Gnoul
Gnoul is the first project in the planned series by a photographer from Vancouver, Michèle Bygodt. Gnoul is translated as ‘body’ from the Fang language of Gabon. The word was chosen to question the term ‘body’ often used to refer to a group of people connected by the color of their body or socio-economic status.
Michèle decided to address the objectification and present a different gaze, an approach of deep care and interest. She explains in our conversation, “It’s an attempt to give myself some sense of explanation of what continuously happens and an exploration of the perception that people have of the representation of Black bodies, bodies that are often always objectified.”
We speak with the team about the concept of understanding one’s own identity and cultural roots, the social movements that emerged in 2020, like the BLM movement, and their impact on consciousness. We stress the opportunity of changing mindsets with photography and art, presenting a new angle and way of looking at people around us. The exquisite images reveal a black body painted black and emphasize the beauty of every curve through the artistic approach and movement.
Nya, the model, speaks about her decision to add movement, “I thought that going into this with the mindset of a dancer rather than the mindset of a model was important as dance is a huge part of my culture.” The emotions that emerge - from the piercing stare and the twists of the body - awe the viewer most powerfully.
Photography and Creative Direction Michèle Bygodt Body Painter & Makeup Artist Iki Talent Nyalinglat
‘I wanted to create a sculpture-like image. I really wanted to try to make the body look like a sculpture but also give it a sense of realness.’
— Michèle Bygodt
Hi Michèle, could you tell about the project Gnoul.
Michèle: Most of my projects start with just an idea or an impulse that I have and need to get out of my head. Then I start to fill in the blanks and ask myself, “Why did I get this impulse?” I am a visual person, so most of the time, it’s only when I start shooting an idea that I really get to understand what I want out of it, and it was the case with Gnoul. I think it began when I saw the work of Eric Marrian, Carré Blanc, and thought it was beautiful.
I have always been interested in the body as sculpture and am also a big fan of Irving Penn’s nude series. So, from then on, I wanted to create a sculpture-like image. I really wanted to try to make the body look like a sculpture but also give it a sense of realness. I asked Nya if she would be interested in being the first model because we had worked together a couple of times, and there is something about her expression and body structure that made me think she would be perfect for it. The idea of painting the body black on a Black body helps to emphasize the crevasses of the skin and create a sharper body definition, for which Iki did an awesome job. The goal is to create a series, so this is the first of many I hope to do over the next two years.
‘I had never really worked on anything related to my identity, culture, or experience linked to my background and never felt the need to do so necessarily.’
— Michèle Bygodt
You explain that Gnoul is actually a term for ‘body’ coming from the Fang - language of Gabon. What was the main drive that brought you towards researching the topic of body and its representation (objectification)?
Michèle: You know, I think that with the injustices of minority communities, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement that happened in the US throughout last year, I went through multitudes of emotions. I think it was the case for a lot of people. I had never really worked on anything related to my identity, culture, or experience linked to my background and never felt the need to do so necessarily. I have always been interested in perception, how one sees the world, and how it shapes their reality as a way to make sense of my own existence by using abstraction.
I was conflicted a few years back when I was in school because we had conversations about how it’s almost expected for some artists to focus their work on their identities and representation. I thought, “Michèle, but your work is mostly abstract and doesn’t necessarily talk about identity, race.. I am mixed though, should I focus on exploring these subjects just because some people expect me to?”. With Gnoul, I think I finally do both. It’s an attempt to give myself some sense of explanation of what continuously happens and an exploration of the perception that people have of the representation of Black bodies, bodies that are often always objectified.
‘When Michèle told me her vision and how she imagined me posed and statuesque, I knew that I had to incorporate the element of dance and the many ways of expression of power through it.’
— Nyalinglat
You manage to bring the beauty of the movement frozen in time close to the aesthetics of a sculpture with each muscle or body curve defined. Which elements were important for you in the representation you chose of the character through movements?
Michèle: I think the most important element for me was and is the face and body expression — that is why I chose Nya to start this series with. I knew that she would achieve the expressions that would give the images something real, emotional, almost sad that could visually be impactful. One of my favorites is where she is seated on the stool with one leg on it, the other one hanging down. Her back is curved, she is almost but not entirely holding on to the stool and her eyes are just there, almost emotionless yet very expressive.
Talking about Gnoul and answering your questions makes me realize that I seldom focus my work on these subjects because they are very important yet very complex. You cannot just address it without research insight and having a clear understanding of it. I didn’t know if I was capable of doing it in a way that would do it justice. I think this particular image, for me, is the emotional visual representation of how I feel about all the injustices that unfortunately continue to happen over and over again.
Nya:When Michèle told me her vision and how she imagined me posed and statuesque, I knew that I had to incorporate the element of dance and the many ways of expression of power through it. Though the images were still and sculpture-like, I found myself dancing slowly, sensually, and with purpose in between every click of the camera. Stretching my limbs this way and that, making myself big, wide, ginormous, or small and minuscule. My muscles relaxed as they stretched into every slow dance movement and every slow dance finishing in a sculpture-like pose. I thought that going into this with the mindset of a dancer rather than the mindset of a model was important as dance is a huge part of my culture, and I felt that it added an extra layer of connection.
‘Photography somehow is an essential role within all the channels. So a powerful photo can always create noise and make the audiences think about the message behind it.’
— Iki
How do you think photography helps in raising awareness or amending the stereotypes and social inequality?
Michèle: Photography and television have a huge impact on how people perceive the world. On one side, it can configure or amend stereotypes. On the other hand, it can absolutely help to reinforce them. It all depends on who is behind the camera, for me. It is similar to Coded Bias, a documentary on Netflix on how technology perpetuates the biases of the people who make it. Cathy O’Neil said something that is simply applying logic and makes sense to me, which is that “if you are biased, your actions will be influenced by those biases.” If you are consciously or unconsciously sexist or racist, it is going to have an impact on how you take a photograph, just like it impacts facial recognition; who is behind the camera matters. Imagery is needed as often it is that by seeing something, people realize the importance of it. It leaves a visual trace of what happened somewhere at a specific moment in time.
For example, climate change, one can simply read about climate change but, studying the differences in glacier formations through imagery over a long period of time gives greater understanding and realization that the earth is changing. Imagery and the power of it can be more important in these realizations. When you physically see an image, you can analyze it. Imagery helps you see and understand a story, and our brains begin to imagine what took place at the time when the photo was taken. Because social inequalities have been documented through articles, but most importantly, photos and videos, it causes a chain reaction and feeling of realness in our minds that ultimately transforms our lives. The power of photography is the result of many and current social movements that change history.
Nya: Photography is everything we see. It's a huge section of the media that can influence the thoughts of a generation. I believe that showing black art like Gnoul is crucial in not only breaking stereotypes outside of the black community, but it can also help make connections inside it as well. Talking about the objectification of the Black body is important because it's a fact that needs to be acknowledged, and it is only once it will be that we can all start working towards a solution. But to get there, the problem must be acknowledged first.
Iki: Photography is a powerful medium. Living in this day and age, people are more visual and tend to receive messages faster via still or moving images. Just like advertising, the medium changes with time rapidly from posters to now reels on social media. Photography somehow is an essential role within all the channels. So a powerful photo can always create noise and make the audiences think about the message behind it. When you see photos on the news about war and protests, it will stick in your mind and wake you up, more than thousands of words. Being a part of the POC community as an Asian, I feel the same way about all the stereotypes and social inequality that POC feel. For Gnoul, I think Michèle and Nya display the objectification of Black bodies extremely well and in an artistic way through the use of photography, making it powerful for the audience.
Which moment from this project is most precious to you?
Michèle: It is probably the beginning of it. I really enjoyed watching the process of painting the body and the conversations we had. My brother told me once that, "We cannot physically create something unless we have created it in our minds first.” It’s exciting to physically see the debut of what you had in mind. As soon as we started, it was just excitement.
Nya: The moment most precious to me was the behind the scene moments.
Iki: I enjoyed doing the whole project a lot with Michèle and Nya. The most precious moment probably is when I saw the pictures on the screen. It's so exciting to see the concept get visualized and speak for itself. I love all the behind the scenes moments we had too!
