Against a backdrop of mottled, crumbling walls, the dirty (I can’t find a better word for it) female body on display departs sharply from the usual conventions of refinement and delicacy, and in doing so reveals “woman” in a far more truthful light. Most of her works are self-portraits, and this one is no exception.

In some of her works, you find a recurring fishbone-shaped pattern — or rather, actual fishbones — which can’t help but remind me of the fish-and-human-face pottery basins of China’s Banpo culture. I’m not sure whether this counts as a kind of return to the primitive, or perhaps an even deeper impulse to return to the womb.

Francesca Woodman, master of feminine photography click here for more information