‘If you can’t make an exciting photo without sexualising a woman, maybe you need to practise’
“A male artist can approach you under the guise of ‘hey, we’re both creatives, it’s an artistic collaboration’ — but it’s not! They just want to photograph you in a way they feel is attractive. Just thinking about the ego that comes with being a male photographer … It’s them thinking: ‘Rena’s not a person, she’s a muse. Rena’s not a partner, she’s just a beautiful girl in my room, she’s just a subject on the other side of the lens.’ Why are we not seeing close-up penis shots more often? Not that I want to [laughs]. Why are we so commodified? If you have to use a conventionally attractive naked woman to make your photo worthwhile, maybe you’re just not a great photographer. If you can’t make an exciting photo without sexualising a woman, maybe you need to practise.”
Rena Minegishi, in a conversation I co-hosted with artists Sunayana Bhargava, Rachel Long and Amaal Said — read it on the Guardian.
