Jessie Claire Goodwin
FilmArtwork & Series
The Girls, My Friends
(2023-2025)Shown in the Weitman Gallery, St. Louis, MO (Spring 2025)
Exhibition Title: When the kids grow
In this series I initiate discourse surrounding femininity, spectatorship, performance, and authenticity. To inhabit the feminine is, historically, to be the object of a spectacle— to be looked at. I am interested in the complexity of this dynamic, where being looked at both liberates and confines us. Working with my close friends as my subjects, I am able to capture an empowered nuance of feminine existence. Universality emerges through repetition: accentuated curves, deliberate sparkle, a practiced tilt of the chin. Yet within these shared visual codes lie unmistakably individual signatures—a freckle constellation, a half‑smile that refuses symmetry, the candid slump that follows a held pose, the moments between. The images oscillate between those poles, suggesting that “feminine” is neither purely imposed nor purely elective, but a negotiation enacted in real time between body, gaze, and camera. Thus, femininity as consciousness is a curated response to the world, while it is also a reflection of individuality— a uniquely composed, deeply intricate set of practices we each emanate as our own. As a photographer, it is my duty to recognize my participation in the capture itself; therefore, I am implicated across personal and professional lines. Ultimately, this series reflects my own evolving journey as a feminine creature, a conversation between identity and influence, between how we want to be seen and how we truly are.
Dedicated to:
The women in these photos who taught me everything I know, and to our four years together where we grew into the women we are now. Thank you.