“To be naked is to be without disguise. To be on display is to have the surface of one’s own skin, the hairs of one’s own body, turned into a disguise which, in that situation, can never be discarded. The nude is condemned to never being naked. Nudity is a form of dress.” (John Berger)
These images are a collection of photographs that explore the human form, broadly inspired from mythology, psychology, dreams, from the landscape or a location.
Although these photographs shown here are not from a single body of work, many of them were produced as part of my MFA Degree research, “An Exploration into the Photo-transformation of the Human Form”, which focused on the body-image as well as self-portraiture. The research was a recipient of an HSRC funding award in 1995.
Most of the photographs are analogue creations and have been heavily manipulated in either the monochrome or colour darkroom, the silver gelatin/C-prints varying in size. The works have been widely exhibited in South Africa and are held in both public and private collections.
