Photography as technology of the self: Matuschkaʹs art and breast cancer

After undergoing a mastectomy in 1991, Matuschka began photographing her nude body, and in these images she often highlighted the scar on her torso. Other women have acted in a similar fashion and have produced representations of their bodies after mastectomies. In this article the role the activity of photography plays in the process of self‐formation of Matuschka is investigated. Borrowing from Michel Foucaultʹs technologies of the self, photography is inscribed in the tradition of art as inquiry and art production as manipulation of the self, and it is argued that the stylistic ways in which Matuschka has represented her body add an ethical dimension to her work. This ethical component shows a desire to fashion a new self by acting on the way her body is seen.