Purple Power

• Photographer
  Claudio Ahlers
• Technical Info
  Canon 5d Mark Iii 41mm , 400/sec, F8, Iso 1000
• Photo Date
  18. February 2019

This is a photograph of my friend Jessica. Herself a victim of abuse at a young age abuse, she now facilitates collaborative projects that challenge beauty standards, sexism and body shaming. Jessica is a very beautiful young woman, yet it was her beauty and grace that led her to experience abuse and trauma at a young age, resulting in body dysmorphia and on-going struggles with her mental health. I selected this photograph because it embodies her determination to resist being defined by her appearance, the male gaze in general and the visual culture of our society.

People are at the centre of my photographic enquiry: their vulnerabilities, uniqueness, complex emotional worlds and the physical manifestations of their minds and souls. In my photographs I attempts to capture that elusive combination of personality and psyche, ratio and emotion, sensuous experience and physical expression of identity that we all possess, but rarely reveal. My work has been shown worldwide in Paducah Kentucky, USA, Miami, Cincinnati, New York City and San Francisco as well as in Berlin, Tokyo and Bristol and Bath in the UK.