J. Scriba

Ever since we lost our fur and subsequently invented clothing to cover our bodies again, our times are probably the ones of most intense exposure of skin. It's omnipresent: fashion and cosmetic ads show square miles of it. Glossy magazines burst with shots of thinly clad celebs. - But is the stuff we see so much of really skin? I don't have solid statistics but most of what I see in published images is not skin covering glamorous bodies, rather some digitally enhanced construction of what skin should look like according to PR strategists and market researchers. And although we see pores, blemishes and facial hair every time we look into a mirror the notion has become burnt into our brains that what we see is not what we should be seeing.

I wanted to have closer look at what real skin really looks like, and I got the opportunity to do so at the reknown dermatology clinic of the Berlin Charité. For two week I set up a little studio in an examination room and found volunteers among patients, students and employees who would lie motionless for a minute while my motorized camera scanned the surface of their bodies.

Skinscape is currently exhibited at the HTTC in Berlin. I gratefully acknowledge financial support by the European Skin Cancer Foundation.