Website: http://www.dalpine.com/en/book/ama-lur

In 2001, He received a B.A. in Economic Sciences from the University of Deusto. In 2006, after working for 5 years in the finance world, he decided to move to Barcelona to study photography.

He began working in documentary photography so that he could capture and depict the contemporary world and completed his studies with Pep Bonet, Christopher Anderson and Paolo Pellegrin, after having been selected to participate in the first Magnum Workshop taking place in Oslo.

Since then, he has been working on a long-term research project called GALERNA. This work focuses on the idiosyncrasy and aesthetics of the Basque Country with an anthropological perspective.

This book is the closing chapter of an 8 year project by Jon Cazenave, he has compiled a book of the Basque people’s idiosyncrasy and their aesthetics, to unravel his home’s political intricacy from an anthropological perspective.
I have chosen this book as part of my inspiration for my book because i like the very dark black and whites in the book which i partially want to recreate in my book as all my images have a standard black and white filter as i think it is very dramatic and my project is very important and dramatic.

His work is very unusual and i would consider it abstract photography but his work is very ambiguous if you have not read the description of the book which is similar to mine as my project could be mistaken for a project on war. His book is in a portrait orientation which is completely covered with images/black paper. The edges of the book are a grey colour and the seem of the book appears to be covered with glue. It is a soft cover book as the cover is an image. Every single image is a double page spread.

The whole book is on black paper with the images on top, all the images are double spread and go from edge to edge. In my book i will have double page spreads splitting up the portrait orientated images as otherwise it will look too clustered. The double page spread will be black and white and many will have high contrast and dark shadows to make the images look much darker to show how worrying and dramatic my project is.

His work only shows parts of an image which leaves it up to the mind of the viewer to make up the rest or what could the image be apart of. Some of his work is much clearer than this one which is very ambiguous.

This image which is back of his book is much less ambiguous than just simply the patterns which are on some of the pages. However each image has a symbolic meaning to him personally as his work is exploring his homeland which is why all the images are symbolizing his home land. The hands could represent those of his family members or just people from the community. His work is very intimate and he has some up close images of body parts which can be ambiguous as the viewer does not always know what they are of.

I think this image is of an arm but i am not quite sure, i do not like images which i cannot clearly make out what they are. For many photographers it will add tension into their work but i do not like this as i do not like the uncertainty.

Personally i find this book not very good because you do not understand what it is about without reading the description. There is no explanation about why the book was made or what it is about within the book.  Also there is no name or date on it and the cover does not give any clue to what the book might be about. I like books which have a title which gives you a clue of what it may be about or if not the images will tell the viewer what it is about.

For my book, i will make sure that the meaning and concept behind it is clear through the use of quotes from external sources, i will make sure my book has my name and title very clearly written on it.

His work: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/christian-rodriguez-motobaik#slideshow

Christian Rodriguez investigates themes related to gender and identity by working with communities all over the world. His work has been published in The National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian and The New Yorker.

Motobaik is a term which refers to scooters in Vietnam, he has done a projected exploring Vietnamese women who wear specially designed fashionable motorbike jackets which almost cover their faces and hands when they ride. This relates to my project as i am exploring mouth masks and gas masks which cover my models face.

This project is similar to mine as the jackets cover their faces which is similar to what my mouth mask ans gas mask do. The women do this because they want to avoid the pollution caused by so many motorbikes and they also use it a sun protection. They do this because of beauty standards in Vietnam, having paler skin shows a higher socioeconomic status because it shows that you work in a place with no sun exposure. His photos are a mixture of formal portraiture as well as environmental portraiture, there seems to be a standard pattern for designer jacket with floral/colourful patterns being the primary design. All of his photos have a standard and consistent composition which is the same for each photograph.

This portrait is fairly formal as there is nothing in the background to distract the eye from the women in the centre of the image, also by having a completely grey background could represent the smoke and pollution caused by the 37 million motorbikes travelling at rush hour. The floral coat stands out from the image which is what attracts the eye to begin with, this directs our vision to the full covered face on the women so that no smoke or sun can get through. The mask underneath is used for the pollution and this creates different depths to the image as the coat is on top and is what we see first then the cloth mask is what we see next. The glasses keep the anonymity of the women which makes the viewer wonder what she looks like and what kind of emotion she is showing underneath the glasses, mask and coat. The coat which the women is wearing is to protect her from the sun but it does not match her floral jacket but it blends in with the pale grey background which is why it is not noticed straight away. Within the image, there are four different types of what as there is the grey/white of thr background, the bright white of the cap, beige/white of the jacket and the dirty white of the mask. These all work together to create a consistent composition of the image. This image has no hidden meaning as Christian Rodriguez project of Motobaik is very clear and the description is clear.

This portrait differs from the others as the women is not wearing a jacket but she is wearing a bib like cloth mouth mask to protect her against the pollution, she is also wearing sunglasses and a hat to protect her against the sun so that her skin does not tan more as otherwise it will symbolize a low socioeconomic status. Like the other images, the background is a grey/white which for me symbolizes the pollution in the air during rush hour which is caused by motorbikes and cars. The different patterns of her outfit clash which does not make for perfect composition however as this is an environmental portrait, Rodriguez does not have control over what they wear when he photographs them. There seems to be a trend with the women he chooses to photograph as they are all wearing bold patterns and it is not clear that all women wear patterns like this but it seems to be a sign of being of a higher socioeconomic status because they can afford face masks, hats, glasses and jackets etc.. This image has the same composition as all the other images when it comes to the women’s faces in the sense that almost all the women preserve their identity with sunglasses or a low hat and Rodriguez respects this and does not ask for the glasses to be removed as they also protect their eyes against the smoke and sun. This is the only women out of my gallery to be wearing a different form of hot to a cap or a helmet, this could potentially be because she is not wearing a jacket for the cap to stay on or because she does not like it.

This is the only women out of my gallery of images which who has not covered her identity/eyes with sunglasses or hats. Also her jacket is not as colourful as the other women and she matches with the colours of the women above. Rodriguez has kept the same consistent grey/white background which could represent pollution. This women is the only one who is wearing a colorful mouth mask which is interesting because her jacket is lacking in colour which is why the viewers eyes are attracted to the colourful mouth mask which is protecting her from pollution. She is also wearing a helmet which is similar to a cap as it protects her eyes from the sun which is potentially why she is not using sunglasses. The mouth mask is the only colour in the whole image which is why it stands out so dramatically and makes the image much more interesting than the rest as she does not fit with all the women yet and the same time she does. The eyes of the women show lots of emotion almost sadness but we do not know, possibly because she has to wear all of this just to fit in with beauty standards in Vietnam and protect herself against the high levels of pollution during rush hour.

Art and photography are creative mediums that I have always been passionate about and feminism is a topic that I am incredibly interested in as a self identified feminist. As a result of these interests I received a number of books for Christmas last year, including “The Art of Reflection” which is about how female artist have presented their bodies in self portraiture and “Art and Feminism” which is an incredibly interesting book that encompasses many topics surrounding the link between feminism and art, with many honourable mentions of influential feminist artist and different critics insights on how their work, often particular pieces link in with feminism.

The book includes essays, quotations and various texts from a number of female  artists, art critics and feminist scholars. The preface and editing of the book was completed by Helena Reckitt, a feminist curator and researcher and the survey was written by the incredibly influential feminist scholar and former chair of New York University’s Department of Performance Studies.

The pre-face of the book was written by Helena Reckitt, even in those first initial pages some very interesting and thought provoking thoughts are made. Reckitt writes that “the trap of heroine worship,” is that “the achievements of women are uncritically celebrated in an understandable but counterproductive effort to compensate for year of neglect.” I think that this statement in certain circumstances is correct. A lot of women who are in male dominated professions such as doctors or scientists are often celebrated for simply choosing to take their chosen career path. I think that such achievements are commendable as girls and young women are often discouraged from choosing to study certain subjects or take certain jobs. However, when this celebration, or “worship” as Reckitt suggests, takes away from their actually achievements within their field (when compared to men as well as women) this  “worship” can be harmful. For example if a public speaker who made an  well planned, well presented, thought provoking speech on a serious topic was not a native English speaker and all anybody could talk was how well they spoke English, it devalues the content of the speech. On the other hand, however, this statement is untrue, in the art world self identified feminist artist’s (or occasionally simply female artists’) work is looked at incredibly critically. Critics and viewers alike automatically search for some kind of feminist reading or political subtext within artworks.

Reckitt also goes on to say later in the pre-face that stems from the same idea that some female artist find “the feminist label restrictive, threatening to overshadow other elements of their work.” Louise Bourgeois, one of the most influential feminist artist of  the 20th Century has in the past denied being a feminist, this may be because she feels that if she labels herself and thus, her work as feminist it may diminish the many other strong themes in her work. Other female artist of colour, have in the past and present denied being “feminist artist” because they feel that the feminism movement for the greater part of history has been about the rights and freedom of middle class white women with a complete disregard for the rights of women of colour. I think that this is a fair point, if you feel that your rights have been ignored and you relate this discrimination to a particular label, you are completely within your right to not identify with the movement. However, I feel that within the current movement of third wave feminism, the importance of inclusion for all women, including women of the LGBT community and women from all races and cultural backgrounds is growing.

Peggy Phelan states later in the survey that “Writing about art has traditionally been concerned with that which is interior to the frame, whereas feminism has focused primarily on what lies outside he frame of patriarchal logic, representation, history and justice.” I believe that this is a very intriguing analogy as it raises questions as to whether or not feminist art is appreciated enough for its aesthetic nature and perhaps too much for its social and political allegory. At the same time, it suggests that the social and political nature of artworks that are not typically considered feminist have traditionally not been looked at as critically as maybe they should have been at the time of production. Many non- feminist artworks from history are now looked at through a critical lens, although critics views are now in retrospective and cannot reflect on current events of the time. The critical viewpoint that Phelan describes suggests taking a step when critically analyzing art, viewing it within it’s social, political and historical context.

I found this book very interesting, but at times difficult to read, I often had to take a break and allow myself to process the essays and make connections before continuing. I also found myself having to read over things again to understand them better. I was very glad that I was gifted this book as opposed to borrowing from a library as I was able to highlight certain quotes and passages that I found interesting or didn’t completely understand as well as marking pages that contained artwork that I was inspired by or found particularly intriguing.

Cyril Costilhes has a very unique relationship to Diego Suarez, the location where he shot his dark photoseries, ‘Grand Circle Diego’. A little over 10 years ago, his father moved there to run a casino, but was returned to France after a tragic motorcycle accident that caused him front lobe dementia, placing him in a coma. Costilhes saw his father’s move as an attempt to start fresh, lured by the beauty of the young women and environment. To Costilhes, his father’s aspirations were an illusion, and one shared by many white western men in a similar position. The reality of Diego Suarez is one of desperation, where people of privilege go to seek asylum in a false paradise, and the inhabitants seek salvation through the refugees of reality.

Since the book is about him revisiting an old environment of his I thought it would be an interesting link to my project based on my personal environments. I want to focus on how Cyril had put these images together in a way that creates a narrative.

When I search for images of Diego Suarez on google, I come across an idyllic seaside town.

This is a strong contrast to the images produced by Costilhes. His experience of the town is of his father, and he travelled there to resolve the ghosts that still hang over him as his father remains in a coma. The story of his father is of somewhat a dark irony; he left France after a failed marriage to look for a new life in what was seemingly a paradise of freedom. This elusive idea of a new perfect life in this paradise was supported by how free and beautiful the place looked, however it sadly ended up in a helmet-less motorbike accident due to a hole in the road.

The photoseries is compiled as a book, and Costilhes writes about his time spent in Diego Suarez. He imagines the moments leading up to his father’s crash:

“What was his last clear, clean thought right before the crash?! Was he daydreaming about the girl he was going to f^*k next, `daydreaming about his new house on the beach of Ramena, or about the money he was going to make by reselling that ambitious hotel in construction, about what he was going to do next, living in a paradise until the grandiose ending.”

His writing at the end of the book is very striking, describing the moments around his fathers crash, as well as the moment arriving back at the village in Madagascar since he left 11 years prior. He talks about the false paradise that Diego is, luring men in who want ‘fresh starts’ from their possibly miserable lives. Despite the beautiful women and beaches, Cyril saw through it as a Dystopia rather then a Utopia. He describes how people are losing their minds over the availability of power and freedom, and how their is a dense sense of colonialism spread by the western men looking for a paradise.

These are some other quotes from the book, written on the day he arrived back in Diego Suarez.

He describes how the place has not changed at all from what he remembers… Describing himself as a walking piece of meat ready to be salvaged upon by the local people.

“same bars, recycled bodies. I’m a walking piece of fresh meat. Nothing has changed.”

“I sometimes fantasize about ending it for my father. It would be a relief for everybody. I have this crazy idea of transforming this suffocating situation into something positive, something that would give sense to all this. Turn the ugly into beautiful.

First night in Diego, having a drink at La Vahinee bar, a beautiful girl sits at my table, looks straight in the eyes.

“J’aime la bite.” “

This is particularly striking as he is talking about killing his own father, however we can tell it has been said out of desperation and sympathy as he is wanting to end his suffering. This makes it such a powerful part of the text as it proves the reality of the pain his father, his family and himself have all been going through watching the man completely locked up in his body, resulting in this incredible set of dark, disturbing and mysterious images.

Here are some reviews I have found whilst researching that in my opinion reflect the atmosphere and emotion of the book strongly:

• “Grand Circle Diego is a dark exploration of the photographer’s ghosts, and it powerfully captures Costilhes’ quest to reconnect with his father. Through its lavish printing, elemental design, and careful editing, the book creates the ambiance of very personal catharsis, leaving most of its mysteries unrevealed.” – Olga Yatskevich on Collectors’ daily
• “Cyril confronted the demons, the grudges and probably the rage that town brought into his life. Nothing remains of the idyllic allure of Diego Suarez in his suffocating photographs – the images are extremely dark, baffling and often times even repulsive. Despite Cyril’s initial intention was to make a project of documentary nature, the work soon changed into a deeply subjective, visceral experience, a descent into the photographer’s innermost feelings, a coming to terms with a ten year-long trauma.” – Fotografia magazine
• “Buried beneath its wild undergrowth and savage natural beauty, the Madagascan town of Diego Suarez hides many secrets. In 2003, whilst riding his motorbike home from Le Grand Circle Diego casino one evening, Cyril Costilhes’ father was involved in an accident that left him crippled with front lobe dementia. As a result, just over 10 years later, Costilhes has returned to shoot the mysteries of the land that snared his father’s sanity. The French photographer recorded his findings in his new book the Grand Circle Diego – and the results are dark, twisted and startling.” – Dominique Sisley on DAZED

Cyril has taken the paradise-esque vision and flipped it upside down as an evocative result of the haunting memories of his fathers life ruining accident. As a result he created a striking representation of the place focusing on the more  features of life there such as the mysterious looking people looking fearful and isolated, abandoned buildings, abstract images of flesh and vegetation along with the many other disturbingly interesting photographs within. Below you can see a selection of images that I have made, all of some of my personal environments (places I feel safe, comfortable, familiar with) that I feel link with Cyril’s work. I have more frequently tried making my images contrast’ stronger to produce darker blacks and lighter highlights, similar to Cyril’s style of images.