Rankin’s startling before and after photos show the terrifying lengths teen girls will go to look ‘Instagram ready’

Today almost anyone can retouch their selfies and banish their 'imperfections' at the touch of a button, on one of the thousands of freely available editing apps.

In an eye-opening new project, photographer Rankin asked 15 British girls – aged 13 to 19 – to edit, tweak and filter their snaps until they thought they were "social media ready".

The altered images give us a unique insight into each teen's own vision of "perfection" and the potentially harmful beauty ideals young girls face on a daily basis.

In just five minutes, the girls made their lips fuller, their noses smaller, trimmed their jaw lines, smoothed away their freckles and even changed their eye colour.

Rankin said: "This is just another reason why we are living in a world of FOMO, sadness, increased anxiety and Snapchat dysmorphia.

"It’s time to acknowledge the damaging effects that social media has on people’s self-image."

The photo series also sheds light on how easy it is to blur the lines between reality and fantasy using simple technology – and the "harmful effects on people's mental state".

The project is the result of two years spent experimenting with photo editing apps – which Rankin found allowed him to change everything from skin colour to body shape and facial features with "shocking ease".

"I found it disturbing how big even the small changes are," he added. "It's so simple, almost like creating a cartoon character of yourself.

"What's even scarier is there's little or no debate happening around this.

"Something like Photoshop, which is a much more complex and inaccessible program, is actually part of a huge social ethical discussion.

"These filters are something very new and, in my opinion, a lot more dangerous. It’s almost like giving a teenager access to a Photoshop expert."

The photos were part of an exhibition called Visual Diet – launched by M&C Saatchi, Rankin and MTArt Agency – which explores the impact of imagery on mental health.

In more social media news, Miss England revealed sick Instagram images made her self harm and contemplate suicide.

While yoga lovers and celebs including Fearne Cotton spell out the alphabet with with impressively bendy poses.

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