| The definition of a “wallflower” in the Oxford Dictionary, is “a girl who has no one to dance with at a party.” In her series, “Wallflower,” Amy Elkins examines the sexist limits of this perception. By placing men in front of floral wallpaper, their torsos generally shirtless and cropped near the waist, she has successfully created a collection of portraits of male “wallflowers.” It is because these men are undressed and in an intimate environment that the viewer immediately confronts the stereotypes of sexual orientation. | 
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Jimmy Moffat on Amy Elkins
The definition of a “wallflower” in the Oxford Dictionary, is “a girl who has no one to dance with at a party.” In her series, “Wallflower,” Amy Elkins examines the sexist limits of this perception. By placing men in front of floral wallpaper, their torsos generally shirtless and cropped near the waist, she has successfully created a collection of portraits of male “wallflowers.” It is because these men are undressed and in an intimate environment that the viewer immediately confronts the stereotypes of sexual orientation. Are these pictures of gay men by a gay man? They are reminiscent of Jack Pierson’s portraits. No, the photographer is a woman. Are they pictures of gay men by a woman?
Though the portraits are accompanied by titles like “Tom, New York City,” on further inspection you suspect that these men are not in their own environment; that in fact, they have been taken out of their element, stripped down and placed against a very feminine wall. They are not in a real place, they are in a space created to isolate them, challenge their masculinity and expose them to the lens of the camera under the control of a woman. The success of the portraits lies in the relationship between the photographer and her subjects. These are not snapshots. Clearly, time has been taken with each portrait. Although the camera is obviously in close proximity to the subject, the sitter does not appear to be at all self-conscious. Time has been given to allow the subject to experience the sexual tension of being observed so intimately by a member of the opposite sex.
Imagine the wallflower as defined in the Oxford Dictionary. She is a girl, sitting at the edge of a dance floor. She feels that all eyes are on her, that she is standing out simply because she is alone. She both wants someone, a boy, to notice her and at the same time, she wishes to not be noticed at all. She is acutely aware of herself and of being observed. If we observed her, we might see the different emotions she would display, the poses of confidence or allure, the poignant gestures of insecurity or alienation. What we see is the girl’s self on display, the flower plucked from the garden and examined.
In her series of portraits, Amy Elkins creates an environment and a dynamic that allow us to observe an expression of self. They are portraits of introspection and assertion, of alienation and belonging, of confrontation and surrender. She puts her male subjects into a feminine space, undresses them, and watches them as they come to terms with what they are feeling and experiencing. Then, when they give a clue, through a gesture, or a look in the eye, she clicks the shutter.
