When looking at motherhood and its lineage within the canon of art history, images of Madonna and Child are at the forefront. A prevalent symbol in Christian iconography, depictions were greatly diversified by Renaissance masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Caravaggio. Yet it was only in the last century that motherhood emerged from the skirts of the Madonna into a space of critical and conceptual practice. During the 1970s second-wave feminism nudged a more rigorous and expanded consideration of women’s issues into the arena. Take artist Mary Kelly’s Post Partum Document 1973 – 1979; a six-year documentation of Kelly’s relationship with her newborn son that includes drawings, annotations, and recorded conversations.
Naturally, photography became a popular medium through which to depict motherhood and to reflect the fascination and controversy it attracts. Sally Mann’s Immediate Family series from 1992, capturing her naked and roaming free children highlights a departure from the stereotypical portrayal of motherhood that dominated contemporary visual culture.
Like photography itself, the expectations and demands of motherhood are in flux; both subject and medium grapple for new meaning in a changing world. Simone Steenberg’s series Motherhood & Pregnancy explores just this, as she records the transformation that women experience on this journey. Capturing this transitory state of the female body is simultaneously an exploration of their strengths and vulnerabilities.
Steenberg’s subjects are observed in varied guises. Some are adorned in flamboyant and playful outfits positioned in both assertive and contrived poses within the studio setting, some proudly nurse their new-born within the familiar domestic setting, while others are immersed in water, gracefully floating in what appears to be their natural habitat. Ultimately, Steenberg’s series showcases how women navigate an experience that is both collective and deeply personal.
Using analog film cameras, Steenberg began documenting mother and child three years ago;
“I’ve always been intrigued by the different states women go through, the physical and psychological transformations, and especially the different shapes of the female body. The women I photograph are a mixture of friends, women I cast through Instagram or women who contact me directly. I shoot everything with analog so it’s a very performative and intimate process. I love shooting outdoors in nature and I feel the pregnant body relates so beautifully to mother earth, its curves, and diverse landscapes. “
With a background in fashion photography, Steenberg was sensitive to the stereotypical image of the pregnant woman;
“Maternity/ Pregnancy shoots have always been done in a certain way, very polished and not hugely sensual or empowering. I want to produce images which challenge the norms and beauty ideals inherent in society, and where women have ownership of their bodies and are allowed or free to express pleasure and desires. I want to create a special experience, an exchange between me and my subject, where we reveal things about ourselves to each other. It is very much about intimacy and trust.“
The dialogue Steenberg fosters with her subjects allows for images that present the reality of motherhood; beautiful, personal, raw – matter of fact; one of the main elements in this project is that everyone involved learns and grows from working together.
The intimate bond between photographer and subject is reflected in her documentation of various mothers breastfeeding their children; a natural and universal exchange, yet one that has forever been tainted by cultural perceptions. Steenberg wishes to celebrate this intimate bond, yet without sentimentality; “I’ve done many images of women breastfeeding where I highlight their milk leaking. I want to open up a dialogue about this phenomenon, and also celebrate this state and the natural wetness created from women’s bodies.“
Acknowledging that she has yet to experience motherhood, Steenberg draws on her fascination with the relationship between women and water. We observe it in the milk that oozes from her subject’s breasts and the mouths of the naked, heavily pregnant females surrounded by water reeds, or those who flow freely in the lakes near to her hometown in Copenhagen;
“I see water as reflective, always bouncing back and forward, like an exchange. I grew up in Copenhagen, surrounded by the ocean, and have always felt very close to the water. I am fascinated by the effect it has on us, which is why I believe it has become such an essential part of my photography. “
The mother has unprecedented visibility and influence in both our cultural and political spheres. As a result, our evolution into a technological dependent and consumer-driven planet has given rise to an obsession with social platforms that host a growing number of communities.
‘The Mummy Blogger’, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are vessels for celebrity bumps and babies; literature and film regularly take mothering as their main storyline; and in society, debates around women’s work-life balance and childcare are in regular political focus. Instead of fetishizing the mother, Steenberg offers a reflective and safe environment where her subjects are allowed to express their connections and experiences of motherhood. Steenberg’s images are consistent in that they always manage to convey the intense power and beauty inherent to mothering. Pain and happiness are paired with the exhaustion and vulnerability of motherhood; all of which must be acknowledged as part of this collective and deeply personal journey.
Be sure to keep up with Simone’s journey and her latest series via instagram.
Within the past 16 months photographer Lotte van Raalte shot 46 women age ranged from 13 to 46 in their most natural forms, which she has compiled into the launch of her first photo book entitled BODY. The book is a visual documentary of the photographer’s encounters with these women and on a larger scale it is a celebration of individuality, life and the beauty found in both vulnerability and strength throughout the female body and experience.
“With my photography, I’m always on a quest for candid in-between-moments. It takes genuine interest and care to capture people in their most authentic and free way of being. BODY originally started as research towards the female body. Each time I photographed someone, I was left fascinated, curious and inspired at the same time. I think my fascination with the female body comes from different angles: the fact that women are dominantly sexualised and unrealistically portrayed in the fashion, movie and music industry. The fact that the female body is the carrier of new life, and the tremendous impact that has. And last but not least, the fact that I’m a woman myself, ” the photographer commented.
The book is currently available for purchase online and will soon see a launch event on the 26th of March Oaxaca Mexico at La Señora Gallery following the local launch event in London a few weeks ago.
Later this month, creative studio Enlarge Your Memories, in partnership with Italian lens-based bookstore Micacamera will open the doors to an exhibition entitled Playing for Keeps, featuring the work of American photographers Molly Matalon and Caroline Tompkins.
This exhibition, set to open in the Micacamera space in Milan, will tell the tale of a contemporary woman’s viewpoint of romanticized America. With its infamous patriarchal history, the typical photography that addresses American ‘landscape’ has tendency to only display the postcard values of automobiles, family values and great outdoors. However, in 2019, the idea of American lives have been expanded on by a wealth of cultural and artistic effort.
Throughout this exhibition Molly Matalon takes on a domestic point of view as she explores the narrative of the housewife. She explores the part of the typical housewife’s world not shown on camera. Portraits of home visitors, palpable sexual tension etc. With the compilation of images, she addresses the freedoms and power plays commonly associated with men in like-environment and in photography. On the other hand, Caroline Tompkins’ work embodies the female YOLO America. It displays a narrative of the fast life, climbing the highest trees, hiking the tallest mountains, getting too close to the fire.
Tompkins’ work denounces gender stereotypes and strives for a reclamation of the pseudo masculine American landscape as she schools her audience on how gratifying it is to live life with the wind blowing through one’s hair. In Playing For Keeps, the photographers explore and update the ideas of humour, sexuality, ownership and power play within today’s contemporary America.
A new exhibition at the Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles brings the evolution of the female gaze to the forefront of the narrative. Aligning an international rostra of women artists, the exhibition celebrates a new era of photography in which the body is examined rather than objectified; observed rather than owned.
Exhibitors include Amanda Charchian, Remy Holwick, creative duo Honey Long & Prue Stent, and Magdalena Wosinska, who together offer an exciting harbinger of the future feminine narrative in photography.
Images span the mystic and mythic to snapshots of the mundane, with Charchian drawing inspiration from psychologist J.A. Lee’s interpretation of Greek philosophy, Prue Stent and Honey Long focussing on powerful juxtapositions of material and colour and Wosinska offering raw, intimate portraits.
The future looks bright, the future is female.
Future Feminine is at Fahey / Klein Gallery from January 18 – February 24, 2018.
“I have always been fascinated by photography produced by women,” says Damien Poulain, the designer and art director behind POV FEMALE (Oodee), a limited-edition monograph of the work of five London-based female photographers. Future editions will feature female photographers from Paris, Tokyo and New York, each limited to 100 copies (£12) and 20 limited edition bookcases, including signed copies of all five monographs and an archival-quality print from each photographer (£300).
This London issue of POV FEMALE features:
Bronwen Parker-Rhodes
A graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, Bronwen has made films for Vivienne Westwood and Rihanna, among others. Her photography is a subjective glimpse into individual lives through routine. “Through filming I discover a little of the world through someone elseâs eyes and hopefully reveal that world to others.” bronfilms.com
Briony Campbell
Briony’s photographs seem to intrude on a moment, they take you fully inside. The Dad Project – “work in progress and I hope it always will be” – is a photographic journal and coping mechanism for her father’s terminal illness. Now she launches her achingly personal monograph A Year On. brionycampbell.com
Rasha Kahil
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Rashaâs photography experiments with the meaning behind the female body: âThe body becomes a means for investigating displacement, social identity and its manifestation through everyday performanceâ. Often exploring the sexualised female body and the gaze, she also deals in self-portraiture to appropriate spaces for herself and for her art. rashakahil.com
Charlotte Player
Gypsy Gold is a photographic documentation of the relationship between gypsies and their horses. The proud bond that even the youngest of the community display is testament to their traditional rituals and provides a fascination for Player and a leitmotif for her work. charlotteplayer.com
Tara Darby
Tara is a prolific and interdisciplinary photographer: she has worked for Aubin and Wills, Levis, Timberland, Adidas, among others, contributed to such publications as AnOther, Vogue, W magazine, The Independent and has collaborated on two books with art director David James. The common denominator is her personal approach that imbues her images with warmth and hope. taradarby.com
POV FEMALE is at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London kkoutlet.com/art
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