Mariana Zilbershteyn, Note to myself (PORTRAIT 2022)

A series of portraits with my mother aged 81 and 17. As a society we often reflect on the impact age has on our appearance. We fret over wrinkles, skin tone, hair colour and perceived flaws. These images demonstrate that there is beauty in growing old naturally and much more to us than how we appear. As a young woman growing up in the Soviet Union, my mother lived in a world with no cosmetic surgery, few beauty treatments and a heavily restrictive social hierarchy. She lived through conflicts, periods of poverty and humanitarian crisis. These events shaped who she is inside and out. This is what it looks like to be an un-tweaked woman aged 81 in a world of artificial perfection and beauty ideals. We are much more than how we look. A note to myself, beautiful faces will age and perfect bodies will change, but a beautiful soul will always remain a beautiful soul. True beauty never fades and we all have a story to tell.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.