Julia Bluhm is heading to New York City today to personally present a copy of her online petition asking Seventeen Magazine to run more unaltered photos of girls each month.

Bluhm, a 14-year-old ballet dancer from Waterville, is planning to leave for New York later today with her mother, said Charlotte Hill, communications manager for Change.org. Bluhm’s online petition has been posted on Change.org since April 19, and had gotten more than 13,000 signers by today.

Hill said Bluhm would participate in an event Wednesday outside Seventeen Magazine’s offices. There will be a mock photo shoot involving teenaged girls, and then Bluhm’s petition will be presented to Seventeen officials.

In her petition, Bluhm specifically asked Seventeen to commit to printing one unaltered photo spread a month, so that the magazine’s readers can see girls more like themselves. In a letter with the petition, she talked about how “hurtful” it can be for girls to see images of other girls who appear perfect, often because of photo alterations.

Hill said Bluhm would not be granting interviews about her petition efforts until some time after the Wednesday event.
 


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