Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

When photographer Craig Doty, better known for his male homoerotic tableaux, turned his attention to women he did not focus on traditional depictions of feminine beauty but on human vulnerability. This staged scene of a wet, possibly nude, figure looking past the viewer with clenched teeth raises many questions about the situation. Like Cindy Sherman’s film stills and Gregory Crewdson’s suburban interiors, Doty’s unsettling image situates the spectator as witness to a private moment. While the meaning is left intentionally ambiguous, the setting’s gold brocade curtain and large leather couch, as well as the lowered position of the sitter, suggest an uneven (and potentially dangerous) power dynamic.