Not Conceptual. Life
Not Conceptual. Life is a contemporary art portrait series about self-determination that portrays people who move beyond normative social and gender roles.
The series was exhibited, among many other places, at the European Month of Photography in Berlin and at the Kunstverein Familie Montez in Frankfurt am Main. Four portraits were purchased from the Art Collection of the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
For the implementation, I have cited iconographic images that I think correspond and reinforce stereotypical narratives of gender and gender-specific roles, for example portraits of Marilyon Monroe lying on a bed, barely clothed, or Mark Wahlberg grabbing his crotch, wearing only a pair of underpants.
The work is based on my own experiences, when my autonomy in defining my role as a woman was curtailed.
In this sence the title “Not Conceptual. Life” means that individual lifes are multifaceted and cannot be squeezed to one universal concept that fits all.
The portraits are to empower viewers to question exisiting narratives of what we should feel, think, say or do. The series is to inspire viewers to find their own answers to their own questions on social roles and gender.
Not Conceptual. Life is a portrait photo series about gender identity.
I am interested in the process of the shaping of gender identity through media.
Photographs, films, novels, songs, and many other forms of media shape our ideas about gender roles. They convey and reproduce narratives and concepts in the form of stereotypes that do not do justice to the diversity of reality.
Such stereotypes include for example that women are sweepingly sexually available, men are generally considered strong, and that a third gender does not exist.
For the implementation, I cited iconographic images from media history.
The templates include for example portraits of Marilyon Monroe lying on a bed, barely clothed, or Mark Wahlberg grabbing his crotch, wearing only a pair of underpants.
My series of portraits is an attempt to complement the narratives on gender roles that have been conveyed so far.
The people portrayed do not conform to stereotypical ideas and do not fit into a gender concept that has been shaped by the media. They are women who exclude sex with men, men who admit weaknesses or people who simply do not have a binary gender.
The work is based on my own experiences.
I myself experience how my autonomy in defining my role as a woman is curtailed.
Through my work as a photographer, I have learned that others feel the same way as I do, e.g. rapper Simeon, who rejects the male-toxic "rap game" and has decided to move beyond it as an artist, actress Ariana Gansuh, who rejects role offers in which she is reduced to her appearance because she is supposed to play "the seductive Asian woman", or musician Saphira, who has never identified with the male gender assigned to her.
This gave rise to the concept of the portrait series. The images are intended to contribute to the social debate on gender roles and inspire viewers to find their own answers to their own gender questions.
edition
Per motif: 400x600mm and 800x1200mm, 5 pieces each
Alu dibond behind acrylic glass
Digital Photography
