“Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.”
-
Remember that song ‘Wear Suncsreen by Baz Luhrmann”, well that’s what I thought of when I saw this technically brilliant and conceptually genius exhibition of work by photographer Cara Phillips.
-
-
-
The Brooklyn-based artist from Detroit draws inspiration from the dermatological and medical environment. For this particular collection entitled ‘Ultraviolet Beauties’ she photographed strangers on the streets of New York inside the confides of a private doctors room and under the glare of UV lights to capture and document the different levels of damage that many expose themselves to. I found her images truly captivating, and more powerful in black and white than I could have ever imaged in full colour. Ultimately, this work was meant challenge our current perceptions of beauty where traditional portraits are often designed to showcase beauty and mask imperfections. Unconventionally, this looks at what is under the skin, in a way that examines our imperfections, yet still within a beautiful way which promotes honesty and transparency.
-
I liked the way she noted down the UV exposure rating of each portrait. Almost instinctively I looked at the darker figures to see how much sun damage their skin had been exposed to as the myth that dark skinned people do not need to wear sunscreen is still heavily prevalent. Almost to my surprise, their sun damage was one of the lowest among the other lighter counterparts in this series. Despite this, I will continue to promote the use of sunscreen if not for skin cancer then for ant-aging reasons!
-
I have provided a link to the Cara Philips website where you can view the entire collection and some of her past work, I hope Ultraviolet beauties moves you as much as it did me.
-
Sunscreen is a must even for dark skin people. I wish I had started sooner, i have already developed some sun damage pigmentation and I am only 34.
But black skin protects itself. I remember the lengths us girls would go to in scorching Botswana to keep the sun off our skin. Walking with umbrellas when its not raining, wearing long sleeves in the heat :)
Really shows what’s underneath the surface! Black skin may be more resistant to the effects of the sun, but you’re absolutely right, sunscreen is a must! Having more melanin to a degree does not provide total protection.