How does Phillip Ebeling and Pieter Hugo, express the notion of family history and relationships in their work?

Phillip Ebeling and Pieter Hugo are both photographers with similar stances to the objective of home. Ebeling explores the concept of past and the desire for trying to encourage his audience not to forget their own past as it is a gift inherited from generations. Pieter Hugo’s exhibition is a kind of personal psychological study of his conflicted homeland. Both portray a different perspective of home but in a way everyone can relate to.  My response reflects to the concept of home and my personal experiences growing up in Government house, focusing on the work my dad does as the Butler for Jersey’s Lieutenant governor. My interpretation is a personal reflect and an insight into the life of the current Governor

Pieter Hugo’s book ‘Kin’ is a photo representation of what his childhood was like and the types of people surrounding him. He describes it as “an engagement with the failure of the South African colonial experiment and my sense of being colonial driftwood”. As a white South African photographer, Hugo is perfectly aware of the problems of representation that surround his work, which merges documentary, portraiture, still life and landscape. “South Africa is such a fractured, schizophrenic, wounded and problematic place,” His work brings together six years of work and marks a move towards a more personalized, introspective approach. “How does one live in this society?” he asks. “How does one take responsibility for history, and to what extent does one have to? How do you raise a family in such a conflicted society? Before getting married and having children, these questions did not trouble me. Now they are more confusing.” Hugo says his work attempts to look at what he calls “conflicting personal and collective narrative. His imagery ranges from portraits of his family and friends and also with images of homeless people on the streets that he meets all over South Africa. A full-length portrait of his pregnant wife hangs alongside two powerful head-and-shoulder portraits of outsiders: a man with a drooping eye and unreadable stare; another man with a defiant air and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Throughout, there are equally dramatic juxtapositions, such as a self-portrait of Hugo cradling his new-born daughter who shares a room with a photo of the first gay couple to get married in a traditional African wedding ceremony. There are photographs of the women who worked for his parents and helped raise Pieter as a child, as well as an inspiring group portrait of young men who had just completed their initiation into manhood.  Historically, Pieter became a photographer because of slight frustration he had when it came to his homeland. As he is a white South-African, people don’t view him as an African when at heart he is. This fuelled his temptation to dig deeper into the heart of Africa, and the traditions it upholds. Hugo doesn’t truly feel part of Africa, even though he knows it throughout, “I’ve travelled through Africa, I know it, but at the same time I’m not really part of it… I can’t claim to have an authentic voice, but I can claim to have an honest one.” Pieter alters through private and public spaces, which particular emphasis on the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. Pieter Hugo’s book ‘Kin’ is his efforts in trying to locate himself and his family in a country with a troubled history and an uncertain future, which is truly inspiring. What I found that stood out when I was viewing his book, was that I didn’t need to read the context to understand what he was trying to portray in his images; they spoke for themselves.

Exploring through Phillip Ebeling’s book ‘Land without Past’, I instantly felt the connection that he was trying to portray through to his audience. His interpretation is channelled from the desire to make things news as he understood the common feelings that people never liked to keep the old things. People seemed to be dipping further into deleting memories of their past and focusing on the new current situation they are living in. Ebeling’s main intention was to in fact, reconnect with his family and friends back in his homeland of Germany.  He was a London-based photographer and wanted to expand his detail of work to something he could easily connect with. He describes his return back home like he had never left, “Despite my long absence from the village, it still occupies a central part of my identity,” meaning, you are who you are from where you come from and how you’re brought up.  Ebeling’s writes, “It has indelibly shaped my sense of the world, who I am and how I function… I still call this patch of earth home and I doubt that will ever change.” Ebeling’s focus within his book is to strive to reconnect with your past, as well as exploring the notion of home, expressing both his personal memory and identity. Ebeling’s photography relates to my personal study by incorporating archival images from family’s photo albums. Phillip cleverly constructs a picture of both a past he remembers and one he can only reach through photographs. My favourite photograph from Phillip Ebeling’s book is the one in his attic with his train track still set up with other toys around it. The space is so small but the context behind it is so much more powerful. This photo really stood out for me, mainly due to the contrasting colours but also the meaning behind it, visually seeing his historical childhood was pleasing to see. I think this particular photographer initiates an emotional impact on the audience, as when referring to someone’s past and their homeland, stories and memories start to reappear, which is either a positive or negative thing. When returning home, Ebeling quoted in his book, “I now appreciate that the history of my country is in constant flux.” As a population, we all have our own unique pasts that has enabled us to grow as individuals, seek new challenges and develop new skills. This unique aspect to life is important to interrupt through art and photography, whilst it creates a book or photographs of memories, it allows the people surrounding you, know where you came from and how you have developed as a person from childhood to the present time.

As an amateur photographer, it is important for me to express details about my life to almost create a biography through photographs. I chose to use my dad for my project as his job has impacted my life since day 1. My dad is the Butler for the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey and has enabled me to have an insight into the life of royalty. My dad’s responsibilities are; ensuring the house events run smoothly, he also manages the house staff and liaises with his Excellency and Lady Mc Cole for all their requirements. I have lived in the grounds of Government House all my life and have truly honoured living here. Our tight community has really impacted my life and the way I am, as I also work as a waitress for Government House functions, I have been taught the type of service required for the Governor and his guests by my Dad himself. It was an honour to follow the footsteps of my dad and what he does at work and for the Governor to allow me take photographs of him off duty was a privilege in itself. To me, family is the most important aspect in life, it’s the root to our personality.  Family is the single most important influence in a child’s life. From your first moments of life, you depend on parents and family to protect and provide for your needs. They form your first relationships with other people and are your role models throughout life. Researching into the way different photographs express the notion of home was truly inspiring and made me want to produce something that shows how my life has been impacted through my dad’s job.

How does my mum’s role as breadwinner abdicate from her culture?

“A Legend of the Strength of… Motherhood.” ^[20]

Motherhood is the state or experience of having and raising a child.

In this essay, the first thing I am going to do is analyse and compare the links between my personal study outcomes and Dorothea Lange’s Iconic ‘Migrant Mother’ photographs. I have chosen to analyse the photograph of ‘Migrant Mother’ In particular because it is such a well-known photograph with a powerful context behind it which is very interesting to me. Furthermore I have found that it relates to my personal study. Secondly, I am going to explore my mum’s work ethic, female traditional roles and how my mums’ role as a breadwinner of my family abdicates from her culture. My mum was born in Madeira which means that the female exceptions of her are very different to the role that she ‘plays’ now.  To explore this concept I have been photographing my mum in her working environment over a period of months. I am also going to include my personal archive photographs to compare my mum’s role before and now.

Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange

‘Humanity is a hypothesis that has run its course’ ( Aragon 2002:21) – Dorothea Lange: The Heart and Mind of a Photographer

In 1939 during the Great Depression Dorothea Lange was working on a project for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which was created to help combat American poverty. The aim of this project was to capture the effect that the Great Depression had on people. According to Dorothea Lange, this photograph was taken when she was driving past a camp site and she then stopped and approached ‘Migrant Mother’ within 10-15 minutes she had taken 6 different exposures. Dorothea Lange said that ‘Migrant Mother’ had been living off frozen vegetables from the field and wild birds the children caught and they could not move on, because her husband had just sold the tires from their car to buy food. On the other hand Florence Owens Thompson who is ‘Migrant Mother’ herself says that the encounter happened differently. She said that the photograph was taken on a camping site where they had set up temporarily while her husband had gone to get the car radiator repaired. Lange had also promised that the photographs would not be published, however she sent it to San Francisco News as well as to the Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C. Since then the photograph has become an Icon and a representation of the Great Depression.

Propaganda is the formation, of photographs or other sources of information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Some people argue that the photograph of Migrant Mother was used as propaganda to raise awareness of the 1930’s from a specific point of view, which is the depression and poverty. The photograph is of a mother and her children which are subjects that everyone can relate too and therefore this creates a lot of empathy from the viewers. The photographs were also used to raise money, however none of that money was given to Migrant Mother herself, and however some of the money that was raised was given to the people on the crop farm where the photograph was originally taken. The photographs were then appropriated on to many things such as stamps and cartoons; so much so it soon became the most reproduced photograph in the history of photography.

ADD ANALYSIS PARAGRAPH

How does my mums role as breadwinner abdicate from her culture?

“A Legend of the Strength of… Motherhood.” ^[20]

INTRODUCTION:

Motherhood is the state or experience of having and raising a child. In this essay I am also going to analyse and compare the links between my personal study outcomes and Dorothea Lange’s Iconic ‘Migrant Mother’ photographs. I have chosen to analyse the photograph of ‘Migrant Mother’ because it is such a well-known photograph with a powerful context behind it which is very interesting to me, furthermore it relates to my personal study.  Secondly, I am going to explore my mum’s work ethic, female traditional roles and how my mums’ role as a breadwinner of my family abdicates from her culture. My mum being born in Madeira means that the female exceptions of her are very different to the role that she ‘plays’ now.  To explore this I have been photographing my mum in her working environment over a period of months. I am also going to include my personal archive photographs to compare my mum’s role then and now.

PARAGRAPH 1:

In 1939 during the Great Depression Dorothea Lange was working on a project for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which was created to help combat American poverty. The aim of this project was to capture the effect that the Great Depression had on people. According to Dorothea Lange, this photograph was taken when she was driving past a camp site and she stopped and approached ‘Migrant Mother’ within 10-15 minutes she had taken 6 different exposures. Dorothea Lange said that ‘Migrant Mother’ had been living off frozen vegetables from the field and wild birds the children caught and they could not move on, because her husband had just sold the tires from the car to buy food. On the other hand Florence Owens Thompson who is ‘Migrant Mother’ herself says that the encounter was different.  She said that the photograph was taken on a camping site where they had set up temporarily while her husband had gone to get the car radiator repaired. Lange had also promised that the photographs would not be published, however she sent it to San Francisco News as well as to the Resettlement Administration in Washington, D.C. Since then the photograph has become an Icon and a representation of the Great Depression so much so that the photograph became the most reproduced photo in the history of photography, it was reproduced on things such as stamps all the way to cartoons.

Title/question: The essay should focus on the title or question which i am addressing for this personal study. The title needs to involve the idea of Greek mythology/ the ideal body but also the idea of males being so obsessed with the gym.

Introduction: In my introduction i will explain the main body of my essay and what i am trying to discuss. The beginning paragraph will begin with a quote, and will contain artist movements and other photographers which i have been influenced by.

Essay ideas:

1. How the idea of the perfect body is explored through the idea of Greek Sculpture
2. How the idea of the perfect body is explored

Paragraph ideas: 

• How photographers capture movement (Eadweard Muybridge’s chronotopia – the human figure in motion – illustrations
• How Greek sculptures have presented the human body since BC to give us the idea of the ideal form
• How we have been presented with the perfect form/ultimate thing to be (Plato) 
• Why younger men are getting more interested into the gym/ more into fitness
• How males are presented in photography / media

Planning stage:

The essay needs to follow a strict structure, where i focus on the thing i want to discuss one after the other. I will discuss my essay title and have a topic of discussion for each paragraph. I will be hoping to have 4-5 large paragraphs which i will discuss my essay in extra detail. 

To what extent is the work of Yury Toropstov and Michelle Sank similar?

On reviewing the ‘Quintessence’ Exhibition, it is clear that the work of International Photographer in Residence (IPIR)[1] of 2014 Yury Toropstov in ‘Fairyland’, conveys a certain degree of similarity to that by IPIR of 2013, Michelle Sank in ‘Insula’. Both artists, formal and methodical in their photographic style, take influence upon discoveries made from the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archives, and subsequently their respective bodies of work made is achieved through a similar process. Nevertheless, there are clear distinctions in the work of the two artists. Firstly, the extent their respective personal influence is very different, thus shaping the direction of their work very differently. Secondly, they give varying representations of island life, with Toropstov photographing more subjectively than Sank. Although I can draw some similarities, I maintain that the obvious contrasts and differences in their work means that the extent of similarity between the artists is somewhat limited.

Both Sank and Toropstov’s photographic style is formal. Many similarities can be drawn from Toropstov’s image of “Vic Tanner Davy”[2] formally dressed in an office, holding a statue, with Sank’s image of two girls, “Chloe and Leah”[3]. They are both formal portraits, and it is apparent that both photographers have carefully considered how the image has been composed. Hands are used in both to symbolise the distance between the photographer and the subject. Sank keeps the hands of her subject down to convey a defensive pose, and Toropstov achieves this same effect by photographing the subject with his hands in his pockets, symbolic of a defensive nature. Both Sank and Toropstov were commissioned by Archisle “to live, work and teach for a term of six months”[4], and their outsider view of the island subsequently reflects this position. Their equally careful and methodical approach to dealing with their subjects explores how the work of both serves to express this outsider, and therefore limited perspective of island.

(Photographer: Yury Toropstov, Subject: Vic Tanner Davy, Jersey, 2014.)

(Photographer: Michelle Sank, Subject: Chloe and Leah, Jersey, 2013.)

Furthermore, similarities can be drawn from the considered approach to how Toropstov and Sank research their respective contexts and themes. In contrast to the work of Martin Parr, (also in the exhibition) both Sank and Toropstov convey a far more considered and formal approach to research, restricting the direction of their work to pre-determined themes, highlighted in Toropstov’s case by his image “Jess”[5] and the similarities this can draw with the archival image of Ivy Joan Vibert. Both artists use the Societe Jersiaise archive as the basis to inspire their work. Sank takes influence from social order of Henry Mullin’s mid-19th Century Portraits: “9,000 portraits of islanders placed and identified in grid configurations”[6], to explore class systems in the island, whereas Toropstov was inspired by footage of a young girl named Ivy Joan Vibert with her float ‘Fairyland’ at the 1937 Battle of Flowers, fuelling his exploration of the “discrete and mysterious”[7] nature of Jersey. The similar methods of research by both photographers to create their outcomes, draws clear similarities with both in terms of photographic approach, resulting in their work being of a similar pattern – very specific and concentrated themed images, of which this style of research based photography inevitably results in.

Although both similar in terms of research, the work of Sank and Toropstov are influenced in completely different artistic directions. All six Archisle artists nominated another artist whose work had influenced them, and this is a significant factor in differentiating Sank and Toropstov’s work. Sank chose David Goldbatt, who has four images in the exhibition, looking at the social barriers established by race in apartheid South Africa. One portrait is of a black couple holding up a registration plate, and they are shown to be poor and socially disadvantaged through the representation of their clothing and living conditions. Sank’s portrait of “Chloe and Leah”[8], draws striking similarities to the intentions of Golbatt, as the girl’s appearance of simplistic clothing and worn out shoes, implies too that they are working class. Sank therefore has very much been drawn down the artistic direction of exploring social status and order. Toropstov, on the other hand, was influenced by the concept of mystery and mysticism, an impression he established during his stay on the island,  citing the controversial ‘Cottingley Faries’[9] series by Elise Wright and Frances Griffiths as his influence. Sank’s influence is shown through her objective, documentary style, whereas Toropstov’s main influence inspires a degree of creativity, imagination and subjectivity.

(Photograher: David Goldblatt, “You’ll be the driver and i’ll be the Madam, Johanesburg – RSA, 1975.)

(Photographer: Michelle Sank, Subject: Chloe and Leah, Jersey, 2013.)

(Photographer:  Elise Wright and Frances Griffiths, “The Cottingley Faries”, Bradford – UK, 1917.)

Fundamentally, the main difference which highlights clear distinctions in Sank and Toropstov’s work is how they depict the theme of ‘islandness’[10]. Sank during her stay in Jersey became interested in the issue of class conflict on the island, as she describes, “I am interested in creating sociological landscapes”[11]. Her take on Jersey is that it is a place of extreme cultural diversity and social extremes; ranging from the the home of very rich to those in most abject poverty. The series is therefore an observational human study. In stark contrast to this objective viewpoint, Toropstov’s work reflects a more personal viewpoint of the island, and ‘Fairyland’ documents his own personal journey to “connect to island life”[12] and discover the hidden secrets of such a “mysterious and discrete place”[13]. Such a contrast largely impacts how the viewer interprets the images in the exhibition. Sank’s images invite the reader to reflect upon her work with a sense of observation and distance. On the other hand, the subjective nature of Toropstov’s work invites the viewer to interpret the images from a more abstract perspective, encouraging subjective experiences to determine judgement. This contrast is important as the mood established within the respective works is completely different.

(Photographer: Michelle Sank, ‘Disused Glasshouse’, Jersey, 2013.)

It was interesting to reflect upon and compare the work of Sank and Toropstov. As respective IPIR, they were both completely new to the island and had the same time period and access to resources in which to make a photographic response. Although similar in terms style, it is undeniable that through their own personal influences, as well as opinions about island life that the context, intention and direction of their of their work is very different. Sank is far more direct in her photographic responses, whereas Toropstov response is more implied and metaphorical. For these reasons, I would argue that only to a very limited degree, is the work of Sank and Toropstov similar.

 

Bibliography

[1] Syvret. G, The Rescidency, Archilse Website, http://www.archisle.org.je/archisle-international-photographer-in-residence-programme-2015/ (2015)

[2] Syvret. G, Exhibition Text, ACCP (2015)

[3] Syvret. G, Michelle Sank – Insua, www.archisle.org.je/michelle-sank-insula (2013)

[4] Syvret. G, Exhibition Text, ACCP (2015)

[5] Toropstov. Y, Fairyland (Description), http://toroptsov.com/en/projects/fairyland.htm (2014)

[6] Syvret. G, Exhibition Text, ACCP (2015)

[7] Toropstov. Y, Fairyland (2014), https://vimeo.com/105940083 (2014)

[8] Sank. M, Portfolios – Insula, http://www.michellesank.com/insula (2013)

[9] Cooper. J, “Cottingley: At Last the Truth.” The Unexplained, No. 117, pp. 2338-40 (1982)

[10]Syvret. G, Archisle Celebrates Five Years with Quintessence, http://www.archisle.org.je/archisle-celebrates-five-years-with-quintessence-exhibition/ (2015)

[11] Sank. M, Artist Reference, http://www.michellesank.com/ (2013)

[12] Toropstov. Y, Fairyland (2014), https://vimeo.com/105940083 (2014)

[13] Toropstov. Y, Fairyland (2014), https://vimeo.com/105940083 (2014)