Girlish & Boyish by Vostok Press (discontinued/arreté. seul distributeur hors Co

VOSTOK PRESS is an independent publishing house based in Seoul. Korea. It publishes a bimonthly photography magazine, VOSTOK, and books on arts and photography. VOSTOK PRESS organizes exhibitions and events, directs lectures and workshops. It also carries out projects for institutions and private companies.

Girlhood and Boyhood, Femininity and Masculinity— Beyond Gender Binaries, Toward the Diversity of All Beings

Lines are convenient. With a single line, even this vast world can be divided into one side and the other. Whatever aligns with our knowledge, understanding, and beliefs is drawn inside the line and becomes “us”; whatever does not is pushed outside and becomes “them.” In this way, countless lines are drawn across the world: race and nationality, place of origin and residence, wealth and education, social status and cultural capital, political inclination and ideology, appearance and body type—and even gender.

Lines are also violent. For those who fail to remain within the line drawn between woman and man, girl and boy, the consequences range from subtle glances of disapproval to overt hatred. This is because femininity and masculinity, girlhood and boyhood, are not merely used as descriptors of difference, but function as value systems—norms that must be upheld. As a result, people are consciously and unconsciously trained, coerced, and eventually conditioned to stay within these boundaries—in order to become “us,” and to avoid becoming “them.”

The many images that surround “us” largely follow these same lines. Through the photographer and the model, clothing and makeup, poses and props, images often mobilize stereotypical notions of femininity and masculinity (girlhood and boyhood). This tendency is especially pronounced in fashion and advertising photography, where such traits are frequently exaggerated. Even ordinary individuals, when standing before a camera, tend to emphasize their femininity or masculinity more assertively than in everyday life. In this way, photographs come to embody the gender roles desired by each era, along with the expectations and fantasies attached to them. As we consume these images, we absorb—almost unconsciously—the ideas and value systems embedded within them.

Yet some artists deliberately use photography to resist such conventional imagery. While some adopt conventionally feminine or masculine poses in front of the camera, others—precisely because they are before the lens—move more boldly and freely across these boundaries than they might in reality. Confronted with their images, we are prompted to reconsider the notions of “girl” and “boy” that we have long accepted without question.

In this issue, we reflect on photographs that both reproduce and subvert the stereotypical images of girlhood and boyhood. Through this inquiry, we ask whether the binary lens that divides women and men is truly capable of embracing the full diversity of all beings.

Girlish & Boyish, Vostok Press. South Korea, July 2024.

• Format: Magazine

• Dimensions: 170 mm x 240 mm

• Pages: 224

• Publisher: Vostok Press

• ISBN: 9791170370642

• Language: Korean