From issue: #21 Thingification
Each issue we ask the Photography+ community to submit photographs, and this time we asked readers for work relating to the theme Thingification. We are delighted to publish the selected image, Model with Mock Suns by Julie Sando.
Sando made this photo-based collage in 2018, at a time when the #metoo social movement had raised awareness of the sexual violence people experience throughout their careers. At the time she was working with vintage print ephemera from the 1960s – 80s, working with images from the natural sciences and erotica and thinking about the impact of small nuances of gesture, light, and colour on our perception of any photograph. On seeing this model’s expression, she felt compelled “to offer her a cloak of some kind”, she says.
Sando, who is based in Canada, adds that one of her original source images depicted a model posed on what looks like a marble countertop – a juxtaposition that suggested to her a connection between what is considered “classical”, “figurative”, and “nude”, and how those “things” have been displayed in museums. Through her creative projects, Sando aims to highlight the myriad ways in which popular media presents discriminatory attitudes; her projects include a series on pantyhose packaging and a dystopic science-fiction based satirical film.
An adjunct assistant professor in the School of Creative Arts, University of WIndsor, Sando has taught photography, design and visual culture for over 20 years. Her role at the university includes working to remove barriers to education for Black Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and female students, as well as those facing challenges relating to income, faith, culture, mental health, and accessibility.
