Feminism & Photography Initial Research: Jemima Stehli

 I am looking at the work of Jemima Stehli as my initial research for my photographic project.  I chose to start with Stehi as; 'she places herself as either subject or object of the image and often as both. In so doing she explores the relationship between sculpture, photography and performance and underlies the tensions that exist between these mediums.' (Jemima Stehli: Galeria Miguel Nabinho (n.d) 

From Strip Series (2000) Jemima Stehli

From the 1980s Stehli intended to make photographic work that provoked and the Strip series (above) created much controversy, Schwabsky writes; 'I had already heard several people say that they had no intention of seeing it. What was it that had gotten on their nerves? Apparently, they were revulsed by “Strip,” 1999/2000, an earlier group of photographs, which Stehli had made in collaboration with a number of male critics.' (Schwabsky, 2001)  The idea here of turning the male gaze on its head and confronting this in a rather uncomfortable head-on situation (Stehli stripping, the critic watching).  Stehli does this in several works where she has remade great artworks so that the feminist perspective is shown.  In After Helmut Newton's "Here They Come" (1999) Stehli recreates Newton's statuesque model using her own body and in a postmodern version (a little like Jeff Wall's 'Picture for Women' (1979)) the remote cable can be seen and Stehli stares directly into the lens looking directly at the viewer/voyeur of this image.

After Helmut Newton’s “Here They Come,” (1999) Jemima Stehli

Helmut Newton's "Here They Come" (1981)

These recreations all have a performative aspect which appeals to me as I enjoy creating performative photographic images and although I am not intending to recreate as Stehli does here, I need to find a way to express the issues for feminists today.  We appear to be entering the fifth wave of feminism and yet it seems even more fractured than at any other time, and no one yet can agree on what this is or how it should look.  What is clear though is that women are still battling with everyday sexism, misogyny, lack of equality, and many other serious issues surrounding women's rights and their own bodies, the rape crisis in the UK with a percentage of convictions so low (1%) that the message seems to be that you can get away with rape.  Domestic violence, abuse, and so many other issues that affect women seem to still be living large.  

Stehli, in her images, confronts the men staring defiantly out or almost shouting that she exists as a person, not an object/objectified being.  Schwabsky asks; 'What draws such a rancorous reaction is that Stehli undermines the basis of her own critique by displaying the female body as a glamorous object. Is this naïveté or a calculated ploy to have it both ways? ' (Schwabsky, 2001).  This is often a question asked of women artists who use their own bodies in their work, here I would argue that clearly, a woman's body is a powerful symbol that has been objectified and women taking back control of how their bodies are used with art is a powerful statement.  

References

Hohl, K. (2022) New scorecards show under 1% of reported rapes lead to conviction – criminologist explains why England's justice system continues to fail, City, University of London. City, University of London. Available at: https://www.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2022/04/new-scorecards-show-under-1-of-reported-rapes-lead-to-conviction-criminologist-explains-why-englands-justice-system-continues-to-fail (Accessed: October 26, 2022). 

Jeff Wall Photography, bio, ideas (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/wall-jeff/ (Accessed: October 26, 2022). 

Jemima Stehli: Galeria Miguel Nabinho (no date) Galeria. Available at: https://www.miguelnabinho.com/jemima-stehli (Accessed: October 26, 2022). 

Schwabsky, B. (2001) Barry Schwabsky on Jemima Stehli, The online edition of Artforum International Magazine. Artforum. Available at: https://www.artforum.com/print/reviews/200102/jemima-stehli-49250 (Accessed: October 26, 2022).