The Body Is Not A Thing
Through intimate portraits of actors, dancers, sex workers, and mothers, the work navigates the raw and often uncomfortable space where desire and maternal identity intersect. “The Body Is Not A Thing” is a photographic exploration of the tensions between autonomy, sexuality, and motherhood. Conceived during lockdown and shaped by a political landscape increasingly hostile to women's rights, the project interrogates how women are viewed and how they view themselves in a culture saturated with the male gaze.
Photography Madeleine Morlet
“The Body Is Not A Thing” was conceived during lockdown. Like many women with young children, I experienced a loss of autonomy. In America, where I was living, the appetite for regressive politics was growing. I felt frustrated by the unrelatable and sanitised imagery that dominates mainstream representations of motherhood.
In the year Roe v. Wade was overturned, I travelled from my home, a small rural community in New England, to Los Angeles. I found myself drawn to the supposed duality of our sexual desire and our ability to give birth. I photographed actors, dancers, sex workers, and mothers. I thought I understood how to cast the female gaze. But later, as I reviewed the images, I was confronted by the enduring influence of the male gaze.
I was forced to acknowledge the historical associations of female nudity: the provocation of shame, the influence of pornography, and internalised misogyny. Observing women intimately, interplaying sexuality and motherhood, is uncomfortable. But should it be?
“I felt frustrated with the unrelatable and sanitised imagery that dominates mainstream representations of motherhood.”
“Observing women intimately, interplaying sexuality and motherhood, is uncomfortable. But should it be?”
About Madeleine
Madeleine Morlet is an Australian-born British-American artist and mother. Her photographic work draws on personal experiences to create images that are intimate in tone, observant of beauty, and rich in narrative. Her practice questions the power dynamics inherent in photography and its limitations. She is particularly interested in the concept of the female gaze, especially as it relates to motherhood and sexuality.
To see more of her work follow her on Instagram or visit her Website
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