Review: Femininity in Nature and Art

By Ade Olusola Kunmi

Olamide Bakare’s Eve photography series celebrates the gracefulness that exists inside women as well as the overwhelming strength that is inherent in femininity. Eve, according to the artist, celebrates a woman’s strength while also emphasizing her gentleness.

Olamide Bakare has chosen a daring artistic approach with Eve, featuring a nude female posing in nature. These photographs depict the model in nature, surrounded by leaves, roots, and a stream. In two of these photographs, the model backed away from the viewers, while the final image showed the model’s face behind some foliage. One may easily connect these artworks to the story in the first chapter of the Bible. God created man and woman in the Garden of Eden, naked. There was no consciousness until they ate the forbidden fruit.

In the first photograph, the model is seen lurking behind some leaves with an intense gaze. She seemed to be emerging from behind the leaves. Her dark lipstick and facial expression mix seamlessly with the background, conveying a sense of strength and authority.

The second photograph depicts the girl sleeping down on a concrete slab over a stream, her figure relaxed and curved in an almost harmonious blend with the natural surroundings. This artwork has a softness about it that suggests tranquility and a connection with nature.

In the third photograph, taken from behind, the model is shown standing upright with her arms up, her long braids mirroring the roots and stems of plants around her. Her stance is confident, a visual depiction of femininity and authority.

Her femininity is revealed in the manner in which she posed, soft and kind, alluring perhaps, and exactly like the narrative in the Bible, on which the title of this artwork is based, The model expresses an understanding of the power she has through her femininity.

According to the artist, Eve possesses a silent power that is founded in her femininity. Even though the artist did not explicitly link his works to the biblical account, the artworks appear to be a reenactment of the aftermath of Eve eating from the forbidden tree.

Olamide Bakare’s Eve artworks series is a brilliant representation of feminine power, strength, and femininity, as well as the power women have to build or break things. Each shot is magnificently made to celebrate the female body as a vessel of life, as well as the planet itself. The photographs demonstrate a strong understanding of light and generating narratives that are magical and intimate.