Pen and photography poetically illustrate the celebration of the female gaze in Martha Ackroyd Curtis’ new book, Hello Titty.
Hello Titty is a new collection of original poems and photographs of, well… breasts. Emotional and intimate, Hello Titty explores appreciation, sexuality, empathy and the ever-contentious ideology of the female gaze.
The poetry and photography are carefully curated by Melbourne artist, Martha Ackroyd Curtis, and stem from personal journeys from women across all ages and experiences.
“I have always written poetry. For Hello Titty, I wanted to focus mainly on poems that are fundamental to being female, a woman’s perspective from varying ages,” says Martha Ackroyd Curtis.
“Some of the poems were inspired by the title – the photographs are of breasts of course, it’s serious, and albeit a little bit comedic.”
Too deep to articulate in all words, the poetry in this volume complements the way Curtis approaches her subjects, the collection has an undercurrent of primordial and honesty rarely seen in contemporary pages.
Curtis’ work commonly consists of large-scale installation art which has exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally and featured at consecutive Midsumma Festivals; Australia’s premier LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival in Melbourne.
Although known publicly as a visual artist, she has always been a writer. In her art practice there has always been a poetic license. Discussion of “the female gaze” is often political, emotional and has been a topic of many artists and feminists in the free world.
Hello Titty examines delicacy, power, and a little bit of smut; with a dose of humour. The book validates the respect and honour female photographers and artists are acutely aware of with their subjects. This series of poetry and photography is raw, intimate and insightful, taking the beholder deep, on an emotional level.
Hello Titty is published by Busybird Publishing and available from all leading book stores including Dymocks. For more information, visit: www.marthaackroydcurtis.com for details.
Image: Hello Titty – courtesy of Martha Ackroyd Curtis