The Human Form — Images Of Women Over 60 Naked
“My work is an attempt to both show the world what real bodies look like, but also encourage women to feel sexy in the body they were given.” - Jocelyn Lee explains her current focus and mission. The mission is through exploration, through reaching wider audiences to gain recognition of the beauty of the naked female body over 60. The topic which is underrepresented in our society receives visibility through Jocelyn’s art. Another topic of interest for Jocelyn is researching the cycle of life, the states of being of a human, and of the flora origin. The interconnection between the human and their environment is present throughout her work emphasizing the never-ending journey on this planet.
Jocelyn Lee is a photographer originally from Naples, Italy, currently living in Maine. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Philosophy and Visual Arts and post-graduated with an M.F.A in Photography from Hunter College. Jocelyn participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide, three recent ones occurred during this year: 30 Years of Women, On the Basis of Art: 150 Years of Women at Yale, and Vision. In this conversation, we discuss with Jocelyn her move to Maine, the female body and perception of it in the media, and online censorship. We speak about the indirect impact the aesthetics of horror films brought into her body of work and the third monograph, Sovereign, 50 portraits of the female body over 60, to be released in November.
‘I began to take flowers, fruits, and plants from the yard and beaches around me (hydrangea, sunflower, foxglove, ferns, apples, pears, berries, seaweed, etc.) and put them in large animal troughs to see how they would disintegrate. Quickly these troughs turned into worlds worthy of being photographed.’
I Am
Hi Jocelyn, thank you so much for agreeing to take part in the interview. Could you tell a bit about yourself and your choice to explore more genres in photography, in addition to portraiture, as still-life and landscape (especially since your move to Maine)?
When I moved to Maine, the landscape and nature were hard to ignore. In Brooklyn, February can feel like April, and weeks can go by where you may not look at the sky, see the moon, or a single star. This is completely impossible living in Maine. I live on 2 acres, and Maine weather is both beautiful and dramatic. We have long, dark, cold winters with lots of snow, and brilliant verdant summers where sunflowers can grow to 8 feet tall. The shifts are powerful and visually remarkable, and my interest in the life cycle of the human body quickly expanded to the life cycles within nature. My husband is a wonderful gardener, so we always have something growing and dying in the yard. I began to take flowers, fruits, and plants from the yard and beaches around me (hydrangea, sunflower, foxglove, ferns, apples, pears, berries, seaweed, etc.) and put them in large animal troughs to see how they would disintegrate. Quickly these troughs turned into worlds worthy of being photographed.
‘My work is an attempt to both show the world what real bodies look like, but also encourage women to feel sexy in the body they were given, which is most likely very different from what we see in magazines and advertising.’
Female Body
Your work is an extended research on the human body, and more so on the female body, offering a new angle (as distinct from the angle of the sexuality of the body), creating a different narrative of beauty, of naturalness, of life. What did you learn about the acceptance of the body, the way it changed over the years, or as compared between the ages of the subjects?
I used to be a dancer, and the body has always been a starting point for my work. I have always studied the way people stand, sit, walk, gesture with their hands, and generally express their personality through the movement of their bodies. I’ve always been fascinated by the human body and the stories it tells — from someone’s skin to posture. I’m equally discouraged by the limited way in which women have been portrayed in the media. It’s shallow, simple, and dishonest. Images of shockingly skinny girls on runways (most of them just past puberty in their late or mid-teens) have nothing to do with real sexuality and human connection. While these young women look beautiful in clothing (because they are essentially human hangers) would not look particularly sexy naked.
The glorification of anorexic flat chested curve-less female bodies is a tragedy for our culture — and all women and girls attempting to meet this ideal. My work is an attempt to both show the world what real bodies look like, but also encourage women to feel sexy in the body they were given, which is most likely very different from what we see in magazines and advertising. More and more, I work with young women who feel good about their bodies, and it’s great freedom and very inspiring. When you photograph people naked as much as I do, you learn very quickly how profoundly varied the human form is. What we see in magazines is an appallingly limited view of our great and beautiful diversity.
‘It’s funny the way a taboo can also empower a subject or idea. There is a way in which some of my images get a huge amount of likes because they are taboo.’
Censorship
The work you present (including the project Sovereign) shows women of all ages and body types nude. It's a project that touches a significant subject of acceptance through diversity. Though, publishing on social media channels as Instagram forces pixelate the images. Do you think the current state of forced censorship impedes or slows down the way towards universal acceptance?
It’s funny the way a taboo can also empower a subject or idea. There is a way in which some of my images get a huge amount of likes because they are taboo. I’m not sure the blurring of the nipples really makes a difference in the big picture. It is more the fact that I’m showing images of women who are over 60 naked. There are very few images like this of naked older women in public forums anywhere. In the end, I’m ironically thankful to IG because it is allowing me to show these images of older women to 25k people at a time. Do I wish I didn’t have to blur these beautiful women’s nipples? Yes, of course, and it seems absurd given you really can see everything else, but I wouldn’t trade the opportunity to show this work so quickly to so many people. It’s been very satisfying.
‘What both terrified and captivated me was the idea that a person (a human body) could experience a raw and frightening transformation — from human to vampire, zombie, or ghost; that a human being could be “normal” one day, and then a horrifying, powerful creature the next.’
Horror Films
To quote one of your memories, “It was the early 70’s. I was fascinated by shape shifting creatures, mostly women, that emerged from lakes and oceans. They were powerful and immortal; seductresses, sirens, zombies and witches.” Which horror films made the most powerful impact on you as a kid?
For better or worse, I watched a lot of horror films in the 70’s — some were the black and white films like Frankenstein, Attack of the 50 Foot Women, Night of the Living Dead, as well as films like Don’t Look Now and The Exorcist. What both terrified and captivated me was the idea that a person (a human body) could experience a raw and frightening transformation — from human to vampire, zombie, or ghost; that a human being could be “normal” one day, and then a horrifying, powerful creature the next.
How do you think those impressions shaped your aesthetic approach in photography?
The potential instability of this, but also the power in it, resonated with a part of me that wanted to believe in something greater than the world I saw in front of me. I wanted to believe in myth and magic. Horror films give you that opportunity. Although the transformation was terrifying to me, I couldn’t look away. I also think it was an early introduction to surrealism. I love surrealism, and the transformed body is surreal. I think that speaks to my current work a lot.
‘What the photograph also tells us is something about the nature of the person and the way they live their life: their age based on the quality of their skin, how they sleep in bed depending on where the face wrinkles, if they worry, are tired (eyes are glistening), awkward (blushing) or if they drink too much alcohol.’
Life and Death
Another theme that recurs in your work is life and death presented as two distinct subjects, yet always particles of one merge into the other. Nature has become a subject of itself, with its powerful presence in the images, through color and juxtaposition with the person, symbolizing the circle of life. How did the changes in medium and the genres of photography you work in, influence the way you portray those subjects?
Photography is very good at capturing facts: the quality of the skin, wrinkles, surface discoloration, weight of material due to its response to gravity. A photograph can be about one thing, for example, a portrait of a famous author in their living room, where you can see all the intended information clearly: the author looking authorial, the bookshelf, the desk, the living area staged for the photoshoot. But what the photograph also tells us is something about the nature of the person and the way they live their life: their age based on the quality of their skin, how they sleep in bed depending on where the face wrinkles, if they worry, are tired (eyes are glistening), awkward (blushing) or if they drink too much alcohol. The skin and body can tell stories that at first aren’t intended to be told.
When I photograph the rotting fruit in tubs of water, the photographs are metaphors for our own transformation and aging. There is lightness and gravity, beauty and rot. These are not inherently good or bad, but simply a fact of life. I do photograph young people, but I’m more interested in photographing middle age and beyond from the perspective that our bodies have more stories to tell as we age.
Upcoming Projects
What is a current project you’re working on now?
I’m working on very surreal portraits of naked women in nature. I’m working with younger women now because it’s pretty athletic. My models are in the woods at night or the ocean at night. It’s hard work for them, and I’m super grateful. It’s very collaborative, and you never know what you’re going to get until the film comes back, because it’s dark and we are using flash. The images are really exciting and strange and surreal.
I am also promoting my new book Sovereign, which comes out in November. The book is also images of women over 60 naked. It feels like an important mission, to share these images with the world.
