Click on graphic to view a larger image.
Goddesses for the New Millennium is a series of twenty photographs of torsos of women age 23-84, contact printed from 5" x 7" solarized negatives.
This series grew out of my interest in how women's bodies age. When I started the series I thought I was going to make pictures of my lumpy middle-aged body and those of my friends. Instead, I found echoes of ancient figures of power: the voluptuous Venus of Willendorf and the bas-relief Venus of Laussel, Clycadic figures, and sculptures from Moravia, Malta, India and Mexico. Maiden, mature woman and crone. As I worked I realized that some of the figures traditionally labelled as "fertility Goddesses" are more likely celebrations of menopausal women's bodies, images with raging, changing, flowing lines.
The technique used is a variation on solarizing techniques in use since the 1920s and 1930s. It involves reexposing a negative (or print) to white light during the process of development. Some areas reverse while others do not. Outlines often appear between areas of contrast.
