The Human Gaze
The Human Gaze challenges the entrenched patriarchal lens that objectifies the female form, redefining the act of looking as a reciprocal exchange between subjects. Through diverse photographic representations, this series by photographer Julia SH asserts the autonomy and humanity of naked bodies, dismantling the dominance of a gaze steeped in control to present the female form as whole, empowered, and self-defined.
Photography Julia SHShe is not naked as she is;
She is naked as the spectator sees her.
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
Feminists, psychoanalysts, and visual theorists among other thinkers have provided persistent commentary on the power derived by the act of looking upon a subject through the concept of the gaze (Berger 1972; Ettinger 1995; Foucault 1965; Freud; hooks 1992; Lacan 1964; Mulvey 1989.) The cis-hetero-male scopophlic gaze, wherein the viewer actively looks upon and concomitantly derives both power and pleasure from the passive female form, has been paid particular attention in critical discourse. According to this theoretical outlook, classical Western arts and the consumer capitalist mass media alike participate in the objectification of the female form, enacting a sort of violence upon these bodies and reflecting cultural values derived from a patriarchal system.
I set myself a challenge in THE HUMAN GAZE series: present photographic variants of the naked female form that do not invite the viewer’s scopophilic gaze. Through this ongoing series, I photographed a large number of naked models across the spectrum of multiple identity coordinates -- gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, ability -- whose bodies are situated along the spectrum of the female form.
In THE HUMAN GAZE the naked female form does not belong to the spectator. These bodies are not objects to be actively looked upon for the purpose of deriving power/pleasure. Rather they stand on their own as full subjects. The gaze is thus reclaimed by the female form and stripped of its patriarchal power. The unilateral act of looking by the viewer upon the subject is recast as reciprocal exchange between subject and subject. The bodies of THE HUMAN GAZE do not view themselves nude-as-object; rather they are fully human in their nakedness. The female form does not need the spectator to become anything; it does not ask for permission; it does not try to challenge. These bodies do not lack anything; they are whole; they are human.
“Classical Western arts and the consumer capitalist mass media alike participate in the objectification of the female form.”
“The female form does not need the spectator to become anything; it does not ask for permission; it does not try to challenge.“
About Julia
Julia SH, has lived a life marked by twists and turns. Originally studying to become an actor, she was quickly sidetracked by life’s unpredictabilities, which have forged her into the person she is today. Julia’s journey has been anything but ordinary—she’s worked as a bounty hunter, won the lightweight division in the US Open in sumo wrestling, ran a marathon in North Korea, crossed the Gobi Desert by camel and performed standup comedy to empty and half-full rooms.
Julia relishes collaboration, working with artists across disciplines—painters, dancers, writers, makeup and hair artists, and other creatives. She frequently photographs female models with body types often overlooked in traditional photography, framing them in a Fine Art context. By portraying these models as sculptures, paintings, or even as geographical terrain, she disrupts the viewer’s instinctual sexual judgments, instead inviting an aesthetic appreciation of the unique geometry and textures of their bodies, challenging societal standards of attractiveness.
Julia’s work challenges the concept of photography as a modernist medium. She creates images inspired by sculpture and painting, approaching them as though they were made in a non-photographic medium.
To see more of her work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram
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