Alexandra McDowell

Photography acts as a method to preserve a form and protect it from inevitable change. Similarly, the process of bodybuilding functions as a way of stilling the body; to display a feat of physical resolve. Being immersed in diet culture throughout my upbringing, I’ve come to understand how the search for perfection is derived from fear of losing control. My thesis, “Freshman Fifteen,” is a photographic series that investigates the ways in which the body is shaped through familial and societal influences. In this work, I question the way I think about time and change.

Alexandra McDowell is a photographer and cinematographer based in Brooklyn, New York. McDowell’s work has been featured in publications such as Vogue, V Magazine, and National Geographic.