Identity

 The definition of identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define you. An example of identity is a person’s name. Some forms of a person’s Identity could be: the environment they have been brought up in, their gender, and their culture. Some people may also experience a lack of identity and are struggling to “find themselves”.

How Environment Affects Identity

Our environment and surroundings have a large effect on our identity, as we often try to observe what is taking place and imitate it. A person’s environment strongly influences the way they think and act because it influences what they are exposed to and the opportunities they have. For example: if a person is raised by parents who do not have a formal education, they may grow up to believe that education is not important. They could be influenced by their parents to think that leaving school and getting a job is normal. This would affect their attitude towards education, making them appear unmotivated. If they did end up leaving school, this would influence the decisions they are able to make and the opportunities they would have in the later life.

How Gender Affects Identity

Gender identity is defined as a personal conception of oneself as male or female (or sometimes, both or neither). This concept is intimately related to the concept of gender role, which is defined as the outward suggestions of personality that reflect the gender identity. Gender identity, in nearly all instances, is self-identified, as a result of a combination of different factors such as environmental factors. Gender role, on the other hand, is manifested within society by observable factors such as behavior and appearance. For example, if a person considers himself a male and is most comfortable referring to his personal gender in masculine terms, then his gender identity is male. However, his gender role is male only if he demonstrates typically male characteristics in behavior, dress, and/or mannerisms.

In a person’s adolescent years the influential factors of sexuality, personality traits or disorders, peer interaction, and anxieties are most important in gender development. The gender identity, fostered from infancy to childhood by parents, is first strengthened by playmates, schoolmates, and others. It is usually enhanced by the development in puberty of a child who progresses into adolescence. Although many believe that gender identity is fixed in early childhood, it is more certain that, by late adolescence and early adulthood, an established gender identity is in place.

How Culture Affects Identity

 A strong cultural identity is important to a child’s mental health and well-being. As they are growing, having a strong sense of their own cultural history and traditions helps young people build a positive cultural identity for themselves, gives them a sense of belonging and self-esteem and supports their overall well-being.

 Young people often find it hard to make sense of their cultural identity. They might have a mixed background or be living in a society where the main culture is different to their own. They might feel for a while like they don’t fit in anywhere and might resent or reject certain parts of their cultures in an effort to feel more accepted by others.

Lack or Loss of Identity

Developing a sense of self or an identity is an essential part of every individual developing and becoming mature. Identity or parts of identity may be classified by any number of things such as religion, gender, or ethnicity. Some traits, such as race, are chosen at birth. Some traits may be modified later in life such as language(s) spoken or religious preferences. Struggling with various parts of identity is natural and normal. Developing an identity or sense of self and those traits a person desires to have can take time and may be challenging. Not having a strong sense of self or struggling with identity issues may lead to anxiety and insecurity.

Sources:

https://www.weeklystandard.com/reuel-marc-gerecht/a-muslim-identity-crisishttps://www.quora.com/What-are-the-possible-causes-and-consequences-of-a-lack-of-…https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/917990-overviewhttps://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/health-and…/cultural-identity-matters-children’s-wellbein…www.commonground.org.nz/common-issues/identity/cultural-identity/

Annegret Soltau is a German Artist who works with photographs, performances and video. Photomontages of her own body and face sewn over or collaged with black thread are the most well-known works of the German artist. Soltau’s method of analysis is strictly connected to the idea of destruction and reconstruction of her image. This process drives her to a new form of Photo-montage where the main ingredient used to stick together all the pieces is not glue but a simple black thread. In this way her work can be described as a product of handcraft.

“My most important aim is to include bodily processes in my work and to use myself as a model – because I can go the furthest with myself”

In her project “Selbst” the Soltau ties up her face with tight threads of black silk, like a cocoon, of which she makes a photographic record that is subsequently stitched by following a geometric pattern that resembles a sign. The result is a type of self-harming self-portrait: as the string cuts into the sensitive skin of her face, the thread distorts its shape but also enhances its beauty. Annegret Soltau writes her story as a woman on the blank page of her face; it is a history of conflict, impulsive reactions to the family environment, and to position of women in the social context, to gender pressures and discrimination.

Selbst, 19. 

“These are my first projects using thread in the context of photography. Using gray silk thread, I overstitched self-portraits and created a filigree of threads over my own face. I started with a photograph taken during a performance piece, and stitched over the thread in the photo using real thread.” Annegret Soltau

The most complex and elaborate project of hers was “Generativ” (1994-2005). Where she created pieces from photographs of the naked bodies of her “female chain”which composes of her grandmother, her mother, her daughter and herself. “Generativ” shows the whole span of bodily change between young and old, between the fading body of age and the emerging body in puberty.

“My main interest is the integration of body process in my work, in order to connect body and spirit as equal parts” Annegret Soltau

Joachim Schmidt is a Berlin based critic and conceptual Artist. Schmidt collects and re-purposes photographs that other people have thrown away. Schmidt takes these discarded, ripped, and mundane photographs, and creates artwork that is thought provoking and captivating. Joachim is extremely passionate for his art/photography work, Schmid has stated himself that he is “completely obsessed with photography”, He suspects that “few people in the world have looked at more photographs” than he has. At one point he counted: he had looked at 10,000 photographs in one day alone. And he has maintained his manic pace since embarking on his career as a “professional looker” in the 1980s.

One of Schmidt’s first projects was ‘Pictures from the Street’ (Bilder von der Straße, in German) which ranged from the years 1982-2012. For this one, he would keep and classify each and every photograph (or fragment of a photograph) that he found in a public space. (The collection had more than 900 pieces at one time). If a photograph had been ripped to pieces, he re-assembled what he could and mounted it as a scientist would. All pieces of this collection are arranged and displayed on identical sheets of archival paper, in chronological order, noting the date and place where each was found. It is almost impossible to look at this collection and not try to imagine stories about who is pictured, and who owned the photo, and why the photos were thrown away.

My Photo-montages

In the style of David Hockney

David Hockney is well known for his ‘Joiner Portraits’ in which he would piece together different and varying numbers of Polaroid snaps or prints of a single subject. Hockney arranged a patchwork to make a composite image. One of his first photo-montages was of his mother. Because these photographs are taken from different perspectives and at slightly different times, the result is work that has a relation to Cubism, which was one of Hockney’s major aims: exploring the way human vision works and how things are portrayed.

“In the early 1980’s, English painter David Hockney began creating intricate photo collages that he called “joiners”. His earlier collages consisted of grid-like compositions made up of polaroid photographs. He then switched to photo lab-processed 35mm photographs and created collages that took on a shape of their own, creating abstract representations of the scenes he had photographed. The varied exposures of the individual photographs that make up each collage give each work a fluidity and movement that otherwise might not be found.” Juxtapoz Magazine.

My Response

Passport photo of my Mother in the 70s

The photo-montage above is a response to David Hockney’s style. I used an old passport photo of my Mother from the 70s, in order to create an old fashioned and vintage style photo-montage. I experimented with using Photoshop, cutting out different sections of the photo and re-pasting them on in different positions, and places where they do not belong.

Introduction

A photo-montage is a collage constructed from photographs. The technique has been used historically to make political statements and gained popularity in the early 20th century (World War 1-World War 2). Many Artists such as Raoul Haussman , Hannah Hoch, John Heartfield employed cut-n-paste techniques as a form of propaganda as well as Soviet artists like Aleksander Rodchenko and El Lissitsky. Photo-montage is a type of collage art. It is composed primarily of photographs or fragments of photographs in order to direct the viewer’s mind toward specific connections. The pieces are often constructed to convey a message, whether that be a commentary on political, social, or other issues. When done correctly, they can have a dramatic impact

History

Soviet Propaganda 

The photo-montage technique appeared in Russia and Europe during WWI and developed particularly in Moscow. The main creators of the genre were Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitsky. After the revolution, their work got a boost from Vladimir Lenin after he declares that ‘photography is a super-powerful propaganda tool in a country where 70% of the population cannot read’. During the civil war he even makes plans to give every soldier a camera in order to ‘let them use it as a weapon able to demonstrate visually and precisely the political changes’. Although the idea wasn’t pushed any further, due to technical difficulty. The photo-montage would then be used to portray a cheerful “reality” and bright future. The medium combined the realism of the photography with the revolutionary ideas. Some examples:

Aleksander Rodchenko

El Lissitsky

Pop Art and the Dada Movement

Pop Art was born in Britain in the mid 1950s, the technique of photo-montage then emerged and was also used a great amount by various Pop Artists in the mid 20th Century in order to explore and react to abstract expressionism, it also tackled   popular consumerism, advertising, branding and marketing techniques. Some politcal concerns were also focused on such as war and gender roles.

The Dada movement was created in Germany after World War I. It attempted to create a new kind of art that was valued primarily for its conceptual properties rather than focusing on aesthetics or skills. Dada quickly spread to France and the US (to Paris and New York in particular), but many of its main creators (who worked with photography) still remained in Germany. One of the main ways in which the ‘Dadaists’ challenged traditional art was through photo-montage.

Artists such as Max Ernst and Hannah Höch used scissors and glue to cut up found (and some original) photographs from a number of sources and reassemble them, using contrast to emphasize their message. The use of photo-montage as an art technique was one of the most influential ways in which the Dadaists shook up the traditional ways of the art world.

Hannah Höch, ‘Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch’ in Germany (1919)

Further Examples:

David Hockney 

Andy Warhol

The Stenberg Brothers

‘The Stenberg Brothers’ Georgii and Vladimir Stenberg were Moscow-born graphic designers from Russia who produced film posters for the Soviet Union during the 1920’s. During this time they created over more than 300 posters with their constructivism style. The two would create street art and propaganda posters with young artists, the two were highly regarded within in the ‘avant-garde’ scene of Moscow at the time. This propaganda style can be seen throughout their posters from the 20’s. Their work was very important for the Soviet Union at the time, as film was used as a powerful propaganda tool to promote their principles to a mostly illiterate country. The brothers also had to communicate this through imagery using clear photographs and typography so that everything can be understood universally.

Examples of their propaganda film posters:

Analysis of Key Poster

‘Gossip’ The Stenberg Brothers

TECHNICAL -VISUAL-CONCEPTUAL-CONTEXTUAL

The striking poster above was created for a film in 1928, in the Soviet era by The Stenberg Brothers. The poster was for the film ‘Gossip’ which attempted to show the danger of careless talk, suggesting that those who spoke about things they didn’t understand or which didn’t concern them would fall victim to fear and confusion. Gossip was used as a propaganda tool across the Soviet Union, its poster was utilised to reiterate the film’s message on the people.

In the foreground, a man can be seen gazing into a street car in open mouthed horror, his expression is seen by the fearful face of a female passenger.  The layout is simple and 2D, this helps to make the point and meaning of the propaganda to come across direct and without confusion, it also seems to be set out as a scene from the film which further reinforces this. The colours used in the poster are generally vibrant primary colours which creates an eye catching poster, and are helpfully seperated by black and white lines to make the intentions and scenes clear to see, this technique is also used with the titles and the writing sections.

Introduction to Tableaux Vivants

Tableau Vivant is the French term for a ‘living picture’. It is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically lit. It therefore combines aspects of theater and the visual arts.

Examples:

Creating a Response

To create my own Tableau Vivant I have chosen to re-create one of Tom Hunter’s photos (which will be on another blog post), and also re-create some of the iconic scenes from Stand By Me. Stand By Me was a coming of age film released in 1986, it was directed by Rob Reiner. The film is based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body. Its title is derived from Ben E. King’s song, which plays over the ending credits. Stand by Me tells the story of four boys in a small town in Maine, USA who go on a hike to find the dead body of a missing child. The film was nominated for one Academy Award (for Best Adapted Screenplay) and two Golden Globe Awards (for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Director, respectively).

These are the stills from the film which I have chosen to re-create:

Apart from the obvious plot of the film, it is mainly about friendship and loyalty. This can be seen through the photos I have chosen, especially the first one where Chris is comforting Gordon and the other photos where the boys are seen together, laughing and joking with each other. This creates a nostalgic childhood atmosphere upon first glance which fades once the film continues and the insecurities between the boys start to appear.

For the location of my shoot I have chosen to do it on an old railway walk as this is the closest I can get to the actual film, it includes a wide road and lots of trees which matches the background in the photos. For the models I am going to have a different number of them (3) and I am going to use all girls instead of all boys. Below are my final outcomes for each re-creation:

Outcomes:

Experimenting in the studio with different lighting techniques.

Chiaroscuro and Rembrandt Lighting