Senior Photography Show

Hiram College - Spring Semester 2021

Artists Statement

Throughout much of Western art history, women too often have been objectified, and the female body has been constructed as a spectacle for the male gaze. As the subjects in the paintings and sculptures fashioned by male artists, women were portrayed with weak and passive body positions in order to fit particular ideas of beauty and femininity. The concept of the male gaze, and the idea that men are entitled to women's bodies remains threaded throughout society, even today. I chose to reclaim this stereotype, by showing the strength of femininity throughout my photographs. In ancient times when female goddess figures were worshipped, they were gifted three sacred liquids - water, olive oil, and honey. After some research, I found that these three liquids represented power, life, prosperity, luxury, peace, fertility, and responsibility - all qualities of a strong woman and aspects of femininity.