Claude Cahun X Clare Rae Exhibition
I found the interpretation of Claude Cahun’s work by Clare Rae incredibly interesting. The way she has captured the style and look of the photos makes it seem almost as though they were taken by the same person. There were obviously some differences in the models used, even some of the same locations were used. Both photographers focus of the surreal contrast, and also similarity, to nature and man.
The picture below was one of my favorites. Not only does it have a nice contrast between the blacks and whites, but it shows the connection between man(or in this case woman) and nature. The way that her arm reaches around the rock almost makes it seem like the rock is alive and the two are connected.
Another piece of her work that caught my eye was this photograph(above). While it shows the clear disconnect between humans and nature, the color of the dress and physical connection to the rock represents how we are still connected with nature and that it is an important part of what makes us human. The reflection off of the rocks and the dress also seem to represent this idea.
Working with Paper
Clare Rae/Claude Cahun Exhibition
I went to Claude Cahun and Clare Rae’s art exhibition to view their photography. Their photos were very similar and you could see that Clare Rae has been inspired by Claude Cahun’s work, they has almost identical set ups in some of the photos and you could see their meanings of the photos so boldly and clearly behind the photos. However there were dissimilarities in the photos such as Claude Cahun’s photos were self-portraits and they were showing her emotions and struggles with gender identity, where as Clare Rae used other women than herself to portray women and her emotional views. Overall the art exhibition was an experience, it showed me new ways to photograph things and how to use other objects in the photos, without making it look setup.
These are a selection of photos by both photographers; 
Clare Rae
Clare Rae 
Claude Cahun
This photo by Clare Rae shows how she was inspired by Claude Cahun’s work, as she has taken this photo in a remote are and is showing female domination in this image of hers. I chose this photo because the mood in this photo is showing a women’s emotion. Her head is hanging low which shows how the gender equality has effected her in a way of having no confidence or no sense or worth. The was Clare Rae decided to have her foot propped up onto the wall gives the photo an extra element to it, it makes it more interesting to look at and effective.
I chose this photo from Claude Cahun’s photographs because I like the way she has used the rope in the images, this adds something extra to the photo, instead of it just being a simple self portrait. This photo creates a sense of mystery, as you can’t see her face, but it makes it more intriguing as you wonder why she has decided to do this. I interpenetrate this photo as Claude Cahun going through a stage of unknowing and embarrassment as she has hidden her face almost as if she doesn’t want anyone to see her until she has figured out her gender
Clare Rae has mainly used females throughout her photos as did Claude Cahun but she also put herself in the photos. Clare Rae’s photos are showing that females are equal to men, by photographing them in an working environment, also in some of her photos she has covered women’s body parts, suggesting they are figuring out their identity and this is similar to Claude Cahun as she was trying to figure out her identity. Their photos helped get their emotions and opinions across to everyone through photography.
Claude Cahun X Clare Rae
Claude Cahun X Clare Rae
I enjoyed the work of Clare Rae and Claude Cahun very much as I enjoyed seeing the surrealist nature of Claude Cahun’s work And how Clare Rae managed to interpret her work and gain inspiration to carry out her response. Clare Rae focused more on Claude Cahun’s earlier work about Man with nature and man with man made objects. Clare Rae and Claude Cahun both have put their pictures in black and white and are both the main subjects of the photograph, whilst maybe someone else is taking the photographs. Both their work likes to feature contrasting tones of light and dark.
Claude Cahun in this photo is far away from the camera itself and facing away from it also. She here I believe is trying not to draw too much attention away from the surroundings and the structures in the photos. The walls at the edges in the photos creates a claustrophobic feeling which could be Claude Cahun’s way of expressing her feelings towards those who were at the time maybe being shunned for their sexuality.
Similarly, here, Clare Rae keeps her head down and not looking at the camera. She also focuses on the architecture around her and the texture and shapes of the walls. Rather than this feeling claustrophobic, it’s feels comforting as she’s almost cocooned by the walls. However the ways she sits is awkward which could be a take on the ways Claude Cahun also used her body.
Week 3 Abstract Photography Best Photos
For all of these photos I was on the shutter mode on the camera. The ISO was on 400 and the shutter speed was around 4-6.
This photo was taken outside at the back of the school and I really like the outcome of this photo.
This photo was taken of a piece of art that I really liked. I feel like this photo is very abstract and unique.
This photo was taken of another piece of art. This has to be one of my favourite photos I took. I really like the colours and how some of the shapes fade into the background.
This photo was taken outside near the entrance of the school. I really like how bright the trees are in this photo. The lighter greenish/ yellow tree really stands out.
This photo was taken at the back of the school. I really like how the whiter bits of the tree are making a curved shape, it makes the photo more abstract and different.
This photo was taken in the canteen near the lockers. I really the contrast of the light coming from the lights and the darkness coming from the ceiling.
This photo was taken at the main stairs. I really like how the photo is the tiniest bit blurry but it still works because the focus goes straight to the three lights.
I am really happy with how all these photos turned out and I hope to adapt and use this style in future projects and photo shoots. Also I think to make this better I can take a few more photos so I can select more photos and have a wider selection to choose from.
Abstract photography- Experimentation
Trip To Entre Nous Exhibition
Claude Cahun and Clare Rae
- Who is Claude Cahun:
Claude Cahun (1894-1954) : Claude Cahun was an avant-garde queer artist and writer associated with the Parisian surrealist movement in the 1920s, before she relocated with her female partner Marcel Moore to Jersey in the 1930s. Since her rediscovery in the 1980s, Cahun’s subversive self-portrait photographs and texts have become highly influential for artists dealing with questions of gender identity and representation of the female body. Claude was known for her self riveting photographic portraits that seem early ahead of her time, Claude has attracted and almost cult-like following,
- .Who is Clare Rae:
Clare Rae is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia who explores ideas of performance and gesture to interrogate and subvert dominant modes of representation. Her work is informed by feminist theory, and presents an alternate and often awkward experience of subjectivity and the female body, usually the artists’ own. Recent projects have engaged with site specificity, involving works that are captured and displayed within the same environment. A central interest within her practice is the exploration of performance documentation, specifically how the camera can act as a collaborator, rather than mute witness, to the performer.
On the trip to Entre Nous we looked at a recent exhibition on Clare’s in which she tired to immitiate similar themes of moving into the spaces around her in the landscapes, which some, previously, were inhabited and imaged by Claude Cahun. The theme of black and white was maintained throughout as well as the images predominantly being captured on coastal lanscapes, usually featuring objects such as large rocks and cliffs.
In the picture above the higher middle picture shows the model lying down on a patch of sand. This can symbolise the model trying to blend in with the natural environment around them which in this case is the beach.
The middle picture in this image is another of Claude’s and shows a set of arms coming out of a pilar of rock. This follows Claude’s theme of blending into the natural environment as it is as if the photographer is trying to capture the model moulding their body and changing the way it is to fit in with the norm around it. Therefore some believe that Claude’s work has a deeper meaning that relates to Claude’s depicting herself in her environments in that day and age and how although she would try to blend into the natural surroundings, her sexuality preferences would stand her out from the crowd of ‘environment’ due to it being so uncommon at that time to be queer.
This is a photo of Clare Rae’s where she is trying to re-create the idea of the model moulding to and fitting in the the natural environment them. I think this replicates the first photo i described of Claude Cahun’s very well because this photo, like the first of Claude’s is located on a coastal location and more precisely, probably in a rock pool on a beach. Not only does this make it similar to Claude’s work, it also can be seen to be similar due to the model posing in an unusual way as if they are trying to become part of the surrounding environment. Which carries on the ideas and themes Claude created.
This is my favourite photo captured by Clare Rae due to its eerie and very weird nature that comes along with the carried on themes from Claude Cahun of moulding the body to fit in with the natural environment. As well as capturing the model moulding to the rock, this picture also captures the essence of how Clare could have perceived Claude’s experience of fitting into the norm back in her era and how hard she believed it could have ben for Claude to do this being queer. This is captured by the actual position the model is in and how uncomfortable this would be known to be by the interpreter.
Overall the trip taught me about the deeper meanings to a photographers work and how it can be related to their lifestyle, time era and personal thoughts and ideas. It also shows how themes of photography have remained consistent over time for example the Black and White feature and how modern photographers still enjoy capturing ideas that older generations had that still contain a strong message.
CCA Gallery visit. Cahun Vs Rae
During our first visit to the CCA Gallery in St. Helier I saw how the australian photographer Clare Rae uses herself as the main focus of her photographs to represent gestures and performance in reaction to an older French-Jewish photographer Claude Cahun.
This photo of Rae shows her in an uncomfortable and unnatural position. I think that this was a hard photo to do as she is her own model so she had to set up her camera and set a timer or have a clicker, of her in this unusual position.
This photo shows her trying to manoeuvre herself to try fit into her surroundings. I believe that this photo is almost representing how people change to adapt to their surroundings but to also fit into society more.
This photo of Claude Cahun, just proves to us that she was exploring body image by shaving of her own hair to prove herself. I really like this photo not just because she has done this to herself, but because she has shown many textures within the photo, from the smoothness of her clothes and hair to the rough textures of the granite wall behind.
I also quite like this photo of Clare Rae in the ruins of an old German bunker. I like this because of the dullness of the sky above it really brings out the rest of the photo. I also like the use of depth in this as you can tell she is far away, although there is depth there is no specific focal point.
Overall I really enjoyed the trip to the CCA Gallery as I learned a lot about both of these fantastic photographers, I also got to compare their similarities and differences upclose.
Clare Rae and Claude Cahaun
Both images share this same concept of the subject standing behind the rock with only a hand or hands pointing out which may represent a loss of identity because everything about them that could be identified is being covered by this un-moving slab of rock. Both images are black and white giving them a vintage look however Clare Rae’s has more contrast between the black and white. In both images the images the subject inst dead center which breaks the rule of thirds. This may have been intentional because it makes it seem like the subject has even lost their identity as the subject. Rae’s is more of a landscape whereas Cahaun’s is more of a portrait. In Rae’s, because it’s a landscape, she blends more into the background which may have been her intention to make herself appear like every other rock which shows she lack identity.There’s a lot more light in Cahaun’s work which you can see shining on her arm and the rock and there is more in the background. There is a lot more darkness and shadows in Rae’s work. The background in Cahaun’s work is more blurry that Rae’s which brings more attention to the subject, however in both the sun hits the rock the subject is behind. The composition of each piece is different. In Rae’s she’s behind the rock with her hand touching he rock passively, however in Cahaun’s the camera looks up at the subject and their have are bent out like stick man’s in an emotional way like anger of shock. In a lot of their pieces you question if they are truly the photographers if they are in the image. In these ones that identity of the subject is hidden so it leaves the question if they are the subject again or the photographer. In Cahaun’s image you can see bracelets on the arm closest to us but not in Rae’s. Maybe Cahaun wanted to add a little bit of identity like gender to the subject behind the rock.