What’s alluring in the age of Photoshop?

A Paris exhibition will showcase photography from seven young Russian artists whose work explores beauty in an era of Photoshop and plastic surgery. All 30 of the artworks that comprise Am I Beautiful? consider the question of aesthetics at a time when we are inundated with images on a daily basis.

While some of the participating photographers such as Margo Ovcharenko are fairly well-known, others, like Maria Yastrebova, are being exhibited for the first time outside of Russia. The exhibition also showcases a variety of different artistic styles, with naturalistic and spontaneous photographs on display alongside studio images that have been manipulated using computer software.

The work of Sonia and Mark Whitesnow, a duo from the small town of Kirov on the Vyatka River, fall into this latter category. Their Photoshopped portraits are set against the backdrop of an artificially created desert. They stand in contrast to Ovcharenko’s more naturalistic shots, which capture the fragility of youth.

Am I Beautiful? is on at the Russiantearoom gallery in Paris from 13 September to 2 November.