Dance: Concepts and main focus based on the individuals dancing, experiences, genre and how dance makes them feel, look in depth at the deeper meaning of dancing- what it represents and portrays overall throughout there dance career and significant events that may have happened in their dancing career that have had an impact
History of dance: Starting from the beginning of each dancers history through to their current dance career and how it has built them as a person, significant times of their lives/events
Story telling: Narrative aspect, whats that individuals story, how did they get to where they are, whats their personal life like, who are significant figures in their lives, when did they start dancing, why did they start dancing
Essay question ideas:
Can personality and identity be expressed in a portrait?
Is it possible for photography to capture moments in time objectively and truthfully?
Can photography truly capture the essence of a moment, ultimately questioning why we take photographs?
How does Gjon Mili reflect dance movement and the significance of the emotions being portrayed through his photography?
How does Alexander Yakovlev shows passion and a story through dance photography
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analyzing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. Link to power-points about isms and movements – M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Personal Study
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. Link to powerpoints about isms andmovements M:\Departments\Photography\Students\Resources\Personal Study
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Flicking briefly through the pages of Raised By Wolves, I am instantly drawn to the design and layout of the photobook, With the book consisting of images, with recorded dialogue and hand written, grungy letters accompanying the images. from a first look, the book appears to be about the 90’s punk/grunge culture of the USA, with many images relating to street culture, depicting scenes such as raves, skateboarding and working class life.
Jim Goldberg
Jim Goldberg is an American Photographer whom focuses on exploring populations of people whom are deemed to be out of the view of the mainstream media/press. Examples of these such groups include those in poverty, the homeless and those associated to punk/ grunge culture, the main focus in Raised By Wolves.
Gold Berg is associated with the social aims movement in photography, Taking a narrative approach to highlight issues within society and tell the stories of people from all different backgrounds. His ability to interact with his subjects is seen throughout his works, As his unique approach allows him to delve deep into the lives of his subjects and explore them and show them in a new light that may have been previously unseen by other members of society
Raised By Wolves
Raised by Wolves, Is an extremely moving photobook that details the lives of homeless young adults in Los Angeles. The book consists of multiple images, accompanied by handwritten messages from the subjects themselves, as well as dialogues of stories and encounters as told by the subjects themselves. The book itself aims to explore the issue of homelessness in Los Angeles, a city seen by the world as the home of Hollywood and infinite luxuries. Goldberg aimed to produce this piece of work to show the world that despite the luxurious draw of Los Angeles, many thousands of people were suffering from poverty and homelessness in underdeveloped and under looked communities, thus inspiring an atmosphere of rebellion and dissent towards law and order, An atmosphere that was felt across the vast majority of the western world at the time, Spawning the “Punk” movement. Often associated with loud, vicious rock and the iconic Mohawk haircut, The Punk movement coined its name from a term used to describe a person who was seen as worthless and of no importance in the world. Punk culture revolves around the ideas of rebellion, self freedom and anti establishment views.
Raised By Wolves consists of striking imagery depicting daily life for young adults left homeless within Los Angeles. Many of these youths managed to form communities of fellow homeless adolescents and inhabit abandoned buildings. AS typical with young people, Partying was common among these communities, and It is widely depicted within the book, with themes of addiction and trauma also incorporated to further tell the stories of those on the streets.
Book Design
The book is presented with a glossy cover, With the silhouetted outline of a female with the main title written in a graffiti style. The image of the young woman is laid over the top of an image of an adolescent male in an urban environment. The rear cover of the book includes a written letter from a subject Goldberg photographed, reminding him to publish the book to show the world who the people of the streets really are. The pages themselves are of a semi gloss finish and the book is bound by stitching, Which is visible when turning the pages of the book itself. Images usually take up a full page, however there are also a few full bleed images included. One of the unique characteristics of the book itself is the incorporation of handwritten notes from the subjects themselves, talking about aspirations, their lives and attitudes towards society. There are also recorded dialogues within the books, straight from conversations with subjects themselves which I find adds a real interactive element to the photobook as it allows us to not only explore the physical lives of those that Goldberg decided to photograph, but it also allows us an insight into the mentality and mind of those photographed.
Image Analysis
This image depicts two males in an apparent fight on the right hand page, and on the left of the page, there is a film roll depicting the same fight, almost giving the impression of being a contact sheet due to the circled frame within the image. Below the roll we see the typical handwritten notes associated with goldbergs world famous project, allowing for us to gain context into the scenes we are presented with
Within this image, we see a staple piece of Raised By wolves in the form of the forefront subjects denim jacket. The jacket itself is covered in graffiti and motifs and has become an instantly recognizable symbol of grunge and youth culture. The subject in the jacket is sharing a moment with what seems to be a female love interest, however the female in the image seems to be focusing on something else in the distance, which can be seen as a metaphor for survival, as the woman is not focusing on her partner, but is rather on the lookout for something, potentially danger
This double page spread features an image of a young boy smoking a cigarette on the right, and a quote, seemingly taken from the boy pictured, on the right. This quote refers to sleezy old men, depicting the opinion of the homeless youth of Los Angeles towards the older, richer population. There is also a drug reference included , which further highlights the struggle and despair for these children
For my project, I will focus on how the bunkers are currently portrayed as on Jersey as a remnant of the German occupation; I was inspired by a book by Robert Hackman called Metamorphosis which I came across while at the photo fair in Paris. This book documents Albanian bunkers from the soviet era which had been reused as homes for people, places for businesses, or abandoned. For my photoshoots I will document abandoned bunkers and island defenses which have been re-purposed for use by the Germans during the occupation. I will then make my own altered landscapes inspired by Andreas Gursky.
Sherman, C, Published: 2006, Retrospective, New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
~~~~~own writing~~~~~ (critic/art historian etc.) says: “Drawing on feminism as well as phenomenology, I also suggest here that Sherman’s work participates in a particular mode….” (Sherman, 2006, 33 (page No.)), ~~~~~comment/state opinion on what the author has said~~~~~
if longer than 4 lines:
~~~~~own writing~~~~~ (critic/art historian etc.)
“~~~~~indented work of author~~~~~”
online sources:
authors name, year of publish, title of the article/work, place of publication (websites place of operation i.e London), URL address
Compare Francesca Woodman and Mary Ellen Mark’s representation/documentation of mental illness.
Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
Mental illness.
Surrealism (Francesca Woodman).
Francesca Woodman (Surrealism, Long exposure, Self-portrait, feminism, depression).
Mary Ellen Mark (Ward 81, Karen Jacobs, documentation, 1970s mental hospital).
Compare a personal view and ‘outsider’s perspective.’
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Surrealism.
Staged.
Documentary.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Francesca Woodman.
On Being An Angel.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Mary Ellen Mark.
Ward 81.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced.
Sheila Pree uses dolls to comment on and explore cultural beauty standards. She took images of dolls and real women and digitally edits them together to show how unrealistic dolls are compared to what a real roman looks like.
My Photoshoot Plan
My plan is to use this as inspiration but to edit them differently to get my point of view across about unrealistic body and beauty expectations. I plan on taking the images in the studio in order to get well-lit portraits and I’ll be taking direct inspiration from this image of Bright’s (bellow) but editing it in my own way.
Shoot 2: Trophy Wife Barbie
This is the image I have been inspired by for my second shoot. It’s by an Instagram account called Trophy Wife Barbie. Her images are have an adult humor to them and are very feminist in the way that she’s documenting what she a real life woman is like but using Barbie. This image is meant to represent how she feels taking off make-up.
My plan is to take images of a doll with her hands out and then use Photoshop to copy the face and make it look like she holding her face and then remove her facial features where her face used to be. It will be like Trophy Wife Barbie’s but her face will be completely gone.
Shoot 3: Sheila Pree Bright
For my third shoot I’m going to look at Bright’s work again however this time not only focusing on portraits but on the bodies of the Doll’s. I plan on editing them with typography like i have done with previous projects in order to incorporate my own style. I plan of writing things like ‘Plastic Fantastic,’ ‘Is this real to you,’ and ‘am I perfect yet?’
Shoot 4: Bright
For this shoot I’ going to do more portraits in the style of Bright however, I plan of taking well lit images of the doll’s faces and then using nail varnish to remove the painted on make up dolls have. I then plan on editing them together and having one half of the face with the painted on make up and the other half without.
Shoot 5: Simmons
For this shoot I’ve had multiple inspirations. My main inspiration is the Early Interior Series by Laurie Simmons. I have ordered a doll kitchen and I have some miniature dolls and things for the kitchen. I plan on taking images of the doll in the kitchen, which is meant to represent stereotypical gender roles, but then add a twist. After taking some normal images, I plan on taking some but inspired by Instagram account Mariel Clayton (@psycho.barbies). I plan on using fake blood and face paint to give the kitchen images a bit of a comedic but frighting twist. This is meant to represent how some women fight back against these stereotypical roles and beauty representations. It’s also meant to represent how all the generations of girls since the suffragette movement have strove to fight the inequality of the generation before them.
Shoot 6:
This shoot was inspired by the two image bellow which I found when brainstorming ideas. The point is not the shame people out of plastic surgery but to show the fact that some woman feel like they have to chemically and physically become like plastic in order to think they are beautiful because of the world we live in. I’m going to set up a tale for the doll to like on and a white tissue to go over her to make it simulate being in the clinic and draw the markings from the bellow images onto their faces.
