In plain sight : exploring notions of identity, genderfluidity and self-representation through an expanded photographic practice

Abstract

My goal with this dissertation is to show others how beautiful it is to be entirely yourself. I looked at individuals from the beginning of time to examine how this long-term process of gender crises has progressed over time. After that, I used my personal experience as a non-binary person who was born male but is ready to experience gender transgression. I perform gender in the strongest and most liberal way possible by using aims in respect to the opposite sex. I took the opportunity to make my dissertation based on my ‘coming out’ journey by documenting myself through self-portraits using the medium of photography. Conservatism is challenged by the concept of gender as a performative act. Society still believes that if a child is born with genitals associated with the 'male' sex, the child is already restricted in many ways. The new-born is expected to play with specific toys, such as car toys if they are a "boy," and dolls if they are a "girl." Statements like these urged me to create more images of myself to challenge these limitations. Why are we preventing our children from discovering who they truly are? Why is it that we, as a society, are ashamed of liking something that is generally connected with the opposing sex? Why do people still have only two choices in society? People want to feel like they have a place in society. People hide behind a character because they are afraid of being evaluated. They are afraid of transgression because youngsters are required to follow gender stereotypes from an early age. Males are suffering from a masculinity crisis as a result of unrealistic expectations of what men should be. Male suicide rates are higher than female suicide rates. What is the reason for this? If not the sense of having failed to achieve power and position. Throughout history, men have felt compelled to sacrifice their lives in order to become slaves of power and position. The happiness that comes from achieving accomplishment. Be a real man! Men are not prone to crying. Men work incredibly hard. Men are successful. Everything must be paid by Men. People must unlearn everything and concentrate on their desires. They should not create a character for the sake of pleasing others. So, who are we? Is it possible that we are all acting? Is it true that no one knows anything? Are we a jumble of perplexed individuals who have no regard for ourselves? I documented the history of gender and identity through the arts from contemporary to ancient history in the first chapter. The first sub-section, '1.1 Contemporary Representations of Gender in the Arts,' focuses on artists, fashion designers, filmmakers, photographers, and writers who influenced gender representation from the twenty-first through nineteenth centuries in some way. The goals, make-up, clothes, and accessories were prioritized so that I could see the works through a specific lens to aid me in my own personal practical project. By continuing to follow the historical process, in the second sub-section ‘1.2 Social context and the Politicised body’, I largely made reference to the political component of gender and identity. My project is very political, it is critical to comprehend the political and social aspects of the issue. The '1.3 Historical Background' section is the final section, in which I concentrated specifically on homosexual individuals from the eighteenth century to ancient times. Homosexuality has been documented since prehistory, and it plays a significant part in the historical and artistic portrayal of the LGBTIQA+ community. In the second Chapter, I discuss the methodology of the project. While explaining my project I made reference to the contextual review. The study plays a dominant role to my understanding of gender and identity. This knowledge was transferred into the visual that is captured by the medium of photography. The images I took are a documentation of my ‘coming out’ process. The beauty of the before and after, the boost in confidence, improvement in the artistic qualities, and the element of the public engagement. I conducted multiple interviews in addition to documenting and photographing myself. I chose the participants based on their histories, ages, sexualities, and lifestyles in order to conduct good responses and build an argument around them. It's crucial to compare other people's perspectives and experiences when working on this project, which is entirely based on my own personal experiences. The final chapter focuses on how to communicate my project to an audience as well as a list of challenges I encountered while creating this visual project. The significance of the exhibition and curation in narrating the artistic and personal processes in order to eventually shatter the ice between my personal development and that of the closet. I progressed towards the exhibition after analysing and editing a final version of the photographs that best describe the entire process. I began by planning the layout in order to select the best location for exhibiting my work, and then I concentrated on the image printing and audio visuals. In addition, I continued to engage with the public via social media, which I believe is an excellent tool for an artist to use to develop their art and concepts. The last chapter summarizes and contributes all the research and practical work that went into creating this practice-based thesis, as well as the future function it will play. I explained how I intend to continue my research into gender and identity through the arts, as well as how other studies might use my experience as a model for their own research.