This piece is about how technology impacts the ways we are seen and see others. This concept is explored by examining how compromising and intimate images of ourselves and others are able to be viewed online, and the implications of digital surveillance on our online privacy. More specifically, I touch on how women are seen and exploited online through the depiction of a man and a woman, which are drawn in an exaggerated comic-book-esque style in order to create an antagonist/protagonist dynamic between the two illustrations.

John Berger’s quote in his book Ways of Seeing, “Men look at women. Women watch themselves be looked at,”[1] was the initial inspiration for this work. A woman is being watched by a man through his screen. The man is seen through his reflection in the lens of his laptop webcam. The laptop’s “camera-on” indicator light (seen next to the lens) is on, creating the implication that the man is also being watched. This is inspired by people who cover their webcams in the fear that they are being secretly watched by the government and/or hackers. The drawing showing the man is seen from the perspective of his FBI agent/hacker, therefore implicating the viewer into the drawing as watcher by proxy. Meanwhile, the viewer is seeing the artwork digitally, through a screen that may very well also have a webcam attached. It is then encouraged for the viewer to contemplate this works implications to their own lives and digital security: are you also being watched? How is the public and private content that you make available (both intentionally and unintentionally) online being consumed, reacted to, and exploited by others? How do you react to other people and content on the internet as a consumer yourself?

Having been created and presented digitally is important for this work to promote the connection to online privacy and perceptions of others. Since I am examining how the male gaze and privacy violation present themselves in the digital world, it is important for the work to be made and presented in such an appropriate context.

The primary message of this work is a call to contemplation about the digital food chain facilitated by the internet: where you personally fit within it, and the effects it has and will eventually have on your life. In response to this piece, I encourage interpretations and connections ranging from online sex-trafficking, power abuse, race-relations, sex-relations, government overstepping, the commodification of personal data and representations, the objectification of women, and so forth. In my own personal interpretation of the work, in the woman’s expression I see a repugnance: for the hypocrisy of men who disrespect and look down on sex workers, women who openly express their sexuality, and/or even women in general, yet consume copious amounts of said content to satisfy their own needs and entertainment; and for the prevalence and inescapability of the male gaze in general.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. 1972. 

“‘The Black Girl Fetish’: Let’s Talk.” YouTube video, 15:08. Posted by “Tee Noir,” January 16, 2021. https://youtu.be/WHCFs_jWuNQ.