This is Jare Ijalana from Nigeria, she is only 5-years-old, but has already been dubbed as the world’s most beautiful girl.
Official images of Jare Ijalana were shared on Instagram and Twitter by photographer Mofe Bamuyiwa last week. “Oh yes she’s human! She’s also an angel!” the Lagos camerawoman captioned one of the portraits of Jare on Instagram.
Jare, was called the ‘most beautiful girl in the world’ and praised for her ‘natural beauty,’ but all of these praises raised eyebrows for one important reason-objectification of a little girl.
Sure, Jare looks drop-dead-gorgeous, but the photographer has been slammed for portraying her as an adult model, as is evident by the way she poses in the pictures.
In his defence, the photographer told Yahoo, “All I want is for everyone to see Jare’s powerful potential. I want the photo to speak to her when she has reached her adulthood.”
“I want to portray the interception between her childhood and adulthood so both stay timeless!” Bamuyiwa captioned another shot of Jare. “I could have made her smile and make her laugh out loud but I put her in their natural moments for us to see through their eyes!”
Bamuyiwai also added that the girl’s two sisters, Jomi, 7, and Joba, 10, with their “striking features and strong characters,”
The photographer’s main intention was the capture the true innocence and beauty in these girl’s eyes. But in the world that we live in today, it’s unfortunate that even the purest things can be misconstrued in ways unimaginable.