Sonya Naumann
Thousand Dollar Dress
Iowa City photographer Sonya Naumann's current work is a series of provocative, thoughtful portraits of individuals wearing her own $1,000 wedding dress. "Amidst my ongoing curiosity about the very nature of marriage, the business, the presence of the politics surrounding it, and my own connection to it, I knew I had to do something with that dress," she writes in the description of the project.
I, and other members of the Center for Photography at Madison, became interested in Naumann's project last year during October's PhotoMidwest event here in Madison. So we contacted her and asked her to come to Madison and present her work so far. She agreed -- with this condition.
Naumann wants to photograph five or six Madison-area residents for her dress project on Sept. 20-21 while she is in town. Persons interested in becoming part of the project and modeling with the dress should contact Naumann a.s.a.p. through the Thousand Dollar Dress website and explain their interest.
It is Naumann's goal "to photograph 1,000 individuals wearing my $1,000 wedding dress within the context of their own or chosen environment.....individuals of all ages, backgrounds and diverse marital situations speaking to the concept of marriage and its politic."
Feeling interested, but camera-shy? Naumann will speak on her project and show images at the Center for Photography at Madison, 6140 Cottonwood Dr., Fitchburg (behind Star Cinema) on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
