The Eyes Don’t Lie: When We Look Beyond the Image
When every image can be changed, the eyes remind us of what cannot be filtered: the person behind the face.
Youmanity launches a new social, cultural and scientific project exploring how young people see themselves in the age of digital perfection.
Every day, young people are surrounded by images that seem perfect. Smooth skin, carefully edited photographs and filters that can transform the way we look in seconds.
But what happens when the image on the screen begins to feel more real than the person looking back from the mirror?
This is the question at the heart of The Eyes Don’t Lie – Gli Occhi Non Mentono, a new initiative promoted by Youmanity, developed in collaboration with the I.C. Carelli, the support of the Municipality of Conversano and ITACA Social Cooperative.
Looking at ourselves through a different lens
The exhibition features 22 portraits of students from the Carelli Institute photographed by fine-art photographer Nico Nardomarino.
The images deliberately recall the visual world young people encounter every day on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok. Faces appear surrounded by the language of digital filters and image manipulation.
But there is one important difference.
The eyes never lie.
They become a quiet reminder that behind every photograph, every profile and every carefully constructed image, there is a real person — with feelings, insecurities, hopes, relationships and a story that no filter can fully change.
Our photography exhibition is not about telling young people how they should use social media. It is about creating a space where we can stop for a moment and ask a more important question:
What happens when we begin to measure ourselves against images that were never real to begin with?
From appearance to identity
The Eyes Don’t Lie explores the growing conversation around Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and the relationship between digital self-image, appearance and adolescent well-being.
But the project goes beyond the medical definition of a disorder.
It asks broader, human questions about beauty, identity, connection and belonging.
What makes us beautiful?
Why do we compare ourselves with others?
Can technology bring us closer while also making us feel more distant from ourselves?
And, perhaps most importantly, who are we beyond the image we choose to show?
The exhibition is therefore intended not only for young people, but also for parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and anyone who wants to better understand the world in which today's adolescents are growing up.
A conversation between art, science and the community
The opening evening will bring together people from very different worlds — medicine, psychology, education, public institutions and the arts — because understanding these issues requires more than one perspective.
The scientific panel will begin at 6:00 PM on 20th Nov at the Pinacoteca ‘Paolo Finoglio’, Castle of Conversano. It will include:
- Avv. Giuseppe Lovascio, Mayor of Conversano
- Dr. Angelo Iudice, Chairman of Youmanity ODV
- Dr. Alessandra Raio, Tenure-track Researcher in Clinical Psychology, University of Bari
- Dr. Neelam Vashi, Associate Professor of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine (TBC)
- Dr. Giovanni D'Alessandro, Specialist in Aesthetic Surgery and author
- Prof. Flora Gesumina Marasciulo, Principal of the I.C. Carelli Institute
- Dr. Donatella Pesce, Clinical Psychologist, ITACA
- Dr. Viviana Lobuono, Leading Psychologist, ASL Bari
- Nico Nardomarino, Artist and Photographer
Their different experiences will help explore the issue from clinical, psychological, educational, social and artistic perspectives.
A project born from young voices
The students of the I.C. Carelli have not simply been the subjects of a photographic exhibition. Their participation has helped give the project its meaning and its human dimension.
Following the scientific panel, at 7pm guests will adjourn to Galleria Cattedrale, Piazza della Conciliazione, Conversano for the opening of the photography exhibition, The Eyes Don’t Lie.
The collection of portraits may remind us that behind poses and filters are young people learning to understand who they are.
And perhaps that is where the conversation should begin.
Not with perfection.
Not with another ideal to achieve.
But with the possibility of looking at ourselves — and at one another — with a little more acceptance.
Because a photograph can be edited.
A face can be filtered.
But the eyes still have something to say.
Event information
Opening & Scientific Panel
20 November 2026, 6:00 PM
Pinacoteca, Castello di Conversano
Exhibition
20 November – 21 December 2026
Galleria Cattedrale, Conversano
Free admission
Online
The exhibition, project materials and further insights will also be available through Youmanity at one@youmnnity.today
OUR GRATEFUL THANKS
Lucilla Tauro, Art Patron, for hosting our exhibition at the Galleria Cattedrale, Conversano.
Stefania Liverini, Director of Cultural and Public Policy, for hosting our panel at the Pinacoteca ‘Paolo Finiglio, Castello di Conversano.
