2013 coffee table book by Philip Werner
101 Vagina  |
| Author | Philip Werner |
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| Country | Australia |
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| Language | English |
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| Subject | Female body image/sexuality |
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| Genre | Photography |
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| Published | 2013 |
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| Pages | 216 |
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| ISBN | 9780987409003 |
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101 Vagina is a black-and-white coffee table photo-book by Philip Werner, with a foreword by Toni Childs. It was self-published in March 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. The book contains 101 close-up nude photos shot in a non-provocative way, along with an accompanying story or message written by each woman about her vagina.
The book's photos and stories were exhibited five times in Australia in 2013, with a US and Canadian tour in 2014 taking place in six locations.
Publication
101 Vagina was funded by crowdsourcing and took some two years to create.[1][2] Werner was initially inspired by The Vagina Monologues and subjects were found via social media after Werner publicised his objective to create a book that had both an educational and celebratory goal.[1][3] The models, ranging in age from 18 to 65, remain anonymous. Singer-songwriter Toni Childs, who wrote the foreword, made contact with Werner after he initiated a peace march in honour of murdered Australian Broadcasting Corporation employee Jill Meagher in his Brunswick, Victoria, neighbourhood.[4]
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald about the book, Werner commented that: "I hope it finds its way to a few young women and girls...So they see that [these pictures are] normal rather than pictures in magazines."[5] Stories accompanying the photos discuss various themes, including ageing, pregnancy, Brazilian waxing, first sexual encounter and poor body image.[6]
Reception
On publication 101 Vagina received broad media coverage, including write-ups in The Age,[1] The Sydney Morning Herald[5] and La Presse in Montreal.[7] It was also discussed on ABC Radio National[8] and 2SER.[9]
Exhibitions
101 Vagina was presented as an exhibition on several occasions in Australia in 2013. This included being part of The Sydney Fringe[10] and Melbourne Fringe Festival.[11] In 2014, it was officially launched in the US and Canada with a series of exhibitions. The tour included Los Angeles[12] and Laguna Beach.[2]
Controversy and censorship
In Sydney, the exhibition was visited by police responding to a complaint that the images were visible from the street.[13][14] Images were required to be censored as part of a group exhibition at The Sydney Fringe.[15]
