“Room” is a series of portraits, self-portraits and letters, exploring the passage from girlhood to womanhood.

I wanted to use photography as a means to explore what the definition of womanhood meant for those who, like me, had found themselves as young adult women. It seemed like we had somehow stumbled upon this status without knowing how we got here. I sought women from various backgrounds who gave me their own definitions of being an adult woman. Some were defined by religion or sexuality, while others were defined by their mothers or lovers.

I dressed them in their high school uniforms, which are mandatory in Singapore, and are iconic visual representations of adolescence. I then asked them to think about the turning point in their lives, and photographed them in their most private space — their bedrooms — before asking them to write a letter to their young, adolescent selves. Feeling that much of society defines women by our physicality, I took self-portraits, each one zeroing in on a particular body part. These body parts are undertones to the portraits — a way to look at the body and question what makes it interpreted as feminine or not. I am interested in raising questions, rather than asserting a definitive answer for the viewer.

Room

Featuring: Charmaine Poh

Curated by: James Estrin David Gonzalez

Locations

• #Portraiture
• #Representation
• #self portrait
• #Women