Cara Phillips was born & raised in suburban Detroit. Her history with the beauty industry began as a child model for Ford Models. In her early twenties she worked as a make-up artist, specializing in 'make-overs' of everyday women at luxury department stores. In 2004, she returned to school and studied photography at Sarah Lawrence College. Since graduating in 2007, she has focused on her own work & has collaborated on numerous projects. She is the co-founder of the online exhibition site Women in Photography & a member of the international photography group Piece of Cake. She has received numerous awards & is in several private collections. Cara lives & works in Brooklyn.

“A former child model who became, as an adult, obsessed with the beauty industry, her exploration of different beauty processes & techniques led her to ultraviolet photography, which can expose sun damage on skin. Using this technique in a manner that differs from its initial intention, the artist reveals the “hidden” or “invisible” skin damage on her subjects’ faces. The portraits, however, come to transcend this as well; in the subjects’ complete relinquishment to the camera – they must close their eyes for these portraits – the photographer has autonomy, she controls the gaze. The subjects here are in a state of surrender, giving themselves up wholly to the camera & the film. What it will reveal, they can never know in advance.” - Sarah Palmer

The installation photos show the work as selected & arrange in the gallery by guest curator Amy Elkins. Comprised of 20 unique 4 x 5 in. archival inkjet prints, the installation is offered as one piece.

Jen Davis is a Brooklyn based photographer. For the past 9 years she has been working on a series of Self-Portrait’s dealing with issues regarding beauty, identity & body image. She has also been exploring men, as a subject & is interested in investigating the idea of relationships, both physical and psychological, with the camera. She received her MFA from Yale University in 2008 & her BA from Columbia College Chicago in 2002.

Stacey Tyrell was born & raised in Toronto, Canada. She attended the Ontario College of Art & Design where she majored in Photography. In 2003 she was chosen as one of the top emerging Canadian art photographers by Gallery 44 in Toronto. Her work has appeared in such shows as Position As Desired: Contemporary African Canadian Photography at the Royal Ontario Museum and Photography NOW 2009 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY. Her images are part of Heritage Canada’s permanent collection and has appeared in such publications are Prefix Photo and Applied Arts Magazine.

Of Backra Bluid she writes, “My Great Grandfather on one side was a man from Scotland and my Great Great Grandfather on the other was a man from England. As a black child in a predominantly white school I would listen to children proudly state their Scottish, Irish and English heritage while I would silently acknowledge my own. As an adult, on the odd occasion when I have mentioned this part of my heritage I have often been met with blank stares or uncomfortable looks from whites. I feel this is due to the fact that by my mentioning a common ancestry I am inadvertently reminding them of the brutal colonial system of African slavery and its legacy that has brought about such a connection. On a very basic level their whiteness is directly connected and laid in contrast to my blackness. There is a dualism that is inherent in the Euro-centric concept of whiteness. One whose standards of beauty and self-image have set the groundwork for how I in turn view myself as a black person. It does not take into consideration the hybridization of most people in post-colonial societies. Through these images I wish to explore and interpret the white relatives whom I know exist. I have often wondered who they are, where they might be and what they must look like. By simply changing my skin color and slightly altering my features I wish to show that if someone were to take a closer look at my face they would see that it is really not that much different from their own.”

Of The Great White Hope she writes, “With names like “Fair and Lovely”, “White Beauty” & “Skin Success”, whitening products lend themselves to a fairytale like vision in which the reward for de-racialization is esteem & admiration. In reality, these products are made by divisions of multi-national corporations & are rapidly out-selling popular soft drinks. Lighter skin is an aesthetic that is continually being exported abroad as well as being embedded within most non-western societies. These products reduce darker complexions to a problem that has an easy topical solution. Through their use it seems that any previous self-hating & self-doubt can be simply lightened or erased. To some, whiteness is seen as bringing privilege & advantages not afforded to someone with a darker complexion. All of this furthers the hierarchy of skin color that still finds its way into the collective consciousness of a lot of Caribbean societies.”