Courtesy of Austria Morehouse

Austria Morehouse ’25 and Fatima Kunjo ’25 became friends in their first year. Now, with Morehouse’s senior capstone project, which opened on Wednesday, the two have come full circle. The mixed media exhibition highlighted themes of trust and friendship through photography, film and installation, filling an entire room of the Edwards Center for Art and Dance. The exhibition explored Kunjo’s journey as a model with a focus on bringing a sense of movement and life to the pieces in the exhibition.

“This exhibition is a manifestation of a shared dream that I had with [Kunjo], who was an aspiring model, and I’m a photographer. Since our freshman year, we’ve talked about working on a collaborative project where I could express my artistic creativity, she can model and we can create something together. So, you could say it’s been a long time coming,” Morehouse said.

Morehouse, a visual arts major, saw her senior capstone project as an ideal opportunity to realize this dream. The exhibition explores both candid and curated moments, Kunjo explained, reflecting the casual nature of a longtime friendship.

“Most of the times when we’re taking these photos, we’re catching up and just talking and updating each other. It’s not super scheduled. For one of the photos, she literally came into my room, and then we scheduled something. And I was in my robe, and I thought I was going to change into something else. And she was like, ‘Wait, keep that on,’” Kunjo said. “We’ll just be having conversations. I’ll be laughing, talking about random things, and she was taking photos and, apparently, videos.”

Morehouse commented that this candidness was only possible because of the close relationship she and Kunjo share.

“It’s a comparison or a parallel between the model and the photographer that can then be replicated onto the model and the viewer. So, in a sense, I just want to share the feeling of intimacy within a photo shoot with viewers and allow them to feel the same thing,” Morehouse said.

Morehouse further emphasized the need for trust between a model and a photographer.

“[Fatima] really had to trust me to be able to pull this off,” Morehouse said. “And I think we did. You have to build so much trust … when it’s only one model and only one photographer. And I think that trust is reflected in the show. You can tell she’s comfortable.”

Their exhibition captures Kunjo in full and was designed to incorporate the female gaze.

“Just looking at the different photos that she’s taking, I feel like every piece, even though it’s the same face, every piece is different. It shows a different expression, a different angle, and it’s real. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s just real life. That’s it. It was just me, real life, making facial expressions. And Austria just has a way of capturing that in the most beautiful way,” Kunjo said. “Even through her photos,… I can feel her love.”

As her time at Bowdoin comes to an end, Morehouse reflected on her friendship with Kunjo.

“[Fatima’s] an incredible friend,” Morehouse said. “She’s extremely loyal.… It’s like having another version of myself to talk to, even though we might be going through different classes, we might have different  majors, we might have different whatever, we can always come back to each other and that relationship that we have just as the two of us.”

Morehouse hopes that the exhibition will drive the audience to think about their own identities, as well as their own relationship to being photographed.

“​​I hope [viewers are] excited by it. I think this is a really relevant subject,” Morehouse said. “It’s a whole room filled with just pictures and videos of one individual, which is a huge statement…. I hope it’s an experience of self reflection and just an experience for people to look inwards towards identity and what it means to be seen from all angles.”