A Grassy Park photographer has co-ordinated an exhibition to highlight the discomfort faced by women in society.
Jared Swarts, 25, hosted the exhibition titled GirlxUntitled at the Old Castle Brewery in Woodstock on October 27.
Jared said the concept for GirlxUntitled came to him while he was sitting at work one day and the statement, “The innocence of not knowing, the bliss of not being known” kept running through his mind.
“The idea behind that line was, how much better would life be for a woman coming into this world and how beautiful it would be, to not be known so that labels and expectations can no longer be placed against you for being a woman,” says Jared.
He and assistant photographer and blogger, Anke Houtzamer, also from Grassy Park, spent hours working on shoots and locations with poet and photo model Raisa Moola for the exhibition and the trio incorporated all their ideas
into creating the GirlxUntitled collection. Jared said GirlxUntitled is made up of three
collections which were exhi-
bited.
“The first collection showcasing innocence, features oceanic scenes and a white dress to portray purity and the concept of ‘not knowing’. The second collection called ‘sentience’ features a forest and clothing choices, showing that the innocence started drifting and the last collection is called ‘Untitled’ which showcases how the innocence is completely lost, the paint across her face shows how the girl now has to deal with societal pressures, uneasy stares and most importantly, how she now faces the struggles and complexities of her womanhood in this world,” says Jared.
All proceeds from the exhibition were donated to the Novalis Ubuntu Institute, an educational NPO in Wyn-
berg.
