This photograph is very simply constructed, with a simple background, lighting and colour palette that connote clinical and clean environments, representing certain aspects of the beauty industry. From an audiences perspective, by Miyaziki looking directly at the viewer, it seems like an intrusion of privacy and gives the unwanted impression of scopophilia while also, Miyazaki has caught the audience out on the act of peering in on her. The direction of light also adds to the the illusion of intrusion. The light hits the subjects front on and from the same direction of the viewer.

This self portrait was taken by Japanese working artist Izumi Miyazaki which simply depicts her turning to look at the camera while peeling an apple with a pink razor blade. This simple and abstract action carries different connotations of a ‘traditional’ female role; the razor blade and the apple, blending two sides of a suppressed and idealized female; beauty and domestic life. The razor blade is a tool used by many women to remove their natural hair on their own bodies, simply because of beauty standards that have been created all around the world in different societies that are constantly reinforced by advertising and the media. The apple could indicate the suppressed domestic female role, an idealized role depicted throughout history, particularly post WW2 in western society. Women had experienced working in dominated male industries due to the lack of workers because of the war,  yet when the war was over many women were pushed out of work and subliminally forced to stay in their traditional domestic roles through advertisements commissioned by the Government.  These advertisements conveyed women satisfied, content and happy from everyday domestic appliances that seemed to make their domestic lives easier, for example a dishwasher. These advertisements were aimed at women, reinforcing pre war mindsets and attitudes towards women and setting ideologies of their roles in society. As a female from a western society, these are the sort of connotations I receive from Miyakzaki’s picture, a blend of two dominant ideologies based around women thrown together with a bi-product of humor – commenting on the ridiculousness of these standards. Attitudes towards women and feminism has changed radically since the beginnings of its movement, the fight for equality between the two sexes are not seen as urgent as they used to. The word feminism is constantly disregarded by everyone due to the change of meaning the word now carries. Although its definition hasn’t changed, the word has been misused and it now carries a bad reputation. I don’t think Miyazaki has purposely created this image with a feminist message, most contemporary photographers will comment of blatantly obvious issues in the world. Attaching the word feminist to any piece of art usually disrupts the incentive of the image as the meaning of the word has been disrupted itself.