JEANNE (SELF PORTRAIT)

JEANNE (SELF PORTRAIT)

At a time when gender, identity and sexuality have never been so much in question, this work aims to define the place given to women, and more precisely, to the female body, in our society.

Sexual objectification is at the heart of this research.

Exploited in various ways by cinema, advertising and pornography, the figure of the "woman-object" is here criticized.

Exclusively conducted in confined spaces (hotel rooms), this project is motivated by the desire to understand why and how women's bodies have been objectified for so long, leading them to internalize the way other people look at them, and to control their appearance through clothing, make-up, dietary control and physical exercise.

The most common form of sexual objectification is often referred to as the male gaze, which consists in inspecting and evaluating women's bodies, leading to a deterioration of their mental health (depression, eating disorders, sexual disorders).

Through a series of spontaneous snapshots in which faces and identities are voluntarily erased, this work highlights, with modesty and kindness, women's bodily gestures, transforming them into a genuine means of expression, a clear and moving witness of the weight of words, stereotypes and the way people look at THEM.

2023
40 x 60 cm (and larger)
MIDDY SEBOLAVY

MIDDY SEBOLAVY