By Sivan Askayo

Honoring Women’s History month, I chose to focus on two female photographers who shoot self portraits and capture intimate situations with their cameras.

Although they both come from different backgrounds and each has a completely different style, they also have a lot in common; they are both of the same age, both started shooting at the age of 15, both live and create in New York and both are almost if not totally exposed in front of their cameras.

Their photographic language is very intimate and revealing, which only adds mystery and power to their images and photographed persona. For this post, I chose images that refer to a similar subject, but are shot and referred to in a different way.

All Images are Courtesy of the Artists

Elinor Carucci is one of the most talented Israeli female photographers who gained international recognition. Her photography is shown in museums around the world and her photographs are included in public collections such as the MoMa, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Houston Museum of Fine Art, to name but a few.

After graduating from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Israel, she moved to New York, which was a natural move for her and for her career. “I knew the city from before since I came here to visit some relatives, but it was very obvious for me from the start that New York is the center for photography”.

Exposure and Disclosure

“Nudity is not the outmost exposure”, says Carucci. “People refer to nudity as a big deal, because nude is something very sexual. Every nudity is sexual but not every nudity is an exposure. I think showing a woman’s facial hair is more disclosing than showing her breasts. Talking about your weakness, or a certain problem or issue you are having, is more of an exposure.

“Today’s fashion and celebrity photography that shows nudity is not real exposure, in my opinion. There are filters, awareness of the camera’s angles, lighting that hides and reveals, and there is Photoshop. Therefore, this is not the real, true, raw exposure”.

The real exposure is the intimacy and all of those non perfect moments, which are so authentic in the face of Carucci’s camera. In the series Crisis for example, she documented herself and her husband in one of the most difficult periods they have experienced in their marriage, which made it into a very complex and a revealing series.

The exposure in this series is not a voyeuristic exposure. I didn’t feel as though I was “peeping” into Carucci’s marriage, but rather understood and sympathized with what she had experienced in that specific moment.

“There are times I don’t really know what I feel or what I think, so I take a picture and then I look at it… afterwards… and it helps me in the present moment. It helps me to deal better with a situation I don’t always know how to deal with.

“Looking at the final image also helps me understand what I am going through. It is a natural continuation of the process. Photography serves as therapy, self understanding, capturing special moments and creating memories”.

Women and Nudity

When I asked Carucci why women take pictures of themselves nude, her answer was very clear and unequivocal. “Women take pictures of themselves first and foremost for themselves. There is a heavy pressure to look perfect, to have a perfect body.

“The changes women go through with their bodies are much more dramatic than those of men; we go through pregnancy, childbirth, menopause… but regardless of all these changes, the woman’s body is still admired and desirable. But women take pictures first for themselves, as part of the process they undergo.

“We as women have more of a voice and we use this voice or this photographic language to say something different, or something else. There is something very freeing in exposing the body, in the exposure of emotions. It is to accept ourselves as we are. With our beauty and ugliness, with the scar of the C section or the wrinkles around our eyes”.  Carucci is talking about Intimacy.

Cynthia Karin Cortes is a very daring photographer to say the least, best known for the personal sexy self portraits she takes. Like Carucci, Cortes also started shooting at the age of 15, “but when I started involving myself-just dabbling in it, I was around 18 years old.

“Once in a while I would snap a few images of myself. But once I gave birth – I had a strong desire to document myself, so that is when I would say my interest grew and became a solid part of my photography”.

Emotions as Inspiration

“I usually go with the flow”, says Cortes when I ask her about the process of her photography and her inspirations. ”I’m inspired by my feelings or it can be as simple as… I sometimes want to freeze a moment in my life. Remember me as I am, and see what others see in me.

“When it is rooted in an emotional source I may be feeling extremely happy, sad, melancholy, sexy, sultry, bewildered or so on. The process is really moody.  I use my photography as an outlet.  I never really go through magazines or anyone else’s work to get inspired; however, I have stumbled on a few photographers / artists that ignited a fire within me.

One great example has been David Lynch.  His photography work can really grab me and pull me into his world. It speaks to me in tones and that is exactly how I want my work to be and exude… I want to speak through my images and pull people into my work”.

Cortes too, like Carucci, ‘uses’ the finished product in order to understand situations and processes within herself. The Photography process serves as a meditation, freedom, liberation, and – of course – documentation.

Limits in Photography

Cortes has no limits. “I want to shoot it all!  When I cry, when I laugh, when I eat, when I sleep or wake up, when I go to the bathroom, or when doing explicit things to myself.  However, NONE of these private moments, and images will be exposed to anyone but me.

“My photography is a process in itself – it is an emotional venture, so I have no limits or red flags stopping me from exploring the only subject that won’t ever be bashful or have reservations – ME!  ”I won’t ever come across or insist on anyone sitting in front of my lens to do anything they are not comfortable with but for myself shooting me. It’s on!”.