therealkatiewest:When people look at a photo of me I don’t...

therealkatiewest:

When people look at a photo of me I don’t want them to see a model. I don’t want them to say “Oh, what a beautiful model.” It’s easy for people to dismiss models because they’re seen as objects. Material things, instead of organic; there to be seen and touched, instead of considered and discussed. 

When people are looking at art, they see subjects. They say, “Oh, what a compelling subject.” I want them to see a subject when they look at a photo of me. The subject of the photograph is me. I am subjective, I am performing the verb. I am subject to your gaze. I am subjecting myself to your interpretation. I am the subject making it happen, the reason for the action, the opposite of passive. But all you see is something to be admired, a blank canvas to project onto, a vessel to fill, but this isn’t what I am. Even if you are paying me $200 an hour, I am still not yours, sex work is still work, emotional labour is still labour and you standing there with your camera doesn’t subject me to your authority.

Is it because I’m naked? If you believe things inherently happen to naked people and that is just the way the world works - naked people do not create meaning, or deserve consideration, or merit discussion, because without clothes on we are merely observable objects, lacking tongues and the wherewithal to use them - you should take a look at the world you’re helping to maintain. 

The phrase, “Oh, what a beautiful model” isn’t a compliment, it’s acknowledgement of a prop, a compliment used when you walk down the street and see a nice vintage car. Model is reductive, whittling us down to only one thing. I didn’t think you could make us any more two-dimensional. People say model like we’re objects; but remove us and all there is, is empty space.

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