The Photo Studio
A project in the context of the focus Academy | Art | Public Sphere at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Photo studios are spaces in which normative structures of our society, in particular in terms of gender, sexuality and body, become visible in a more compact form. In the shop windows of these studios, the highlights of the (heterosexual) family biography are often presented.
At the same time, one often encounters stereotypical depictions of femininity and masculinity regarding the subjects shown, poses, facial expressions, image composition, etc. Lisa Großkopf uses this stage to humorously challenge established images of gender and family.
In her installation Das Fotostudio (The Photo Studio), she temporarily turns store windows of vacant shops into supposed photo studios. The interior of these fake photo studios is reminiscent of conventional photo studios, but in contrast to these, the artist displays counter-hegemonic, queer imagery. In this way, everyday realities such as heteronormativity, gender binary and ideals of beauty are deconstructed. "Das Fotostudio" (The Photo Studio) thus displays contemporary discourses.
Through the medium of photography, to which the claim of true-to-life documentation has always been attributed and which shapes and co-constructs our perception every day, the imitation of a photo studio becomes a means of critical questioning the perception of reality.
