I am Woman

Diren Ocakkuran

Diren_ocakkuran@outlook.com

The media has concealed the reality of the female body and its bodily functions, while mainly focusing directly on expressing an unrealistic and ideal body image.

My photography is a sequence of the raw reality and beauty of the female body, whilst also showing the powerful destruction we face and are challenged with. I have collected materials such fruits and home necessities like food colouring, that act as representation for both female body parts and blood.

The media has sent out a message that periods and menstruation is gruesome, disgusting, and disturbing. However, as a woman, I have faced many difficulties of having a period from a young age, and what the media doesn’t show is that the body itself is art. Whilst showing the purity of body parts, I also focus on the destruction and the ruins of it. My work redefines femininity, celebrating the elements of the female form that most photographers airbrush away. My images position the body as an intimate funhouse where pleasure and revulsion merge, exploring the relationship between the beautiful and the grotesque with a visceral rawness. Throughout my images I essentially explore themes such as femininity, power, and nature.