MYOWNGENDER

The fluidity of gender has been a major topic for me for quite some time. Three years ago, my photography and I started exploring that extensive grey zone that exists within sexes. The #MYOWNGENDER project is the final chapter of this artistic arch. #MYOWNGENDER is a travelling 5 by 2,5-meter installation uniting photography with audio, video, and written word. A unity showcasing the nuances of gender in a time that it might matter most. The models for #MYOWNGENDER, will be captured on black glass via collodion wet-plating, a photography technique from before the 1900s. This particularglass is a rarity – something that hasn’t been made forquite some time and won’t be made in the near future. But it’s the depth that it adds to animage… I just couldn’t imagine using any other canvas. For the installation, the portraits and a short interview will become an element within a circular construction. Circular, so the installation encloses every viewer or passerby with their story. They become part of it – even if it’s just for a second.

Along with the installation, all interviews and images will be featured on myowngender.com, as well as in the #MYOWNGENDER book that will be published in collaboration with Jord Noorbeek.

While up until today i exclusively captured the stories of her models in photography, i will deep dive into the world of moving images for the first time with the #MYOWNGENDER short film. In collaboration with Joey de Leeuw, we recorded the intimate fragments of life in atmospheric scenes that showcase all those unique nuances that exist among those who don’t define themselves as male or female. The film will be showcased as part of the #MYOWNGENDER art installation and will be released as a larger documentary on the topic of gender.

Projects like these can’t be done by just one individual. Beside partners such as AFK, Cultuurfonds, Mondriaan fonds, Bank Giro Loterij, Beamsystems and the crowdfunding, I’ve was lucky to find the perfect team to shape and share our story:

Producer & Art direction Carina de Becker

Installation design Edd Vossen

Film Joey de Leeuw & Wouter Verberkt & Erik Verhulst

Book design Jord Noorbeek

Text Marlies Bax

Graphic design & Web architect Martijn Pool

Website Bob Vischvijver