A Soft Gaze At Intimacy by SelfSelf Project
Arianna Genghini ⎯ Self Portrait
A Soft Gaze At Intimacy is a collective book by 34 international women photographers, currently at a fundraising stage. The project is supported by the Selfself Books and curated by four Italian curators of art and photography: Benedetta Donato, Alessia Locatelli,
Laura Davì, and Laura Tota. The fundraising campaign aims to print the book while allowing to choose a package for donation to support the Ukrainian Association CVIT, co-founded by Kris Voitkiv, a Ukrainian photographer whose work appears in the project.
A Soft Gaze At Intimacy offers distinct views and interpretations on the subjects of relationships through the female gaze. Shortlisted works which appear in the article celebrate the human body, sensuality, and love. With the images by Adina Salome Harnischfeger, a German photographer who focuses on portraiture using 35mm, we discover some of the most intimate moments of her subjects and the story of love through the day-to-day narrative.
Arianna Genghini, a photographer and director based in Milan, depicts the female body and nature guiding towards self-acceptance. Caroline Mackintosh, a photographer from South Africa, celebrates the human body, the skin, and the power of touch. Kris Voitkiv, a Ukrainian photographer, suggests viewing a human body in baths through a semi-documentary semi-staged perspective. Liza Kanaeva, a Russian photographer based in NYC, speaks of non-conformity and explores reality through fashion. Luisa Gutiérrez, a photographer from Spain, researches the way bodies move in space through her observation of dancers. Valeria Dellisanti, an Italian visual artist, offers to notice the feelings that emerge when we become aware of the poetic beauty of nature.
Published by Selfself Books Curated by Benedetta Donato Alessia Locatelli Pizzi Laura Davì Laura Tota
In support of CVIT co-founded by Kris Voitkiv
Publication Details
English
20 x 28 cm
280 Pages
34 international authors
4 curators
Join the Fundraising campaign and get your copy of the book
Arianna Genghini ⎯ Soft Insides VII
‘When I studied the female gaze, I understood that Now is the culmination of a process of emancipation and female artists' empowerment, which started in the mid-70s, and is still going on.’
⎯ Arianna Genghini
Arianna Genghini
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
I never questioned how easily I could express my personal vision through photography, how easily I could show off my works through the Internet, and how easily I became a photographer. When I studied the female gaze, I understood that Now is the culmination of a process of emancipation and female artists' empowerment, which started in the mid-70s, and is still going on. The female gaze, unwittingly, has affected my way of seeing the world and taking pictures, and, most of all, portraying women. I also feel that the female gaze within my pictures affects spectators too, and the women who are subjects of my pictures, because it makes them realize how much they are in charge of themselves and their bodies. There’s no standard way of looking at women, no standard way of being a woman anymore, and this is thanks to the fact that women now, actually, have the means to raise their voice and share their creativity with understanding and welcoming spectators who give them value.
Caroline Mackintosh
Caroline Mackintosh
‘My work aims to normalise nudity and show that it's our most natural state of being. While I don't like to generalise, I do find that the male gaze often objectifies the subject, and there is less of an emotional connection in the photo.’
⎯ Caroline Mackintosh
Caroline Mackintosh
Caroline Mackintosh
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
I find there is a sensitivity and curiosity about the feminine gaze, a sense of seeing the emotion within the subject, which is how I like to consider my gaze to be. My work aims to normalise nudity and show that it's our most natural state of being. While I don't like to generalise, I do find that the male gaze often objectifies the subject, and there is less of an emotional connection in the photo. I find the feminine gaze to be more tender, more intimate, and there is far less objectification or sexualisation. Therefore in my work, I would say, there is more connection and equality, a meeting of two beings rather than someone being viewed.
Kris Voitkiv
Kris Voitkiv
Kris Voitkiv
Luisa Gutiérrez
Luisa Gutiérrez
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
I think that my feminine gaze, through my photographic work, shows a desexualized body of women, just as a natural element in the movement.
Luisa Gutiérrez
Luisa Gutiérrez
Adina Salome Harnischfeger
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
Gender power dynamics play a cardinal role in my work. I like to capture male fragility and roam between the borders of gender — visualize my female gaze on the world and society through my photos.
Adina Salome Harnischfeger
Adina Salome Harnischfeger
Valeria Dellisanti
Valeria Dellisanti
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
My gaze is influenced by anthropology and humanities with an interest in the contamination of visual languages. My photographic research helps me comprehend and live the reality that surrounds me more consciously. I try to convey this feeling to those who look at my photos.
Valeria Dellisanti
Liza Kanaeva
Liza Kanaeva
In what way, in your opinion, the feminine gaze affects the narrative you build with your work and redefines the gender power dynamics?
I feel like a feminine gaze is a mix of a gentle inquisitivity and spirited self-assurance to push beyond the surface. Knowing that there is more than meets the eye, submerging and projecting back an otherworldly universe of the essences of things and your own imagination.
