Search Our Website

AOP Member Login

News
CAMPAIGN: GENITALS ≠ GENDER - Photographed by Elise Dumontet

1 December 2020

Genitals Gender Artwork BENNY 03 copy

© Elise Dumontet

Trans, Queer, Gender fluid, Non binary. Making assumptions about someone’s identity based on their looks can be insensitive. And being referred to by the wrong pronouns, particularly affects transgender and gender nonconforming people.The recent campaign ‘GENITALS ≠ GENDER’ was launched on International Pronouns Day to bring awareness of this issue.

Genitals Gender Artwork BENNY 02

© Elise Dumontet. Benny.  Benny identifies as non-binary and prefers to use the pronoun ‘they’, however Benny is fine with being referred to as ‘he/she’, should the person speaking be aware he/she is slang in this instance.


‘GENITALS GENDER’ is a campaign to support those who choose not to be defined by the terms that society has defined as standard. Especially as fluidity is becoming increasingly visible. Using gender-neutral pronouns means we don’t associate the person we’re talking about with the false gender binary of male or female. When we use the right pronouns for someone, they are more acknowledged and validated.

Created by beauty & portrait photographer Elise Dumontet and Paul Hogarth & Elspeth Lynn of the agency Unbound, the ‘GENITALS ≠ GENDER’ is a campaign to promote diversity, equity and inclusion of all people across race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age and ability. The ‘GENITALS ≠ GENDER’ campaign is not a fight against gender, but a way to empower individuals with a sense of pride. Elise explores the definition of identity.  And helps others to understand it.

Each model has a story to tell. They all believe that positive representation matters in art, fashion and in the media – they want to see more people who look like they do. Their views on gender diversity and identity help to make personal pronouns commonplace.

 

Genitals Gender Artwork JORDAN 01

© Elise Dumontet. Jordon. Jordan’s a transgender model who’s preferred pronouns are ‘she/her’ and ‘they/them’.

 

Elise Dumontet has spent the best part of the last 25 years shooting beauty campaigns, and is no stranger to photographing beautiful women. And now after so many years capturing the stereotypically attractive, in the past few years, she’s explored the mainstream definition of beauty, turning her lens on a different kind of beauty often discredited in the norm. “I want to help people find their inner beauty, not just showing the obvious but bringing them a sense of empowerment.” She strips away the cliches associated with gender and has photographed the rawness of the individual in a powerful and impactful way. Elise goes on to say “after all, genitals and bodies don’t actually reflect anything about the person.” And Paul Hogarth says “referring to people by the pronouns they choose, is basic to human dignity.”

 

Genitals Gender Artwork DOL 01

© Elise Dumontet. Dol. Dol is a non-binary and prefers to be identified with the pronouns ‘they’ or ‘them’.

 

We caught up with Elise to find out more:

How did the campaign come about?

I was doing a shoot with Zebedee models management. It’s a model agency reprinting people with disabilities, skin conditions and recently non binary and transgender people. I choose to shoot a selection of their models just for fun really. As i was shooting it started to become more and more interesting. I WhatsApp'd some of the shots to Paul and he came back straight away with the idea for the campaign. It’s always very organic when we work together. We don’t make plans, we just make things happen.

Can you talk about the importance of the message?

Genital / Gender is a campaign to support those who choose not to be defined by the terms that society has defined as standard.
Especially as fluidity is becoming increasingly visible. When we use the right pronouns for someone, they are more acknowledged and validated. And that’s the important message. It’s all about respecting the individual.

Do you feel your voices have been heard or is there still work to be done?

In this campaign, it’s not our voices that need to be heard. Our models are the ones we want to empower with the message. Each has a different point of view but are all equally important. There is still a lot of ground to cover but this is a step in the right direction. People have reacted to this in an positive and impactful way.


Can we expect to see more collaborative work from you both?

Oh yes!! This is the third personal project we’ve been working together on aside from the commercial work we do together. ( Paul is the founder of the creative agency called Unbound. Unbound by the stereotypes, rules and processes of big agencies.)
We’re a pretty good team as well as fantastic friends. We have the same views on life and doing side projects is important to both of us. Many more things to come for sure.

 

View Elise's profile in Find a Photographer

Join our mailing list for free access to this resource.