Limited-Edition Photograph by Jen Davis
"Untitled No. 32 is part of a series of self-portraits that I've worked on for the past eight years. Made in 2010, the image is one of the newer pieces in the series. When photographing myself, I attempt to communicate roles of beauty and identity, focusing on the body. I deal with my insecurities about my body image and the direct correlation between self-perception and the way one is perceived by others."

"This particular image was made after a period when I turned the camera onto others, and stopped photographing myself for a year's time. What interested me about the image was the way the body was emerging from the center of the frame and bed. It felt heavy to me due to the dark clothing, yet the image had an ethereal lightness. I liked this contrast and felt that it added drama to the image..."

—Jen Davis

Aperture is pleased to offer our collecting audience Jen Davis's Untitled No. 32, as featured in reGeneration 2: Tomorrow's Photographers Today, the second book in the esteemed series shining a spotlight on the next generation's rising stars.

Inspired by the many artists from the original 2005 reGeneration publication who went on to develop international careers, Aperture has prepared limited editions by several of the 2010 volume's participating artists. For some, this will be the first time their work is available for purchase; others, such as Jen Davis, are already known and represented. The sale of all these prints will help support these emerging artists—and give collectors an opportunity to acquire their work early in their careers.

"Self-observation is central to the work of Jen Davis. She is aware of the presence of the camera, and she often stares at it, but her expression always seems sad. In this series, Davis confronts the image of a body whose physical appearance is hard to bear. She assumes two roles: as subject and object, she is both observer and observed. Scrutinizing herself, while playing with the viewers' gaze, she invites us to enter her bedroom. We cannot remain indifferent to this young woman showing herself in all her vulnerability."

—Nathalie Hershdorfer

Jen Davis (born in Akron, Ohio, 1978) obtained her MFA in Photography in 2008 from Yale University School of Art. She has had solo shows at Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art; Texas Woman's University Fine Arts Gallery, Denton; Schneider Gallery, Chicago; and at Photo Passage at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. Her work has been shown in group shows in the U.S., Italy, and Germany. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; the Musée d'Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; and Michaelis School of Fine Arts, Cape Town, South Africa, among others.

>Visit Davis's website

>Visit the reGeneration 2 microsite