Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 936, Box A

Hairpin

Photograph
1993 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Critical of the pressure the fashion and beauty press place on women to be "young, thin and conventionally beautiful regardless of our natural features" (Gregory, 2004), in 1993 Joy Gregory produced a series of photographs of the objects women use every day to make themselves more attractive. As well as this hairpin, the ‘Objects of Beauty’ series includes a corset, a comb, false eyelashes, curlers, jewellery, stockings and lace knickers. Each object is photographed on its own and printed as a calotype, a photographic process which was popular in the nineteenth century and which is characterised by subtle tonal differences. These formal qualities give the individual objects an iconic status and ironically, they themselves become beautiful in their still-life guises. Furthermore, the aged feel of the calotype print suggests that the tyranny of feminine beauty has existed for far too long.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Hairpin (assigned by artist)
  • Objects of Beauty (series title)
Materials and techniques
Kallitype
Brief description
Photograph by Joy Gregory, 'Hairpin' from the series 'Objects of Beauty', kallitype, 1993
Physical description
A Kallitype photograph depicting a hairpin.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31.5cm (Note: size of image)
  • Width: 30.5cm (Note: size of image)
  • Height: 49cm (Note: size of sheet)
  • Width: 39cm (Note: size of sheet)
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1995
Credit line
Supported by the Friends of the V&A
Subjects depicted
Summary
Critical of the pressure the fashion and beauty press place on women to be "young, thin and conventionally beautiful regardless of our natural features" (Gregory, 2004), in 1993 Joy Gregory produced a series of photographs of the objects women use every day to make themselves more attractive. As well as this hairpin, the ‘Objects of Beauty’ series includes a corset, a comb, false eyelashes, curlers, jewellery, stockings and lace knickers. Each object is photographed on its own and printed as a calotype, a photographic process which was popular in the nineteenth century and which is characterised by subtle tonal differences. These formal qualities give the individual objects an iconic status and ironically, they themselves become beautiful in their still-life guises. Furthermore, the aged feel of the calotype print suggests that the tyranny of feminine beauty has existed for far too long.
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1995
Collection
Accession number
E.2931-1995

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMay 4, 2007
Record URL
Download as: JSON