Amelie Gruhn, 20

What Makes a Man? What Makes a Woman?

Info:

What actually makes a man or a woman? Why is there so much sexual bullying? The young artist and designer from Saxony gets to the bottom of these questions. She chooses the moving image to present the topic of sexism. The video allows her to convey the experiences of those portrayed. Amelie Gruhn spoke with many people of different ages, genders and cultural backgrounds about their experiences of sexism. After the conversation, Amelie asked the people in the picture to look into the camera for a few seconds. While doing so, they were asked to think about what happened to them. We look into faces that in turn look directly at us. But the people in the picture do not see the viewer. They have experiences in mind that they had to endure. Amelie Gruhn succeeds in capturing intense, intimate eye gazes with her portrait video. In a moving way, they give us an impression of who these people are and how they feel. The gossamer handwritten letters tell of the subjects‘ experiences. They slide into the picture, further and further in, until they enclose the person‘s head. Just like when it happened. At the same time, female and male stereotypes pelt us from the audio track above. Steadily like raindrops. They come from other people interviewed. And they vividly show that the phenomenon of sexism has many faces. Amelie knows that we can only change things if we talk openly about it.

Über den Künstler

Amelie Gruhn

20 Jahre

Der Künstler über Demokratie und Frieden

Hi, mein Name ist Amelie, und ich studiere Design. Auch in meiner Freizeit bin ich am liebsten künstlerisch aktiv. Ich probiere viele verschiedene Techniken aus; zum Beispiel arbeite ich mit Aquarell, Acryl, digital oder mit dem Bleistift. Meine Leidenschaft aber ist das Fotografieren. Fotos ermöglichen mir, meine Sichtweise auf die Welt mit anderen Menschen zu teilen. Ich arbeite fotografisch, um Menschen auf Probleme aufmerksam zu machen, die mich stark beschäftigen – etwa Klimawandel, Massentierhaltung, Intoleranz, Homophobie und im Falle unseres „better together“-Projekts: Sexismus. Er kommt überall auf der Welt vor. Und jedem Menschen kann Sexismus begegnen. Meine Hoffnung ist, dass ich viele zum Nachdenken bringe und sie ihren eigenen Umgang mit dem Thema reflektieren.

Amelie Gruhn, 20

What Makes a Man? What Makes a Woman?