Born in London, UK, Jonny Briggs obtained his MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art. Jonny Briggs is Archisle International Photographer and he will be working on a commission of new work in Jersey from April to September this year and his works produced will join the Archisle collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive for future public enjoyment.

Jonny revealed the overall reason for using family member particularly his father. He told us it was in search of lost parts of his childhood and try  to make up for this lost time with his family. His ideas are outside what we would call ‘reality’ that we are all socialised into when we are children and he then created new and different realities with his parents and himself through his photography. In Jonny’s photography he uses binary opposites such as ‘ self/other, real/fake and desire/repulsive.’

He worked on this particular project called ‘the family bubble.’ He likes to surprise people when it comes to people assuming his images are photoshopped but when looking closer realising it is more real than first expected. He likes to fact photography as it allows him to communicate through photographs, saying things that would not be said in reality ‘having a voice’, he used the example of a tranquility puppet.

Some of his work:

Analysis:

I chose this specific image by Jonny Briggs to analysis. This image has been completely created by Jonny from the mask of his father to the painting of the model, which is actually Jonny himself. He painted the scenery also and he actually told us that this took about 3 hours to conduct.

The main focus of the image is the painted model, I am particularly drawn to the hands, feet and head as they look out of proportion to the rest of the body, which would of been the angle that the photograph was taken which created this effect.  The lighting used looks natural as you can see the natural light coming through the trees projecting on the figure hovered on a tree stump. The light is soft and there is very little contrast within the photo except from the different shades on his clothing from the intensity of the light in particular parts of the photo, specifically the bottom half. The image is striking as it is different to what we would normally associate with the outdoor environment. I feel like the painted box shape behind the subject creates an almost trapped effect as we crouches in an awkward looking position and he looks uncomfortable. This almost makes it look like a surreal 3D effect that makes certain parts of the image stand out more than others (the pink paint.) To me, this image is exploring the theme of mixing something man made with nature as he was mixing abnormality with nature to create an abstract image.

You can see in Jonny’s work that other artists work similar to Jonny and could make a comparison, Jonny could have taken inspiration from these artists such as John Stezaker and Joana Piotrowska.

Joanna Piotrowska:

Joanna Piotrowska’s uncomfortable album, a series of staged family shots, insists upon the fundamental anxiety at the heart of the family: its system of relationships, adamantine bonds that are equally oppressive and rewarding. Her images display intimate family scenes – cosily paired bodies, meeting and converging, in images which teeter on the verge of a dysfunctional moment. In one snapshot, two adult brothers lie together on a Persian carpet wearing only white briefs; in another, the black-clothed bodies of two embracing women merge, suggesting the atavistic overlap of mother and daughter. She uses her own family to produce these images.

This is similar to Jonny as he too uses his own family particularly his father within his photography. He too stages family scenes, which he then takes photographs of, he appears in most of his work unlike Joanna as she focuses on capturing her family in her photography. There overall theme is similar as they both are interested in the theme of family.

John Stezaker:

John Stezaker’s work re-examines the various relationships to the photographic image: as documentation of truth, purveyor of memory, and symbol of modern culture. In his collages, Stezaker appropriates images found in books, magazines, and postcards and uses them as ‘readymades’. Through his elegant juxtapositions, Stezaker adopts the content and contexts of the original images to convey his own witty and poignant meanings. He has a real interest in ‘surrealism.’

He manipulates his images by folding or cutting the images to create a different image altogether. This is something that Jonny has also explored as he has sliced through photographs and their frames and has slightly moved them to create a different effect in the photograph. Jonny is also interested in surrealism as he enjoys people questioning whether the camera always lies or the camera never lies.

John Stezaker

Jonny Briggs