Women Who Ride: Photography by Lanakila MacNaughton

December 21, 2013 – March 16, 2014

Burgeoning Portland-based photographer Lanakila MacNaughton is the artist behind Women Who Ride; a touring exhibition documenting the new wave of modern female motorcyclists in the U.S. MacNaughton’s photography has been featured in Iron and Air magazine and has been a photographer for Dice Magazine for seven years. “The statement [behind Women Who Ride] is [about] sparking something new,” says MacNaughton, “there are new kinds of women who are getting off the back of their boyfriend’s bike and buying [their own] bike, and connecting with other women in their community and going on adventures together, and that’s what living’s about, doing spur of the moment spontaneous stuff that you remember for the rest of your life.”

Excerpt from Artist’s Statement:

I want to reveal the brave, courageous, and beautiful women who live to ride. The show is a vehicle that promotes a new perception of female empowerment and inspires independence and liberation through motorcycling. The Women’s Motorcycle Exhibition is a traveling show. I hope to help discover and present female riders from all different communities, riding backgrounds, and styles, and influence connectivity amongst riders from these different areas. I hope to promote and present the freedom, independence, excitement, and personalities of the “born to be free” woman motorcyclists.

MacNaughton offers documentary-style photography that vicariously roots the viewer in the rides captured by virtue of her “insider” status within the amorphous collective of female motorcyclists. Not only is the viewer treated to the aesthetically compelling medium format stills taken while MacNaughton participates in the rides, but they are offered a rare glimpse into what drives the women of these exhilarating underground collectives.