Oboy: Post-Raphaelites

Pre-Raphaelite paintings (and Pre-Raphaelite style paintings in the case of Waterhouse) have become somewhat of a fixation for me; luxuriously lost women and heavy symbolism combine to create dreamy and striking pieces. Yet I have a problem with it: blatant and repeated offences of objectification and pedestalisation, mostly in association with the notion of muses. So, in an attempt to tackle this issue I created a series of images mirroring Pre-Raphaelite depictions of women, but by altering their socio-political context (through the use of modern girls, media, settings, and clothing), perhaps providing an ultimately political commentary on the harmful voyeuristic qualities of "classic" works of art that we have a tendency to overlook due to their heralded status. Also as an attempt to highlight the ridiculousness of pedestalised muses and the dangerous affects for both these "muses" (they do frequently look uncomfortable, and often suffered - Millais gave his poor Ophelia girl a serious cold by making her lie in a bath of cold water for hours) and viewers of such work.

The following images are a piece called Undoing Sweet Voyeurism (the title relating to the corresponding Pre-Raphaelite originals for each photograph, and to the overall context of the work).