Digital image, 2002.

Jurgen Ostarhild believes that analog photography functions as a tool for reproducing reality. However, when photography becomes digital, it sheds its spatiotemporal constraints and transforms into a medium of pure creation—no longer merely a means of reproduction.

ÜBERBABES (2002) by Jurgen Ostarhild stems from a simple observation: a face often defines style or appearance more powerfully than many fashion dictates. While traditional photographers rely on makeup, lighting, and a variety of tools to enhance their models, Ostarhild uses his extensive physical database to manipulate pixels directly on his computer screen. His images are snapshots of beauty in progress—resulting in a rare perfection that feels as authentic as reality, yet far removed from typical computer graphics or special effects.

In 1990, as a fashion photographer, Ostarhild was among the first to abandon traditional photography in favor of emerging digital technologies. Much like a DJ mixing music, he blends the pixels of each digital image. Noses, eyes, mouths, hair, skin tones, and both male and female facial features are merged to create a virtual, hybrid, and striking form of beauty.

Through his creative process and the very nature of his work, Ostarhild engages with issues at the intersection of several structural forces shaping contemporary society—particularly those related to the body and identity. The body is no longer a stable, fixed reality: genetics, cloning, plastic surgery, and body art (such as branding, piercing, and tattooing), along with transgender identities, allow individuals to reappropriate and reconfigure their own bodies. Ostarhild blurs these questions of identity by literally merging differences in gender, race, and other physical characteristics.