A quest to re-examine the often (in)visible phallocentric world of photography from a gynocentric point of view.

I take as my start point an examination of the culture surrounding  contemporary photographic practice and the competitive nature of the tools of the medium - bigger lenses are better, high quality equipment is a synonym for professional and jargon can be used as both defensive tool of the male realm and weapon {and therefore enforcer of power} of the culture of photography.

The symbolic gesture of removing the lens and separating it from the body of the camera (act of castration) opens new possibilities to revisit the process from a different perspective.

However, the scope of my research is not just to address and question the masculine and phallocentric attributes of the photographic apparatus but also to respond, revisit and propose an alternative, original way to confront such issues through creative practice.

The use of my vulva and vaginal orifice relied on three reasons. Firstly, I sought to challenge the somaesthetics of the hidden photographer behind the camera, who avoids exposure and vulnerability. Secondly, stemming from the position that the vulva is not only something to be looked at, correspondingly passive, but also something which is “looking back” too. Thirdly I wanted to investigate the validity of the symbolic replacement of the phallus with the vulva, whilst looking at issues of ownership and empowerment; two terms that often are linked to the female body.

Starting again from the roots of photography I have devised a gynocentric view of practice. My approach is naive in a creative sense : eschewing high-end digital equipment and precision optics in favour of a more grounded and back to basics pinhole camera and chemical process. In (re)developing my feminine image-making machine, I challenge the subject of the image to confront the gynecentric form-factor (labia, vulva etc) as co-performer in a durational sense whilst the vulvographic device looks-back : photography from the cunt's-eye-view.

I present  my research alongside a live-action performance to reveal an alternative photographic process  - from composition and shooting through chemical development and finally onto display as artefact.

“The completed pinhole camera and image undoubtedly reflect its maker’s thought process” (Renner, 2009, 99).