Lips, a pinna or tonsils: people who see Elwin Rijken’s photos in front of their noses cannot immediately identify what they see. The photographer from Eindhoven took macro photos of the clitoris. Together with his models, he hopes to remove the female genital organ from the taboo atmosphere. “It feels like a kind of protest,” says model Kitty.
As a macro photographer, Elwin has had a lifelong fascination with insects and plants that you can hardly see with the naked eye, but for this exhibition he decided to take a different tack.
“I also have a fascination with the body and realized that the clitoris is the most underrepresented part of a woman’s body,” he says.
Taboo
Where the term dick pic is now generally known clit pic not yet and he thought it had to be different. “I have never seen a beautiful photo of a clitoris that is not clinical. It is a taboo that many women are ashamed of. I want to show how many types, shapes and colors of vulvas there are and how beautiful that is.”
Elwin started working with ten models and the most creative ideas emerged. “I kept it natural and used daylight in some of the photos, but we also used flowers, chains and embellishments to really celebrate the vulva,” he says.
Insecurity
Kitty is one of those models and she did not have to hesitate for long about her contribution. “It’s a part of my body that I’ve been insecure about for a long time. Doesn’t it look weird, does it smell okay, is it tight enough? These photos feel like an ode to this part of my body,” she says.
Prior to her shoot, she had a good conversation with the photographer about what she liked and didn’t like and how she wanted to be portrayed. “The penis is a kind of symbol of strength. We almost have to be careful not to be bombarded with dick pics,” she laughs. “There is still a taboo on women’s sexuality. These photos feel like a kind of protest and I hope that people see what variety of vulvas there are.”
In the studio of the Night Sister in Tilburg, the photos are not only exhibited on canvases. The photographer wants to bring his audience even closer with projections and virtual reality glasses. “It’s incredible what details you can see that you can hardly see with the naked eye.”
