Francesca Woodman was an American photographer who created black and white images often using herself or other young, female models as the subjects.  During her life time her art was not well-known and it was only after her death (she committed suicide at 22) that her work received attention.  She is considered to be a progressive feminine voice in photography and her work explores themes of isolation and self-displacement. Woodman explained to her parents (who were also artists) that she used herself as a model as a matter of “convenience” because she was always available and knew exactly the effect she wanted to produce with an image. The main subject of her work was broadly an exploration of her own body in relation to space.  Her photographs test the boundaries of the body but she rarely revealed her whole body with her face often blurred or masked and parts of her body are hidden behind elements of the environment. This creates an interesting relationship between observation, self-display and mystery. Some critics have interpreted this as an attempt to resist the male gaze with the tendency to camouflage herself. In some images Woodman also most becomes one with her surroundings by blending into the wallpaper or floor so that it becomes difficult to distinguish between the two. By fragmenting her body in this way, hiding behind furniture or using reflective surfaces such as mirrors to conceal herself she dissects the human figure and emphasises isolated body parts. This creates the idea that she is simultaneously there whilst also absent and relates to the idea of disappearance.

Woodman often used long exposure techniques to capture movement within her images and create surrealist compositions . The concealed figures have a mysterious, ghost-like quality . There are also no modern buildings in her work which the critic Elizabeth Gumport describes in this article as crumbling ruins “whose disintegrating forms evoke the wrecks admired by the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gothic revivalists often cited as [some of Woodman’s] major influences”. Woodman often photographed herself nude or wearing old-fashioned clothes  such as white petticoats and is typically sited in empty dilapidated rooms containing old furniture. Her photographs look as though they belong in a much earlier time with her choice of costume meaning it is impossible to date the images and the use of old buildings and absence of modern objects create a Gothic appearance.  Woodman was apparently an avid reader of Victorian Gothic fiction such as novels by the Brontes which could be said to be reflected in her work with the idea of spectral female figures, confined to attics. The soft focus and black and white nature of her images is also similar to the style of earlier generations of photography which further emphasises the timelessness of her work. The soft greys that shade her images add to the mysterious tone and show her eye for light, shadow and form.

Critics have disagreed about the meaning and purpose of her art with some comparing her to surrealist photographers (with her use of Surrealist motifs such as mirrors, gloves, birds, and bowls) and others hail her as a feminist hero.  Her images are also very personal, lending them an autobiographical quality and therefore interpretation of her work is often based on psychoanalysis in light of her suicide. However her images are also often subtly amusing and contain playful visual jokes such as the example below with her arms covered in bark and mimicking the form of the trees. Family and friends have argued that while many think her work was about death and disappearance, Woodman’s light-heated sense of humour and energy is also apparent in her work. They say that  “Her life wasn’t a series of miseries” and she was fun to be with.

I have researched the work of  Francesca Woodman because her art has inspired many contemporary photographers within the area of performance and self-portraiture. In my own work I am also going to be considering the relationship between myself and different environments and I am going to experiment with a surrealist approach, using long-shutter speeds. I am also intrigued by Woodman’s use of props such as mirrors and this is something I am going to use, potentially within the context of old buildings.

Before continuing with my documentary approach to this project, I first wanted to find out more about the applications of this type of photography. ‘Conservation photography’ is defined as the use of the photographic process, within the parameters of photojournalism, to advocate for conservation outcomes. By combining nature photography with a proactive, issue-oriented, approach to documentary photography it can be used for protecting nature and improving the natural environment. Conservation Photography furthers environmental conservation, wildlife conservation, habitat conservation or cultural conservation by expanding public awareness of issues and stimulating positive action.

Throughout its history photography has developed as a powerful medium to empower conservation. Although it was not as widely acknowledged, photography has served this role since the 1860’s. For example, the powerful images of Carleton Watkins were successfully used to stimulate the establishment of Yosemite National Park in 1864. Since then renewed emphasis on photography for conservation arose at the beginning of the 21st century. This was primarily in response to the human-caused environmental crisis, recognising that the global pattern of abolished ecosystems was not sustainable. The modern field of conservation photography was formalised in October 2005 with the founding of the International League of Conservation Photographers by photographer Cristina Mittermeier. Many people agree, conservation photography falls into two broad categories, both of which are equally as valuable:

1. The snapshot: a quickly framed image of a naturally occurring scene, taken by chance with not too much time or effort. Images will not contain any manipulation or staging and are strongly connected to documentary photography and photojournalism.
2. The carefully crafted image: a series of skillfully crafted, high-quality images that tell the story in a more powerful way. Images will most likely be at least a little bit staged, as dramatic framing can often increase the photograph’s power and meaning.

Throughout my project, I hope to demonstrate both of these categories of conservation photography and use my images to spread awareness. Below are some stunning images depicting many different types of provocative conservation photography….

Artist Reference – Andrew Mcconnell:

Irish photographer, Andrew McConnell, started his amazing career in 2003 when he decided to concentrate on documentary work, driven by a desire to tell the stories of people and places that remain under-reported in the international media. Among numerous honours, McConnell has won two 1st place prizes at the World Press Photo Awards, 4 National Press Photographers Association awards. His work is widely recognised and has been featured in many publications such as ‘National Geographic‘ and ‘The New York Times‘.

I have chosen to explore him as an artist reference for looking and conservation photography, mainly because of his amazing project, entitled ‘Rubbish Dump 2.0’. Although this project explores many humanitarian issues it also says a lot about modern society and our ever-growing impact on the environment. In this series, Mcconnell uses the second category, mentioned above, to portray a dumping ground for computers and electronic waste from Europe and the US located in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Every month hundreds of tonnes of e-waste end up here as countries in the West attempt to unload their ever-increasing stockpiles of toxic junk. Of the 20 to 50 million tonnes of electronics discarded each year 70% will end up in poor nations, and in the EU alone 6.6 million tonnes of e-waste are unaccounted for every year. The disposal of electronic goods in the West is a costly affair and must be done in an environmentally responsible manner, however in places like Ghana there are no such regulations and as such toxic metals like lead, beryllium, cadmium and mercury are continuously being released causing untold damage to human health and the environment…

Clare Rae is best known for her self portraiture  where she uses her body to create intruiging environmental portraits. The above image is from her collection  from 2010 entitled “Testing” where she manipulates her body into different shapes, often hanging off things or performing a feat or strength and flexibility such as the “bridge” pose and holding her body horizontally in a straight line on a chair. The above image is part of a period a Rae’s work where she was exploring the concept of partial nudity with the use of translucent nylon tights. I find the figure holding onto the rail on the wall rather intruiging because it raises the question of some kind of allegory. Is the subject reaching for, reliant on or desperately trying to hang onto something. Another interesting thing about this particular portrait is that it subverts the presentation of women in art. Although the body is in a way accentuated through the pose and the tights can arguably be a garment with sexual connotations, the use of the white t-shirt short hair cut create a gender neutral feel to the image.

Technically Rae’s photographs are very interesting. Above I have separated an image from the “Testing” collection into nine sections, you can see how the image has been composed with the rule of thirds in mind. The figure is clearly placed in the centre three vertical thirds. The window, which acts as the light source for the image is placed in the upper two thirds on the left hand side. The creates a nice curve in the composition that helps the eye to move around the image. The shadow of the figure on the wall also creates a triangle shape between the actual legs of the figure and the shadow cast on the wall. The two converging lines in the top centre third of the image created by the rail the figure is holding onto  and the skirting board in the bottom centre third also creates a sense of depth. The use of light and dark in the image is also interesting, Rae mentioned at the talk I attended that in these image she almost always uses natural light from windows as opposed to any form of studio lighting. the natural light from the window also creates a shadow on the wall that it is coming from, creating a darker “L” shape in the composition, allowing for the lighter areas of the image to be the window and the wall on the right side of the image.

The above image is a work from part of Rae’s undergraduate degree in 2007 entitled “Desire and the other” this collection was were Rae first started to use her own body within environments that she had lived in or that had some importance to her, Rae stated in the talk that I attended that at this point she preferred to speak for herself rather than for womankind. These images, in my opinion are quite passive as most photos involve the figure lying on the floor or being partially concealed. Although someone who is familiar with Rae’s work will know that all of the images feature herself as the model, the images from the “Desire and the other” have a sense of anonymity as the face is always obstructed by hair or clothing or simply cropped out. This anonymity could also however, be interpreted as objectification as the body depicted in the image is not given a face or identity. The image above also has a sexual suggestive nature as the jumper of the subject is pulled over the head of the subject, which in turn would expose the subjects breasts or undergarments, however the chest of the subject is obstructed by what appears to be a sofa in the bottom right of the image. The figure also has their hands held above their head, making no attempt to pull the clothing back down to maintain modesty but also appearing as if the jumper was not pulled into its position by the subject. I feel that the image suggests both a sense of submission and passivity and well as some kind of provocative feel which I believe is a fair assumption due to the word “desire” being used in the title as it has very strong sexual connotations.

Similarly to the photograph from Rae’s “Testing” collection, this image has the figure placed in the centre thirds of the image, however in this example the figure is placed horizontally as oboes to vertically. The image is also separated horizontally in terms of light and dark, although not completely evenly, as seen in the gridded image above, into three sections. One being the light section in the top horizontal third provided by the daylight coming through the window, another being the dark middle third containing the dark wall under the window and the third being the light wooden floor in the bottom third of the image, which is reflecting the light from said window. The composition of the image is not this simple however, another point of interest is the vertical third on the right side of the image which contains the sofa which obstructs both the chest of the figure and the window. The arm of the sofa which blocks the light from the window is incredibly dark as it is placed directly against it. The cushions of the sofa do reflect some of the light from the window despite not being very reflective. The use of natural light from above lights the figure in quite a romantic way, interesting shadows are caused by the folds in the fabric.