ERRATIC

Shot on Sony

ERRATIC is an examination of purity, modesty, and sexualization. The photography collection includes eight images, featuring three separate models and two distinct looks. In a moment where conservatism in our world is on the rise and ‘purity culture’ is returning to everyday fashion, I explored how women support one another to express personal identity through style while also responding to society’s hypocrisy about virginity and sex appeal. 

The fashioning of each model, a credit to the stylist Eve Masol, are consistent throughout the collection. Each girl is dressed in Edwardian fashion, white with lace, ruffles, and pearls. The interplay  of traditional styling with modern necklines and looser modesty limitations expresses the individuality of each woman, alongside the relentless commentary on women’s bodies. The use of lingerie as a styling tool helps to promote the idea of sexuality, and the softness of the silhouettes discourages the viewer from taking that sex appeal at face value. 

Half of the collection has been digitally altered and presented in highly-contrasted black and white images. These images leap out at the viewer, showing how the models’ confidence increases in the company of others. Together, they are still offering themselves up for the viewers judgement but now they have the touch of the women around them. When shot alone, each model is framed in soft whites, creams, and pinks. In their individual portrait, each model looks stoically away from the camera, framed alone and isolated. 

In some of the images, the models wear bunny masks. The masks hide the models faces, silently acquiescing to the subjectification in the fashion industry. They showcase how oversexualised innocence has become. In the final image of the collection, one of the models stares straight at the viewer, inviting them to question their personal involvement in upholding the patriarchy.