As Susan Sontag pointed out in On Women, our society often demands that women look like girls forever, while expecting them to act like women — whereas “boys will be boys” indefinitely. How does the exhibition engage with this tension?

Morna Laing writes about this very interestingly in our publication. But, in the exhibition doesn’t focus on a boys-versus-girls opposition. Instead, it explores how fashion and art have long drawn on girlhood archetypes — Mary Janes, bows, miniskirts, school uniforms, glitter, Peter Pan collars. These motifs carry layered meanings, shifting from innocence to rebellion. What feels significant today is that artists and designers are reclaiming these codes, challenging traditional ideas of girlhood and opening them up to more inclusive expressions of age and identity.

Dakota Fanning by Juergen Teller, Marc Jacobs Campaign Spring-Summer 2007, Los Angeles, 2006© Juergen Teller, all rights reserved

The exhibition features works by multiple photographers. Could you tell us more about how you selected them and what guided your choices?

I wanted to include photographers from different generations who have shaped how girlhood is portrayed. Figures like Lauren Greenfield, Nigel Shafran, Roni Horn, Micaiah Carter, Nancy Honey, Leticia Valverdes, Eimear Lynch, and Petra Collins have brought nuanced visions of girlhood into books, exhibitions, and digital culture. Their work never treats girls as objects but instead approaches them with respect, often co-created or shaped by the teenagers personal boundaries and agency.