Think of the term “artist’s muse” and chances are an image of a submissive nude woman sprawled across a chaise longue in an older male artist’s studio — à la Renoir, Picasso, and Matisse — comes to mind. New York based photographer Brianna Capozzi, however, presents an altogether different notion of the artist’s muse in her new photobook, Well Behaved Women, recently published by IDEA. Featuring eight models including, cult cool girl Chloë Sevigny, Belgian model and intersex activist Hanne Gaby Odiele, as well as the photographer’s mother, Marie Capozzi, this captivating monograph — according to Capozzi — was “based on a group of women who are a huge inspiration” to her. Well Behaved Women comprises a daring selection of portraits of Capozzi’s “muses”, but these women are so much more than the lolling sexualised beings of artistic tradition. In contrast, Capozzi presents her models as multidimensional women, full of conflicting emotions and energetic impulses, and bursting with a fierce, vibrant spirit that is not so easily tamed. Where traditionally the muse was no more than a passive object, Capozzi’s muses are fearless, animated individuals, whose vivid interiority she masterfully captures on camera.
"These women are true risk takers, unafraid to experiment and go beyond their comfort zone."
- In a sea of images aimed at a heterosexual male gaze, Capozzi’s style of photography stands out for its ability to emcompass the contradictions and complexity of womanhood. Although nudity features widely in Well Behaved Women, it is not of the prescriptive or reductive variety, instead it’s sensual and unselfconscious. Caught through Capozzi’s lens, nudity is natural, spontaneous and relaxed, a sort of “so what” to the artificial, charged and hyper-erotic way in which women’s naked bodies are ordinarily presented in art and in the media. Of course, Capozzi’s choice of models is integral here, most of whom she has known for many years. She lenses long-time muse Sevigny, for example, in a variety of surreal and playful poses that encapsulate the actress’s creative and humorous character. Capozzi regards the book as a collaboration with “women who who live to push boundaries”. “These women are true risk takers, unafraid to experiment and go beyond their comfort zone,” she confirms. A sense of intimacy and personal connection is palpable on the pages of Well Behaved Women, particularly in a startling image of the photographer’s mother. Here, Marie Capozzi looks boldly at the camera with gritted teeth, hands in hair and a leg arched over a bed. In such a photograph, the title of the book reveals itself to be audaciously ironic: these are not so much women who are well behaved and obedient as much as they are rebellious and irrepressible; these are women as they truly are.
“Well Behaved Women” by Brianna Capozzi is now available from IDEA.
Images courtesy of Brianna Capozzi and IDEA.