a.d.

This is a photographic self-portrait, taken in October 2024. My main inspiration for this piece was 19th and early 20th century photography, particularly nude portraits, as well as gothic aesthetics. It forms part of a personal study on the role of the female muse in art, and how her personal identity is often twisted and erased to serve the (usually male) artist.

Visual description of the photograph above: Daguerrotype-style photo of a nude girl against a lace-patterned background, with a deckle edge frame. She is hugging herself and turning away from the viewer. Her face is obscured by her long hair.

a.d. is an award-nominated bisexual poet, writer, and visual artist. She is drawn to the sacred, the profane, the mysterious and the mythological, which provides inspiration for her work. As an artist, she works mainly with photography and artistic self-portraiture and strives to capture the ephemeral and transcendental, often using the female body to explore eroticism and religion. Her work has been featured in Occulum, Hominum Journal, Audi Locus and Bleating Thing, among others. Meanwhile, her writing is published in HAD, Blood+Honey, REDAMANCY Magazine, Aôthen and elsewhere. Tumblr & Twitter: @godstained