I think I am ready to start talking about my project BoyGirl. This is more about stereotyping, social pressure.. what society sees, and what society expects than of gender identity. Though, obviously, it does touch on gender identity through the lens of clothing. Why do we “see” a girl when we see a dress? Why is it ok for a girl to wear jeans, and still be a girl, )but also, why is she often labeled a “tomboy”)… but a dress…. a dress essentially equals girl, and is therefore not for boys? Why is a boy in a dress so threatening? How many cultures is this true for, and why? Who really has more freedom, and why? This is just a bit of what I am looking to talk about with these images.
These images are all created with a vintage Microcord TLR and medium format black and white film. I started working on this project in the summer of 2015 and would love to add to this. It was something that was rattling around in my head that summer, and had planned these straight on full body shots… but then decided I might have liked to have gotten closer to these children. As often happens, I was not happy with these images when I first saw them. These images are far from perfect, I will be the first to admit that. It was too sunny, the kids were all so so so hot… But as I feel I am ready to continue working on this project so I am being brave and putting them out there….
I am looking for more models so that I can continue to work on this series. If anyone reading this has kids, or knows of children willing to dress both as a “girl” in a dress and a “boy” in pants and a t-shirt I would LOVE to talk about modeling. Gender, age, race is unimportant, (though I am always looking for more diversity) what I am looking for are girls and boys who are willing to wear both sets of clothes, and to look straight into the camera. If you think you have a child who would like to work with me, please let me know, I would really love to continue on with this project. All images will still be created in black and white film. I do understand that on some level colors are also seen as gender specific, and this loops back to the onsies I created in 2001 with the words “Boys Like Pink Too”, and the day that a woman at the playground felt the need to tell me that “Purple is a girl color” when she saw my son in a purple outfit at the age of 18 months… but for now, I want to take everything away other than the child and their clothes.
