Pu

I came across Pu‘s work on Instagram and was immediately captivated with the way in which Pu not only sees the world but sees other women through her lens. She began documenting life in Tokyo with her point-and-shoot camera as a way to process a culture she now finds herself in, which is different to her own. While still documenting moments, Pu has also been documenting the different women in her life. I loved the concept of the gurl gaze and thought we could channel this into a series for YEOJA Magazine.

Pu is passionate about speaking out against manufactured beauty standards and gender stereotypes, which comes through in her work. When it comes to photographing women, Pu has a special ability to capture both the females around her as well as herself in a way that expresses their – as well as her own – unique strength and beauty.

There is something really magical and intimate about women taking photographs of other women; through the gurl gaze identity and sexuality can be explored rather than exploited – something we at YEOJA Magazine stand behind, 100%. YEOJA Magazine will be featuring Pu’s exploration of the feminine gaze through portraits and interviews in the months to come in the series Gurl Gaze Tokyo found here.

In Pu’s own words:

As a female young adult who has dealt with gender stereotypes against women ever since her adolescence, I really appreciate this opportunity to speak out on behalf of those whom have been affected by the stereotypical standards women face in today’s society.

Through my work, I hope to spread the message that every individual is beautiful and that beauty standards are artificially created and thus arbitrary to begin with. To say that everyone is beautiful might be a cliché told a thousand times before. Nevertheless, it is so goddamned true.

I do not only want to express this message to my audience within my finished work; I hope the models in my photographs feel confident and beautiful as a result of the process and end result of these shootings. It is always delightful to see the gurls become more comfortable have a good time during the process of shooting. Therefore, the goal on my part is to present all different types of beauty, which I am happy to be able to capture. I am fond of what I’ve seen and captured, and I truly hope you are too.

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photography by Pu. Gurls in descending order: Shika Ge Shi, Pu, Yiming Wang, Eijo Sen

For more Gurl Gaze, click here.