I Am Not Like Me

'I am not like me' explores the body as a stage for expression. It focuses on people who consciously shape how they want to be seen – between self-determination and normative body images.

Beauty shapes the world we live in and has influenced how we see ourselves and others for as long as we’ve existed.

I am not like me explores the body as a stage for expression. It does not aim to condemn, but to understand what our appearances reveal about us: it’s not about judgment, being right or wrong, beautiful or not. It’s about the privilege of choice – the possibility of telling a story through one’s own body. It‘s about how people present themselves in moments when they feel most at ease, as if they’ve arrived in the version of themselves they want to live right now. I am not like me is not a contradiction, but an embrace of transformation. It reminds us that identity is not fixed, but fluid, a process of becoming. The series captures how people shape identity through appearance, designing themselves using makeup, cosmetic procedures, fitness, or tattoos. Bodily modification can be a form of liberation, but also of painful conformity. In the moment of being photographed, those portrayed in this work made a conscious decision: to appear exactly as they want to be seen. Today, the pursuit of a “better self” is shaped by technology and capitalism. Bodies become curated, marketable products – always within societal frameworks, yet driven by personal intention. Beyond this, as a photographer, I participate in shaping the construction of beauty itself. Through composition, light, perspective, and my own female gaze, I do not merely capture identity; I actively construct and define what beauty is or can be.

Who gets to define what is beautiful, and at what cost? How much of our appearance is truly self-determined, and how much is shaped by external ideals?

This series highlights variety, transformation, performative staging of identities, and the beauty that lies within.

Throughout the project, I immersed myself in diverse communities and social environments. Delving deep into each context to explore what bodily appearance means to different people, from inside operating rooms during cosmetic and gender-affirming surgeries, to dominatrix studios and brothels, from bodybuilding competitions and beauty pageants to the world of bimbo dolls. The portraits are created in close collaboration with the individuals portrayed. My position as a woman shaped the relationships I was able to build and allowed the intimate access to certain communities and environments. In addition to the portraits, I conducted interviews in which I asked the protagonists about their relationship to their body, how their identity and appearance are connected, and what they plan or wish to improve or change about their body. Thus, I captured detailed video moments across a range of contexts including a cosmetic breast surgery and a gender-affirming operation in the operating room, a bodybuilding contest, and several beauty pageants. These materials expand the project into a multi-layered document of transformation, visibility, and self-determination.

The photobook is published by Kerber and the accompanying video can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Yk5J4TMW4nySbJt6r7TyWm7EmCaQbq5A?usp=share_link.

The phonebook is published by Kerber.