Those Whose Hands and Hearts Are Pure

Those Whose Hands and Hearts are Pure is a metaphor for the psychological damage inflicted on young women through Evangelical Christian purity culture. Through Victorian notions of patriarchy, young women are taught to submit, to be ashamed of themselves, their bodies, their dreams and ultimately to exist for the sake of the husband they will serve. In these self-portraits I play a character that performs or endures tasks which represent the inner workings of the psychological damage inflicted by these beliefs. This series tells my story of withstanding oppression and breaking free, although a theme of domination over the female character is woven into the images. This subtle reference symbolizes not only the way that bullied children hear taunts forever, but also subverts the intent of the Fundamentalist mindset and the control they seek over women. Each image is a 16x20” tintype, printed with a transparency in the darkroom, in a unique edition of 5. My digital workflow combined with the antique media of collodion references the antiquated view of women through the photographic process itself.