User:AllysonThompson
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Websites
WHY/ HOW/ WHAT
1. Nudes
What : The nudes project is body portraits and body mutations. A photographer would recognize the white space as a studio environment, but the intended environment is a sterile medical facility in a dystopian future, alien ship, or in any current institutions medical facility. The body is distorted by color, awkward postures, and psychedelic or dream reference.
How : The subject was instructed to move in certain ways which would high light certain areas of the body, but that would be uncomfortable, or seem uncomfortable. The story that went along with the direction was that they were under evaluation in a medical facility at an institution, but really the photos are taken alone in my former apartment with bright lights whose color had been modified.
Why : I wanted to make images about abuse in relation to invasion of privacy, unlawful police searches and sexual abuse, but in a dystopian/fantasy way. I was inspired by science fiction, and stories where the protagonist is forced into some kind of captivity for experiments or study by the government, or aliens.
2. Cattelize
What : Psychedelic or Science-Fiction like portraits or records of cows experimenting with magic, aliens, or something unknown
How : The photos are made in a empty field where about 20 mother cows live with their babies. I flashed colored lights on them so that their bodies and their environments would not be recognizable as normal cows in a normal rural field. Any non natural light seems very shocking when placed on a cow.
Why : I wanted to plant the idea that people do not know what goes no with animals when we are not looking. Similar to how the toys get up and live in "Toy Story", or the expression "If a tree falls, and no one is around to hear it".
3. Beefcakes
What : Kind of non-sense images of naked women living among stunningly beautiful and epicly large brahman cattle. They are laying together in a sensual way, and in some, the animal carries the woman around.
How : I put a common image, and alluring image of the woman on top of the very unusual cow that people are not familiar with. Sexual images are instantly grabbing, and especially naked women, so I exploited this fact to get more attention to the animals and the animal image. I used fashion style lighting to highlight the dream or fiction aspect.
Why : I wanted to continue working with animals, but I was not certain that people were really interested in animals regardless, unless they were invested in animal liberation or veganism. I wanted to stop pushing conversations about my work towards feminism exclusively, I wanted to make the comparison to the rigid roles placed on animals to the roles placed on genders. Obviously, cultural roles for animals are much worse, because you are a pet, or you are food. Or a life long breeding machine.