On October 13th 2005, Blender Gallery is proud to present The Body Confessional – a photographic exhibition by Paul Mallam.

In an era where magazine photography has digitised and perfected the female body, The Body Confessional examines how women see their own bodies.

Held throughout the month of October, The Body Confessional is perfectly timed with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and aims to focus and create awareness as well as show support for the Cancer Council NSW.
Proceeds from this exhibition will kindly be donated to The Cancer Council of NSW.

For this exhibition, photographer Paul Mallam has collaborated with 60 women, aged from 15 to 75, asking them to choose a detail of their bodies to be photographed, and explain that choice, in their own words.

The images and handwritten text complement each other, providing a series of personal stories and statements. As the pieces are anonymous, the women were free to select and discuss whatever body part they wished. The underlying reasons for the choices are diverse and interesting, ranging from physical attractiveness, to family resemblance, to broader connection with other people.

Seen as a whole, the 60 images become a meditation on the female body.
They show women as they are rarely seen in photographs: close-ups of pored skin, muscular legs, hands, feet, eyes, etcetera.

The Body Confessional becomes a springboard for the viewer to contemplate the many levels and perspectives from which women view their own bodies. At a broader level the exhibition also reflects the beauty, vitality and mortality of the human body.

Originally studying photography at the Australian Centre for Photography, this is Paul Mallam’s fourth photography exhibition. He has also had three exhibitions of paintings.