Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Department
Media Studies
Reader 1
Ruti Talmor
Reader 2
Carlin Wing
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
Bodies Reframed captures the female body in abstract forms, to illustrate how the human body is not separate from nature, but an inherent part of it. By blending the body into its landscape, it cannot exist for objectification. Instead of being idealized, it is depicted in a more neutral state. Historically, the female body in photographs has existed to be on display, often “coded” through framing, clothing, or makeup to appeal to the male gaze. Inspired by feminist artists including Francesca Woodman, Ana Mendieta, Laura Aguilar, and Laura Hospes, Bodies Reframed challenges this narrative of objectification by capturing the female body interacting and often merging with its environment, highlighting how the body is connected to the world around it. Many of the photographs in the series explore the tension between being visible and being concealed. This leaves us to wonder: what power exists in being partially hidden from view?
Recommended Citation
Rhenifel, Laila, "BODIES REFRAMED: THE POWER OF CAMOUFLAGE AND CONCEALMENT IN FEMINIST PHOTOGRAPHY" (2025). Scripps Senior Theses. 2662.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2662
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.