Cara Phillips
Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY

Website: cara-phillips.com

Work statement
Singular Beauty: In 1907 Charles Miller wrote the first how-to book on Beauty Surgery. The volume was largely dismissed by the mainstream medical community as fringe medicine, however, this one time "quackery" has evolved into a 15 billion dollar-a-year industry in the United States. Why has it flourished? According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeon's website, "Even a small change on the outside can create an extraordinary change on the inside, allowing an individuals self-confidence to flourish." Cosmetic surgery is now a common, if still stigmatized, part of our culture. When you enter the offices of Cosmetic Surgeons you not only discover the promise of happiness but also the fear, self-loathing, anxiety, and desire of millions of Americans. This collection of photographs resulted from both a personal struggle with body issues, and a long history in the beauty business. While photographing these doctor's offices, I was less interested in capturing the actual place or thing, than in capturing the experience of it, and in the words Susan Sontag make, "familiar things small, abstract, strange and much farther away." Because it is our emotions, which have the deepest impact on our intellects.

Bio
Cara Phillips is a Brooklyn based photographer. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and came to photography after a childhood spent in front of the camera and many years in the beauty business as a make-up artist. Her work has been featured in numerous group shows, and images from her Singular Beauty series can be seen in Issue #31 of Cabinet Magazine. In addition to her own photography projects, she writes a successful photo blog, Ground Glass and is the co-founder/co-curator of Women in Photography, an online exhibition project featuring the work of emerging and established female artists.