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Abstract
The conventional photographic genre of the nude as a compliant and passive female body dominated photography for more than 150 years. In the latter part of the twentieth-century new advances in science, biomedical and related technologies combined with new critical discourse around the image allowed for the possibility of re-invention and re-imagining the body as a photographic representation. This research recognizes the nude as a site for contested meaning, social transaction and cultural engagement in photographic practices.
The self-portrait Woman and chaise longue by Debra Phillips addresses the multiple and changing meanings depending on context and perspective generated by the imitation of an image carrying specific historical information. In doing so, the image is in part an act of playful homage to the seductive presence of the female subject while it also engages with the medium of photography as a bearer of histories—‘official’ or public as well as private and idiosyncratic.
This work was completed as a component for the series One thing leads to another, which was funded by an Australia Council New Work Grant $20,000 (awarded 2002) and was exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne (2006). Its significance is attested by its selection for the Citigroup Private Bank Australian Photographic Prize (2005) held at the AGNSW, Sydney. One thing leads to another also provided the basis for an invitational public lecture presentation at the 44th Society for Photographic Education Conference, Miami, USA in 2007.