Author | Philip Werner |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Subject | Female body image/sexuality |
Genre | Photography |
Published | 2013 |
Pages | 216 |
ISBN | 9780987409003 |
101 Vagina is a black-and-white coffee table photo-book by Philip Werner, with a foreword by Toni Childs. It was self-published in March 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. The book contains 101 close-up nude photos shot in a non- provocative way, along with an accompanying story or message written by each woman about her vagina.
The book's photos and stories were exhibited five times in Australia in 2013, with a US and Canadian tour in 2014 taking place in six locations.
101 Vagina was funded by crowdsourcing and took some two years to create. [1] [2] Werner was initially inspired by The Vagina Monologues and subjects were found via social media after Werner publicised his objective to create a book that had both an educational and celebratory goal. [1] [3] The models, ranging in age from 18 to 65, remain anonymous. Singer-songwriter Toni Childs, who wrote the foreword, made contact with Werner after he initiated a peace march in honour of murdered Australian Broadcasting Corporation employee Jill Meagher in his Brunswick, Victoria, neighbourhood. [4]
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald about the book, Werner commented that: "I hope it finds its way to a few young women and girls...So they see that [these pictures are] normal rather than pictures in magazines." [5] Stories accompanying the photos discuss various themes, including ageing, pregnancy, Brazilian waxing, first sexual encounter and poor body image. [6]
On publication 101 Vagina received broad media coverage, including write-ups in The Age, [1] The Sydney Morning Herald [5] and La Presse in Montreal. [7] It was also discussed on ABC Radio National [8] and 2SER. [9]
101 Vagina was presented as an exhibition on several occasions in Australia in 2013. This included being part of The Sydney Fringe [10] and Melbourne Fringe Festival. [11] In 2014, it was officially launched in the US and Canada with a series of exhibitions. The tour included Los Angeles [12] and Laguna Beach. [2]
In Sydney, the exhibition was visited by police responding to a complaint that the images were visible from the street. [13] [14] Images were required to be censored as part of a group exhibition at The Sydney Fringe. [15]