The female breast as an act of political resistance - Sylvie Castioni is a photographer and, as she explains, has dedicated herself to exactly this motif.

In recent decades much has been said about the "male gaze" in art history as an instrument of domination over female bodies. Above all, the sexualization of the female breast, which in contrast to the male breast must always remain covered, is the legacy of a patriarchal society that still has an impact today.
However, this was not always the case. In the Minoan pantheon, the famous snake goddess was depicted bare-chested. The same applies to the Amazons, the female warriors of Greco-Roman mythology. In 15th-century France, Agn&egrave;s Sorel, the all-powerful mistress of King Charles VII, wore a ceremonial dress that bared her breasts, and the African-American performer Jos&eacute;phine Baker, an icon of contemporary feminism, rose to fame by dancing with her breasts bare. But this was already a highly revolutionary act.
The "Free the Nipple" movement in Europe and the USA was stimulated by the ban on social media (above all Facebook and Instagram) in the 2010s. On the platforms, even old works of art showing a female breast are and have been censored.
The French photographer <a href="https://sylviecastioni.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sylvie Castioni</a> also joins this artistic and activist tradition: "In history, pioneers and exceptional women were rare, but they existed and today I pay tribute to them, but also to all those who do not accept that one condemn them for baring their breasts in public."
Castioni, who trained as a painter at the &Eacute;cole national sup&eacute;rieure des beaux-arts de Lyon and has had a notable career in the national film and fashion industry, photographed prominent personalities such as L&eacute;a Seydoux, Barbara Palvin, Cindy Bruna and Cindy Bruna for her photographic work "Amazons". Emmanuelle Beart.

She views her artistic practice - in which the nude female body plays an important role - as a means to liberate woman from the shackles of society, with the concept of &quot;sisterhood&quot; central to her creative philosophy. &quot;I speak to all the women in the world who are subject to taboos and shame, to tell them that their body is not an object of desire that does not belong to them, but that it is powerful and wonderful,&quot; notes Sylvie Castioni, the does not reject the traditional codes of fashion photography, but rather infuses them with a particular sense of freedom and well-being that rarely emerges in images of this type, thanks in large part to a particular emotional relationship between Sylvie Castioni and her models .

&quot;Unlike many figures in Western art history who have objectified women, I see them as my soul mates who are connected to me&quot; - Sylvie Castioni.

Léa Seydoux&#39;s portrait becomes a subliminal reference to François Boucher&#39;s &quot;The Blonde Odalisque&quot;. Barbara Palvin reminds us of Botticelli&#39;s The Birth of Venus, and Cindy Bruna would resemble the beauty of Paul Gauguin&#39;s Woman Holding Fruit.

Curator: <a href="https://www.lefigaro.fr/auteur/nikita-dmitriev" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nikita Dmitriev</a> Photographer: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sylviecastioni/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sylvie Castioni</a>
Featuring:
L&eacute;a Seydoux, Cindy Bruna, Emmanuelle B&eacute;art, Barbara Palvin, etc.

Sylvie Castioni celebrates the "Free the Nipple" movement with Cindy Bruna, Léa Seydoux

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