Isabella Marshall

Photography - BA (Hons)

The power and inspiration art has on people is what drew me to becoming an artist today, it’s an amazing way of expressing emotions and ideas in a way that sometimes can’t be explained in words. Whilst studying I found myself becoming more active politically and it became a part of my work. I have always been a feminist but have never tried to be heard or gave opinions on matters like equal pay or everyday harassment. Photography became that voice and helped me speak up or myself on matters that I believed in. I create dramatic sets in my photos but still have them relevant to my subject, making them relatable to a lot of the women in my life. Without art I believe I would be without an opinion that I can share effectively and in a way that can also inspire others.

This project is meant to explore the effects of contraception and how society expects women to be responsible when it comes to protection against pregnancy. The effects of contraception are also detrimental to women and can have a major impact on women’s mental health, however even with this being known by the medical community it is still pushed on women to take or use contraception. The main idea behind making this project was to appeal to what is still a patriarchal world and have the male gaze utilised in my work. I have used a male view on women and exaggerated how it might believe it looks to take the contraceptives offered to women. I have created a twelve-picture series that show women being overly sexualised in situations that are no way sexy to create a comedic female gaze outlook on contraception. I found this project liberating for myself and the models involved. It brought a lot of the women together in my life on how they feel pressured by the patriarchal values women still face and put up with in this modern age.