‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ has been selected as one of the five finalists for the Pride Art Award. The themed of this year competition was ‘Line of Beauty – Exploring Sexuality, Gender and Identity’.
‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ is a journey of self discovery, Within the project the participants were asked to explore their emotions connected with their sexuality and portray it in a character. Their expression was a reflection of their subconscious and the influences of gender, age, sexual orientation, life experience and their culture background on their sexual identity. The journey for me was two fold, both as a photographer, experiencing the expressions of each model, as well as participating in the project with a self portrait.
In regards to beauty, the aim is to portray authentic images of the participants. Beauty is not the physical shape of the body, it is the emotion that manifests itself through a person with self confidence and self acceptance. The piece shows people in various stages of their personal journey, from shyness and fear to contentment and happiness, I believe beauty is only achieved through finding clarity in self identity: as our sexuality is such a significant element of who we are, this makes finding acceptance in ur sexual identity all the more consequential.
You can read my interview for the Awards’ blog HERE.
The exhibition takes place at the Islington Arts Factory, London 15-29 April 2016.