Kai-Wen (Evangeline) Tsao
kt603@york.ac.uk
Women Exploring Sexuality through Photography and Visual Representation
I received my BA in Foreign Languages and Literature from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. After working for 2 years, I decided to study in a master’s programme in the area of gender studies mainly because of my self-expectation and a belief that I can contribute more to gender equality and human rights.
I finished my MA in Centre for Women’s Studies at University of York in 2011 with the funding from Scholarships for Overseas Students (SOS) focusing on the relationship between women’s clothing and identity using self-directed photography as one of my research methods. In September 2011, I presented my work in Researching Feminist Futures as an artist, introducing and practicing self-directed photography with participants at the symposium.
With the support of SOS from University of York, my PhD research focuses on how auto-photography can be an effective tool in exploring female sexuality and generating women’s understanding of their sexuality under the supervision of Dr. Ann Kaloski-Naylor. Auto-photography is a self-directed photographic project which gives participants the opportunity to use cameras to express their understanding of the world, in this research, it can be the expressions that they think are sexy, not sexy, desirable or undesirable. I also want to investigate in what ways do popular cultural images and auto-photography impact on women’s understanding of sexuality, how women can present their sexuality through photography as active artists, raise self-consciousness, and gain autonomy in the discourse of sexuality.