Precious Falama-Dervis

BODIED reappropriates the female body from my perspective as a female artist to contrast the male gaze. Investigating how the nude female body is portrayed, how it is sexually objectified, and how it interacts with identity, are all goals of this project. With my photography being a constant effort to look at variables which contribute to the ideals of the male gaze – like normalising natural body hair on women, and expressing vulnerability, my hopes are that my images will my audience question why the female body is sexualised more than a man’s. Presenting women as they are in their most natural form as we make a connection, BODIED documents the appreciation of our human forms, by placing the body at the centre of my work, a visual journey divided into three sections that explore how our bodily characteristics are viewed, and how those depictions are utilised and interpreted.