Known for his outstanding editorial work for publications like Vogue and GQ, Kenneth Willardt has focused his camera lens on subjects ranging from Lady Gaga to Sarah Jessica Parker. Never before, though, has he photographed tarantulas crawling up the curves of his models.

A headlining photographer for L’Oréal, Maybelline and Dior, Willardt has built a legacy in the fashion and beauty worlds that many find unmatchable. With his new exhibit “Size Does Matter,” however, he has successfully separated his new work from his previous, showing his strengths as an artistic photographer. In turn, Willardt has made an interesting commentary on the issue of size in fashion.

The Chelsea gallery is the first of its kind in the area to utilize augmented reality capability, allowing viewers to experience photography like never before. After downloading a free app and scanning a QR code alongside each photograph, one’s camera phone is then aligned with the real photo on the wall. Suddenly, the picture on the phone screen becomes an animated .gif. Rabbits begin to frolic, and owls flap their wings.

“It really gives you a new dimension of photography — a door open to the infinite,” 558 Gallery Studio Manager, Amandine Goux-Jordan, said.

The use of the augmented reality brings the pieces to a playful, “Harry Potter”-esque level of viewer interaction. But does it overshadow the rather controversial subject matter of sizeism?

Many have negatively commented on the Australian “plus-size” model, Robyn Lawley, featured in the exhibit, saying a majority of women still cannot identify with this size-14 celebrity. While it is definitely true Lawley is not a conventionally deemed “plus-size” model, she is much more relatable than the models who walk the runways at a size 00.

“That is the world of fashion. [Lawley] is a curvy girl, and [Willardt] likes curvy girls, but he said in a previous interview that he did not want the exhibit to only be about size,” Goux-Jordan said.

The images are sexual, but with the use of the animated animals, the images take on a more innocent nature. While this approach could have easily come off as a shallow, misogynistic objectification of the female body, Willardt’s photos instead succeed in making a strong statement.

“Everyone wants to put it as beauty and fashion photography, but it is contemporary art,” Goux-Jordan said.

Once the fashion world fantasy is divided from viewers’ reality, Lawley’s size, whatever one perceives it to be, is overshadowed by her natural beauty through Willardt’s artistic vision. This separation comments on the inherent influence the fashion and beauty worlds have on our own perception of people, as well as art. Furthermore, it illuminates the true meaning of all sizes being of equal worth and value. Willardt’s ability to convey this speaks to artistic capabilities that truly transcend his previous work.

“Size Does Matter” runs Tuesday through Sat (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) at the 558 Gallery in Chelsea until Dec. 19. Contrary to former notice, appointments are not necessary for viewing.

A version of this article appeared in the Wednesday, Nov. 20 print edition. David Bologna is a staff writer. Email him at [email protected].