J. Sybylla Smith, In Conversation with Toni Wilkinson & Susan Bright
Episode #60, Summary
Toni Wilkinson plays with the potent intersection of women, food and photography in a visual feast of domestic portraits.
Episode Notes
Tough Pleasures turns a bright light and witty lens on the conflicting dynamics of femininity and food, revealing appetite and desire. Susan Bright's astute and savory essay provides the perfect table setting for the environmental portraits that follow. Wilkinson masterfully interrupts the repetitive and limiting messaging of unattainable expectations and endless critique by putting power in the hands of her subjects—real women and girls.
In this conversation, Toni and Susan discuss, among other things:
Shooting intuitively
Slow looking
Penises
Capturing chaos
Too muchness
Interrogating with light
Breaking image sequence with detailed shots
Revisiting work and reopening the series
Defying prescripted roles
Playing with power plays
Image-making as a tool to engage in ideas
Slog, splendor and sensuality
Referenced in the episode
PHMuseum 2023 Photography Grant
Sexual Personae by Camille Paglia
Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood edited by Susan Bright
Art Photography Now by Susan Bright
Photography Decoded by Susan Bright and Hedy van Erp
Feast for the Eyes by Susan Bright
Misogyny: The Male Malady by David D. Gilmore
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharpe
Co-published by Chatwin Books and T&G Publishing