The Manifest

This image forms part of a series called "The Manifest" which is a reflection on gender identity and the role photography plays in the construction of the 'female' image. I was interested in interrogating the way the female body is represented, and deconstruct the stereotypes associated with contemporary photographic portraiture; does it capture identity? Whilst this photograph stylistically resembles classical, formal portraiture it has a modern abstract quality with elements of spatial distortion; the woman is deconstructed and reinterpreted. Her historical costume defines her identity as hetero-normative, yet closer inspection of her appearance reveals the costs of conformity and convention. Her averted gaze and painted hands mock the grace of her garments, which constrict and confine her. She appears ascendant, carried aloft by the clouds as if heavenward. Her feet have all but disappeared-robbed even of locomotion. She is unravelling.