Venus As

Venus As is a cinematic and photographic portrait series exploring how women see and are seen. Inspired by the Venus Effect, the work captures women and femmes in mirrored, intimate compositions that reflect themes of identity, power, and self-mythology.

Venus As is a photographic and cinematic portrait series that explores the performative and reflective nature of identity, beauty, and gender expression through the lens of the mythic and modern Venus. Inspired by the “Venus Effect,” a psychological phenomenon in which a subject appears to gaze at themselves but is actually gazing at the viewer, this project examines how women see themselves, are seen, and ultimately reclaim the right to be seen on their own terms.

Shot in natural landscapes and private homes, Venus As presents women and femmes of various identities in still, paired, or mirrored compositions. The figures are nude, yet emotionally vivid. Each subject is captured in a moment of self-contemplation or gentle connection with another, evoking timelessness while disrupting normative ideals of femininity. The use of repetition and duet-like symmetry mirrors both internal reflection and external dialogue. The bodies move or remain still in a liminal state, between goddess and human, seen and seeing.

The title Venus As is intentionally open-ended, allowing for endless interpretations: Venus as Woman, Venus as Mother, Venus as Trans, Venus as Divine. This fluid invocation of the goddess points to the liberatory power of seeing oneself not as defined by the gaze, but as a reflection of personal mythology. In a time when women's autonomy is increasingly under threat, this work acts as visual resistance. It is rooted in softness, form, and radical self-determination.

Grounded in classical iconography but propelled by contemporary feminist, queer, and post-structural thought, Venus As draws on theories from Judith Butler, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde. It resists binary frames of the male and female gaze by presenting gender and beauty as layered, intersectional, and performed.

This work reclaims and reimagines the image of Venus not as an object of desire, but as a conduit of power, intimacy, and transformation. By turning the lens toward each subject’s embodied truth, Venus As invites the viewer to reflect not only on how we see women, but how women see themselves and one another.