The interplay between the individual and society, between self-definition and collective identity, and between cultural standards and human norms has long intrigued social scientists and philosophers. Three new exhibits at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) showcase artists’ attempts to make sense of the distinction between what is personal, what is cultural and what is universal.

The largest and most engaging of the exhibits is that of Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra, whose photographs are a striking combination of documentary form and individual portraiture. Rather than defining her subjects through candid snapshots or in personal settings, Dijkstra uses universal locations or themes to document how individuals define themselves in similar contexts.

“Beaches,” for instance, is a collection of photographs of children and young adolescents on beaches in Europe and the United States. The prints are exactly the same size, the subjects are all standing the same distance from the camera, and the lighting is such that variations between the beaches themselves are hidden. This uniformity of setting and technique both highlights and obscures differences between the subjects. Seemingly universal trends, such as the awkwardness of adolescents in their developing bodies, emerge alongside cultural variables superficially evident in swimwear, hairstyles and accessories.

The most interesting, and perhaps most revealing, of the cultural differences is the way subjects from different countries approach the activity of being photographed. The American and western European youngsters exhibit a high degree of familiarity with the medium of photography, with the boys often posturing themselves to appear tough and strong and the girls shyly and self-consciously attempting to stand like models in fashion spreads.

The eastern European subjects, on the other hand, appear less packaged and less burdened with notions of what the finished photograph should look like. All of the photographs capture a certain charming naiveté and vulnerability, characteristic of those on the cusp of maturity.

Dijkstra adds the effects of time on conceptions of the self in a beautiful series of four photographs, taken of the same Bosnian refugee in the Netherlands over a period of six years. The girl, Almerisa, sits on a chair facing the same direction in all four shots, though the chair and the room change in each picture.

The first photograph shows a tiny girl with a blank, almost intrepid stare ripe with meaning and emotion. The subsequent portraits show Almerisa slowly shedding both the exterior trappings of her homeland and of childhood. In the last photograph, she is coyishly defiant, slouching slightly on the chair with her legs apart and a very knowing expression on her face. She no longer looks the part of a refugee, and she is no longer a child.

Her relationship with the camera has fundamentally changed, and it is clear that she is no longer merely being photographed, but is creating an image of herself.