many women experience in the name of physical perfection, and sought out women in her native South Korea who were willing to show themselves in all their recovery room glory.


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Her photo series is entitled "Beauty Recovery Room," and it aims to uncover the real price of plastic surgery. "The idea of recording the moment when they look their worst: showing their bloodstained bandages, bruises, surgical guideline marks, and swollen body is not part of the fantasy of transformation," she said.

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But surprisingly, the photos haven't deterred many of Yeo's subjects from pursuing further surgeries. "During the photo shoots, even though they were in extreme pain, I could feel their excitement, the excitement of hopes realized. They seemed not to have the fears that I had; in fact, most of them were planning other surgeries in the near future," she said. Which didn't really surprise Yeo. "Our desire to be loved and valued coupled with our insecurity is far too powerful and far too well-fed to expect a dramatic rebellion ... my images are simply a societal and sociological record of a widespread transformation about the lengths we are prepared to go to in order to attain an idea; they are an affirmation, a question, an argument, and a challenge."

What do you think of Yeo's images? [Slate]