Pictorialismis an approach to photography that emphasizes the beauty of the subject matter along with tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality. The time period it was popular was 1880s-1920s. One of its main conventions is the idea of making photos look like paintings.
Artists associated: Julia Margaret Cameron, Emerson, Kuhn, Henneburf, Watcek – the Vienna camera club. -The brotherhood of the linked ring. -Photo succession group. – Sally Mann
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Soft focus, manipulating images within darkroom, scratching and marking in darkroom, fuzzy imagery, Vaseline in front of lens . allegorical
REALISM / STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
Realism is all about the ability to take images of things the way they are, there’s no making the image look like paintings or editing them. Realism became popular after Pictorialism wanting to challenge the art world and how photographers make photos look like paints. It became popular early 20th century.
Key characteristics/ conventions :Artists associated: Walker Evans, Paul Strand, Stieglitz, social reform, jacob riis, Dorothea lange
Methods/ techniques/ processes: Not blurring, real people, abstraction, social reform
Surrealism
Surrealism is all about unleashing the unconscious mind and they tend to have socio-political connotations because they also comment on politics and society. They tend to have a dream-like quality to them. Surrealism grew out of the World Wars in the early 20th century and Dadaism and abstractism.
The artist that I will be looking at is Charlie Clift.
Clift does take pictures with the topic of mental health, one particular piece of work which interested me the most was his work which he joined up with Kate Forrester to create the “Let’s Talk” campaign.
In this campaign, they would talk to people about their mental health and they would write up notes and keywords about what they heard. Forrester would then take the keywords from the conversation and write them/paint them on the models face ready for them to be photographed.
I feel that this is very powerful and very emotive piece of work. As the fears and the feelings that they have within are being shown to the world. The saying ‘a picture can show a thousand words’ with the photo literally showing words and the feelings of the model.
Clift used this style with famous and well known celebrities in a way to show that they have mental health issues as well, and (in my way of interpretation) to show people that it’s good to speak up and talk about your feelings and struggles, hence the title of the campaign in which the photos were used “Let’s Talk”
I really like the way that the use between the words and the model have been made, and I will be using this technique in one of my photo shoots, but I will be using male models and writing the simple and most used response which is used men are asked how they are doing mentally.
This is my final photobook design, without the added essay yet. I have decided to use a pretty simple layout with my images. I have started and ended with similar images, taken of the same thing. I have made some images small on some pages to emphasise the images on the other page or if they’re on their own on a page to create a break between larger sets of images or double page spread images.
I have also used a few double page spread images along with three quarter images. These are used because these are what I saw as the most important and the best of the images I have taken within the photoshoots.
With a few of the smaller images that are opposite larger full bleed images, I have added black backgrounds to carry over the contrast between the images and give a clear definition of where one image ends, due to the sky in most of the images being very white due to the time they were taken along with contrast and exposure settings making it seem whiter.
I have also added a couple of 3D maps of small bunkers within the photobook. I have used the black background around these again so that the white of the model in the center of the screen is a lot more visible and can’t be missed.
Lastly, I have added two sections of text within the photobook to separate off the images of each bunker, the text depicts the equipment within the bunkers during The Occupation.
My subject in 3 words: individuality, friendship, closeness. A sentence: A look into the lives of some of my friends and the world around us. Paragraph: My project is centered the intention to create a photo-book which is based on specific people in my life and what makes them an individual, I want this to also center around the theme of youth culture. Each picture/section of my book is about one person and their features/interests and things that make them who they are. I also plan to have pictures which break theme in the book to act as a barrier between each portrait,etc.
The plan for my photo-book is to have it hardback if possible and smooth feeling with a simple clean looking cover, I just want it to be completely black the title somewhere on it. I am planning on having just black and white ‘premium lustre’ pages, for my images which are mainly darker with a lot of black I will be using a white page, and the other way round for the lighter images. I also plan on having a mostly classic layout with a single image per page with a blank page opposite, with the exception of some double page spreads and ones with 2 images. Format, size and orientation: I think that I am going to keep my book portrait and just use a double spread for the larger landscape photos. The size will be standard portrait: 25x20cm.
Front cover: Above is the image which I created by hand and later on Photoshop which will act as my front cover, blending in with the black on the rest of the outside.
Title: ‘NOTHING CAN COME BETWEEN US’ This is the title that I derived after looking at the Tupac Shakur poem of the same title, I also added this as the first page in my book.
Design and layout: This aspect can be seen on a previous blog-post: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo20al/2020/02/12/completed-photo-book/s
I have done this to see if I preferred the image in monotone or colour I decided to go with Black and white.I have edited the amount of highlights and shadows within the image.here I have edited the colour within the black and white.I have decided to add a gradient on the image so the light is hitting the face more
Final Image:
This image depicts what Paul Strand photographs, I have started of by photographing somewhere that I knew, and that I was familiar of
To what extent does Surrealism create an unconscious representation of one’s inner conflicts of identity and belonging?
“we are convinced that ‘it happened’- that the events they represent as real, that they actually took place” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 18) Some images are literal, they are taken at the exact moment and capture an exact action but they is an extent to whether this is actually real life. A camera can only capture so much, it takes a segment of a situation, it doesn’t show the whole things. Unless we are the photographer, we never fully know what happened, we may come up with idea and concept, but they are only part of our imagination. My essay is focusing in on surrealism, which is the idea that the unconscious is where all imagination is held. Surrealists believe the rational mind repressed the power to unlock our imagination. Therefore, in photography for an image to come under this genre it must be subtle in its meanings, it must make the viewer question ‘is this real?’ Claude Cahun is one artist I am going to discuss and explore how she expressed her identity through surrealism photography, around the time of 1920. She said herself that she does not have the answers to her questions, and as such unusually makes visible the rawness, torment, and distress of not knowing. To liberate the extent, I am going to use the surrealist Man Ray as I can argue that his work isn’t motivated my inner conflicts. “From Daguerre’s age to ours: photography has undergone a transformation, not only technologically but conceptually.” (Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. 2019: 18). Photography has progressed in our modern world and has grown alongside human knowledge to become more and more technical. As well as that ideas have progressed behind the motivation of capturing images. Nowadays, it doesn’t just have to be straight photography it can have a hidden meaning or enigmatic codes. There aren’t guidelines needed to be followed to create a meaningful photo.
In 1917 surrealism was first seen in the form of art through the work of Giorgio de Chirico, who illustrated average streets but through a hallucination perspective. His paintings were moving away from realism, instead of just capturing physically what was there he also created subjective meanings within his art. Andre Baton was the original inventor of surrealist concepts in 1924 through his written surrealist manifesto, where the he describes the movement as “the pure psychic automatism expressed in the real functionality of a person.” (History.com editors 2017:1). Breton was saying that a surrealist artist must bypass any thoughts of rationality in order to gain automatism which is an act or idea achieved through the unconscious mind. Sigmund Freud may have not been an artist but his development and exploration into how the mind works was a large influence. This Little Hans study into dream analysis and phobias opened doors into the world of unconscious thoughts and desires, he uncovered areas in psychology and philosophy that hadn’t ever been discovered before due to the idea that is wasn’t ‘scientific’ research. Similarly, in surrealist work can be seen as ‘unscientific’ because it doesn’t follow a strict structure like realism once did, rather it used the unconscious mind as the force behind the influence.
Dadaism was an early stage of surrealism that commenced during World War I, its purpose was to ridicule the meaningless of the modern world. The whole concept was formed to deconstruct the definition of art by experimenting with different techniques, materials and mediums. Photo montage became popular through Dadaists such as Raoul Hausmann and his piece ‘The Art Critic’. The montage was used as a means of expressing political dissent. Other techniques were invented such as collage which is widely known today as assembling different elements to create a whole, Max Ernst famously created ‘ The Hat Makes the Man’. Cubomania is a form of collage where an image is cut into squares and reassembled randomly. This technique was invented by Romanian Surrealist artist Gherasim Luca. Surrealism began to emerge into photography through artists such as Maurice Tabard and Man Ray who explored automatic writing using techniques such as combination printing and double exposure. In the early 1920s, technology was developing rapidly and became of great interest to avant-garde artists due to its association with technology. Photography was beginning to become a chance for artists paradigms of vision and representation. The evolution of the camera worked in harmony with the movement from realism to surrealism, as technology modernized so did ideologies.
Claude Cahun was born in 1894 in Nantes France with the name of Lucie Renee Mathilde Schwob and died at the age of 60 in St. Helier Jersey. She was a photographer, sculptor and writer who spent most her life on the island of Jersey with her partner and stepsister. She adopted her name Claude Cahun in 1917 as it was gender ambiguous. She was best known for her self-portraits in the genre of surrealism, they explored sexuality and identity, undermining stereotypical gender roles which at the time were essential to the patriarchal society. Surrealism back then was relatively new to photography, people like Cahun were essential in establishing the movement. Her images displayed meanings which were personal to her and her sexual orientation, not in an objective manner, but rather in a mysterious and confusing manner. Cahun’s work can also be seen as post-structuralist because she doesn’t have ‘complete’ artworks, instead her photos combine to become part of an unfinished whole. A key inventor of surrealism, Breton once said Cahun was “one of the most curious spirits of our time.” This description of her can be mirrored throughout her work, not only is she curious herself but she is in surrealism photography, experimenting with real concepts of her own gender identity and translating these into her images to create a piece of art. An example of her work is:
Self Portrait (reclining on sand with coiled seaweed)-Claude Cahun, 1930.
I first discovered Cahun’s work at an exhibition and this photo was the most striking to me. Her work varies greatly, some involve characters such as a circus performer, others are much more simplistic when it come to the person Cahun is trying to portray. It’s this mixture and differentiation that makes the images work together as a sequence to show her inner confusion with identity. The low position she has to the ground represents the idea of her connecting to nature, it’s in her human nature to be gay, she never had free-will in the matter. Although the seaweed has the potential to suffocate her, much like her unconscious mind could fill her poison, she chooses to leave it wrapped around her as if it’s a part of her. The way she is floating in the water can be seen as a lack of control, even though she is resting on the sand she is still being moved by the water, which is something she can’t help. This emphasizes the lack of choice we have over our identity, as much as people say we can be who we want to be, we will always have pre-determined genetics, cultural background and our upbringing to affect our identity. The absence of facial details expresses the idea that gender doesn’t have a certain look. The way the shadow of the rock avoids her body creates a sense freedom; she is overcoming those dark thoughts. “Shuffle the cards. Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.” This quote from Cahun summaries her identity surrounding gender and how she didn’t place herself in either gender, nowadays we would call this non-binary. In Claude’s lifetime this uncertainty towards your sex would have been viewed as madness, it’s evident that she was ahead of her time when it came to photography and identity. Overall, her work argues that Surrealism explores ideas of identity and belonging through her subjective imagery of people and nature.
Man Ray was one of the most earliest surrealist photographers, he was born in 1890 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a Jewish immigrant from Russia. Much like Cahun he also changed his name from Emmanuel Radnitzky to Man Ray. In 1912 this family changed their last name in order to fit into American society. Andre Breton once described Man Ray as a “pre-Surrealist”, this meaning he had a natural affinity for the movement. It is apparent the surrealism came as second nature to Ray, he had near to no influence when it came to referencing surrealist photographers. The famous quote from surrealist Francis Picabia “only useless things are indispensable” links to how both photographers changed their names. Names are pointless, they are simply a way of others identifying you through association of your face with your name. In the world of surrealism, a name is essential to who you are, names tell stories about your heritage and they put you a bracket. This emphasis of ‘useless’ items being ‘indispensable’ is seen throughout Man Ray’s collection of Rayographs. These were known as camera-less photographs, he placed objects such as thumbtacks and coils of wire on a sheet of photosensitized paper and exposed it to light. These images were the binary opposites of the trends in photography at the time. Movements like pictorialism involved no manipulation, believing that adaptations and uniqueness would be a disruption to the artistic integrity of the medium.
Untitled Rayograph- Man Ray, 1922.
This image is part of his 1922 ‘Spiral Series’, composed of a spiral object and other shapes, from cubes to glass goblets. They mimicked dream-like landscapes, inspired by Giorgio De Chirico, the intent was to create a nonsensical concept, so that it was up to the readers imagination to take meaning from it or not. It was the whole idea that photography didn’t need to be literal, it could be metaphorical and creative. The coils of wire represent the lengths of your unconscious mind and how there is endless visions and emotions, some we don’t know about yet and ones we will never know about. The possibilities are endless in the unconscious which also can be translated into the world of photography, there aren’t patterns or trends to follow, you make your work your own. In the background there are clouds, giving the impression of different levels of space and slow movement. “You can never step in the same river twice” is the famous saying from philosopher Heraclitus. A river is constantly moving, as soon as you step into a river it will have changed within milliseconds, like surrealism, there is no consistency, artists are all different, there are no two photos the same. It is a fluid concept. Similarly, clouds are constantly changing shape, yet in this image the cloud is frozen in time.“Nature does not create works of art. It is we, and the faculty of interpretation peculiar to the human mind, that see art.” This quote from Man Ray talks about the creation of surrealism and how it is based on concepts of the human mind. When he says nature doesn’t create work, that’s a reference to pictorialism and how photographers rely the environment to make an image, rather than using their originality and creativity.
Both artists are extremely influential surrealists, but they use different elements of the movement in their work. In comparison to Cahun, Ray is more of a creator of surrealism whereas Cahun is developing and extending the idea. Ray doesn’t involve issues such as belonging in his Rayographs, it’s more about abstraction and exploration, he takes household object and makes them into dreamlike visions, rather than dream like concepts. Although some of his images did include silhouettes of his head and his partners head, this image connected to the idea of an autobiography running through his rayographs. His images didn’t so much involve conflicts of identity but rather a narrative of his life and the people in it. “We need to insist that we read a photograph, not as an image but as a text.” This quote is taken from Graham Clarke and I feel it is the basis of surrealism. Both photographers don’t just take a picture in the moment, they set up a narrative, not necessarily a clear one but there is a reason for their work. The idea that we need to treat a photo as text, is seen throughout their work, especially with Claude where she uses her images to create a story around her sexual identity.
Looking back at the question it’s clear that surrealism involves topics of identity, but it doesn’t just stop there, the subject matter is endless. For instance, Man Ray doesn’t use his work to explore self-conflict but rather to explore photography as a medium. The camera-less images are groundbreaking in the way that we don’t even need high tech equipment to make an image. With the Rayographs he makes a statement rather than text, surrealism is about breaking regulations that were once in place surrounding photography. Cahun’s work focuses on portraits, almost all her images feature a person, whereas Ray uses objects as his focal points. “In any image, however, the primary frame of reference remains the subject of the photograph,” is said by Graham Clarke. This relates to how the people and objects featured in the artist’s work become the backbone of their narratives. Roland Barthes came up with the theory of connotation and denotation which represent the difference between straight photography and surrealism. In Cahun’s work she uses people and their clothing as connotations to create an idea behind literal subjects. In straight photography everything captured has a denotation, it has no depth to its meaning, for instance a portrait of some men farming has no narrative, it is what you see. Whereas Ray uses a combination of objects to collectively create connotations, this allows the audience to decode the underlying message of the image. In 2007, David Bowie produced an exhibition of Cahun’s work in New York, he said of her, “You could call her transgressive or you could call her a cross-dressing Man Ray with surrealist tendencies. I find this work really quite mad, in the nicest way.” Although I have emphasised the difference in the two artists, this quote suggests that the artists are alike, and I can agree to some extent. Ray and Cahun both have ‘surrealist tendencies’ as a base for their work, they both display originality and put people in a reverie of their imagination.
To conclude, I believe that to some extent Surrealism creates an unconscious representation of one’s inner conflicts with identity and belonging. Throughout the work of Claude Cahun, it is evident that imagery of belonging is present; for instance, the concepts around her sexual identity and how that “works” in society. However, in terms of the unconscious mind I feel Cahun’s work is limited as the issues proposed are part of her reality and conscious, which is also shown through her ambiguous name and open sexuality in her daily life. Claude’s work is at the heart of surrealism when it comes to ‘avant-garde’, nowadays people aren’t scared or ashamed to be gay but back in the 1920s it was a taboo topic that she wasn’t afraid to discuss. Ray’s work doesn’t focus on topics such as identity and belonging, he keeps his concepts deliberately enigmatic. As one of the pioneers of the movement proves that surrealism isn’t just about feelings but about breaking the chain of repetition in photography. Linking to the idea of unconscious, Ray’s images involve dream-like visions of black and white. His Rayographs specifically act as works of the imagination and leave the audience in a state of confusion. Overall surrealism does create unconscious representation but not always following issues of identity and belonging, the whole idea of surrealism is going against the current and creating photos that are unique. Therefore, not all surrealists explore the same concepts, some don’t even have a reason for their images. The messages Cahun and Ray wanted to convey was that photography can be whatever you make it, whilst challenging pre-conceived notions, readings and conventional approaches.
Bibliography
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. (2019): 18 Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House
Bright, S. and Van Erp, H. (2019): 18 Photography Decoded. London: octopus Publishing House
For my final book, I am hand making and binding because due to this being a personal project about my own identity, i wanted my final product to be hand made so that the aim of the human touch isn’t lost through mechanical printing. My chosen method of book binding is Japanese Stab binding in which you have an outer cover and the pages inside and you reveal the stitching on the outside, this creates a decorative spine yet functions like a normal book spine. For my book I am using red thread for binding to have a contrast to my soft grey cover and the images inside.
I want my book to be smaller than A5 because it feels more delicate and the reader would handle it with more care, like they would a broken person. In this draft book, it has 4 signatures sewn together that make up 32 pages. A signature is a sheet of paper with four or more pages and folded one or more times to the approximate size of one page and in a manner which puts the pages in proper numbered order. I then sewed together using a Coptic stitch then glued the spine together to create a solid spine. In then added the grey card cover and made 2 evenly spread holes to begin stab binding. Stab binding consists of going back over yourself to create a linear pattern similar to a blanket stitch. I then covered my stab binding in a linen to create a sturdy spine that wouldn’t allow the stitching to move. For my final book, i am having the linen underneath the stitching so that you can see the red stab binding against the white and grey.
Example of Coptic Stitch
Japanese Stab binding
How to stab bind
This shows the bottom view of the book and how the looped over red thread is still visible through the linen, and how the signatures are put together. In this draft I could’ve pushed my signatures more into the grey cover but due to my stab binding being further down, there is a gap between the pages and the cover.
Edward Stiechen is an american photographer, from modernism era, he took images of fashion and incorporated them in his photography, one of his most famous was of Gloria Swanson, a silent movie actress.
My response:
For this I have tried to capture what Edward Stiechen did with Gloria Swanson, I have done this by getting a self portrait of and cropping it, and then I added a overlay on the image to make it look like there was lace on,
These are my third and final set of finished images for my photo-book. They follow the same process of capturing and editing as my first set of photos, this can be read on my blog post of the same title. I have now accumulated 27 images for my book which will result in 50 pages. I have kept the same theme of black and white photos with red accents and text also. Again most of these images have been taken on film which the exception of one or two which I took on my phone and later edited.
2Pac ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us: 4 John’
Above is a poem by Tupac Shakur which I am including as the first page before the images in my book. I have inverted the colours to make the white text blend in with the black background on my book. Although it is slightly blurry but this is to be expected as it a scan from his original notebook of poems. This was written for John Cole, Tupac’s best friend during his high school days, it is about friendship and loyalty, therefore it fits the subject of my book quite well. The edited version also fits right into my book’s theme and layout, it may be printed slightly blurry as it was hard to find a high resolution version of basically an old document, however it will still be legible.
Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper:
Cover is a bit rough, smells like paper and brand new book smell.
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both:
There is a lot of different textured paper such as normal brown paper, premium lustre and net to strengthen spine of book all colours, also black and white.
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages: Portraiture, roughly 100 pages.
Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/Swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello: Flat bind with a hard cover and a image wrap.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing: Literal as he is documenting a part of his life by taking pictures.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told? : ” I have this desire to sum up my life in the form of a story. My parents killed themselves, one after the other, in the winter of 1998. My mother’s depression led her to take her own life, and my father followed her nine days later. Having suddenly a closer relationship with death at just 21 years of age, I decided to write down the things I saw around me, as they were, and to capture in photographs the emotions I would only be able to feel then and there. I was alone in the house we had all lived in as a family. I had almost completely lost sight of the point in living. But even so, I kept on living.” https://www.photobookstore.co.uk/photobook-picture-of-my-life-_signed%5E.html Told by picture of him and his family, and pictures of the paintings his father did. Also included letters and translations of those letters. Is in chronological order.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts: Different every page, single and double page spreads with pages with writing on them, photos on top of photos.
Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others. Use of captions (if any): Letters linked with images, chronological order, at the end of the book there is a short statement from the photographer saying thank you.
