General News
19 January, 2023
Decent exposure as women bare the lot
By Faye Smith It's not every day that almost 500 older women take off their clothes and allow a renowned photographer to capure their naked images. But that's exactly what's on show at an exhibition at Horsham Regional Art Gallery - decribed as...
By Faye Smith
It's not every day that almost 500 older women take off their clothes and allow a renowned photographer to capture their naked images.
But that's exactly what's on show at an exhibition at Horsham Regional Art Gallery - described as "irreverent and playful".
500 Strong is a collection of almost 500 black-and-white photographs of Victorian women over 50 – naked women over 50, at that.
Gallery director Lauren Simpson said 500 Strong was a unique exhibition which celebrated older women's health, body image and wellbeing as well as the diversity and reality of their bodies.
"Participants were encourged to consider their anonymity and, if they wished, attend prepared with a personalised face covering," she said.
"Some chose to show their faces."
Former Horsham gallery director Jane Scott, now living in Queensland, joined forces with photographer Ponch Hawkes to include images of Wimmera women in his exhibition.
Shoots started in Melbourne, Shepparton and Geelong in 2018, and in Horsham late last year.
Ms Simpson said an opening was planned at the gallery on Sunday February 5 at 3pm for the exhibition, which runs until March 19.
One woman who participated in the photo shoot said she needed some persuasion to agree to being photographed.
At the appointment time she was shown into a darkened room with blackout curtains at the window and shown where to undress behind a screen.
The crew organising and taking the photos immediately made her comfortable and put her at ease.
Realising that many others had allowed themselves to be photographed before her also helped, she said.
The photographer had decided on her pose and needed just a brief time to take the necessary photos.
The only difficult part was finding herself among the large number of finished photographs, she said.