When Algorithms Become the Beholders of Beauty

When Algorithms Become the Beholders of Beauty

 For centuries, the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” has celebrated the subjectivity of beauty—each person holding a unique perspective on what is attractive, meaningful, or worthy of admiration. But in the digital age, that beholder has shifted. Increasingly, it isn’t people who define beauty—it’s algorithms.

Gretchen Andrew’s Facetune Portraits asks what happens when algorithms, not humans, decide what is beautiful.

Social media filters, AI-powered editing tools, and recommendation systems are shaping not only how we present ourselves, but how we see others. The algorithm doesn’t care about individuality or nuance. It promotes sameness: smooth skin, symmetrical features, bodies and faces sculpted into a single mold of so-called perfection.

With Facetune Portraits, I bring this tension into focus. Using traditional oil painting to reinterpret digitally altered images, I expose the hidden scars of algorithmic control.

My work asks: What do we lose when the machine becomes the beholder?

Are we handing over our uniqueness in exchange for algorithm-approved beauty?

By challenging the authority of these systems, Facetune Portraits calls us back to a deeper truth: real beauty has always been human, messy, and imperfect.