This post is going to feature female artists who’s art is inspired by the term ‘The Female Gaze’ and who’s work over the years and throughout this project have inspired me.
Chloe Sheppard
Chloe Sheppard is a film photographer and filmmaker based in London, UK. Sheppard’s photographs can be found in ad campaigns such as missguided but her work also features in Teen Vogue as well as the feminist line Polyester. Her work is soft, dreamy, feminine and examines the realities of being a modern woman and the intricacies of female self-perception. Photographers that inspire her are Petra Collins, Mayan Toledano and Baron Woman. When talking about her work she said “photographers should be more honest and open because there is a whole group of young girls looking up to us. We should be trying to help guide them through our work.”. The female gaze to her means reclining what’s ours, “For so long we’ve been told how to behave, how to look and how to live according to men. It’s becoming a form of rebellion and a way to defy society’s standards. Now more than ever girls are looking in the mirror and saying ‘ hey my body doesn’t look exactly like that girl in that magazine and I’m okay with that.”. The thing that inspires me about her work is both the aesthetic and the message behind them. She deals with themes of youth, nostalgia and representation. All of her photos feature girls of different body and skin types alongside a vintage, dreamy aesthetic.
Petra Collins
Petra Collins is a Canadian artist, photographer, fashion model and director. Her photography is characterised by a feminine, dreamlike feel, inspired by the female gaze approach. Her distinct aesthetic has made her one of the leading artists of the new wave feminism movement. As well as making art she is also the founder of online artistic collective The Arduous. BABE book includes the work of 30 artists from the association, who explore the issues of female identity within the context of the internet and social media. Her projects include, the female gaze, a series of young teen portraits struggling with everyday life: school, parties, intimacy and sexuality. Her gaze is poetic, her photography is able to highlight the emotions within this particular period of life and the transition to adulthood.
Mayan Toledano
Mayan Toledano is a photographer who captures her female subjects in a way that is deeply personal, her photography is raw and makes you as a viewer feel as though you’re in the room with the models. The models are captured in a natural state, different to other fashion photographers which are staged or over posed. Subjects are shown with little to no make up. By capturing women purely as themselves, rather than a made up version of themselves, Mayan Toledano promotes a positive body image by focusing on the models individual beauty. Her photography celebrates female friendship, sexual liberty and self-confidence. Me and you is her clothing brand that her and her best friend started in 2014. They wanted to create clothing that was fun and uplifting for women so they made the famous ‘feminist’ underwear and they now sell t-shirts, jumpers etc. Me and You isn’t just about clothing its about celebrating women. They wanted to make better, more positive imagery for young women and young girls.
Ashley Armitage
Ashley Armitage is a photographer who is known for her body positive images, centred around the female gaze. Her photographs are magical, hazy and pastel which celebrate women of all race and sizes. She had previously studied as a film director but found this was a very male dominated career. “The women were always the stylists, make up artists, or assistants. Women never really held the power in the films that were being produced.” After moving on to photography she began shooting photos of her friends, capturing a realistic portrait of what it was like to be a 19year old girl. She began posting her images on instagram in 2014 and this is where her career took off. In 2015 she had posted an image of underwear with a period stain and pubic hair and this got a lot of backlash, especially from males. “All the comments told me that a womans body only has to do with how she fits into a male gaze. It was mainly men talking about how they felt and whether or not the photo was sexy to a man.” In the media the only images being shown at the time were unrealistic portrayals of beauty and magazines running covers like “how to get the perfect beach bod”. “It reminded me how backward the world actually is,” she says, and it made her remember why she’d started capturing those kinds of images in the first place. “I went into photography thinking, I want to bring in a new voice. I want to show different body types, different genders, different skin tones, and things that society would say are imperfect, like fat rolls, pimples, or stretch marks.I want to take pictures of all people in order to normalize all body types and break down the beauty standard. Marginalized groups of people who are outside of the beauty standard are underrepresented or misrepresented, and instead of feeding into this toxicity, I want to help dismantle it.” Ashleys work is trying to change the ideas of girlhood that have been imprinted on us from a young age.
A recent yahoo health survey showed that 66% of teenage girls are body negative and 94% of teen females have experienced body shame. Body negativity stays pretty much consistent in women’s life and these facts and statistics are why i feel that this new wave of female artists are important and needed for the youth of today. To be able to promote realistic body images is important and also refreshing to see, instead of the edited/airbrushed, perfect and unrealistic body image that has been promoted for too long.
