SOUTH AFRICA
The South African artist and photographer explores the female psyche through the themes of pregnancy, changes in mother-daughter relationships, dreams, fear and death.
“Your vision becomes clear when you can look into your heart. He who looks outside himself is only dreaming; he who looks inside himself wakes up”. This quote from Carl Gustav Jung epitomises Stefanie Langenhoven’s work. Since 2015, this South African art photographer has focused on the human psyche, and particularly on the concept of femininity and its representation in society.
This alumni in communication design, fine art and photography from the Open Window School of Visual Communication in Pretoria (her hometown) gives a voice to the feminine. Her artistic images, both raw and sensual, challenge the fantasies conveyed and stigmatised by patriarchy. Through her series, she attempts to question the way in which women perceive themselves, identify themselves and shape themselves.
Questioning Precepts
The photographer explores the notions of the Anima (the female representation within the human imagination) and the Anima Mundi, which, according to several systems of thought, is an intrinsic connection between all living beings, in the same way as the soul is linked to the human body.
“My photographs express the internalisation of objectification and the distorted idealisation of the female body,” she explains. “I want to find out how the self-image and perception of the body are distorted by the reflection of this society obsessed with the feminine aura. I hope to touch on the intangible and allow the imagination to find space, not only to see and be nourished by an image, idea or belief, but also to be attracted, felt and discovered.”
Going Within
She completed her studies in integrative and transpersonal psychotherapy at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education in London. This experience enabled her to explore her photographic work in greater depth. In 2021, she won the Female in Focus prize from the British Journal of Photography for her personal and dazzling series ‘Avatãra’, centred on her experiences of pregnancy and miscarriage.
Her research continued with “An Octopus Has Three Hearts” and “Cocoon”. With “Sacred Feminine”, she explores the feminine as an archetype and the body as perfect imperfection. Both should be sacred and celebrated in a natural and authentic way. In ‘Siamese Soul’, she examines the changes in the mother-daughter relationship over time; a look at sisterhood through the unpredictability of life.
As for ‘Postpartum Self-portrait’, she takes a selfie of herself, focusing on the physical and mental effects of breastfeeding. Stefanie Langenhoven’s portfolio is an X-ray of the human psyche, rich in sensations and imagination.
NATHALIE DASSA