Photography exhibit focuses attention on our relationships with our bodies

The genesis for the Embodied exhibit came from a photography project in which Georgia College & State University (GCSU) senior Anne Elise Beals and Women’s Center Practicum Student Regan Mitchell invited women who had been catcalled to sit for a portrait and talk about how it impacted them. 

Catcalling is the practice of, predominantly, men whistling or yelling gratuitous comments, usually of a sexual nature, at women as they pass by on the street. 

Beals, who has been the target of catcalling, said it is an almost universal experience for women. In that universality, the harmful impact catcalling has on the individual is lost on the men and boys who see catcalling as an expression of their masculinity or a right-of-passage.

“I think people need to understand that just because you're not physically assaulting someone, verbal harassment is still so impactful on people's well-being and on people's perception of themselves,” Beals said. “Catcalling makes people feel responsible for other people's perception of them, it makes them want to cover up, it makes them feel like they have to retract into themselves and hide parts of themselves. Those are things that nobody should ever feel.”

Beals hoped portrait photography could engage audiences in a conversation about this practice that is often minimized as a crude part of the culture. In the project, Bobcats Call Back, Beals and Mitchell asked participants to pose for two portraits. 

“The aim of my portraits was to capture the feelings somebody has before and after catcalling,” she said. “Before, you're just going about your day, you're probably in a pretty good mood, and then the after[math] of, you know, confusion, anger, frustration, capturing all those sorts of emotions and the ways in which, even though catcalling is a small sort of experience, it can be really disruptive and transformative in a negative way.”

By putting a face to the harmful impact of catcalling, Beals wants audiences to form connections with the portrait subjects that compel them to eliminate behavior that subjugates people based on any number of subjective qualities.

But in the process of chronicling the negative effects of catcalling, Beals saw the opportunity for a larger conversation about how our relationships with our bodies are shaped both negatively and positively.

Working with Seth Cook, lecturer of photography in the GCSU Art Department, Beals put out a call for photographs that explore how our relationship with our bodies is affected by culture, societal expectations and the very language we use to talk about our physical selves.

“[Embodied] looks at the ways in which the conversations we have, the language we use—maybe [the] identity or labels that we use—impact our bodies, impact our relationship with our bodies and impact the way we as people are able to move throughout the world,” Beals said.

The result is a group exhibit of eight student photographers sharing gorgeous, thought-provoking imagery that encourages audiences to reconsider their relationship with their body and be more mindful about the outside influences affecting that bond.

“I just want people to have that conversation—maybe just with themselves or with other people—about the ways in which their perspective, or their feelings, about their bodies have been influenced by society at large or by specific experiences,” Beals said. “I’d like to encourage them to find different ways to celebrate their body and speak to themselves kindly about their body as well.”

The Embodied exhibit premieres on Thursday, Nov. 17 with an opening reception between 6 and 8 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts in the Underwood House, located at the corner of North Columbia and Hancock streets. Embodied will be on display through Dec. 2, 2022.