In contemporary society, the question of female identity is usually raised when there is a question of the sense of belonging, awareness of identity, expression of gender or loss of identity. Woman as a being and a feminine principle can be experienced, understood, interpreted and represented in a number of ways. These photos single out one clear, and today one of generally accepted ways - women as a product.
They are dressed in underwear, exposed in the shop windows under the red light *, which often does not allow accurate record of detail in the photograph due to its particular wavelength, and therefore does not capture the face lines as basic features of identity. They are sitting still in the throne –like chairs, each holding a glass of expensive vine and thus trying to persuade the observer to apply that idea of expensive to the whole “product” which is exactly the opposite of what`s being demonstrated, like commercialized products in the expensive packaging offered for sale with a very precise and direct connotation of purpose. There are men shown beside them, in the background or as silhouettes reflected in the glass windows, like consumers and apparition of the male principle, as well as the cat, representing the animal instinct present in people of both gender, drawn to the surface of the display in this scenery. Their interaction intrigues me in terms of impact on the realization of the female principle alone. The question of identity is a subjective feeling. Dealing with this scene, I am trying to understand my existence and my aspects as a woman on the visual, mental, emotional, and finally the conscious level of my being.
Project RED specifically addresses the questioning of the idea of female identity. The questions I want to actualize are the following:
Project RED specifically addresses the questioning of the idea of female identity. The questions I want to actualize are the following:
Is our identity how we see ourselves or how the others see us?
To what degree is collective identity part of our own and how large a part of it is individually-genuine? To what extent do we form our own identity, and to what extent are the socially accepted modes doing it for us?
Is female identity transformed in the presence of man? Is it somehow dependable upon the male presence?
Am I realized enough as a woman or have I overly developed the male principle within due to the demands of the survival in the modern conditions of life?
What is my identity in these scenes? (With the premise that all my photos essentially are self-portraits)
* Red light or color has the longest wavelength that can be perceived by the human eye, ie. physiological sensitivity of the human eye and the red light is the weakest. (It signals to the primates that the plant is edible, mature.) In these photographs it represents the feasibility of the feminine principle, fertility, emphasizes the role of reproduction through trivialization of seduction and thus puts the over-simplified and widely excepted experience of a woman and her identity to the extreme. The very color red traditionally symbolizes the instincts, impulses, feelings, and basic instincts.
