Negative Self Portrait- Audrey Lewis

This piece is part of my cyanotype series Intimate Exposures, where I use sunlight to record quiet, personal moments and objects connected to intimacy. This photograph captures me alone in a bathtub, my body fully visible and unhidden. For a long time, I internalized the message that bodies like mine—larger bodies—should stay covered, minimized, or corrected. Creating this work became a way of questioning that belief. Through this series, I began to explore intimacy not just with others, but with myself. Standing in front of the camera nude felt vulnerable, but also unexpectedly freeing. Printed in negative my shadows and parts of myself I keep hidden are turned to highlights. The cyanotype process uses sunlight to reveal the image, and that felt symbolic to me. Something private is brought into the light. This work is part of my journey toward body acceptance and celebrating a body that deserves to be seen as beautiful exactly as it is.