Jenna Westra – Afternoons
Reviewer’s personal copy of the book
Jenna Westra – Afternoons
Published by Hassla Books, Edition of 500
Review by Timothy Lee LeBlanc
Afternoons is an impactful book from the young contemporary photographer Jenna Westra. The book’s power lies in its ability to tap into an elusive sense of intimacy. The accompanying essay by Orit Gat speaks to this quality but, in the photos themselves, it is almost palpable.
Intimacy is rooted in even the most mundane photos like Lemon View Through Water (Monochrome), 2020, in which a woman has gotten down on level with a glass to see how it distorts the image beyond. It gives the impression that the viewer has seen the object a million times and just now learned a new secret – a fleeting moment of personal exploration that we see captured. The interest in optics also encourages ardent photographers to relook at the possibilities found in their own glassware and the casual viewers a new way to look at the world around them.
In the photos that have multiple people interacting, an intimate tactile nature is present. The feeling of being touched and touching is woven throughout. Take Feather Scene, 2020 or Untitled, 2017 (seen below). The dancers that Westra have hired act out scenes at once deeply tender, like the grip in Untitled, and just strange enough to only be practiced by people that are comfortable enough to show that silliness that can come in tender moments. The feather is held above the dancer about to have it put to her face. All of this while a third watches from bottom right corner expectantly. If not for the leotards and photo backdrop, it seems sisterly.
Even the most potentially transgressive photos feel sweet. In our current culture, nudity and anything with a sexual undertone can be thought of as scandalous, meant to be viewed in private, never to be shared, though for the vast majority of people it is only shared with those with whom you are most comfortable. The paired images Claudia on Fire Escape 1 and Claudia on Fire Escape 2, both from 2018, perfectly embody this. Claudia sits on the steps in nothing but an oversized black button up shirt and pair of underwear in the first and in the second is shown from below with the viewer looking up to her crotch, yet she is perfectly relaxed. In the second image, viewers are struck not by the overt nature of the image but by the look on her face as she stares back knowingly at the viewer. There is none of the posed, oily, saccharine sexuality found more commonly in commercial photography, typically by male photographers, but a reality that a moment like this would be shared by lovers or two people that trust each other fully.
This trust does not just need be present between the intimate moments in our own lives but also, as Westra demonstrates throughout the whole book, between photographer and model to create something absolutely wonderful. Afternoons by Jenna Westra and published by Hassla Books certainly is something wonderful. It can be purchased here along side another of her books Atlas here and is deeply recommended