Shifting (Sever)ity is part of a photographic series that investigates the difficulty of imaging and making lesbian lifestyles public. I observe as an artist and member of the lesbian community that such lifestyles often entail either painful secrecy or the brash exposure or exhibition of those lifestyles in crude, exposed, shocking and activistic images. In my work I thematise the difficulty, effort and strain experienced by lesbians to be acknowledged in society through images. I investigate if the medium of the artwork can suggest difficulty and strain, and if this can initiate an inner dialogue with the spectator in order to draw attention to the lesbian subject matter he or she is witnessing.

Shifting (Sever)ity initiates a dialogue with the spectator by slowing down the process of interpretation, inviting the viewer into a space of contemplation, consideration and re-evaluation of cultural, religious, ethical and moral ideologies connected to lesbian subject matter and lifestyles in South Africa. By severing or obscuring the initial identity of the female figure in an attempt to shift stereotypical beliefs, the phrase I like girls that like girls subtly comments on acknowledgement of sexual orientation without the platform to shame and criticise. The absorptive quality of the photographic medium aids in the process of shifting preconceived notions by slowing down the passing of time as the female figure is either in a position of confrontationally standing up or passively sitting down.

In the hopes of inspiring self-awareness in the spectator as a witness to a powerful and controversial subject matter in a conservative society, I pose the following question: Could this slowing down of the interpretation process allow the spectator or participant inner contemplation and inspire self-awareness in the participant/spectator to become a witness who is implicated to revise previously installed belief systems and ideologies?