Roy Stuart Volume III – Alison Castle-2004

Stuart’s most focused work to date; Roy Stuart, Volume III is more explicit than ever. Continuing to break down the boundaries of sexual politics with his provocative photography, Stuart ventures further into the ambivalent relationship between reality and illusion, using role-playing to parody conventional ideas of sex. More daring, more subversive, Volume III features Stuart’s most focused work to date. In his mission to avoid the typical iconography of a culture based on appearances, Stuart uses not-so-typical subjects in his storytelling. His latest subjects vary greatly, including older women who, in their non-conformity to orthodox standards of beauty, are awkwardly out of place in their roles as dolled-up sex objects. What is society teaching us about sexual attraction? Does western culture brainwash us into taking on traditional sexual roles, wherein women must be beautiful and men must be dominant? Forget what mainstream society has taught you about power roles, desirability, and body image. Stuart depicts a world where barriers are abolished and women exercise the same sexual license as men.