Originally published on August 28th, 2014

From 2008-2010, London-based photographer Phillip Toledano developed a body of work that focused on the extreme side of plastic surgery. Through traditional lighting techniques, Toledano highlights the contours of his physically altered subjects’ skin and focuses on the sculptural aspect of their modified bodies. Toledano explains, “I’m interested in what we define as beauty, when we choose to create it ourselves. Beauty has always been a currency, and now that we finally have the technological means to mint our own, what choices do we make?… When we re-make ourselves, are we revealing our true character, or are we stripping away our very identity?”

Text by Canbra Hodsdon