After choosing a few scenes that would portray the topic in a good way and get the message across, I lent a camera of a friend, asked Fiona and Angelo if they could model for me, and met up in the city. (Thank you !)
In this blogpost I would like to reflect on the process of taking the pictures as it is the perfect mirror of how you feel as a woman taking up the space in ways you normally don’t. For me, being the photographer it was probably not the same as being in front of the camera, but even I felt the slight discomfort of taking up this much space in public combined with the attention anxiety you get anyways when being outside with a camera.
This discomfort obviously speaks to something deeper: the internalized expectation that women should be small, quiet and unobtrusive in public spaces. Taking up space, whether physically by posing or creatively by directing a shoot, challenges that conditioning. The act of being visibly intentional in a space and claiming it without apology can feel transgressive, even when it’s something as simple as holding a camera or standing still for a portrait. It’s not just about the gaze of others but also about unlearning the instinct to minimize ourselves.
When I asked Fiona how she reflects on the photoshoot, she told me that it was definitely out of her comfort zone because the body language she had to show wasn’t usually hers, and ” it felt uncomfortable knowing people were watching. At first, I thought doing it in a public space like the main square might look cooler, but when it actually came to it, I realized how exposed and nervous I felt. We ended up doing it more hidden, and the photographer was really considerate throughout. Some poses, like in the tram, felt natural, but others like near the falafel shop or when I had to lower my pants made me feel embarrassed because it’s just not how I would normally behave in public. Overall, it really pushed me beyond what I’m usually comfortable with”.
Doing projects like this is really valuable for me and maybe others because they let us try out new ways of being seen and taking up space. It’s a chance to step outside of what feels normal or comfortable and see how that changes how we feel. I’m really curious to see what it will be like once the posters are hanging in public — how people might react, but also how I will feel seeing them there. Even now, the process has already made me think and feel differently, and I’m excited to see what happens next.
