Shana Dennis

Reflections on a Female Body in the Instagram Era

Confronting sexualization with the rawness of emotional expression

“What are other women really thinking, feeling, experiencing, when they slip away from the gaze and culture of men?”
― Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth

« A perfect lie » by Engine Room, the soundtrack of the famous series Nip Tuck was constantly on my mind when I was thinking about this subject: the desire to be validated, the need to be seen as beautiful. I don’t think it is an understatement to say that we, especially females, are all concerned with the idea of beauty and social desirability. Concerned if we want to stay in the game. We have a choice to get out, with a high price to pay though.

When I approached Shana with this interview proposal, I was completely consumed by the feminist influences of Simone de Beauvoir or Camille Froidevaux-Metterie, but the actual reality seems to be much more nuanced than the paradigm of male domination. Women are becoming the leaders in this false, filtered Instagram-worthy narrative of desirability dictatorship, especially with the rise of social media influence.

As someone who is photographing herself in a way that is unrestrained and dauntless, I was interested to understand how Shana manages to express her artistic identity, both visually and through her spoken word poetry, in a space where presenting something is more important than being someone.

The photographic work of the Newcastle based artist Shana Dennis is primarily focused on expressing her deepest emotional states. The sense of feeling is conveyed by repetition, long exposure techniques, color, imaginative composition, and make-up. There is a something of a gothic-erotic pinch of Irina Ionesco in her photos, although she largely exceeds the realm of erotic in her work. Shana’s surrealist images are visual poetry, capturing the complexity of a female soul in a dreamlike way that taps into our unconscious.

Ana:

First and foremost, how and when did you start photographing yourself ? What was the initial idea behind it and what is the message you tried to convey ?

Shana:

My first self portrait taken was back in 2013, it was a series of 9 images, all but one being long exposures. The reason for turning the camera on myself was I was available to model anytime I needed. I would normally shoot other people. But at the time I grew tired trying to organize people and line up days that would work for everyone. I personally never found myself particularly attractive, I almost disliked every photo taken of me by other people but I was ready to try something new.

The series was called “Once More With Feeling”. Tt conveyed a series of emotions. I am a very deep person and really am fascinated with emotions and expressing them as a form of therapy. I am not going to lie, it was a confronting experience and still is most days I photograph myself. To this day 9 years on, communicating my emotions through photography is still my main focus.

Ana:

Do you think that female artists, or females in general, ever expose their bodies completely free of the male gaze ? If the answer is no, how did you manage to free yourself from the desirability standards imposed by society, especially the patriarchal male-dominated one ?

Shana:

I don’t believe we can ever free ourselves completely from the male gaze. I believe there is always a part of us that would like some attention from the gaze of all genders for some form of validation that we or our body is beautiful. I believe anytime we dress well or put ourselves out there in any way it is for the gaze of others.

I can’t say I am personally free of it, or if I will ever be free from the desirability standards placed on us as a society. I still get incredibly insecure at times that my body is and will not be desirable enough for the opposite sex, especially in this current climate where cosmetic procedures are the beauty trend /standard right now. This insecurity has really intensified now I am single for the first time in 17 years. I never really thought so hard about it before. I accepted my awkward body and what I believed to be my ugly self as is. I certainly didn’t love or appreciate my body, or found it particularly sexy, but it was mine and did all the things it was supposed to do.

Once I realized that it’s not me or my body that is the problem, that it was the current beauty standards placed on us along with algorithms on social media reinforcing it, I felt more grounded in myself. The problem with all this reinforcement with “likes” & “Comments” on women that have had the work done or over-sexualising themselves is that the women that don’t start to feel less than and start to believe the only way to be worth anything is to follow the current trends. I have no issue with people wanting to get cosmetic procedures if they have a genuine insecurity, or women feeling and communicating a sexual connection to self, I mean look at my work. I do however have an issue with cosmetic procedures and over-sexualisation of women happening more often. The dopamine hit is addictive with social media and it’s the driving force behind what I believe is causing the worst body dysmorphia we have ever seen.

Ana:

Is being objectified or sexualized online something you assume completely and how do you protect yourself from it ?

Shana:

I think I will always be objectified or sexualised to some extent by a particular type of person. However, I am lucky enough to have a lot of artists that follow me who have more appreciation for the human form itself, not just for something that is purely put out there for sexual gratification. The complexity of my work as a whole and what I write in the captions especially on instagram is a form of protection in itself. My work is an in-depth look into my thoughts and feelings. It’s not meant to be black and white or set to a theme of sexualising myself. So therefore I usually don’t attract people that cannot handle all these deep thoughts and feelings.

Ana:

What was your relationship with your body growing up ? Did you experience any body dysmorphia issues ?

Shana:

As someone that was adopted from India and went to a primary school being the only dark skin girl there for a long time, I found I disliked the color of my skin intensely. I always believed if I was white, I would have been liked by others better. I would have been more attractive in high school to the opposite sex. My parents always called me beautiful growing up but that didn’t stop me from feeling not enough. I hated my nose and I also thought my breasts were too small. In my later years. I would often call myself ugly and sometimes still do call myself ugly. I am getting better though so there is progress, even if it is slow.

Ana:

For Simone de Beauvoir, this endless battle of searching for beauty, trying to obtain the »ideal », is actually a symptom of male domination ? Do you think we are ever really free from this pursuit? How do you view beauty and do you think that we are living in a time, especially with the influence of social media and different body positive movements, when it gets redefined ?

Shana:

I don’t believe we will ever be free of it as it has been ingrained into us since before any of us were born. I have found (which may be an unpopular opinion) that women are currently the drivers of the beauty trends and standards. Men just reinforce it in their own ways
along with social media algorithms. We are living in a very strange time where body positivity is so much more accepted and loved in our society, yet cosmetic procedures are now very normalized and young women are taking out large loans for breast implants and BBLs along with doing minor procedures such as lip filler and botox. I find it all overwhelming if I think about it too much.

On one hand we have women who are constantly doing the work to have self acceptance of their own body and sharing that with the world. On the other we have women feeling like the only way for acceptance is to completely change themselves for what the trends are. This I find really alarming now. I have removed myself from feeling like I need to do that for acceptance of others and myself. Because this isn’t about just having a style of makeup or clothing that fit a current trend, it’s going through surgical procedures to reach a standard of which you feel you need to be defined by.

The only way we could ever be free of beauty dictatorship is for us all to accept our body as it is. A beautiful machine of working parts that bends and moves, that is sexy no matter the age, race or shape. But that takes a lot of work from all genders and I don’t believe that we will ever reach that point. I do hope we as a collective get better eventually for our own sake and for future generations.

Ana:

In what way do female artists, or females in general inspire you today ?

Shana:

The most inspiring people I have found are the ones that are not afraid to share their most complex self, their flaws, their vulnerability and the beauty and vulnerability in others.

Ana:

If you could choose one of your favorite photos up to this day what would it be ? Could you tell us the story behind it ?

Shana:

SoulMates Never Die – which is a long exposure self portrait. It features me and the face of a male lover pressed up against my face that I have not yet met. I have never had such an experience before where it would look as though there was another face other than my own appear in a long exposure. So I find this image incredibly moving and special to me.

Ana:

I am often thinking about the dangers of hypersexualization that women are inflicting upon themselves. There is a trap between the wish to express ourselves in an ostentatious, liberating way, and the trap where it conveys a message of openness to exploitation. To become free should we not primarily overcome the « body » and concentrate more on other aspects of our identity ? I have the same issue with the body positive protagonists where they endlessly preach « I am more than my body » but then all that they showcase are superficial elements of their appearance.

Shana:

As someone that now uses my body as the subject of my photography work I do find the lines blurry at times. Hyper-sexualization bothers me a lot as well. First it was because I was insecure, I felt like I wasn’t sexual enough online for popularity or men. Now it’s a big concern that this is all that is being promoted and pushed onto us online for both males and females. We along with the algorithms are reinforcing that our body or a lavish lifestyle is the thing that is going to lead us to fame, popularity and acceptance. Unfortunately the algorithms have proved that it does. This makes it worse for the younger generations, regarding unrealistic expectations when it comes to the human body, sex and what kind of life is worth living .

Our identity should not be based around our physical looks or material possessions. We are doing a disservice to ourselves if that is what we believe is the most valuable thing to put out into the world. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the complexity of humans and human nature and there are so many more things we could be doing to show a more complete version of ourselves online that will impact each other in a more positive way.

Ana:

Are you at peace with your body today and what advice would you share in overcoming any issues related to body acceptance ?

Shana:

I am absolutely not at peace with my body, and don’t think I ever will be. I can, however, try to move through the changes of my body hopefully with a little more grace now, even if I shed a few tears along the way.

The best advice I can give that helped me is to seek out and follow art models of different ages, shapes and sizes online. Not instagram models. This is what changed my perception of my body and helped me accept and appreciate my body more. Following artists that create work showcasing all different women, body shapes, ages and sizes is also good for self-esteem and soul.

Ana:

I find something mystical in your long exposure self-portraits, like « The Aspects Of My Divinity », one of the 25 photographs selected as a part of the 2022 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize. It is sort of a modern inspired Devi standing fiercely in her power but also showing expressions of consciousness. Where do you stand when it comes to mysticism or spirituality?

Shana:

I’m not a spiritual artist, more an artist that looks at the complexities of self. We are all divine in our own way while simultaneously being awful, flawed human beings that make mistakes in life. We all have those moments of god/goddess like feats and moments of darkness and despair. We are anything and everything at once. We can feel multiple things at the same time. I cannot communicate with myself any other way. Every word I write and image I take is put up with complete honesty. Sometimes I feel like I am too honest in my emotions. But what you see is who I am in my entirety laid out in front of you online. I am graceful, jarring, hurtful, loving, full of goddess-like energy curled in a ball covered in tears.

Ana:

Lastly, is there any message you would like to leave to artists struggling with their own female identity and how could they empower themselves ?

Shana:

Go take some life drawing classes, follow art models and other artists that create bodies of work that are of women of all ages shapes and sizes. Buy some lingerie and take selfies in it, even if it’s just for your eyes only. All us women of all ages, shapes and sizes are beautiful beings. We just tend to forget that sometimes. Also try not to be afraid to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is a strength not a weakness,harnessed right in art can make powerful work.

More about the artist:

Instagram: Shana Dennis @shanadennisartist

linktr.ee/shanadennis

Shana Dennis

Reflections on a Female Body in the Instagram Era

Confronting sexualization with the rawness of emotional expression

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