(great) Expectations is a series of portrait and still life photographs that explore the notion of
conforming to the societal expectations of femininity. Through the portrayal of those roles typically
perceived as belonging to women, the series aims to explore the conflicts that arise between an
individual’s desires and those stereotyped as the feminine ideal.
The female protagonist in the portrait images searches for a sense of self and belonging through
the pursuit of beauty standards held up as society’s ideals of perfection. The narratives convey
the need to transcend these archaic expectations of femininity that enter into conflict with
discovering a sense of self and what it means to be female. The still life photographs then
compound these expectations that manage to exist with only the idea of the female, instead of a
woman’s physical presence and her real, material wants and needs.
(great) Expectations is inspired by the 1950s, an era in which women were shaped into becoming
a saccharine image of the perfect wife and mother, and thereby the perfect woman. The pursuit of
this unattainable ideal of the female identity, often in reality, led to women experiencing intense
feelings of loneliness and isolation. Such emotions lead to conflicting reactions of ambivalence
and defiance as the protagonist is overwhelmed by the social pressure to conform to the female
ideal. The narratives created in this series aim to convey how the claustrophobia implicit in such
an era of superficial perfection continues to be experienced by the protagonist even in present
day society.
Vicky Martin
Vicky Martin is an award winning British photographer with a background in art and design. She
is best known for her conceptual portraits depicting the conflict between themes of fantasy and
reality as well as strength and vulnerability, especially in relation to the female experience.
Vicky intertwines her created characters with staged realities, which seek to convey the tension
and conflicts found within the self. Using the lens of strong female characters, she explores such
themes of conflict, including: conformity to stereotypical, societal expectations of femininity,
rebellion against traditional female roles, vulnerability, self-doubt, courage, and tenacity. Whilst all
her works contribute to the narrative framework developed across her series', they also each
depict an element of ambiguity that the viewer is invited to interpret in relation to themselves and
their unique perception of the world.
Her work is held in the permanent collection of FotoNostrum Mediterranean House of
Photography in Barcelona, she has been widely published and exhibited nationally and
internationally, from Europe to the USA in solo and group shows and her work continues to garner
many awards and nominations which include Winner of the Praxis Gallery Anthology Directors'
Choice Award 2024, XIV Florence Biennale Finalist 2023, Portrait Photographer of The Year 2020
at the Minimalist Photography Awards, Finalist at the Lensculture Art Photography Awards 2019,
Winner of the Professional Beauty and Fashion Category at the Chromatic Awards 2018, Winner
of the All About Photo Magazine Colors issue 2018, Winner of the Single Image in the
Professional Fine Art Category at the 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018 and Winner of
the Professional Fine Art Series at 2016 Fine Art Photography Awards.
vickymartinphoto.co.uk
@vickymartinphoto
All about Vicky Martin
