21 days of Hong Kong hotel quarantine captured in 21 nude self-portraits by French photographer

Vanessa Victoria Franklin admits she’s slightly obsessive. “This photo here,” she says, pointing to an image of a key resting on her right buttock, “it was the most difficult and took 300 attempts. I became crazy about this photo because I wanted it just right, to perfectly capture the light reflecting off the metal key.”

Franklin’s pursuit for perfection paid off. The photo – titled day 17 and easily mistaken as a bent knee – has received the most positive feedback in her series, “21 days by VV Franklin”, an exhibition of nude self-portraits documenting the French photographer’s recent hotel quarantine.

On show at the F22 Foto Space in The Peninsula Arcade, “21 days” explores themes of self-identity and freedom of movement. The use of nudity, Franklin says, is a way to express her raw emotions.

“I’m naked because it was a way to put things as they were,” she says, adding that a lot of her work is about female identity and challenging the male gaze. “I didn’t want to cheat. I wanted to show my fragility.”

The self-portraits – one photo for each of the 21 days – include references to the German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton, best seen in an image of Franklin wearing only a pair of blue cleaning gloves. The series is also heavily influenced by Surrealism.