I was born into a Catholic, right-wing family in a small fishing town in Galicia. Sexism was the default setting. My personal revolution reached a tremendous turning point when my mother, came to a photographic exhibition of mine in Madrid, when I was twenty-four, and witnessed the large self-portrait prints; her daughter naked, in intimate and erotic poses. She was deeply shocked, yet this heralded a moment of change, not just for me, but, wonderfully, for her too. Some of these photographs are now proudly and permanently displayed in her living-room.
Fast-forward to me being the only few women photographers to shoot covers for Playboy in Spain. The irony of this is not lost on me. Here I was, photographing women, telling them what to do, objectifying them. So far, so inevitable, yet I don't regret it, as the experience strongly influenced my development both as a photographer and an artist. Simultaneously, I was beginning to intuit what was truly feminine. I started feeling that the women I was photographing were really like me; "feminine". They accepted their femininity as a natural way of being, along with the power that accompanied it. I found this very attractive, yet it led to a degree of confusion over my sexuality.
Now, as an artist, and after many years of being a photographer, seeing these definitions of sexuality, especially of masculinity, I'm enjoying being a woman who has no fear of tearing off the labels, and exploring the infinite ideas that people see in themselves. This project it doesn’t promote a particular viewpoint; it's about discovering who people are regardless of their labels.
© 2024 Antonia Penia. All Rights Reserved
