November 16, 2024 – December 14, 2024
Works from the series: Another Weeping Woman 2022 -2023
In Another Weeping Woman Diana Sosnowska creates staged self-portraits which draw inspiration from contemporary literature and cinema. Her practice lies between performative and stage-set photography, her often-voyeuristic lens inviting a reflection on the influence of visual culture on our perceptions of gender and selfhood. She investigates the social perception of women by portraying a recurring and idealized female character, within scenes whose settings echo a movie set. The use of lighting and costumes leaves space for gestures and reinforces a cinematic allusion throughout her photographic work.
In the photographs the different characters show their vulnerabilities and project them back to the viewer, creating an atmosphere of alienation. Many of the locations hold a Lynchian quality; nonplaces such as motel rooms and parking lots expressing the loneliness of urban existence. By positioning herself as both narrator and subject, Sosnowska invites the viewer to enter the image to share the roles of viewer and viewed and to question what it takes to participate in someone else’s desires.
‘Her work is wonderful! A mash up of Eggleston, Sherman, Crewdson and Alex Prager! I really like it a lot.’
Zelda Cheatle, UK Independent Photography Curator.
This exhibition has been made possible thanks to Studies in Photography Gallery.
EVENT: No31 Gallery is also screening Paris Texas, Wim Wenders’ classic 1984 film in conjunction with Diana Sosnowska’s exhibition – see more details here.
