Woman Wearing Ring Shields Face from Flash

In ‘Woman Wearing Ring Shields Face from Flash,' I use photographs (found and my own) to investigate relationships between guns, cameras, human hands, and gendered violence against women.

Since 2019, I have collected snapshots and other photographs showing men taking pictures of women without permission, women rejecting the camera by placing their hands over their faces, men posing with guns, and hands. I have also made photographs of women learning how to use a gun from female instructors. These images suggest a complex relationship between guns, cameras, and violence against women. Both Susan Sontag and Teju Cole have written about the shared vocabulary between guns and cameras that load, aim, and shoot. In making these connections, I hope to surface the problematic visual habits that are embedded in our culture and to work towards an alternative way of using the camera to share our voices rather than normalize violence. This book was shortlisted for the 2023 Images Vevey Photobook Award and will be published in late 2023 by Skinnerboox, Italy.