Sovereign

“All my pictures begin with the body, and, ideally nakedness. The unclothed body is our primary vessel, sensual home, and gateway to the rest of the world.

My new monograph Sovereign is the culmination of over 35 years of work. While I have always focused on psychological portraiture and nakedness, in the past 10 years I have become increasingly aware of the invisibility of women over a “certain age”.

Where they were once seen as deserving of cultural attention, as women age into their fifties they become not only invisible, but experience a denial of their bodies as a locus of sensual pleasure. The idea of an older woman feeling sexy, happy and comfortable in her naked body is often met with disgust and discomfort.

Messaging from the advertising and fashion industries pushes women to modify and delay rather than embrace the process of aging; we are bombarded with images glorifying youth and treating aging as a process to be feared.

Sovereign seeks to shine a bright light on the natural beauty of women of all ages and all body types. No body is deserving of invisibility and I believe this work marks a long overdue paradigm shift. It’s time we revolutionize the image world and flood it with women in real bodies, feeling sensual and wonderful in their human skin. ”