Lynn Bianchi: Heavy in White at Hannah Traore Gallery

Hannah Traore Gallery on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side presents Heavy in White, a photography series by Lynn Bianchi, from November 19, 2026 to January 16, 2027. The surrealist nude portraits reframe how we think about the body.

Bianchi was born in 1944 and began her creative practice in 1998, at thirty-eight. She came to see photography as a place where inherited ideas about beauty could loosen their grip, leaving room for gentleness and self-acceptance. Now almost 83, she remains drawn to the constant changes of the female body, a fascination rooted in growing up with a grandmother and mother who regularly commented on their own weight and that of other women. To answer those self-critical voices, she set out to depict the naked body earnestly, looking at the female form without trying to control it. For her, "heavy" describes abundance, not burden.

Every shoot took place in her Tribeca loft. Models wrapped their hair in rubber sheaths and were given tasks, such as eating bowls of pasta or reclining on marble sculptures. They worked inside hand-built white sets made of raw fabric hung from the high ceiling, with props gathered from antique stores and her mother's home. Playful accessories covered bare skin, and the atmosphere was designed so the sitters could forget about being watched.

The series is organized around themes including "Body Studies," "Caryatids," "Dessert Eaters," and "Spaghetti Eaters." Bianchi shot on infrared black-and-white film and developed each print herself in the darkroom. A self-taught photographer, she enjoyed fixing and washing every edition by hand. Thinking more like an alchemist than a technical printer, she applied gold toner to her warm-toned prints to add luminous depth to the flattened, white-washed scenes. The results recall classical charcoal drawings, and their bodies resist the idea that any one type should be "in style."

Works on the checklist include Servitude II (1998), Lalique (1998), Spaghetti Eater With Cat (1998), and Keep Your Fat Under the Table (2000). Sybaris (2000) is the show's featured image. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 6:00pm.