Ruby Red Photograph - Limited Edition of 5

Ruby Red is taken from my series Selfhood. The series Selfhood is inspired by the proverb “the eyes are the window to the soul” and a desire to challenge the need to see the eyes (and therefore the “soul”) within a portrait photograph. Each image disguises the eyes of the subject in order for the viewer to find a connection with the character and narrative without the visual stimulation of the eyes. The female characters in this series search for a sense of independent identity crafted through outward appearance and signalled through dress and posture, challenging the traditional assessment of character made via eye contact. Each image contains its own distinctive narrative, separate from the other photographs in the series, connected only through the motif of disguised eyes. Such a variety of stories and characters convey the many varied and nuanced facets of femininity that exist in reality. Indeed, Selfhood, although grounded in the reality of the female experience, also uses fantastical creative elements to allow the viewer to draw on their own preconceptions evoked by the traditional fairy tales or childhood figures referenced in the images. Therefore, each portrait in the series can take on a number of different identities and interpretations based on the viewer’s own personal connections, whether from memory or culture, to the established fantasy narratives signalled in the photographs.