Academic Writing
‘Art-making, the very creation of beauty itself, was equated with the representation of the female nude. Here, the very notion of the originary power of the artist, his status as creator of unique and valuable objects, is founded on the discourse of gender difference as power.’
-Linda Nochlin, Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays
At the heart of art history, women have long been a central subject of creation and contention. As renowned art historian Linda Nochlin suggests, the female nude has historically been central to the idea of artistic power and, at no surprise, has often reinforced gendered power dynamics. For centuries, a multitude of artists–especially male artists–have visualized the female body in ways that stress sexuality, fertility, and implied inferiority, often reducing women to mere objects of idealized beauty and sexual desire. These portrayals have led Western society to attribute women’s worth to their physical figures, attractiveness, and reproductive capabilities. Consequently, these depictions have perpetuated a gendered hierarchy that often prioritizes positioning women as subordinate to men.
This objectifying tradition continued upon the advent of photography in 1839, in which portrayals of the female nude often mirrored classical art. Photographers–particularly male photographers–attempted to emulate the poses and compositions of Renaissance paintings.
Even women photographers, like renowned nineteenth-century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, found themselves following this pattern of capturing the female nude in the nineteenth century. However, as photography evolved with the modernist movements in the twentieth century, women photographers began to challenge the societal and artistic constraints they were encased in.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, women photographers were committed to asserting their skill and rightful place in the realm of nude photography, driven by a need to prove themselves in a male-dominated field. Yet, because of the gender roles and sexism of this time, many women were dismissed as amateurs, and perceived as lacking the genuine expertise attributed to their male counterparts. To counter this falsity, women photographers often depicted the female nude in ways that mirrored the male approach, focusing on traditional aesthetics and organic forms to prove their capabilities. Thus, by choosing the female nude, a subject traditionally considered high art, these women artists not only established photography as a legitimate art form, but successfully conveyed their right to photograph it.
However, as the century progressed, women photographers began to establish their own voices. More specifically, these photographers used to nude photography to express a passionate revolt against Victorian attitudes of modesty and passivity. By rejecting this legacy of passivity depicted in art and the modesty anticipated from women and women artists alike, these early women photographers aimed to transform the perspective on the female nude, often detaching from the highly male voyeuristic lens and, instead, directing to communicate their own self-image.
Using the adaptive photographic techniques of the twentieth century such as diagonal framing, close cropping, or distortions, women proclaimed the nude through their own subjective lenses. These photographers blended aesthetics with a renewed sense of autonomy, often infusing their work with a fresh perspective that redefined the representation of the nude and reaffirmed their creative agency. As a result, this shift allowed women photographers to break away from the male-dominated narrative, infusing their work with a fresh perspective that redefined the representation of the female form.
Indeed, photography in the twentieth century, especially when capturing the human body, offered means for women to redefine the identities of women and break away from the traditional patriarchal representation. However, the most crucial question to consider is: By breaking away from the traditional representations of the female nude, how did women artists begin to introduce new ways of looking at the female form and communicate a rebuttal against sexism and female objectification?
Photographers like Imogen Cunningham (1883-1910) pioneered this shift of agency in photography. Cunningham was an early twentieth century photographer who, although did not receive formal art training, is thought of to be one of the most influential photographers of her time. After studying under photographer Edward Curtis, Cunningham independently embarked upon her own photography career. Cunningham’s works often focused on botany, industrial landscapes, and portraits. Most enticingly, however, are this photographer’s nudes.
Cunningham’s 1928 black-and-white photograph, Jackie (Figure One), perfectly accentuates women’s capacity to photograph the nude in the same landscape as men whilst infusing her own fresh perspective. This black-and-white photograph frames the nude chest, torso, and legs of a woman, leaving her head completely out of frame. There is a slight background that reveals a subtle pattern of fabric. It is difficult to decipher whether the figure is resting on the ground or falling towards a surface. The shadows accentuate the curves of the breasts, the hills of the stomach. Highlights appear on the right side of the figure, revealing a soft skin with a stark contrast.
The figure herself repeats a motif of sharp, yet organic triangles. Towards the left of the figure, the woman makes a triangle with her right arm, leg, and torso. Again, this triangle forms beneath the figure’s chin and chest, between the woman’s legs, and with the shadow framed by her ribcage and stomach. In the foreground, the figure’s right torso forms a triangle with the frame of the photograph. Consequently, these sharp angles mesh the organic form of the body with the abstract features. Like the rest of the body, the breast mimics this triangular pattern. In turn, these lines stress a strength in this natural form, and permits an understanding that the body is balancing both aesthetics and autonomy
Through the mesh of these rectilinear yet organic lines, the viewer absorbs the figure’s confidence and is attentive to the body’s authentic shape. The sharp, assured lines distributed throughout her body assert her control over her body. Hence, this forced proximity to the body emphasizes the figure’s strength, as declared by the lines. Thus, one can begin to see how women artists began to deny the modest and passive attitudes towards women in the twentieth century and begin to represent women in new, unidealized ways
Like Cunningham, Ruth Bernhard’s photography contributes to a broader narrative of shifting the historical representations of the female nude. Bernhard (1905 - 2006) was an early-to-mid photographer who was celebrated for her black-and-white decades studies of the female nude. While born in Berlin, the artist spent most of her career working in the United States and was profoundly influenced after meeting several renowned photographers. This artist’s work often presents the female form in ways that push the boundaries of light and shadow, revealing how the human body may serve as a vessel to communicate sculptural mass and spirit.
Bernhard’s experimental process is especially apparent in her 1962 black-and-white photograph, Nude in the Box, Horizontal (Figure two). Within this piece, a woman lies horizontally, partially hidden in the small confines of a box that frames her body. With a dramatic sense of shadow and piercing highlights, she appears to be emerging from an enclosing tenebrosity. The figure’s knees lie toward the left of the box, smooth light gracefully catching the tip of her kneecaps. Towards the midpoint of the figure, the body is entrapped in shadow, with only her ribs and left breast captured by light. Her head rests against her left arm, which wraps around the corner of the box, framing the rest of her face. The photograph’s image is significantly dark, with only mild notes of light gracing the edge of the floor in front of the figure.
The woman, though appearing rested, also conveys a sense of entrapment to the viewer. By placing a figure of a nude woman within a box, the artist indicates a tone of limited freedom, much like how society intends to place women in their own ‘box’ that restricts the freedoms of expression deemed appropriate by male photographers and art historians of the time. However, by displaying an extension of the figure’s hand outside of the box, Bernhard successfully insinuates women’s desire to be free from society’s strict confines. In turn, Bernhard’s work is an emphatic example of how women photographers during the twentieth century pushed the limitations of not only women photographers but photography as a whole. Through this lens, Bernhard's piece shifts the focus from the historical representations of women being idealized and sexualized and instead champions women’s desire for freedom
Within the same fashion as Bernhard, Francesca Woodman (1958 - 1981) stretched the boundaries that confined women photographers. Woodman was a prodigious photographer who lived in the United States and spent much of her youth in Italy. In 1975, the artist attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, where her art matured into many of her renowned pieces acknowledged today. Woodman, most recognized for her intimate and experimental self-portraits, explores themes of identity, vulnerability, and the ephemeral boundaries of the female body.
These themes are visible in her 1978 black-and-white photograph Untitled, from Eel Series (Figure Three). Taken in Venice, Italy, this black-and-white photograph features a self-portrait of the artist. On an intricate terracotta-tiled floor, rests a large white bowl with an eel curling inside. The eel appears in clear focus, showcasing its shiny, contrasting skin. To the right of the bowl, the artist’s nude figure is slightly propped up above the floor and angled to face the ground. The artist’s skin appears light and smooth; the shadow under her arm provides a deep darkness. Masterfully, the artist aligned her head with the sharp angle of the tiled floor. Her shoulder hides her face, and her hair is tied up on the top of her head. The artist’s left hip and torso mirror the curves of the bowl and eel. Her left elbow juts out the bowl, extending towards the viewer. Like her elbow, the figure’s left palm, in sharp focus, faces up. The artist appears to be slightly moving, with her head, hip, torso, and left arm out of focus.
With this movement in mind, Woodman’s photograph conveys a sense of freedom in movement that contrasts the motionless eel and background. The artist has full autonomy to show and move the parts of her body she wishes. By doing so, the artist contradicts the traditional perceptions surrounding what the female nude must look like.
Most notably, the eel and its lack of movement establish this defiance of the traditional female nude. Trapped in the bowl, the eel appears lifeless, as if it surrendered its will to escape. In a similar form of entrapment, Woodman stays within the boundaries of the tile, creating a tension that suggests she is also trapped. Yet, the subtle blurred movement of this figure indicates she has the power to move and potentially what is trapping her. As a result of this tension between the eel’s surrender to entrapment and Woodman’s appeal to it, the artist creates a parallel that mirrors the broader societal contradictions of the twentieth century, suggesting women, in both the arts and society, are challenging notion of a placid, still woman.
In addition to the brilliant works of Woodman, Connie Imboden’s (b. 1953) experimental photographs stand as a testament to the diversity in photographing the female nude. For over thirty-five years, Imboden has dedicated her artistic passion to studying the human form. Whether she photographs underwater or uses de-silvered mirror shards to manipulate the perceptions of the human figure, Imboden’s work transcends beyond the physical boundaries of the body and evokes emotional depth. This artist’s process creates a new perception of the human form, stripping the context in which the form resides. In a significant portion of Imboden’s works, the figures are surrounded by an encompassing darkness, forcing the viewer to look deeply at the body and her recreation of it.
This emotional intensity is particularly evident in one of Imboden's earliest photographs, Untitled (figure in water) (Figure four). This 1988 black-and-white photograph depicts a nude woman entangling her legs in a pitch-black pool of water. Upon first glance, the viewer is drawn to the light opaqueness of the woman’s legs and feet underwater. Her hips slowly curve toward the viewer, positioning the right leg over the left and curling the left foot underneath the right calf. This motion creates a dreamy dynamic, allowing the viewer to feel not only the intensity of the movement and witness is perhaps almost angelic beauty. The soft lighting on the body deliberately contrasts the darkness surrounding her, evoking a sense that the viewer is witnessing the figure slowly come to life, stretching out from whatever, or wherever, has held her in the shadows. Toward the figure’s buttocks and hip, a slight pull of light drifts into the darkness, appearing as if the figure is being pulled under, held from moving further.
The presence of water is only revealed when the figure’s upper body emerges, creating a slight ripple, distorting her back and right breast. The figure’s head, right shoulder, and a portion of her arm are out of the water and depicted with crisp clarity. This subtle indication of the breast is the only clue that the figure is a woman. Hence, Imboden creates a unique ambiguity in the piece, forcing the viewer to interact intimately with its indistinguishable characteristics.
Within the context of the twentieth century, Imboden’s piece evokes a sense of agency for both the artist and the figure. Despite appearing trapped in the water, the figure is also relaxed, as if she’s settled into a fate that neither she nor the viewer fully understands. She has control over her movements and potential frustrations, as indicated by her intertwining legs. Though the figure's movement perhaps may be interpreted as frustration, the water amplifies a sense of peace, even if it is surrounded by darkness. Consequently, the viewer is compelled to witness the figure’s body in a way that does not objectify her. Instead, Imboden creates a figure that emphasizes the body’s abstract yet natural form. As a result, the artist suggests this woman’s body is not a singular, consumable object, but merely a human reconciling with her own ambiguous fate.
As highlighted in the above photographs, each artist creates an individualized black-and-white portrait that infuses autonomy and a spectrum of emotional depth in each of their nude figures. Whether this figure is in nature, a closed space, or in an abstract realm altogether, these aforementioned photographers blend each nude woman into a fresh space that deconstructs notions of female sexual objectification and idealized identities that have been entrenched throughout the visual media and art history itself. Thus, to answer how women artists further endorse these methods of challenging the traditional female nude, this dissertation will specifically analyze the black-and-white photographs created by photographers Imogen Cunningham, Francesca Woodman, Ruth Bernhard, and Connie Imboden. Henceforth, this dissertation will show how these artists create new identities for women that stress autonomy, respectful sensuality, individuality, and authenticity.
However, before delving into these artists’ works, it is imperative to acknowledge that these artists primarily photographed the white female nude. Although artists like Bernhard did photograph the Black nude in the late-twentieth century, eurocentrism significantly influenced photography during this period. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Black female nude was primarily photographed from an anthropological, and frequently racist, perspective, or used for hypersexualization. This implicit cultural bias and systemic racism, garnerd the white female nude to be the marginalized standard, leading artists to capture only this subject.
Even as attitudes began to shift in the latter half of the twentieth century, women artists–specifically white artists–still continued to focus exclusively on photographing the white female nude. This decision was often due to cultural biases and the limited access to Black female models at the time. Women photographers often only had access to photographing their friends, sisters, daughters, other photographers, or themselves nude, trusting that these women were in the correct mental and physical space to fulfill their artistic visions. Consequently, Western culture’s history and artists’ personal preferences created an overwhelmingly dominant number of white models to be depicted in photographic works. Thus, this dissertation will exclusively analyze works within this context.
To lay the groundwork for this analysis, this dissertation will begin by reviewing the existing literature on the female nude. Chapter one will critically examine the literature surrounding the representation of the female nude, including key debates and feminist perspectives, to better understand how these historical frameworks influenced the photographic practices of these select women artists. This chapter will critically examine the language surrounding the female nude, then proceed to acknowledge the intersections of pornography and art. This portion will specifically highlight how the female nude in both art and visual media has been used to eroticize gendered roles. Lastly, the literature review will define what sexual objectification truly means and the visual motifs in art history that contribute to this objectification.
After understanding these theoretical frameworks, the analysis portion in chapter two examines the works of Imogen Cunningham, Ruth Bernhard, Francesca Woodman, and Connie Imboden. Each artist will be examined by the context in which the nude model is placed and the pose of the figure herself. Most vitally, this section will show how each photographer uses the female nude within a given context to subvert the traditional nude witnessed throughout art history and within American society.