The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word “pretty” is a flower: vibrant, delicate, and perfect-looking on every occasion. This imagery is not, however, what comes to mind when I think of teenage suburbia. So why are our feeds constantly filled with grainy pink- and purple-hued film featuring girls with perfect faces and perfectly curated vintage outfits? We all wish our lives looked like this, but they somehow always fall short. It may have started on the internet, but now it’s in magazines and museums, being forced into our heads, suffocating our thoughts. 

We are waiting for a storm that will never come. It’s time to wake up from this pre-programmed cotton-candy sunset dream and start creating our own. My teenage suburbia is layers of concrete and never-ending spiral staircases filled with shadows and strange lighting. It’s not pretty, but it doesn’t have to be pretty to be perfect. 

Model: Bella Havens

Photos: Kathryn Zix