Tomboy Project

Historical representation of people, places and things, can be traced through photographic records. Photography has the capacity to capture and bear witness to real social conditions.


Brend & Hilla Becher Anonymous Sculptures: A Typology of Technical Construction (1972)


Lesley Turnbull Anonymous Tomboys: A Typology of Social Construction (2010

metaphorical tomboy study #3- "coming out of the fog"

metaphorical tomboy study #2- "frozen Out"

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As my work evolves, I have become increasingly fascinated with the essential and the metaphoric. There are no longer theatrical props, and the need for the human image as my exploration of Tomboyism is altering.

I am testing whether landscape can create some of the core experiences of a Tomboy, with the photography representing archetypal states to explore adolescent emotions such as isolation, being frozen out, boundaries and divisions, desolation, which side of the fence one is sitting on, and the beauty and purity that also encapsulate the Tomboy.

My work is continuing to explore the experiences of being a woman, but I am focussing on the missing voice of the Tomboy. Investigation persists to locate images and narratives that do not patronise the rights of a female to be non-feminine.

It is possible that the corporeal image will fade as I wander through the metaphorical landscape to articulate my theories.

perseverance |ˌpərsəˈvi(ə)rəns|

n:continuance in a state of grace leading finally to a state of glory.

tomboy project [perseverance]

steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty />verb [ intrans. ]
continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty

I try not to homogenise the Tomboy, allowing the images to capture the individuality of each Tomboy. The photographs in this series become, an indexical trace that document a (legitimate) female lineage, seemingly unrepresented to date within mainstream Western media and the visual arts.

jessie unresolved