For the First Time is a series of photographs that deals with the construct of virginity. It questions the framing of this construct from within the female-identified experience of it, , which is inherently linked to ideas around purity, delicacy and fragility, and. The goal of this project is to bring awareness to the disorienting experience of trying to maintain or adhere to such restrictions so that we might begin the process of redefining these associations within the “female” identity.

Overarching themes in the series consist of confinement/restriction, delicacy and traditional femininity, hyper-visualization. A use of floral and fruit as tropes is consistent throughout the project, to signify the historical relationship between female figures and these objects with a representation of abundance. Each photograph alters the use of such tropes in a different way, in order to put the control of the representation back into the woman’s own hand. My interest in the topic of this project stems from a long-spanning interest in comparative standards between men and women, based in my experiences growing up as an only daughter in a household full of men. The images work to undermine and reject the stereotypes that still surround women-identified people when it comes to sex and sexuality.

Website: https://bowmanphotography.ca
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