Voyeurism - Self Directed Statement

The female nude has been the subject of innumerable works of art over the centuries, more frequently than not, from the point of view of a man. Art critic John Berger made a series of videos called "Ways of Seeing" in which he discusses the role of the female nude in classical paintings. Berger suggests that generally, the female nude is displayed as an object for the pleasure and possession of first, the artist and ultimately, the viewer. The female is usually posed, often unnaturally, to the audience's advantage; her gaze is directly at the viewer - telling him that she is his possession, there only for his pleasure. Berger argues that most of the motifs and compositions of classic female nudes support the desexualisation and degradation of women to the point where they are no more than objects and belongings.

I have always been passionate about gender equality and I decided to tackle the subject of female nudity in art, and attempt to find a way of portraying the female body that is empowering rather than misogynistic and objectifying. I was particularly inspired by the work of Nan Goldin, Marilyn Minter and Marlene Dumas, who frequently depict female sexuality and fetishes in a way that suggests sexuality is something to be embraced and is empowering for women, rather than unnatural behaviour that should be suppressed.

I began my project by researching iconic women and recreating classical work and contrasting it to contemporary-style portraits of women; but as I began to broaden my research and look at the work of feminist artists I decided that the most poignant way of portraying female equality was to depict women embracing their sexuality, in a way that suggests it is purely their self-discovery and not for the enjoyment of men. My work is predominantly photographic, early developmental work is a combination of photography, image transfer and found-image collage. I chose to work photographically because I feel it is my strongest, most expressive medium, and also suggestive of a more modern and developed time which is relevant to my theme. I really enjoyed this project, and was pleased with my final outcomes, my only wish is that I could have had more time to explore the subject as it is such an enormous and controversial issue, I have done my best to do it justice in this short amount of time.