First digital model of the World; Shudu Gram

She has tens of thousands followers on Instagram. She is snapped up by the famous brands and introduces their products. Above all she has a stunning beauty. Somehow, people get so suspicious about all these that they can’t believe their eyes. Here comes the first digital model of the World; Shudu Gram

The famous model Fatou Suri tells her acquaintance with Shudu to BBC as follows; “I always look for new people to be inspired from and to be followed. It was so amazing that a dark-skinned model attracted a great deal of attention. She was representing a flawless human being both physically and spiritually.” What Fatou Suri and the others were not aware of was that the model Shudu Gram, who has over 10 thousand followers on Instagram, was not a real human being, as opposed to her followers’ belief. Shudu was born on April 2017 in social media world taking Instagram by storm as becoming the first digital model.

Shudu is gradually gaining popularity on social media

Shudu Gram, who is a digital creation of Cameron-James Wilson-a self-taught British photographer-grabbed an intense and unexpected attention of netizens from the moment she appeared on Instagram. He created Shudu after tutoring himself 3D, using online resources and YouTube tutorials. Wilson expresses Shudu as a digital projection of a British photographer’s passions. While embodying Shudu, he brought together what he is passionate about as a photographer. However, some people accuse him of being racist. It is claimed that he is spiking the other dark-skinned models’ guns by promoting a digital dark-skinned one, so it is felt that the existence of Shudu’s Instagram page could be pushing them out the door. On the other hand, Wilson states that his only aim was creating a perfect woman image from the perspective of a photographer. According to him Shudu must be seen as a compliment for all those women from whom she was inspired.

Her designer was accused of racism

Shudu’s most notably parts are her long arms and legs

The most important reason of the projection of digital characters’ being so lifelike is that there is a possibility of false representation with the help of popular filters we are using as one of the facilities of our smartphones. With the perfection we get from these filter applications we become visually unable to perceive the difference. Social media gives its users the opportunity to project the image of their dreams instead of reflecting who really, they are. That’s why it is not a big deal for the followers when the Instagram imageries are real or virtual. Other than that, even “the real users’ identity” becomes a topic of philosophical discussion. As the CEO of Amplify Marketing Agency, Justin Rezvani’s saying; you are not the person who you are reflecting on Instagram, it is just your digital reflection.

Her real identity was revealed after one year.

Wearing the Fenty’s lipstick arouse Shudu’s popularity

Shudu’s being Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was not stated approximately for a year. Her tens of thousands followers stunned by her faultless beauty thought that ‘she puts her pants on one leg at a time’ just like the rest of us. Her real identity was not revealed even when a picture of her wearing one of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty lipstick shades posted on Instagram on February 2018. On the one hand, laudatory hashtags and her fame have increased to a large extent; on the other hand, some voices of suspicion began to arise over against her otherworldly beauty. Thereupon Cameron-James Wilson, exposed the truth in an interview with Harpers Bazaar magazine and posted an explanation on Shudu’s instagram account; “The World’s First Digital Supermodel”

Shudu is not the only CGI (computer generated imagery)

Miquela has million-plus followers on Instagram

Although Shudu is perceived as the first virtual supermodel, there are other Instagram profiles as popular as hers. For example, with her million-plus Instagram followers Miquela (@lilmiquela ) first appeared on Instagram and then began to introduce products by grabbing the attention of famous brands. Following that she releases a single album on Spotify; “Not Mine”. As long as virtual reality technologies are developed and gain fame at this rapid rate, there is no doubt that the concept of “uncanny valley” with its CGIs will be the part of our lives.

Shudu encouraged many brands to seek out new marketing strategies

Fatou Suri, who is Shudu’s loyal follower and fan, admitted that she was disappointed and got mixed feelings when her real identity revealed but anyhow couldn’t unfollow her.

Besides, she states that sometimes she texts Shudu and even if she knows the replies are coming from her designer Wilson, she likes keeping in touch with her. She indicates that although she is not real, it is a striking and eye-catching account and adds; “As a model, I console myself with her being unreal in a sense because she is “too perfect to be real”.