Sub #2

Sub #2 – Developed over a period of six years, the Ilmatar series accompanies photographer Momo Okabe’s pregnancy, initiated by in vitro fertilization. The operation was necessary because, being asexual, Momo Okabe wanted to have a child without carnal relations. “I’m not looking to connect with another person in this way,” she confides. “Since my pregnancy, I’ve found it even harder to accept the fact that so many people get pregnant by having sex. I personally hate male genitalia, and see sex as something to be ashamed of. But I realize that what seems abnormal to me makes sense to others, and vice versa. It’s a complex notion, in constant metamorphosis.” In her images, however, bodies are revealed without modesty, and nudity takes on many guises: eroticism, tenderness, repulsion or even violence.