Self-Images: 100 Women

The majority of nudes have been women seen through the eyes of men--endless variations on the usual themes of the virgin, the whore, the mother, and other myths. In this project, 100 women photographed themselves nude, thus creating a radically different view of the female nude. Rival's concept was to use a bare white room with even lighting and to allow the subjects to use a remote shutter release. In addition to this artistic control, they decided on the final selection of the images. Ranging from the serious to the comic to the fantastic, the images are unmistakably down-to-earth as the women revel in the power of their unglamorized beauty.