Google Reader Response #8

This week I wanted to respond to the Lenscratch Portrait Exhibition post. Continuing last week’s discussion viewing photography through a feminist lens, I could not help but respond to the way women are depicted vs. the way men are depicted in these blog posts. Scrolling through the photographs, the majority of the women are depicted in two different ways. Many of the women are presented as sexualized wearing revealing clothing or looking at the viewer in a seductive manner. They are objectified for their body and the photographer shows no interest in conveying a deeper message about who these women are.

 If not overtly sexual, many photographs show the woman as passive, looking away from the camera and allowing the viewer to objectify her more easily. Here is an example of a depicted couple with the man looking directly at the viewer and the woman averting her gaze (I can't help but think of Barbara Kruger's work). This subtle different empowers the man and disempowers the woman. 

In contrast, the men are depicted as strong, looking directly at the viewer and sometimes approached by the photographer from a low angle.

While of course this is not the case for all of the images for the portrait exhibition, it is interesting to see that these typical ways of viewing the different genders are still evident in portraiture photography. 

The photographs that subvert these norms are the ones that capture my attention the most. I am encouraged to consider the sitter in a new way and understand them as more than simply a gender type. 

Here the older woman is powerfully addressing the viewers gaze with an intriguing facial expression. I cant quite work it out. Perhaps she is showing a sense of pride or mocking the viewer in regard to the achievements she lays before us. I am forced to ask questions. I think of the woman as more than an object. I start to read the complex symbols laid out in the hope of better understanding the real person.