Backwha Display

By Tony Ryan

This is the first image to be shot expressly for the "Women in Windows" series. Backwha had called in a few favours to organise this wonderful space for the shoot. It is the studio of Hobart sculptor Janelle at the Tasmanian School of Art.

Her work, which is highly figurative, surrounds the model. That's Janelle in the centre talking to painter Wayne Brookes while photographer Ryan Bloomfield is the only one paying attention to the "performer".

My idea was to juxtapose two uses of the female body for display: in art and in the sex industry as in table top dancers. In both instances I wonder to what extent the audience consciously sees the woman herself.