Do You See What I See?:
Women's Bodies in Advertising

Adrienne Moumin
For-profit concerns have defined the boundaries between what is public and private. We are therefore helpless in determining when, or whether, to be exposed to such mass media imagery. The impotence I felt while repeatedly subjected to these images made me pick up my camera, in an effort to regain what had somehow been taken from me. I soon realized that the issues of theft and boundaries ran deeper than I knew, as numerous merchants attempted to prevent me from documenting their window displays.

My goal for this work is to call attention to advertisers’ (and those who profit from renting them space) arrogating to themselves the right to disseminate such images in public spaces. They have assumed the authority to define and control representation of women in public places—and have done so in a manner which, not very long ago, would have been considered humiliating and degrading. I believe that this project helps to equalize the balance of power between corporate interests and the “silent masses.” Re-Tag:...