Voicing Women's Desire With a Camera

Abstract

Conventional theorization of Western visual culture characterized the female form as passive objects that cater to men's viewing pleasure. This raises the questions of how women might take control over their self-representation to communicate their subjective sexuality, and to reclaim visual narratives of their own desire. This chapter discusses the activist potential of auto-photography, a practice that involves self-imaging and self-analysis, for women to actively voice their understanding and experience of desire. Drawing upon practices in art and in an empirical project of ‘photographing desire', it argues that the method enables consciousness-raising, and the materials generated can counter dominant discourse and unveil the diverse, underrepresented women's desire, thus having the potential of empowering women.