Author | Annie Malamet
“Most of all I am drawn to difference, and want to see beautiful images of women transgressing racist and patriarchal standards.”
Will Brower is a young photographer at NYU Tisch School of the Arts whose work has already been featured in media outlets such as The Huffington Post and Original Plumbing. In the past she has also collaborated with Harrison Koiwai to produce an editorial featuring Juliana Huxtable, Ben sands, Daniel Abbott, and Hari Nef (sample below).
Recently, Will directed and filmed trans woman rapper Quay Dash’s first music video, a cute, hard as fuck, kitschy throwback to 90s rap videos that feature female MCs chilling with their squads in various locales. Will’s style is at once refined and low-tech, utilizing clean lighting, traditional studio portraiture tropes, and low-fi camera equipment.
“I’m most interested in trans femininity and all kinds of feminine people,” Will says. “I’m learning a lot about how I express myself as femme and what feels good to me, so I like to make pictures
of myself to explore those feelings further.” Women’s Section, a series of self-portraits featuring the artist in various clothing stores examining herself in the mirror or contemplating traditionally feminine objects, explores this tension directly.
Another self-portrait project, Research, examines the ways in which one can become “feminine.” My favorite photo from this series depicts a manicure being given on top of a pile of feminist psychology texts.
In her series Mom Clothes, Will has dressed her models in typically “unflattering” or “dowdy” clothes. The feminine people in this series are of varied races, bodies, and genders and Will has managed to portray her subjects as high fashion models. “When I think I look cute in a picture of myself, it helps me feel confident, which is something I struggle with some days. Sometimes I want to look at myself and other girls under flattering light, and see the details of their faces and how they want to be.”
Ultimately, Will’s current practice focuses on trans women/femininity in all it’s varied splendor. Her decision to work with so many trans figures/models is an inherently radical act: Will is interested in a femininity that subverts. “Trans women have very striking faces, and I think we’re so beautiful in complex ways. I’m interested in examining misogyny, and how it simplifies and commodifies the ways women choose to express themselves. Most of all I am drawn to difference, and want to see beautiful images of women transgressing racist and patriarchal standards.”
