Susan Fenton
Fenton studied painting at the Tyler School of Art and Temple University, and received her MFA from Rutgers University in 1980. She is an internationally known photographer whose work is included in the permanent collection of The Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, North Dakota Museum of Art, and the Federal Reserve Bank, among others.
Fenton's black and white photographs are hand-painted and exhibit the quality of a still life photograph, only using the human figure as her prop. She also creates forms which she constructs around the model using found objects or reconstructed clothing. She delves into the connection between fetishism of fashion and the effects, visually, of concealing and/ or exposing parts of the body. Her subject matter has been greatly affected by the many different cultures she has been exposed to, having lived in both Japan and Italy for several years. As most cultures have experienced the impact of the fashion industry and its control over the human mind, Fenton's images address the very concept of "body image, gender identity, and ethnicity."
Fenton's black and white photographs are hand-painted and exhibit the quality of a still life photograph, only using the human figure as her prop. She also creates forms which she constructs around the model using found objects or reconstructed clothing. She delves into the connection between fetishism of fashion and the effects, visually, of concealing and/ or exposing parts of the body. Her subject matter has been greatly affected by the many different cultures she has been exposed to, having lived in both Japan and Italy for several years. As most cultures have experienced the impact of the fashion industry and its control over the human mind, Fenton's images address the very concept of "body image, gender identity, and ethnicity."
