On Being a Woman

This is a selection of different projects that all revolves around the representation and misrepresentation of women. I make staged yet intimate portraits of women and give a twist to the well-known portrait by turning it into a socially and politically critical one.

As my work examines the representation and misrepresentation of women worldwide, I’ve been researching the origins of sexdifferences by looking at the biological as well as the social factors causing this. No one will deny the biological differences between men and women, yet the physical differences do not explain the social world we live in. Women today are still seen as ‘the other’ in relation to men or even ‘the second sex’.

My work can be seen as both a celebration of women as well as an indictment of the fact that there is still such a thing as a “second sex”. However, I want to turn this idea around by using the flexibility, strength and ingenuity of women that she has developed around the imposed codes of conduct.

Photography gives me the opportunity to use my own femininity as a resistance in a (still) male-dominated world. Emancipation by using the written rules, and turning it around. The fact that I am in a position to make portraits of women and that they trust me to pose for me is the reason I make work. The connection I feel when I’m portraying makes me proud to be a woman.