Artist Dan Bannino, who we first learned about on Dangerous Minds, highlights the absurdity of celebrity fad diets by photographing them as baroque still lifes that are reminiscent of classic European paintings. Examining popular weight loss plans touted today, and those used by centuries-old celebs, Bannino wanted to portray the diets as “significant, like classic works of arts that are becoming more and more weighty as they grow older.” Opting for high camp rather than crass, Bannino used quilted rolls of pink toilet paper and bright yellow lemons to portray the Master Cleanse — the same diet Beyoncé used to lose weight for her role in Dreamgirls. His ultra leafy photo representing the Cabbage Soup Diet that Bill Clinton used to drop pounds for daughter Chelsea’s wedding reminds us that it is possible to eat greens in an unhealthy way. See more photos capturing ludicrous weight loss fads, below.
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Beyoncé Knowles – “Master cleanse diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Kate Moss – “Hollywood diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Gwyneth Paltrow – “Strict detox diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Bill Clinton – “Cabbage soup diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Simon Cowell – “Life enhancing”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Charles Saatchi – “Eggs diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Lord Byron – “Romantic poet’s diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Henry VIII – “The banquet diet”
Photo credit: Dan Bannino
Luigi Cornaro – “Sober Life”
