SHEGAZES

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Issue 5 Growing up Female / The issue is out of stock, I thought I could share some images. Thank again to the photographers : Kristen Joy Emack for her beautiful work on sorority, Megan Doherty, Marta Karkosa, to Alisha Sofia for her drawing and Susan Hill, La Fille Renne, Asli Ozcelik, Roxy Hervé, Rose May Philoippe, Agelis Tsotras,  Françoise Delahaie and Oksana Veniaminova.

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Merci Fisheye Magazine <3

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Lomography - LomoWomen : Défier les représentations avec SheGazes

"Le regard féminin ce n’est pas le regard d’une femme sur le monde, c’est une façon de filmer ou de photographier les femmes sans en faire des objets." — Caroline Ruffault, créatrice du artzine SheGazes, répond à nos questions à l'occasion de la Journée internationale des droits des femmes.

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Entretien avec la Fille Renne, photographe et créatrice du magazine Polysème.

1- Quand est né ta passion pour la photographie ?

Mon père et mon grand-père faisaient de la photographie et avaient pas mal d'appareils argentiques, j'ai donc suivi assez naturellement. Mon père m'a offert mon premier appareil argentique lorsque j'avais dix ans et je n'ai jamais cessé la photographie depuis.

2- Dans ta pratique de la photo, est ce que tu te poses la question de la représentation de la femme, comment tu la mets en scène, ce que tu choisis de représenter ?

Je n'ai pas forcément d'idée de mise en scène particulière lorsque j'arrive sur un shooting. Les idées se créent à plusieurs sur le moment. J'essaie au maximum de photographier les personnes dans leur environnement afin qu'elles se sentent à l'aise. Pour le reste, ça commence souvent par une tasse de thé et je photographie les gens simplement, je les laisse parler, bouger, et je m'adapte. Il est rare que je demande de prendre des poses particulières ou que je guide.

Je n'apprécie pas la photographie male gaze, c'est-à-dire des photographies de femmes, souvent très normées, sur-sexualisées, faites clairement pour les fantasmes des hommes cisgenres hétérosexuels. J'essaie de montrer autre chose lorsque je photographie des femmes et je pense qu'avec le female gaze, on (on = artistes qui ne sont pas des hommes cisgenres) arrive petit à petit à se réapproprier l'image du corps féminin, à montrer d'autres facettes et plus de diversité. Cela veut dire montrer des corps sans les sexualiser systématiquement, montrer la grossesse, les menstruations, la santé mentale, le travail du sexe, des femmes grosses, des femmes trans, des femmes non-hétérosexuelles, des femmes racisées, des femmes non-valides, etc.

Parallèlement, il est aussi important de travailler sur le problème de la représentation pour sortir d’une surreprésentation des corps très normés, et dans cette idée la, je fais attention aux femmes avec qui je collabore.

Pour en savoir plus sur le female gaze en photographie, les travaux de l'universitaire Morgane Blain sont intéressants.

3- Tu as créé un magazine féministe qui s’appelle Polysème, est ce que tu peux nous parler de ta démarche et du magazine ?

Polysème est une association cofondée avec l'autrice Raphaëla Icguane en 2018, suite au constat de l'hégémonie cismasculine dans les milieux artistiques. Le but est de visibiliser les créations artistiques produites par les femmes (cis et trans) et des personnes trans binaires ou non-binaires. Pour cela nous avons décidé de créer une revue indépendante, Polysème Magazine. L'art étant constamment profondément politique, notre travail est très engagé et revendique un féminisme intersectionnel et radical.

Le magazine existe sous deux formats auto-publiés, disponibles en papier ou numérique : un grand format de 250 à 350 pages, collectif, sur des thématiques précises ; et Mini Polysème, un format A5, de 44 à 64 pages, dédié à un-e artiste, un matériau, un thème, ...

Pour chaque numéro collectif, nous lançons un appel à projets. Nous y publions des entretiens avec des artistes, créateurs-ices, militant-e-s et intellectuel-le-s, des contributions visuelles (photographie argentique, instantanée, broderie, tatouage, peinture, illustration, sérigraphie, dessin, sculpture, etc.) et littéraires (poésie, essai, nouvelles, etc.).

4- Pour en savoir un peu plus sur toi, si tu devais choisir un photographe, un disque, un film, un livre, lesquels seraient-ils ?

Pour le-a photographe, je choisis Diane Arbus, car elle a su s'imposer dans un milieu bien plus cismasculin qu'aujourd'hui, n'est pas restée "la femme derrière l'homme" (Allan Arbus) et avait à cœur de représenter celleux qui n'ont pas de voix.

Pour l'album, pourquoi pas The Big Roar, de The Joy Formidable.

Pour le film, je vais tricher et proposer une série, Top of the Lake, car elle a été réalisée par Jane Campion (seule femme à avoir eu une Palme d'Or au festival de Cannes et une des rares nommées pour l'Oscar du meilleur réalisateur). Dans cette série policière, elle traite de féminisme, sororité, masculinité toxique, pauvreté, pédocriminalité et violences sexuelles, tout ça en six épisodes, avec la géniale Elisabeth Moss.

Enfin, pour le livre, j'ai été très marqué-e récemment par Le livre noir de la gynécologie, de Mélanie Déchalotte. L'autrice a fait un remarquable travail journalistique afin de lister le panel complet des violences gynécologiques et obstétricales auxquelles s’exposent femmes, hommes trans et personnes non-binaires en France. Le tout est complété par des comparaisons avec les systèmes de santé canadien et d’autres pays européens, des textes de loi française et l’origine historique de certaines pratiques aberrantes toujours usitées.

https://lafillerenne.fr/blog/

https://www.instagram.com/lafillerenne/?hl=fr

https://www.instagram.com/polysememag/?hl=fr

La Fille Renne & Baptiste

Praline Goupil http://instagram.com/pralinegoupil & Rose Farfadet http://instagram.com/rose_farfadet

Eva Merlier https://www.instagram.com/evatralala_/

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Shegazes in fisheye magazine!!!!!

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Shegazes Issue 4 still available in the shop!

www.shegazes.com

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https://www.fisheyemagazine.fr/decouvertes/actu/shegazes-vers-une-nouvelle-representation-des-femmes/

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"SHEGAZES", vers une nouvelle représentation des femmes

Sorcières, femme & nature, troisième numéro de l’art zine SHEGAZES, fondé par Caroline Ruffault est sorti en mars 2019.

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I was thrilled to share the work of Ana Hell in the last issue and I asked her to answer a few questions about her photography and her relation to the woman’s body. All the pictures are from Ana Hell.

Where do you live? Most of the time you will find me in Europe, sometimes in Asia.

Why did you become a photographer? I used to work with several different mediums: illustration, painting, writing, photography and performance art. Ever since I was a child I was obsessed with art and drawing - photography grew on me slowly after experimenting a lot and I only began to feel completely comfortable with it when I started to use a camera to compose scenes instead of trying to capture reality. For me, photography is almost like painting or drawing, but it’s also very different because the canvas paints itself. You have control over your image but there is also space for interaction and a lack of control which I find very interesting and beautiful. With my work I try to create a certain tension and play between the real and the surreal. I might be a photographer because I've grown impatient with drawing, but I think it's also because it allows me to get out of my bubble and connect with people while I shoot. It's my way of reaching out into the world and trying to transform it momentarily into something else.

Woman’s body is an endless playground in your photography, do you remember what made you start taking pictures of naked women in nature? This wasn't actually a conscious decision, it happened gradually. I usually shoot people that I know or that I meet - many of them are women and they agree to pose for me (I don't only shoot women). I love working with women because they have great energy and they're really resistant and badass. For me, nudity is a very natural state and when someone takes their clothes off they become present in their purest form. I also think that bodies can be molded and transformed better when they are nude.

Do you think there is a special connection between woman & nature? I think almost every person I met has some kind of connection with nature, it's primal and it touches us all in some way or another. I can't speak for all women but I can say I definitely feel a strong connection to nature, especially to oceans and deserts.

Is it important for you to portray naked woman without sexualizing them? Do you think about it before shooting? I don't have any moralistic approach to sexualising or not sexualising women. I don't think sexuality is something we need to run away from or protect ourselves against and I never really contemplate this before shooting because this isn't my focus or aim. I'm just hopelessly fascinated by the plasticity of the human body and the way that it can tell stories through movement. Whether my work comes across as sexual or not depends on the viewer's interpretation of it. For me, nudity doesn't automatically equal sexuality.

Are you a witch? :-) I think I'm more of an alien, but if aliens can be witches I might be one because I love creating magical moments. www.anahell.comhttps://www.instagram.com/anahellphotography/ https://www.facebook.com/anahellphotography/ https://ello.co/anahellphotography

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I have answered a few question on why does it matter to change the representation of women. Thanks Venelina!

https://www.cct-seecity.com/en/2019/04/she-gazes/?fbclid=IwAR2dU9A-ab-2dwhIFnRtEhoIJKtjOnUmHDKILR8Ho8keScDlZ5BLxObtj10

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the new shegazes is out!

Be a witch, be beautiful as you are, be fearful, love nature <3

WITCHES, WOMAN & NATURE

www.shegazes.com

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http://artoung.com/shegazes-fanzine-sang-pour-sang-feminin/?fbclid=IwAR2qUEzkh8QbC6R5gOUdVel_Qt4i70pk-U5FReXbQWPtG_7Igr4sfy5tWA4

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Issue 2 is out!!!!!!!

https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/shegazes

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Cheekmagazine

http://cheekmagazine.fr/culture/she-gazes-photozine-caroline-ruffault/

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lesinrocks

https://www.lesinrocks.com/2018/05/03/style/gazes-le-magazine-photo-qui-porte-un-regard-different-sur-les-femmes-111079105/

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Women in trees

Hi Jochen,

I wanted to thank you again to be part of the first issue of shegazes. I love these pictures of adventurous women!

How did you get the idea of woman in trees? I've been collecting historical amateur photograph`s for over 25 years. I’m interested in pictures of "people in unusual situations" - special snapshots. I find the photos at flea markets and dig in old shoeboxes that are crammed with photos of unknown origin. A flea market box full of photos has something downright heartbreaking for me: people have captured moments that were important and special for them - happy, funny, curious or seemingly banal scenes and now they all lie randomly in an old carton. Over the years, I have repeatedly found photos of "Women on Trees". A motive that fascinated me from the beginning. It has raised many questions and thoughts in me: what life did this woman live in the tree? With whom did she go for a walk? Who came up with the idea that she climbs into a tree and sits down on a branch? Then my own stories are created in my fantasy, the “cinema in my head” goes on ... How do you find your photos? I would rather say: the photos find me! Because I can not imagine, today I find a photo of a woman in the tree, or today I find a photo of a person in a polar bear costume on the beach. As a rule, these are all relatively small paper prints - from very small to postcard size. Different both in the type of photo paper, as well as in the quality of the condition. And mostly I go to flea markets and junk shops. but I get now also sent photos after the success of the books. Of course that makes me very happy. Was there a special trend for women to have their pictures taken while climbing a tree? Well, I don’t know. But it seems to have occurred more often between 1920 and 1950. In the past, there was much more tradition to go on a Sunday stroll. And for newly-in love, this was one way to be alone. Because at home it was often not tolerated (of the parents) to go to her or his room together. At least not before the engagement / wedding. (In case of moral reasons.) On the walks you could be left out, lose yourself in being in love. And we all know how beautiful it feels to be in love. In this situation, there are no boundaries, no conventions. Then you climb on a tree and look very happy. Of course, this is only an interpretation of many possible ones. What do you think your photos tell about women? Well, the women in the pictures all look very happy. Although they often sit so uncomfortably in dizzy heights, lie down, stand. For me, the medium of photography is so compelling to capture these moments, to freeze them, to override time. If i want to stick to my theory with the walks, the women show their female strong side. They pose very self-confidently for their companion (boyfriend / gilrfriend) and also for themselves, because they feel so comfortable in it!

Here are the links to follow Jochen on instagram and buy his book!

http://imperfekt.photography/

https://www.instagram.com/imperfekt.photography/?ref=badge