Artist Statement

Portrayal

My final photography assignment depicts men and women in photography. Originally I was going to take photos of different aspects of rush hour, however, when thinking about the theme nothing excited me. After my internship one day I was going to head into Boston, so I started to look up different black and white pictures online to get a general sense of what I wanted. I noticed that I began to focus on very specific aspects of photography. I was looking at pictures that portrayed inequality or the differences among ethnicities, religion, or gender. These pictures made a statement and really said something to me. Thus, I decided to do my final project on the different aspects of men and women
After shooting a few rolls I came to the conclusion that I wanted to show the portrayal of men and women in photography. In my project I intended to show how women are seen as mostly seductive, vulnerable and depressed in photography, whereas men display more charming, strong and angry characteristics. In my pictures the women take up less space then the men. They also are either not looking at the camera or their body is turned away. Men have their whole body facing the camera and are looking directly at it.
The placement of men and women together in photographs is also controversial. So I decided to take some portraits of different couples and depict different scenarios. In my photos along with many others, women usually have their arms around the men, or are leaning into them. The men usually hold onto the women or encompass them in the picture. The women are often portrayed as weaker and dependent to the men based on how they are positioned.
Overall I enjoyed working on this final. I wanted to create a controversial final project, where I was able to express something I am passionate about. These photos do not express what I feel is ideal, instead a lot of what they portray is what is still unequal today and can be seen in a majority of the photographs taken.

Deidre Hussey