Two Ways to Carry a Cauliflower

Two Ways to Carry a Cauliflower (2021-) is a performative photography series exploring women’s self-portraiture. To free the subject (and the gaze) from certain patriarchal ideals of femininity, Emma Sarpaniemi creates a playful and tender representation using herself as the character to behave, look and perform on her own terms and rules. In the new photographs the character steps out of the studio-like setting and moves to a different kind of environment to create peculiar scenes. The character is placed in familiar environments, which brings the viewer closer to the subject’s world. The photographs are moments of intimacy and play between the character and the viewer.