You might already know about Shudu, the dark-skinned model with 39,000 followers on Instagram who is causing quite a storm online. What you may not know about her though is that she is not real.
Shudu is the digital creation of artist and photographer Cameron-James Wilson. According to the Metro, Shudu’s creation takes inspiration from a Barbie doll named Princess of South Africa, as well as models such as Duckie Thot.
It wasn’t until Shudu was shared by Fenty Beauty when she modeled SAWC lipstick that her fan base grew. It is unknown whether Fenty Beauty are aware that Shudu is not an actual IRL human. It was only after an interview with Isiuwa that Cameron-James updated Shudu’s Instagram with the hashtag #3Dart.
Of course, Shudu’s existence is attracting criticism. Many people have tweeted their disappointment that Cameron-James, a white photographer, chose to create a dark-skinned model instead of paying a real one for their work.
However, Cameron-James told the Metro that Shudu is not being used as a commercial model, and is not a replacement for real-life models. ‘After receiving a lot of inspiring, supportive comments from people who felt that Shudu was an uplifting and positive art piece, who reflected a true beauty ideal untainted by westernised standards, the art changed,’ he said to the publication.
‘It gained much more weight and I felt that my work had meaning. Shudu isn’t for hire, she’s a muse for my creative output. I continue to post to Shudu.gram because people really enjoy the art, they enjoy the imagery. I’m not trying to replace models and if anything it’s a criticism in how fake society has become that a CGI Model can pass for real.
‘We’re living in a very filtered world, that strangely for me Shudu is an escape from. The criticism that I’ve faced only comes from misunderstanding. She’s not some creation by a mad scientist trying to rid with world or real life models (she’ll never walk a runway) but she came to life by the hand of someone who had loved fashion illustration, drawing and design all his life.
‘I really wish people could see and understand that, it’s an enjoyable process for me to sit and create a picture… it can take three or more days,’ he concluded.