Nudes: recontextualizing the female nude in contemporary art

Abstract

In this paper I will discuss my photographic project titled “Nudes”; the research that lead to its conception, and the process in its various iterations. This project is a visual response to the male gaze. How we are trained to see, and who is allowed to be in control of this, has a direct impact on the images that are made. When the dominant lens we are trained to see through stems from patriarchal values, the power dynamic inherent in patriarchy is amplified. Photographs are seen as truth, and have the ability to reinforce or subvert already existing cultural beliefs. It is in confronting the gaze, subverting it, inserting new narratives, that we are able to challenge this cycle. My project aims to do this.