Harvard system of referencing
John,P. (1995) The Orion Publishing Group. London Orion House
during the 1920s Modernism denied that photographers were involved with what they photographed. (Petzl,2003:143)
The photo below has been chosen as it encapsulates the elements of the photo-book that interest me and relate to my essay.
The image has been taken using studio lighting, as evidenced by the background and the direction of the lighting. The light appears to be coming from slightly to the left of the camera, this can be inferred from the direction of the drop shadow as well as the amount of shallow details visible on the right face of the sculpture. Not much else can be inferred about technical aspects of the image due to the use of studio lighting, this allows a lower ISO and faster shutter to be use to reduce grain however this isn’t implicit in the image. The image features a single central subject, that being the chalk sculpture made by making clean cuts onto a block of raw chalk. these clean incisions strongly contrast the textured surface from the uncut chalk; in conjunction with the studio lighting, the flat, clean surfaces of the chalk appear to be flat and are often painstakingly oriented to line up with the table occasionally creating the effect that the image is composed of 2 separate images spliced together. The word ‘erratic’ referring to “a rock that has been transported by a glacier to somewhere far from its native environment.”. The body of work is focused of rock formations and sculpted chalk with the subject of the photos alternating across pages between the found rocks (particularly the stones within the desert at the start of the book) where these monolithic structures are contrasted with the man-made chalk sculptures. The outdoor shots spanned from the white cliffs of Dover to eastern Egypt. The use of sliced chalk facilitates the contrast of the textured, natural surface of the stone as well as the smooth faces where it has been cut.
Planning:
After my close analysis to the work of Walker Evans, I decided to conduct a photo shoot which captured my Grandparents lifestyle, by presenting their narrative through their outfit and emotion through facial expression, like Evans’ imagery of Allie Mae Burroughs. I intend to capture a lot of this imagery outside, using the exterior of my Grandparents house in order to make close contentions with his work and also plan to take a few (not many inside) to experiment with this technique and whether it will withstand the same conceptual representation as it would if the photographs were taken outside. Prior to this shoot, I contacted my Grandparents and asked them to wear an outfit which they believe showcases themselves and their lifestyle. In addition, I asked them to choose areas of their house, outdoor and indoors, which they spend the most time in and feel most comfortable in, which will allow the naturalistic documentary photography to accurately depict their reality. With regards to my camera, I intend to use my DSLR, utilising a quick shutter speed, low ISO, and experimenting with the aperture to add depth of field, and dependent on the natural lighting provided.
Edits:
Outcomes:
In respect to editing my outcomes from this photoshoot, I wanted to produce final imagery which held the stylistic features of Evans’ work. In order to achieve this I made all of my outcomes be presented in black and white, and looked at creating high tonal contrast to allow facial features to help express and convey the lifestyle in which my grandparents live in. To achieve this I looked at adjusting the contrast, structure, blacks whites and shadows in order to achieve this intended effect. My final selection are images which I believe have the same simplistic composition, but still holds strong conceptual and contextual representation, about the life my grandparents live and providing information about how they achieved this lifestyle, which is further explained in my photograph analysis.
Analysis:
The two photographs below is my photograph which has taken inspiration from Evans’ imagery, which I believe shows my understanding and application of Evans’ photographic technique. The framing of the two images are very similar, both present the subject in the foreground, with the background being wooden and simplistic, not distracting the viewers. Similarly, both images are presented in black and white with high tonal contrast, which has allowed the detail and structure of the subjects to clearly stand out to present conceptual representation. In addition, the methodology used to capture both photographs share a lot in common, with a low ISO being used, a quick shutter speed, low aperture due to no significant depth of field, and natural lighting being utilised. Comparing the two images visually, my image shows more structure and detail, which allows a warmer atmosphere to be presented holding ameliorative connotations, which contrast Evan’s image which is a lot more smooth and naturalistic which holds a cold atmosphere, creating pejorative connotations. Along side this, the outfits of the two models are different as it clearly shows two different socio economic status of two people, and showcases their lifestyle.
Conceptually, Evan’s captured Tenant Farmers in Alabama, and their lifestyle through portraits of different families. Where as I have captured my Grandad in order to present his life story, from when he was younger working in finance and making his fortune to be able to live his wealthy and happy lifestyle now a days. Contextually, the subjects in Evans’ imagery had low income and would not be able to change their lifestyle due to their situational factors. Where as, I contextually presented Jersey as a finance institute which holds the most income on the Island, it also shows how my Grandad worked in this field as he know he could make a lot of money for it in order to afford this lifestyle later on in life.
Conclusion:
To conclude, I believe I have reinforced my ability to produce photographs which take on the stylistic features of another artist. In addition, I have also been able to apply similar conceptual representations within my work as another artists, which shows my ability to apply different elements of artists work through my understanding of their methodology. I have been able to explore capturing my subjects in a different environment, which presents them in a new ‘limelight’. Technically, I have shown my ability to capture portraits in an outdoor environment, and have again reinforced my ability to capture high quality portraits. I believe this photo shoot has been successful as I have been able to produce high quality imagery which clearly showcases lifestyle in the stylistic way of Walker Evans.
Planning:
For my second shoot I will be taking portrait style images inspired by one of my case studies, Daniel Meadows. I will be taking these images in order to show my dad’s family now. Since Meadows took his images in the subject’s homes, I have decided to also use my father’s family home as the location for this shoot. I will most likely be using the lounge/livingroom as a location, as it symbolizes family as its where we spend most of our time together. I plan on organizing my family members in a distinct way as you can see in the mood board on the left, in order to make the portraits look more clean and put together. I will most likely be using a tripod in order to make sure my images are in focus, the shutter speed will not be too high as it will most likely be late towards the night when I do this shoot and this will help make sure my images aren’t too dark. The ISO will have to be quite high, and I will need to make sure my white balance Matches well with the lighting around the house.
Picking my best images using Lightroom:
Below you can see the process of how I chose my best images through screenshots. I began by flagging my best images, in order to get rid of the bad photos then I color coded them using red, yellow and green.
Editing:
Although I didn’t intend to take images like the one above, This is my favorite outcome as one of my archival images with my parents looks very similar, and I think this could be interesting in showing how my family has changed. To edit i reduced the brightness and increased the contrast. I wanted the faded tattoos on my dad’s hand to be more visible so it is obvious to the audience it is him, although the majority has been laser removed.
Reflecting on the photo shoot:
My intention for this shoot was to capture what my father’s side of the family, now that he has a new partner, no longer together. I wanted to make the portraits similar to the ones above in the mood board, however I feel that during the photo shoot process the images turned out more candid that I originally wanted, as I also ended up capturing some detail shots also which I had not planned on doing. On one hand I believe this lets some personality shine through the images, but on the other hand I would have preferred to also capture something more professional looking because I feel that will make the photo book have a more polished look. I think I may redo this shoot, in order to achieve my original intention, then compare and see which images look best. If I do decide to retake, I would prefer to use a different setting as I think the background of these images are far too distracting to facilitate successful portraits leading to a minimal amount of successful images from this shoot. I also felt as if these images made my narrative less personal since the foundation of my project is based on my biological parents and my brother.
1. Research a photo-book
Where mimosa bloom is a photo book by Rita Puig-Serra Costa which is the result of 2 years work, collecting and photographing things and different areas. The narrative is very emotional as it was an outlet for Costa to deal with the grief she felt after loosing her mother. The subject matter of the book is diverse, as there are archival images, portraits of people who played an important role in her relationship with her mother, and also landscapes of places.
2. Who is the photographer?
The photo book is described as being “an extended farewell” to her mother in the form of images, meaning it was made as an homage to her mother. I think this photo book effectively shows love, loss and pain. Because this piece of work is very emotional, it is likely that only positive sentiments of her family unit will be shown, which can be limiting as we may not get a full insight to her family.
3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book such as:
Walker Evans – ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’:
Walker Evans is an American photograph, who influenced the evolution of ambitious photography during the later 20th century. His imagery looks at creating a poetic resonance, which describe the subject presented within the photograph. He is said to be the first photographer to produce a photo book to present his photographic responses, entitled ‘American Photographs’. His work challenges social issues, through the style of documentary photography, this element is clearly shown within his photographic series ‘ Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’.
Mood Board showcasing Walker Evans’ imagery from his photographic series ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’
Conceptual and Contextual:
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, is one of Walker’s most known photographic series which was started in 1936, captured imagery for 5 years, and the photo book being published in 1941, in which he teamed up with American author James Agee to create an embodiment of work which documents the lifestyle of Tenant Farmers in Alabama during the Depression era. For contextual reference a tenant farming is a form of agriculture, in which a land owner with contribute their land on measure of operating capital and work, while the tenants contributes their labour, with the return being given in a variety of ways. The return can be, a share in the produce, cash or a combination of both. This is only said to be 5% of the agriculture, making these subjects a minority in society and within the industry, thus create more captivating imagery showcasing their lifestyle. Sadly, this form of work can lead to abuse when the landowner has to much power, or inferior social status. Initially, the project was to capture white cotton farmers in South America, but the focus soon changed after a lack of subjects being found, the new idea of tenant farmers formed after the two lived with three tenant family farmers. The families lived with no electricity or running water, and have lived this life style since their childhood.
“Let Us Now Praise Famous Men harkens back to a time when millions of Americans lived a truly subsistence existence, and their families were the one buttress against an eternal winter of silent despondency.” (Ingram.B, 2014) In a review article which analyses the book written by James Agee, with comments on Evans photographer, the author wrote about how the imagery Evan produces allows the clear narrative to tell the story of the lives of the three tenant farmer families. “Evans was a preeminent photographer of his time, and his almost stark work here is the perfect foil for Agee’s” (Ingram.B, 2014). Evans’ photographs within this book has pleased many critics as the images illustrates the imagery created by the word produced by Agee.
In another article, published by the Guardian, the author describes Evan’s imagery to present reality, “You can’t sniff the stink of the quilts in the Evans pictures, nor itch with the lice in the pillows. The foul beds take on a Shaker dignity of form. A gasoline pump on the porch of a post office metamorphoses into sculptural permanence within the fixed focal length of Evans’s lens.” (Rule.V, 2001). His positive critique to Evans’ imagery emphasises how accurately he managed to capture the raw living environments of the tenant families, which allows viewers to sympathises for these families, as we understand that they do not know life any differently. As previously mentioned it allows our imagination from the novel, written by Agee, to visually see and understand this reality, making the stories more real and empowering. The author also mentions how Evan’s photographs “beatifies, the bemused children of poverty more than any adjective or adverb Agee might edit out of his copy.” (Rule.V, 2001). This illustrates how the images within the photographic novel holds stronger representation of the lives of the tenants than the story itself, as words are not powerful enough to describe these conditions. In addition, he is referring to the idea that the images are being beatified, which informs us that the photographs are captivating and have the authenticity which makes the images seem beautiful, which juxtaposes the negative connotations the images actually hold.
Technical and Visual:
The double page spread presented below is one of the most famous page spreads form any of his photographic books, and is taken from his series ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’. I believed that these two images held a lot of visual and technical value which allow me to critically analyse Evan’s work in order for me to describe the way in which his conceptual representations is presented.
Visually, the two documentary style portraits are minimalistic, in the sense that the frame has a lot of space, which depicts the conceptual representation of their basic and hard lifestyle they live, and shows how they have nothing. The photographs are two headshots taken at a straight on angle of a male and a female, to which I believe are husband and wife, which are the main focal points of the image. The clothing they are wearing suggests a lot about their low social status, their shirts seemed creased, and through the image being in black and white and high tonal contrast, we can see how soiled these subjects are. Their facial expressions are neutral, but their strong eye contact towards the lens almost suggests they are asking for help, and illustrates their pain and suffering. The background of the images are just their natural environment, which seems to be a wall or apart of their small wooden cottages. With regards to the formal elements, texture, space, tone and form, help to illuminate their poor living conditions, and adds to the authenticity of the naturalistic imagery, creating sympathy for viewers.
Technically, the photographs use basic camera settings, which shows how the time period of the photographs being taken, 1936, has influenced the outcomes. It is suggested that naturalistic lighting has been used to capture these outcomes, which means a daylight white balance would have been used, which juxtaposes the cold ambiance the images hold, also emphasising the pejorative connotations towards this imagery. The photographs have a grainy look, which shows the contextual element of the time period and could suggest how a high ISO was used in order to capture the images. In addition to this a quick shutter speed was likely to be used, as well as a medium aperture due to a slight depth of field being used and the imagery being having a darker tone towards it and the subject being in clear focus and sharp.
Action Plan:
Moving forward I intend to conduct a new photo shoot which looks at capturing the lives and lifestyle of my grandparents, and try and illustrate how the working lives have resulted in the lives at present. I intend to capture imagery outside, as that is mainly were Evan’s images were taken, which allows me to explore the relationship between my Grandparents and their exterior of their house. In addition, I look to create a selection of portraits which express this conceptual representation, through the images being in black and white, high tonal contrast and strong connection with the camera lens.
Bibliography:
Ingram, B. (2014). ‘Let Us Now Praise Famous Men’ by James Agee and Walker Evans. [online] Broadstreetreview.com. Available at: https://www.broadstreetreview.com/books/let-us-now-praise-famous-men-by-james-agee-and-walker-evans# [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].
Rule, V. (2001). Review: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/aug/18/historybooks.highereducation [Accessed 15 Jan. 2020].
Essay question: How do Diana Markosian and Rita Puig-Serra Costa express the notion of family history and relationships in their work?
Opening quote
"If manipulation is the first thing someone thinks of in connection to photography, what that does that say about the value of the photograph as a reflection of reality?" (Bright and Van Erp 2019:17)
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?
My area of study will be focused on my family's history; more specifically the story of both my parents and important events in their life which lead to me being where I am today. I have chosen to analyze Diana Markosian because her project "Inventing My Father" contrasts directly with Rita Puig-serra Costa's study "Where Mimosa Bloom" which I will also be referring to throughout this essay. I like the way Diana explores the absence of her father in her life in such a personal and raw way, as I think it makes people able to empathize with her. In her project she explores the absence of her father, which eventually leads to a reunion which she captures in images. The images along with the context she provides into her life, makes this project very interesting. Equally, I think the way Costa explores her family through the use of archival images and objects was very effective as it really conveyed a sense of love and importance of family.I specifically loved how her entire project was an homage to her mother as it further shows how fond she is of her family when paired with carefully photographed objects, a thoughtfully taken portraits. I decided to really focus on these two photographers throughout my personal study because I could personally relate to the different ways both artists portrayed their family, as I think on one hand I have a close bond with certain members of my family, and due to my Portuguese heritage, family has always been of great value to me. However on the other hand, due to my parents separating there is also an element of a lack of a parental figure in the narrative I intend to tell. In this essay I will be discussing the notion of family and relationships, loss and hope in the works of both these artists.
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.
Realism is the concept of capturing things in their natural element. This genre of photography is most useful when trying to capture something such as family history, as documentary photography allows us to be able to see someone's real life situation through a photograph. Photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Paul Strand focused on documenting the effects of urbanization and industrialization on working class Americans. This was something very prominent at the time of this movement, as the great depression in 1929 left a lot of people struggling. We now see this type of photography as realism. I feel as if this movement fits in well with my personal study as it recognizes the importance of capturing raw, documentary style images which I think is important when exploring something as personal as a family’s history, especially when it involves immigration and the struggle surrounding that journey. Images of this sort are characterized by having a wide depth of field and having sharp focus which contradicts the pictorialist style. The movement away from creating a painterly aesthetic ultimately opened the door to a more forensic approach…but one that is open to distortion, manipulation and the notion of narrative. This will ultimately depend on the agenda of the artist, their integrity and skill in delivering a message, story or sequence of events.
Good flow of language showing a good understanding of documentary photography. However, what are some of the issues of photography’s relationship with reality? Photography is only a representation of reality and what;s in front of the camera can be altered, re-framed, re-contextualised to suit a particular point of view. You mention Dorothea Lange, who famous image ‘Migrant Worker’ from 1936 embodies photograpy’ ambigious relationship with realism. Use this image as a case-study to write about this problematic. See me tomorrow for something to read!
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
In my opinion, Diana Markosian uses an non-traditional method when exploring the family concept in her projects. Instead of focusing on positiveness, and happiness, she focuses on the negative aspect, which is the fact that she grew up without her father figure ;whereas normally happier moments and aspects are explored in relation to family and the concept of a family photograph. I think this makes her work stand out among other photographers who explore the concept of family relationships, as it's more truthful and goes against the dominating stereotype that every family is perfect, making it more contemporary and relatable to modern day people. This view is put across to the audience through her work as she uses a lot of black and white images which present a sense of emptiness or despair and make her images feel cold and slightly unemotional. She also uses archival images, which would otherwise portray a sense of happiness, alongside the black and white images which instead give the audience an indication that there's a slight sense of resentment, especially the archival image that her father is cut out of. I believe Diana Markosian represents a modern wave of photography where the beauty of imperfectness can be appreciated.
In my opinion the image above is one of Markosian's best as it is technically appealing a rich in context. After a 15 year separation from her father, her father told her he'd also been looking for her and showed her this suitcase of undelivered letters, a shirt he was saving for her brother's weddings, newspaper clippings and images. This image is in black and white making it more emotionally detached yet since the objects are sentimental it creates an interesting juxtaposition, as it shows the photographer is conflicted over her feelings over the objects.
Choose a specific example now and analyse
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses
Rita Puig-Serra Puig takes the completely opposite approach when compared to Diana Markosian. Throughout Rita's body of work, "where mimosa bloom" it is clear that the project, which is an homage to her mother, is very thoughtful, and shows a clear overpowering sense of love for her family. This can be seen through many aspects of her work, including the light color scheme throughout her images as she effectively conveys a sense of delicacy through a pastel colours and also the metaphorical link to mimosa, a brightly colored type of plant which is very graceful and lively. I think that Rita's work is a more traditional way of portraying family as she utilises portraiture and archival objects in a positive way.I think Rita Puig-Serra's work represents positive sentiments towards relationships giving a romantic representation of a typical family unit.
This book exudes closeness and sentimentality, a kind of poetic bond between women
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
To conclude, both Markosian and Costa have created very emotional pieces of work based on their own personal family stories and journeys. Although we do get a sense of love from Markosian's work, I believe this sentiment is often fighting against a feeling of hatred and resentment towards her father, whereas we purely get the feeling of love and closeness from Costa's photo book. Costa's photo book contains a very unique color palette containing light, delicate, pastel colors which is expected as her images are delicately framed and excrete fondness towards her family. On the other hand, Markosian's body of work contains a lot of black and white images which shows that there is a lot of distance between her and the subject, yet all the things she photographs are of rich sentimental meaning to her. Both photographers also make use of archival images and objects, Costa utilises this to show a deep connection to her mother whereas due to the nature of Markosian's work, her archival objects are used to show her father as being someone she is detached from.
Sugar Paper Theories is Jack Latham’s second major project in response to a notorious unsolved double murder investigation in Iceland.
This video interview with Jack Latham helps to explain the circumstances of the case and the photobook that resulted from the work he made in Iceland:
Narrative:
Sugar Paper Theories tells and documents the various places and people that feature in various accounts of what happened forty years ago when two men went missing in southwest Iceland. The narrative is told using various new photographs of the places produced by Latham himself as well as archival material of photographs as well as information sheets e.g. newspapers, the narrative is told with each disappearance separately and moving from one conspiracy about each to the other. Using police files he immersed himself into all aspects of the case including key protagonists and sites from the investigation as well as conspiracy theories, forensic science to the notion of Memory Distrust Syndrome, Latham’s project examines issues of evidence and truth, certainty and uncertainty, especially with regard to memory and the medium of photography.
Deconstruction:
Book in Hand: The book is 310 x 230mm and is a soft cover to the touch, a very distinct smell sets itself in the book as the front and back cover are both the material of sugar card and the papers inside consist of sugar paper creating a distinct smell
Paper and ink: Sugar Paper Theories uses various types of paper from sugar paper, held in the title, and a thick matt photo paper, which holds a lot of the colour and archival material depicting specific places or people, the sugar paper on the other hand holds black and white photographs speak across the page into slightly unclear images. It also contains smaller matt pages that are thin they are almost transparent which holds some of the informations as well as the cut down sugar paper inserts.
Format, size and orientation: The book is portrait 310 x 230mm in a rectangular shape, overall there are 46 colour photographs, 37 black and white photographs, 8 illustrations, 9 press cuttings.
Binding: It is a soft cover book with a saddle stitch holding together, there is an image wrap across the front and back cover of a drawing of a potential theory from the case. The spine has a fabric cover over that bleeds around a cm onto the front and back. Bound in the same style as the police case files that Latham
Cover: The cover itself is a thick sugar paper, a yellow tinted colour with a hand drawn image spread across of one of the potential theories in felt tip and biro. Could be from a local citizen rather than a legal investigation theory from the connotations of drawn on sugar paper using green felt tips.
Title: The title of the Photobook is inspired by Latham’s findings while out in Iceland, he found a timeline of events mapped out of sugar paper of a conspiracy theorists desk which eventually inspired the title and cover of the book.
Structure and architecture / Editing and Sequencing: The sequencing alludes to the dubious interrogation technique employed by the police, where they asked questions out of chronological order. Latham uses inserted different sized papers to introduce the elements of police files and evidence, another structure element is the French fold found in the book Latham uses so the reader cannot see the ‘full picture’ developing a sense of ambiguity around what it is or maybe what is going on.
Design and layout: Sugar paper theories leaves near to no blank pages, landscape photographs are often presented on half the portrait pages rather than across the double page and those which are presented larger are folded over with a French Fold.
Images and text: There is no introduction text from Latham however text is used heavily in Sugar Paper Theories, using evidence notes and police files on the inserts, it adds context to some photographs as well as making everything more confusing by showing what was said and found as it was, is, a puzzling case anyway, text is also linked with the photographs to landmark them, names of places and peoples and linking them to the different conspiracy’s≥
https://www.lensculture.com/projects/688668-historias-fragmentadas
Originally from Lima, Perú, Claudia Ruiz Gustafson is a fine art photographer based in Massachusetts. Her work is mainly autobiographical and self reflective.
Claudia Ruiz Gustafson grew up in a conservative middle class family in Perú and moved to the US when she was in her twenties. As time went and the last of her grandparents died, Claudia felt compelled to bring attention to what she had left behind, being the only person in her family who left her country of origin. This series made Claudia look deeper into her past by exploring memories and the emotion of loss.
In her series, Historias fragmentadas (Fragmented stories), she creates digital compositions from images of the past. By tearing, juxtaposing and layering archival documents, fragments from her journals and objects from her childhood, she has shed light on a personal story within an ancestral story that spans generations. Continuing her exploration to recall what she has lost, Claudia uses staged imagery, mostly self portraits, to transport her physical presence into the spiritual past as seen in the compositions. The conversations within this series, exposes the vulnerability of childhood, a longing for a time gone by and the truths of a particular Latin American Family.
I have chosen Claudia Ruiz Gustafson as my final reference for my personal investigation because her autobiographical, self reflective series Historias Fragmentadas has inspired me to make my own digital compositions. Like Claudia, I want to use archival images and documents to explore my past and my cultural identity. To respond to her work I will be juxtaposing, tearing and layering archival images in order to tell a personal story. I also hope to continue exploring my past through self portraits.
This digital collage depicts two photographs combined together. The archival image in the background depicts a middle aged man and two children. The family portrait seems to have been captured in the forest and is definitely from the past suggested by the torn edges and black and white film. The foreground image, torn in half, also depicts a forest landscape. Perhaps the same forest location from the background has also been captured in the present. I make this assumptions because Claudia feels like the best way for her to tell stories is by juxtaposing elements from the past and present. The foreground image is in colour which is why I assume that the photograph has been captured recently. Like Carolle Benitah, Claudia also uses the colour red when presenting her archival images. Apparently she uses the colour red because it symbolises the blood lineage among family members. What instantly captures your attention are the two red spirals created by thread. Both circles focus on faces depicted in the family portrait: The middle aged man, presumably her grandfather, and the young girl who is most likely to be Claudia herself. She has probably created this visual aspect to explore the relationship she used to have with her grandfather before he died. Claudia has said that the reason why she created this series is to bring attention to what she had left behind in Peru when she moved to the US.
Claudia has worked with a photograph from her family archive that she has inherited from a relative. The colour red makes an appearance once again and this time it seems to be some sort of fabric which runs down the middle of the composition. The Portrait image is torn in half, probably signifying that although her mother/grandmother has passed away the family blood line still remains. This digital collage displays layers of different archival material combined together. In the middle there is a fragment of paper, perhaps from her childhood journal or a letter she has received from the individual in the image