ARTIST STATEMENT: The Bathers

For me, the bath is a place where we can return to the reverie and relaxation of our childhoods, where we shed the garments of our daily lives and our bodies can return to the natural maternal element of water. I began to explore what it meant for us to be photographed in this place.

In this exploration I have stayed simple, allowing the person to show what he or she wants to the viewer. I ask that the person look directly into the camera. I use natural light and warm water, photographing each person under the same conditions, at same time of day in the summer, with each session lasting about half an hour. I have photographed this series in both black & white and color with about twenty different people. I kept the names of the subjects as titles for the photos because I did not want to dis-empower the people by putting my own spin on the photos via the title. I want the subjects to stand for themselves by themselves; they are the possessors of these photographs.

I believe that when we gaze upon the nude image of a man or woman, what we see is a reflection of ourselves. We are all a part of the harmony of earth and I believe that power and energy flows between the subject and the viewer, with the photograph acting as the medium. What I am hoping comes through in these photographs is an honest connection to the body in a natural element, within an everyday space. I want the viewer to see the body and the bath (water) as a marriage of joy, sensuality and innocence. As the subjects direct their gazes at us, aware, they refuse to be passive victims of our voyeurism; they leave us questioning our own responses. We as viewers come away changed, transformed by the forces of nature and sexuality. This series is a celebration of the human body and a reaffirmation of our relationship to nature; it is a refusal to keep hiding away our transcendent physical selves.

1 September 2002

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