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A photographer created the world’s first digital supermodel and the internet is not happy

Image via @shudu.gram/Instagram

Meet Shudu.

Shudu is the world’s first digital supermodel, who’s amassed over 55k Instagram followers and has had her image reposted by Fenty Beauty.

She’s 100 per cent computer-generated and was created by London-based photographer Cameron James Wilson.

Initially, Wilson presented Shudu to the world as a real-life model, but revealed her true identity in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

“Basically Shudu is my creation, she’s my art piece that I am working on at the moment,” Wilson explained.

“She is not a real model unfortunately, but she represents a lot of the real models of today. There’s a big kind of movement with dark skin models, so she represents them and is inspired by them.”

This comment sparked immediate controversy on the internet, with many calling out Wilson for profiting off ‘the movement of dark skin models’ without paying one. Considering the current underrepresentation of black women in the fashion industry, the ‘hiring’ of Shudu by a white male is a little problematic.

The ‘model’ was originally reposted on Fenty Beauty’s Instagram in February wearing the brand’s Saw-C lipstick. However, there’s no word on whether or not Fenty Beauty knew the model was computer-generated.

You can check out Shudu’s scarily lifelike Instagram here.

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