Recipient of the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, Bachelor of Arts (Photography) Highly Commended. _________________________________
PURE INTENTIONS investigates the implications and complexities of purity culture and considers the intersection and contradictions of ideology and desire. Purity culture promotes conservative religious teachings around sex and relationships. Based on strict hetero-normative stereotypes and patriarchal ideals, it discourages dating and promotes virginity before marriage.
Employing a cinematic approach, the series depicts a narrative infused with the tension and tribulation of purity expectations and human desire. Intended to emphasise ideas of intimacy, desire, temptation and shame, the series offers a sense of voyeurism while touching on notions of judgement from God. Pure Intentions seeks to unpack the ideals taught in purity culture, underlined by an expression of its implications.
Renee Coster is a freelance photographer and visual artist. Her background in fashion, visual merchandising and styling inform a multidisciplinary practice, incorporating both art and commercial photography. Working with a variety of fashion and beauty clients, her practice specialises in producing high quality e-commerce and branded imagery. Renee’s art practice lies within a feminist discourse, investigating themes of female identity and self-image as influenced by patriarchal ideals and societal expectations.