Beneath the Looking Glass

'Beneath the Looking Glass' is my Final Major Project for Birmingham City University's Photography BA (Hons) course.

In November of 2023, I visited Paris Photo with BCU. Within the Grand Palais Éphémère, there was a sectioned-off and covered area in which photos of nude people were exhibited. As I was standing there, admiring the lighting and the comfort of the model, I started to overhear the crowd.

The most common thing I heard? “Absolutely disgusting.”



Followed by: “They shouldn’t allow this kind of thing”, “Seriously? There are children here”, “Awful”, and worst of all “Christ, she’s ugly”.



I was genuinely startled. These were people who assumedly loved photography so much, most of whom were not from France, that they had come to Paris Photo to be immersed in it, and their immediate response to a nude photo of an objectively beautiful woman was to be disgusted. I was startled, then confused, then sad, and then briefly amused (whist this exhibition was covered over, it’s viewing optional, there was an area a few aisles away openly displaying a Nazi and a KKK member in bondage, which I thought was hilarious).



But mostly I was sad. What lives have these people lived in which they’ve been told the human body is something to be disgusted by? Rather standard lives, actually. In my art-exhibition-related-euphoria, I had forgotten that society has set a physical standard, and if someone does not meet that standard, they are considered disgusting or unfit to be shown, unfit to be celebrated.



This is what 'Beneath the Looking Glass' fights against. It is a series designed to challenge this reemergence of purity culture within art spaces and broader society. To show that all bodies, no matter the size or shape, will be celebrated.

Bigotry doesn't belong in art.

These four images were printed on acetate and installed in frames approximately 20 inches away from the wall, backlit, as seen below. The pictured installation was exhibited during the Inspired Festival at BCU (June 13th-23rd) and will also be displayed at Free Range in London (July 11th-13th).

Zines with additional shots and a fifth model are on sale at both shows.

This project even netted me an award: Photography BA (Hons) Most Innovative.

Here are the additional shots, and the additional model, featured only within the zines sold at the Inspired Festival and Free Range: