Sister Gaze
How does gaze affect the trust between a camera, female relationships, and myself?
I was twelve years old when I realized that men looked at me as a sexualized object for their pleasure. The age for this realization is different for everyone, but its impact on you stays forever. The sexualization of women can be found in all facets of our society today, especially in photography. Roberta McMcrath’s essay ‘Re-Reading Edward Weston’ heavily influenced me. She describes how male artists tend to portray women or feminine themes in sexualized and dominated ways and sometimes use the female form to elevate their work and maintain a subordination of women. I want to shift the heterosexual male perspective to allow women to embrace and control how they perceive themselves in art. When women control the narrative they wish to share with the viewer, specifically their representation, it threatens the refusal to contribute to the patriarchal discourse. I made Sister Gaze because I wanted the women in my life to experience the right of controlling, looking, and being seen through a female gaze. They are not sexualized beings but individual people. By facing the camera and facing a patriarchal gaze, I’m challenging what marginalizes and even diminishes female representation and perspective.
My family had complete control over how they wanted to be seen by the viewer and the freedom to be as expressive as they wanted. I intentionally ignored constructs of the capitalistic male-imposed ideals of how women should look and act. By letting my family have agency over their representation and collaborate in this project, our gaze defines how the viewer might look at them. Making Sister Gaze was a vulnerable and transformative process. It explored our psychological differences in the past by accepting and developing our roles from twelve-year-old girls who didn’t know how to challenge a masculine gaze to young women who do.
johannamacdonough.myportfolio.com/i-spy
