In proximity, skin becomes a landscape textured by time and marked with traces of memory. Age is embraced and expressed in bright color, in celebration of presence as a radical form of beauty.

We are in the age of superagers. Gone are the days when growing older was frowned upon or associated with decline. In its place is an evolving cultural fascination with how to live longer and live well. The World Health Organization states that between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world’s population aged over 60 years will nearly double from 12 percent to 22 percent. At the same time, data from trend-forecasting unit VML Intelligence reveals that one third of people would like to have more joy in their life. 

Longevity is no longer just a medical or scientific concern. Attention is shifting toward the idea of thriving. US gerontologist and author Dr Kerry Burnight calls this concept “joyspan,” an evolution of the ideas of lifespan and healthspan that places joy at the center of how we think about aging. “The old question was how not to age,” she tells VML Intelligence for The Future 100. “The new question is how to age with strength, vitality, purpose, meaning, and frankly, joy.”

How, then, are we ought to embrace age? Shot in Amsterdam, German-Ukrainian artist and photographer Alina Gross offers one response through Colors of Time, a series that examines the body up close and treats skin as a record of time, memory, and lived experience. Rather than minimizing lines, pores, or wrinkles, Gross places them at the center of the image, composing with them instead of correcting them. This photographic study of skin, she says, is a refusal of the idea that beauty and visibility only belong to youth. In pursuit of “a beauty that does not ask permission to exist,” bright color is deliberately used not to conceal age, but instead to emphasize it. By moving in close and fragmenting the body, Gross shifts the focus: “This is not about perfection. It is about presence,” she explains. “And presence, in itself, becomes the most radical form of beauty.”

Today, age is no longer just a number; it’s a marker of capacity and a vessel of possibility.

Photography, Creative Direction, and Production: Alina Gross. Art Direction, Hair, and Makeup: Hannah Rosie Bennett. Bodypainting: Vanessa Hitzfield. Models: Helena Martina and Anneke Wesetrbos of 2R Model Management and Elke Krause. Shot on location at Stunnin Magazine, Zaandam, Amsterdam