Zayira Ray Photography — Topographies

Artist statement

Topographies is a photography series documenting body sculptures by Pakistani designer Misha Japanwala . Through these photographs, the viewer's preconceived notions of bodily lumps, rolls, and fat are challenged by instead viewing the body as a landscape composed of color-blocking, geometry, and texture, akin to organic shapes. The project celebrates "bodies with natural rolls, lumps, and fat—creating casts of the human form that encourage us to collectively identify and release shame. While different types of bodies are often described in terms that criticize and scrutinize, various types of land are neutral in their difference, instead, often praising the great diversity of the earth—be it rugged rock, rolling hills, or rippling tides. " (Misha Japanwala). Topographies transforms the human form into “a dynamic and shifting natural formation": fluid, vivid, and alive. The photographs reframes what we are conditioned not to see—offering a way to see and appreciate the human form differently, hidden in plain sight.