Wrinkles and Curves: The Incessant Critique of Her Physique

A series of black and white photographs that depict close up areas on my body that have been impacted as a result of motherhood and aging. Areas of myself that no matter how healthy I eat or how much I exercise, my subconscious always seems to obsess over. Will I ever be satisfied?

Through these photographs, I investigate why women undergo so much inner turmoil about the fleeting transformation of our bodies. Body image is a byproduct of our culture. No matter how beautiful a woman is, she will never feel fully satisfied with the way she looks. The way we critique our physique permeates into our psyche from a very young age. All girls and women are taught to compare themselves to other women and to hold high unreasonable standards for physical beauty. Every little wrinkle and curve is scrutinized to the point where it becomes the only thing she sees when she looks at herself in the mirror. We analyze every imperfect line on our bodies and hate the way it looks. It’s a psychological battle between our strong empowered selves fending off the inundation of media images depicting the ‘ideal’ female form.

This series honors the aesthetic value found in the fleeting transformation of the female form. These photographs represent a celebration for my psychological break from the norm where I begin to redefine, reshape and reclaim my standards of beauty.

The curve where shoulder meets collarbone, fine parallel lines gathering in the hollow Unexpected Places I

Skin drawn into dense parallel folds, raking light catching each ridge Unexpected Places II

The underside of a breast resting above a stack of soft folds Familiar Folds

The hollow of an underarm, the skin creased where the arm meets the body Ripple Roll

Both breasts resting above a deep horizontal fold across the belly Yielded Flesh

A soft crease where thigh meets hip, lit from above Weighted Hold