LU YUFAN

Make Me Beautiful (2018-)

I grew up witnessing the burgeoning cosmetic surgery industry, surrounded by judgements about my own appearance, feeling a strong connection to the millions in China who were reportedly seeking aesthetic transformation. I turned to photography as a means to confront my anxieties about my looks, the societal beauty ideals, and explore the mechanisms behind the cosmetic surgery scene in China.

I visited over thirty cosmetic surgery clinics with my self-portrait. The consultants there, who called themselves "beauty designers", used a variety of tools to assess my face, and map out surgery plans on my portrait. In an authoritative tone, they meticulously pointed out my facial "flaws". Sometimes, they immediately let me choose from the most popular prototypes of desired faces, like choosing products from a shelf. They told me that a face could be a "permit" to my dream life…I smelled my desires and weaknesses.

While 'collaborating' with the clinics on the diagnosis portraits, I photographed their interiors, which features an ambiguous coexistence of medical and commercial elements. I also collected pre-surgery portraits of people who have undergone cosmetic surgeries, taken by clinics and posted on cosmetic surgery portal websites for promotion, covered with the websites’ watermarks. Despite being photographed in an objective manner, they reveal to me a mixture of feelings from melancholy to puzzlement, hope, restlessness, determination, nostalgia...They remind me of death masks used to preserve faces after death, post-mortem photography, or all photographs that are indexical of mortality. I removed the watermarks from the portraits, transformed them into masks that I wore, and added new watermarks featuring Chinese words associated with appearance shaming on both our faces. And, inspired by the 'portrait-robot' - a tool used by 20th century police to create facial composites of criminal suspects, I removed our facial features, which is both a documentary of faces stigmatized, and a resistance against the social gaze. I also cut patterns on my portraits, 'transplanting' their experience onto me. At this moment, they are me and I am them.

我在成长过程中见证了整形产业的兴起，也经历过无数次外貌评判。它们在我心里播下了一个种子。为了直面自己的外貌焦虑和社会的审美标准，以及出于对医美整形产业运作机制的好奇，我开始以影像为媒介探究这一议题。

我拿着自己的肖像照去了三十多家整形医美诊所就诊。自称为“美丽设计师”的咨询师们用各种工具测量我的脸，在照片上画下诊断和治疗方案。她/他们以不容置疑的语气指出了种种“缺陷”，紧接着提出许多具体方案供我挑选，像在介绍货架上琳琅满目的商品一样，并不断暗示，一张全新的脸将会赋予我怎样的美丽人生……我嗅到了自己在消费主义逻辑下的欲望和脆弱。

在和诊所“合作”完成肖像照的间隙，我拍摄了诊所的室内景观，试图在其中捕捉医疗和商业的暧昧共存。除此之外，我也收集了大量医美网站案例的整形前照片，照片上无一例外地满布着网站水印，这些所谓被客观拍摄的面无表情的脸上，浮现出复杂的情绪：困惑、希望、不安、坚决……它们令我想到在摄影术流行前用来保存遗像的死亡面具，继而想到所有照片——拍摄的瞬间也意味着这一瞬间的逝去。于是，我把这些面孔做成照片面具，戴在脸上，以评判外貌的中文流行词汇替代原来的水印内容，再度覆盖我们的肖像，并参考二十世纪警方拼凑犯罪嫌疑人肖像的方式，移除了所有的五官。我还将自己的肖像照切割、重叠，试图把她们的经历“移植”到我的脸上。在这一刻，她们是我，我是她们。

Make Me Beautiful (2018-)

I grew up witnessing the burgeoning cosmetic surgery industry. Reports of millions in China seeking aesthetic transformations left me feeling deeply connected, as I grew up surrounded by judgements about my appearance. I turned to photography as a means to confront my anxieties about my looks, the societal beauty ideals, and explore the mechanisms behind the cosmetic surgery scene in China.

I went to over 30 cosmetic surgery clinics with my self portrait, and asked the 'beauty designers' there to scrutinize my face and map out surgery plans on my portrait. They meticulously pointed out my "flaws", while sometimes letting me choose from the most popular prototypes of faces I want to have, like choosing products from a shelf. They told me face is a "permit" to my dream life. I smelled my desires and weaknesses.

The work is composed of the diagnoses of my face, cosmetic surgery landscape, and recreation of pre-surgery portraits of people who have had cosmetic surgeries, taken by clinics and posted on cosmetic surgery portal websites as a promotion. I found myself deeply intrigued by these portraits. Despite being taken in an objective manner, they reveal to me a mixture of feelings from melancholy to puzzlement, hope, restlessness, determination, nostalgia…They remind me of death masks, post-mortem photography, or any photograph that hints at a moment of death.

生于九十年代的我，在成长过程中见证了整形产业的兴起，也经历过无数次外貌评判。它们在我心里种下了一个种子，2018年，出于一丝想要自我实验的心态，以及对医美整形产业背后运作机制的好奇，我开始我开始以影像为媒介探究这一议题。

我拿着自己的肖像照去不同的诊所寻求诊断，让“美丽设计师”们在我的脸上画下诊断和”治疗“方案。除了指出我的种种”缺陷“外，她/他们提出了不同方案的选项，供我随意挑选，像在货架上挑选商品一样，并通过精心设计的话术，暗示我一张全新的脸将会赋予我的理想人生。我嗅到了自己在强大的消费主义逻辑下的欲望和脆弱。

在和诊所“合作”完成肖像之余，我拍摄了整形医院的室内景观。除此之外，我收集了医美网站案例的“整形前”照片，移除了网站的水印，又用刀子对肖像做了处理。最后为这些肖像配上了我手写的在网络上收集的、来自整形者的感想。其中既有真实的感想，也有医美网站上看似感想的营销话术片段。这些“整形前”照片令我想到死亡面具和19世纪的死后摄影，甚至是所有照片——在拍摄的瞬间就意味着这一瞬间的逝去。

Yufan Lu (b.1991) is from Tianjin, China.

Education

2016 - 2017 MA Photography and Urban Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London

Experience

2020 World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass

2019 Magnum Foundation Photography Expanded Mentorship Program

2018 Angkor Photo Workshop

Selected Exhibitions

2025 'Return', Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland

2025 'Image Being', Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland

2024 'Body', Gallery Seek, Tallinn Museum of Photography, Tallinn, Estonia

2024 'Picturing Urban and Community Research: 30 Years of CUCR', Goldsmiths University, London, UK

2023 'Out of Joint', New Collectors Gallery, New York, US

2023 'Power and Perspective', Peabody Essex Museum, US

2022 'Radical Imagination’ - King’s Cross Outside Art Project, The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK

2022 Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Mannheim, Germany

2022 Healing in the Heart of Storm, Cang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China

2021 PhEST - See Beyond the Sea, Monopoli, Italy

2021 Young Portfolio 2020, Kiyosato Museum of Photography Arts, Kiyosato, Japan

2020 7th Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore

2020 7th Lumix Festival for Young Visual Journalism (virtual exhibition), Hannover, Germany

2019 Top 20 Chinese Contemporary Photography Exhibition, Hangzhou, China

2018 DOK18 Photo Festival, ‘New Era’, Fredrikstad, Norway

2017 Urban Photo Festival, 'The Urban Condition', London, UK

Selected Awards

2024 Star Photobook Dummy Award, finalist

2024 Landskrona Foto & Breadfield Dummy Award, honorable mention

2023 The 9th Hou Dengke Documentary Photography Award, special mention

2021 Bartur Photo Award, 'Human Love' third place

2020 Firecracker Photography Grant

2020 PHmuseum Photography Grant, New Generation Honorable Mention

2018 Encontros da Imagem, recipient of Photobook Awards & Discovery Awards finalist

卢禹凡1991年生于天津。

教育经历

2016 - 2017 伦敦金匠学院 / 摄影与城市文化专业

其他经历

2020 Joop Swart大师班

2019 拓影师友计划

2018 吴哥摄影工作坊

展览

2025 “Return”，Photography Gallery Hippolyte，芬兰赫尔辛基

2025 “Image Being”，芬兰摄影博物馆，芬兰赫尔辛基

2024 “身体”，Gallery Seek，塔林摄影博物馆，爱沙尼亚塔林

2024 “Picturing Urban and Community Research: 30 Years of CUCR”，金匠学院，英国伦敦

2023 “Out of Joint”，New Collectors Gallery，美国纽约

2023 “权利与视角”，皮博迪·埃塞克斯博物馆，美国塞勒姆

2022 "Radical Imagination" - 国王十字路露天艺术展，摄影师画廊，英国伦敦

2022 当代摄影双年展，德国曼海姆

2022 “摄影新节点，生于1990”，仓美术馆，中国杭州

2021 PhEST - See Beyond the Sea, 意大利莫诺波利

2021 清里摄影美术馆青年摄影典藏展，日本清里

2020 第七届新加坡国际摄影节，新加坡

2020 第七届Lumix Festival for Young Visual Journalism（线上展览），德国汉诺威

2019 Top20·2019中国当代摄影新锐展，中国杭州

2018 DOK18 Photo Festival, “New Era”展览，挪威腓特烈斯塔

2017 伦敦城市摄影节，“The Urban Condition”展览，英国伦敦

奖项

2024 Star摄影样书奖入围

2024 Landskrona Foto摄影样书奖荣誉奖

2023 第九届侯登科纪实摄影奖提名

2020 Firecracker摄影奖

2020 PHmuseum Photography Grant新生代荣誉奖

2018 Encontros da Imagem摄影书奖，入围发现奖