For my project I will be following the style Koenig and the subject of it is my late Grandfather as I have a large amount of photos from his life and from when he lived in his house which is now empty and being redone for renovation, and it is almost completely empty with no wall paper not carpet and no ceiling just the floor above.
The project is an exploration in the sense of loss and change. The photos will be framed as such that they will be in the position that they were taken and should line up with the main features that still remain in the house, I will then take a step back and take a photo en capturing the photo and the background to show how the area as changes and how that his absence from the space has meant that a change has come about. It will also comment on how that the house and the area reflected his personality and that once he left his personality left not long after.
For this comparative essay I have chosen to examine these two pieces of photography due to the contrasting nature of the composition and the surroundings.
Firstly, I thoroughly enjoy the work of both Cahun and Rae, Rae following a similar style to Cahun in which she is part of, or the main subject of the photo. Rae tends to incorporate herself into the landscape more as opposed to being the focal point of the image. The strange contortions that she sometimes does during photoshoot is an attempt to flow into and become one with her surrounding. The soft and subtle clothing that she chooses to wear during these photo shoots, illustrates a delicate and fragile side of her that allows her to blend in. I have also noticed that in the majority of her photos she is facing away from the camera , or she is at a disctance where it cannot be seen clearly. This once again suggests that she doesn’t want her identity to shine through as our face is one of our most distinctive features, rather allowing her environment to be the biggest contributor of the image. In this photo, her attempt at fitting into the cart makes her seem small and insignificant in the maze of archives surrounding her. Rea, like Cahun, works in black and white imagery which again allows her to blend well into her surrounding with the monotone shades that her photography produces.
The work of Rae, although similar to Cahun’s, has some distinctive differences. Cahun also tends to set a lot of her photos outdoors, yet the main target that Cahun has is to explore and capture her out of the ordinary identity. Her strong facial features are clearly captured in the image. The smooth curves of her arms and face are the main center of the photo, contrasting the busy flowers that are in the foreground. Due to the technology of the time, Cahun worked only in black and white imagery but I feel this is was also an advantage as she allows all the character to come from the interesting compositions and themes as opposed to color and tone. Cahun is often discussed in relation to Butler’s idea of the performativity of
gender because of the role that gender performance plays in Cahun’s photographic self- transformations. While Cahun and Moore’s photographs of Cahun are certainly relevant to Butler’s theories of gender it was the ideas such as androgyny and the “third sex,” raised in the 1920s and ‘30s, which truly influenced their work. This image was prior to Cahun shaving her head and completing her androgynous look, portraying more as female. Preharps even the flowers in which she has chosen to stand in is a sort of irony of the traditional views of society and how women are viewed as “innocent flowers”.
Lorna Sampson has created this image of a person of everyday of the week. Conceptually, she created it to show what her life was like when she had to work multiple jobs in order to fund her hobby of art/photography. There are words which hold negative connotations towards them at the bottom of the image, this implies that Sampson did not enjoy the multiple jobs due to the chaotic and horrible life style it bought. Technically, the images are presented in black and white which allows the images to be high in tonal regions. The main formal elements within this image is repetition, due to the same image being used, and texture due to the creases found in the tank top. The creases inform us that this person does not have much time, due to the multiple jobs, therefore the creases are found upon the shirt. The main focus point is the models waist, these are used to help guide the viewers eyes around the frame. It seems that the ISO used was low due to no noise being presented within the images. The shutter speed is likely to be kept low as there is no intended blur within the repetitive images. The aperture is likely to be on a ‘normal’ setting as the images are not significantly light or dark. The depth of field is large as within the images everything is in focus. The background found is plain white, which also adds to how plain and boring life was like working these multiple jobs. With the models arms being crossed conveys a negative connotation to how this model is feeling. Psychologically speaking having the arms crossed means that people are not likely to take on information that people are saying and are very close about their life. This implies that maybe the model is very closed about their life and entraps the feelings. Towards the bottom of the images there are a bunch of adjectives which all hold negative connotations, this positions the viewer to understand this time in Simpson’s life. This piece of works links into loss of identity as it shows that by having multiple jobs made Sampson unhappy, less sociable and she lost her identity. Colors are not used as that presents an identity, which was not the aim of the piece. Moreover, one of the words used is ‘Misidentify’ which implies that she is mistaking her identity and slowly loosing it due to her lifestyle.
Taking from Sampson’s piece I like the idea of only presenting the body of my model. This means that an emotional attachment can not be created as there is no face. Moreover, I like how black and white has been used to take away color, as colors can help build a persons identity. The use of negative words about losing identity could easily be implemented within my work allowing words and photography to combine to create a powerful piece. As an action plan I will carry out a photo shoot where I will capture my model without capturing the face. I will do this by placing the model in random locations and positions in order to create different meanings.
For an individual, the people they spend time with impacts how they evolve as a person. These people can influence their future both negatively and positively. The most influential people in MY life are my family and close friends. My small community helps me navigate through life with support with double the enjoyment of each others company.
To respond to the stimuli of ‘Identity and Place’, I have photographed moments of which i’m with family and friends to capture that memory and moment.
Analysis
Within these images I used natural light when available, however in the images taken in the evening, i used flash for them. This is due to me wanting to capture as much detail as possible without over exposing my images.
I chose to study Rita due to the sense of identity in her portraits of still life items. While there is no human subject in the photo, it is still structured like a traditional portrait allowing the photos to tell a story behind the object while leaving an air of ambiguity around the photos.
As far as technical aspects of the images go, they are structured like a typical portrait with soft lighting to avoid harsh shadows and a typically larger aperture to allow for a narrow depth of field while still allowing for a wide DoF in wider shots. She also appears to use a slower shutter speed due to the strong contrast and colors in the photos. The subjects in most of her photos are centralized in the image creating a fell of importance to the subjects. It looks as though her images could made using film due to the slight grain and Gaussian blur. The lower images seems to be exhibiting bokeh as well also suggesting that this is taken on film.
Images Sampled from Rita’s Book ‘Where Mimosa Bloom’
I like the idea of taking a portrait of a statue as it allows for exploration of traditional portraiture techniques while still sticking with the idea of still life portraiture and I believe that the broken statue can tell a much more powerful story than a traditional portrait.
Zhao Xiaomeng took many photographs of abandoned bikes scattered across the streets of Beijing. I personally like how much about someones personality you can tell from the scattered bikes, they all have various adjustments and additions made to make the previous owners life just a little bit easier. I like the compositions of the images as I like how somewhat abstract still life photography is being framed as though it is a traditional portrait, with rather blank backgrounds to allow the subject to strongly contrast it. Most of the subjects have some strong color either from the weathered paint or the rust patina. It looks as though he has used a small aperture due to the wide depth of field, as a consequence of this I believe that the photos were taken using a long shutter speed and low ISO due to the amount of detail captured in the photos. The photos are rather de-saturated but still show color depth.
YOUR FINAL BLOG POST SHOULD CLEARLY SHOW 3-5 POSSIBLE FINAL OUTCOMES for IDENTITY AND PLACE, INCLUDING YOUR PRESENTATION METHOD
sequencing of images
grouping of images -grids , triptych, diptych, dioramas, predellas
sculptural / multi-media approaches
framing methods
blog (show examples of frames / borders + process)
clarity of final outcomes—which images are your final outcomes?
coursework round – up and evaluation
FROM THIS YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR IMAGES FOR PRINTING
Contemporary approaches to presentation :
Research and explore alternative approaches to presenting your final images. This should be an integral part of your concept…not a gimmick…ultimately, the quality of your photography will be the primary focus and your mark will reflect this…
Sculptural methods…
Two-Frame / Diptych Arrangements
Triptych (3 frame)
Grid Layout
Eclectic Layout
Photo-Essay Layout
Circular Aperture
Diorama / pop-out book layout
Using projectors / clear acetate and transparencies
Evidence of your final outcome + framing
Essentials
Remember to label each JPEG in the print folder with your name
Minimum 1 x file per A3. A4, A5
Ensure that your final images are a direct response to your chosen photographer (s) and show a clear visual link
Identity – In psychology, identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group). Categorizing identity can be positive or destructive. A psychological identity relates to self-image (one’s mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality -Wikipedia
Gender Identity – Gender identity is the personal sense of one’s own gender. Gender identity can correlate with assigned sex at birth, or can differ from it. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a person’s social identity in relation to other members of society. – Wikipedia
Cultural Identity – Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. -Wikipedia
Social Identity – Social identity is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. -Wikipedia
Geographical Identity – An individual or group’s sense of attachment to the country, region, city, or village in which they live. The key characteristics with which a particular country, region, city, or village is associated. -Oxford Reference
Political Identity – Political positions based on the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify. -Wikipedia
Lack of / Loss of Identity – Loss of identity may follow all sorts of change; changes in the workplace, loss of a job or profession, loss of a role that once defined us, as a child, as a parent, as a spouse. This leaves a gap, an abyss, an empty space. Such loss of identity can result in increased levels of generalised anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, a loss of self-confidence, social anxiety, isolation, chronic loneliness, all of which threaten our ability to connect with other people. -https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellor-articles/i-dont-know-who-i-am-anymore-losing-my-identity
My initial instinct thoughts about identity and place are very varied. Personally, I am being drawn to lack of/loss of identity, due to the nature of being able to heavily experiment with props and photoshop. I feel that I would be able to express clear view points about loosing an identity through my photography. Moreover, I am also liking the idea of social identity as I would be able to explore more serious topics which are relevant to todays society. Although this would provide many opportunity’s, I feel I would be able to produce a stronger outcome and more in-depth if I went down the loss of identity root.
In psychology, identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity) or group (particular social category or social group). A psychological identity relates to self-image (one’s mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality.
For this topic of interest, identity and place of a person is to be explored. They can be explored through the ideas of gender identity, cultural identity, social identity, geographical identity, political identity
lack of, loss of identity.
The style I want to follow is one that shows “When Time was Prime”. This is in the style of the american photographer Richard Koenig and his work with pictures hanging in a scene, they depict the scene but when it was older and full of life.
The main area of his work that I will be looking at is the ones where he has a photo he has frames the picture in the scene and suspended it in front of the real area to show a different time.
My main inspiration for it is this image where he has shown the man sitting in his chair in the two images that are hanging up and in between you can see a gap where the man is missing.
This image to me represents loss and the lack of the identity of the area and the subject, because the chair that he once sat in now lies empty and unfilled, also Koenig has used a shallow depth of field to make the chair and the background have less detail and to make it so that the viewer focuses on the photos and ‘what it was’ rather than what it is.
