From your Personal Investigation based on LOVE & REBELLION write an overview of what you learned and how you intend to develop your Personal Study.

1. Describe which themes, medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists, skills and photographic processes/ techniques inspired you the most and why. –

Themes –

The key theme that inspired most for my work would be ideas surrounding the binary opposition of stereotypes between male and female. Although the gender norms held against men and women are quite different, they still exist and effect both genders which is often ignored by the media. Therefore, in my film I aimed to expose some of these norms by using speeches that cover some of the struggles men may encounter versus some of the struggles women may encounter. I believe that ideas surrounding gender stereotypes can be linked into the theme of ‘Love & Rebellion’ as although more recently ideas on gender have become a lot more diverse, open and fluid there are still many negative stereotypes that have continued as well as emerged as a result of an ever-changing society and increasing use and dependence on technology.

Another theme that I focused on for the topic of ‘Love & Rebellion’ is Images of people who I love/ are close to me, incorporating the theme of rebellion by using the juxtaposition between candid and environmental images of the same subjects. This project allowed me to represent the opposition of love and rebellion in a subtle way, using the people who I loved however the rebellion between their fragmented identities as when placed in a more formal environment such as a workplace, many people change their persona and identity in order to suit the surrounding atmosphere, which is evident through the contradiction between the two images.

Medium –

Through the use of the medium of ‘film’, I was able to express these struggles and themes clearly as it allowed me to incorporate visual as well as audio messages. I think that this medium allowed me to further develop ideas surrounding gender stereotypes as I was able to input and adjust the audio first, which allowed me to form the foundations of a narrative for my film as well as plan possible shoots to compliment what was being said.

For my first project surrounding the theme of ‘Love & Rebellion’, I used the medium of still images. This allowed me to capture real emotions in one frame, from that exact moment and use this to contrast to other emotions that the same person has been through or felt.

Although by creating a film I was able to develop my ideas, I believe that a printed form of still images may better represent ideas that I wish to convey. Through the use of still images or even screenshots from a moving image, the audience is able to create their own ideas in relation to the image based upon their own beliefs, rather than being influenced by an audio.

Approaches –

In terms of approaches, for my film I primarily used a documentary approach as the use of a slightly more formal style may allow my key ideas to be conveyed clearly.

For my still images, many of which being candid, I did try to attempt a more tableaux approach in order to achieve more dramatic outcomes, primarily by using shadows and contrasts.

Tableaux Definition – noun, plural tab·leaux [ta-blohz, tab-lohz], tab·leaus. a picture, as of a scene. a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene. a representation of a picture, statue, scene, etc., by one or more persons suitably costumed and posed.

Artists for film –

Below are the artists that influenced my ideas and outcome –

I also used and researched ideas on gender suggested by theorists such as –

• Laura Mulvey
• Judith Butler
• David Gauntlett

Artists for Still image –

Below are the artists that influenced my ideas and outcome –

Skills –

Skills I developed from these projects –

• Using tripods to have more stable shots
• lighting, where and how to use it to emphasize or diffuse certain aspects of an image
• Different camera settings such as changing shutter speed, ISO, White balance
• How different framing or use of lenses can change the meaning of a shot entirely
• How more abstract imagery can be used to create meanings and representations

2. Include examples of current experiments to illustrate your thinking.

Plan/ Current ideas and influences –

For my personal study my main influence is going to be ideas on and surrounding mental health, specifically anxiety and depression. One specific artist I have found is ‘Daniel Regan‘ who used his photography in order to represent and document his own mental health.

3. Produce a new mind-map and mood-board based around how you interpret the theme of ‘Love & Rebellion’ now using new inspirations etc.

Ideas on ‘Love & Rebellion’ then –

Ideas on ‘Love & Rebellion’ now –

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4. Write a specification that clearly contextualizes how you wish to develop your project further, including theme(s), subject-matter, artists and final outcome you aim to make; photo-book or film.

Initial Ideas –

• Mental Health

Daniel Regan

Statement Of Intent –

Write a statement of intent that clearly contexualises how you wish to develop your project further, including theme(s), subject-matter, artists and final outcome you aim to make; photobook or film.

The main aim of my personal investigation is to explore and represent different mental health issues that many people who struggle from them find hard to articulate or represent visually. Although I am to research and explore multiple mental health issues, I will mainly focus on anxiety and depression as these are two that have impacted me and many people I know. In order to express these ideas and representations, I am going to use a mix of documentary landscape photography as well as conceptual portraiture photography as I feel that these two different styles will complement and also juxtapose one another, creating a form of distortion and confusion to the narrative of my book, simulating a similar effect to that of these two mental health disorders. As well as this, I am also going to research some different literacy texts such as different poems to include as little monologues to go along side some images throughout the book, prompting and also describing the narrative.

Another theme that I wish to explore in this project is the juxtaposition between moods that these mental health issues can create. As some days may be exactly the same and some days may be durastically different, it is almost impossible to interpret how each one will effect the individual. – Some days are good and some days are bad. I believe that this is an important factor to represent as it shows how significant these small, yet happy moments or days are to a person who is struggling.

In terms of more technical plans, I am going to use my Canon camera for the majority of photoshoots as well as a tripod as this will allow for clear and concise images to be taken, though in order to incorporate multiple perspectives I will use different lenses and angles. My shoots will be taken in many different locations, with more subject-specific ones being centred in a studio like setting in order to enhance shadows, lighting and expression. In terms of medium, my final product will take the form of a photo-book as I feel this will allow viewers to have a more personal relation to/with the images and ideas, though I think that I might make a short-film of some of the key stills or extra images I take.

5. Plan your first photo-shoot as a response to initial ideas. Must be published on the blog by Wed 2 Dec.

Photo-Shoot 1 –

Essay Question: In what way can the work of Claude Cahun and Shannon O’Donnell be considered political?

Through their work, both Claude Cahun and Shannon O’Donnell tackle controversial ideas surrounding gender and identity; despite the difference between the times their work was produced they do share many similar political and cultural messages. Identity politics can be defined as the political alliances formed based upon gender, race, religion, or other contextual factors that may influence ones identity. Originally, identity politics emerged as a result of discrimination against those of a certain background by those who are presented as ‘normal’ through false dominant ideologies. Some key examples of different identity politics would be the emergence of Civil rights, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights due to the amount of discrimination previously held against them, new actions were demanded in order to secure political and social equality. Identity politics is a key ideology that can be used in order to decode the messages in the work of artists such as Claude Cahun and Shannon O’Donnell.

Identity politics and Cultural wars both have massive impacts on society both positively and negatively. For example, the idea of having a group that allows individuals to feel connected and valued based upon shared ideas or themes is obviously positive and emphasises greater actions to be taken in order to protect and support these groups. On the other hand, due to these groups societies have been completely changed, which could be viewed as a positive or negative based upon individual thought. Similarly, it also allows for the development of more extremist groups, who may use their group in order to gain power and therefore influence and enforce their own ideas rather than allowing each individual to harness their own. Which then links into an idea suggested by Noam Chomsky called ‘Manufacturing Consent’, which is the idea of how mass political powers (those at the head of Governments i.e Trump) use their power in order to control and manipulate the population and those that are underneath them via mediums such as propaganda, forcing the public to follow his views, falsely imitating the idea of consent. Those who may oppose his views would therefore be positioned against those who agree which would then lead to matters such as a cultural war. Without identity politics, movements such as the ‘Suffragettes’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ would have been a lot less likely to occur and have the impact of which they did. 

In relation to Claud Cahun, who’s work primarily focuses on tackling gender norms or societal constructs evolving around individuals in terms of identity and gender, identity politics can be used in order to decode some key messages in her images. Born under her birth name, ‘Lucy Schwob’, later changing it to the non-gendered ‘Claud Cahun’, was born in France in 1894. Put simply, Cahuns work can be considered political as her work is radical in relation to the norms generally accepted by society, the norms usually being ideas expressed by higher or ruling powers such as government. In her autobiography, Disavowals, she wrote: “Shuffle the cards. Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me”. Claude Cahunwas a prolific writer and she famously wrote, ‘Under this mask, another mask. I will never finish removing all these faces’. A common variable or ‘theme’ evident throughout Cahun’s work would be the representation of a double or fragmented identity. This can be decoded in terms of semiotics and specifically, Iconic, Indexical and Symbolic signs.

In terms of iconic signs, this image can be decoded as the mask is a literal, physical representation of a second identity, a way of disguising her true or ideal self. Even based on this initial analysis, there is a clear opposition between two narratives, the positioning of the mask used to suggest Cahuns dominance and rejection against the dominant ideology. When refering to indexical signs in relation to this image, the mask can signify more hidden and metaphorical ideas such as the idea of identities being a combination of different, fragmented ideals – identities aren’t solid and are forever changing based on factors such as ones socio-economic climate, gender, sexuality, religion and occupaiton. Finally, this image can be decoded in terms of symbolic sings and symbols. For example, in more arbritary terms the message Cahun is intending to convey to viewers is culturally specific, and will likely change between each individual based upon their own thought porcess.

When these images were taken (during the WW2 period) camera technology would have been significantly limited, especially during the occupation of Jersey whereby many resources were scarce. The time these images were taken and the radical messages in which they intended to convey also suggest Claud Cahuns political stance and ideologies. For example, for the time period (early/ mid 1900s) hetronormativity was very prominent and ideas realting to fluidity in sexuality were very restricting. Cahuns work is a visual representation of her hatred and opposition to this, her and her partner, ‘Marcel Moore’, as same sex relationships were highly oppressed during this time, their photographic work allowed them to protest against a patriachal society. Ideas around gender norms were also expressed in the article – ‘Investigating Identity’ (on MoMA Learning), stating that ‘Since the mid-twentieth century, philosophers, social scientists, and historians have theorized that gender—the roles, characteristics, and activities that distinguish men from women—are not innate but socially constructed.’ This idea of gender norms being a social construct are very evident in the works of Claud Cahun, especially through her opposition against dominant ideologies and powerful institutions such as government (notably during the Nazi occupation over Jersey during WW2)

Similarly, Shannon O’Donnells work can also be considered highly political, especially in terms of gender, sexuality and identity. For example, in this image, Shannon can be seen dressed in a stereotypically ‘male’ viewed outfit. This first representation focusses on tackling gender norms in society and how generally, especially applicable to the media industry, women are expected to dress a certain way in order to ‘satisfy the needs of men’.  This is expressed in many theories, one being the ‘Male Gaze’ theory, coined by Laura Mulvey, which is the concept that texts present females through the eyes of a heterosexual male, often objectifying the physical form for gratification. Furthermore, the setting also plays a significant role in the representation of gender, sexuality and identity. The setting of this image is evidently very religious and holy, with intricate architecture, symbolic figures and holy-like patters/ cloths used to represent this. This background juxtaposes the foreground of the fluid subject as historically, many religions have been against evolutionary ideas around gender and sexuality, the comfortable/ careless positioning of the subject can also be viewed as a representation of opposition against these heteronormative ideas.

O’Donnells work was highly influenced by artists such as Claud Cahun, suggesting that the political ideologies surrounding gender and sexuality in both pieces are similar in their intentions to combat social norms. When relating the two artists, it is also important to consider the dominant ideologies present in society during the production of their work as this could change the messages conveyed significantly. In an article titled ‘Claude Cahun: The trans artist years ahead of her time’ from the BBC, Claud Cahun is described as “100  years ahead of her time”, which is one reason why I believe that her and Shannons work share so many ideas, as ideas on gender were highly controlled during the 1940s, her work would have been highly opposed; in contrast to modern society, where ideas on gender are so much more fluid and abstract and highly more accepted.

Sequences –

Montage –

Juxtaposition –

Full-Bleed –

• THEME: Rebellion
• SUBJECTS: Identity, Gender politics, Authority, Negative Stereotypes
• INTENTIONS: To represent change in ideas on Gender but also represent the negative stereotypes that do still exists on Gender/ sexuality.
• VISUALS: how the film will look – incl. inspirations from artists, film makers, movements etc
• Inspirational Mood Board –

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• SOUND: Contrasting interviews as ‘background noise’ behind more instrumental/ ambient sounds or crowd noises to represent the struggles many people face in regards to gender and sexuality fluidity.
• TITLE: Checkmate, Untitled 2020, tired, stare, Train Wreck, Grow Up

MANIFESTO –

For many years gender has been treated and represented as a solid construct, only representing the mostly negative stereotypes of Men and Women. Where men are expected to be emotionally numb and work to provide for his family and Women are expected to be fragile and care for their children or other family members. More recently, gender and secuality have become more fluid and diverse especially within the media, as suggested by David Gauntlett and his theory on gender fluidity which is the idea that whilst in the past the media tend to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offers us a more diverse range of icons and characters from whom we may influenced by; gender identity is less constricted. I believe that it is imperative that all identities and genders are represented equally throughout the media but also that ideas on gender and sexuality are more accepted in the real world, allowing people to fully express their own identity rather than one society fabricates and forces upon people.

Therefore, in my short film I aim to expose some of the gender norms/ stereotypes/ ideologies that are present in todays society by contradicting them. For example a male wearing makeup or a woman wearing ‘masculine clothing’ are two examples of how gender is constricted and judged in todays society. A theme that I will aim to repeat throughout my narrative is hurt but also the binary opposition between what is expected and how people actually want to represent themselves. One other theme that I am going to try and represent would be the concept of ‘failure’ and how gender and sexual norms can negatively impact people and cause them to believe that they are a ‘failure’ or bad in some way. For the theme of everyday I am going to set my scenes in common, busy places such as in town, on a street or on the bus.

STORYBOARD –

You must use 3 words from ‘throwing the dice’ –

Repetition, Everyday, Failure

Artists References

Martha Rosler: Kitchen Semiotics, 1975

Bas Jan Ader: I’m Too Sad to Tell You

Walter Pfeiffer: Transformer: Aspects Of Travesty

Ideologies/ Theories –

Judith butler –

According to Butler’s theory, gender is essentially a performative repetition of acts associated with male or female. Currently, the actions appropriate for men and women have been transmitted to produce a social atmosphere that both maintains and legitimizes a seemingly natural gender binary.

Laura Mulvey –

Male Guise – The concept that texts present females through the eyes of a heterosexual male, often objectifying the physical form for gratification.

David Gauntlett –

Gender Fluidity – The idea that whilst in the past the media tend to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offers us a more diverse range of icons and characters from whom we may influenced by. Gender identity is less constricted.

Selection Process –

As I couldn’t use all of the shots I had, in order to select the right ones I first imported and layed out my audio as this would allow for the foundations of the narrative on gender norms to be created as the visual aspects are used to reflect what is being expressed in the speeches. After importing my audio into Premier, I started importing multiple MP4 files that i thought would fit in order to create a rough draft that I could develop. The initial draft doesn’t have as many effects as it was mainly used as a guid for me to see a version of a possible final product. In addition, I also felt that by having too many settings, subjects or themes may distract viewers from the key messages I wanted to convey which is therefore why I aimed to use a limited about of scenes and focus on highlighting the key ones such as the close-ups of the eyes and how I could construct a narrative out of these. After compiling all of my video files into one folder I went through each of them individually, selecting and deleting the relevant files as some shots took multiple takes.

Draft 1 –

Evaluation for draft – Overall to improve for my next attempt at the film I am going to improve my audio so that it is clearer and will therefore impact views more. I am also going to try an incorporate some more wide-angle shots in order to represent the setting of the film. One thing that was useful when editing my draft would be deciding the audio fist as this allowed me to create more accurate ideas for my shots that would also link visual with audio and have more connotations and impact.

Using Premiere –

1 – One of the most important elements of my music video would be the audio as this sets and creates a narrative, explaining what this video represents which is then reinforced through the visual elements. The audio was the first element I imported into premier, as this allowed me to develop my ideas based on what was being said, rather than recording footage and then trying to get that to correlate with the messages conveyed via the audio.

2 – In order to allow for consistency in the aesthetic of my shots and how they appeared on screen, I used the same lens throughout my shot (Canon 18-55mm). I also used a tripod for all of my shots in order to ensure that they were level put the also minimise the chances of me having to stabilise the shot in premiere.

3 – After gaining a rough idea of how I wanted my visuals and audio set out, I then decided on the title and what sort of text was included so that there was a mixture of different mediums throughout the video. I decided on the title ‘The Script’ as not only is this mentioned halfway through the video (reinforcing the key ideas I aim to convey) but I also think that it accurately represents how gender is structured and formed in society, the stereotypes that govern our behaviour, attitudes and ideologies acts as a script.

4 – When editing my footage I also had to use different tracks (the same as layers in photoshop) which allowed me to be able to edit individual sections without impacting the rest of my shots or audio. This also allowed me to be able to clearly see the different areas of my film and how each section transitioned to the next.

5 – For some of my shots there is more digital manipulation, such as a reduced saturation and a slow fade allowing the scene to gently enter the screen rather than harshly appear like some of the other shots do, allowing me to convey multiple meanings.

6 – As I wanted to focus on gender I thought that it would be important to focus on the stereotypes on gender as a whole rather than singularly such as Male VS Female. Although, there are strong opinions against women in society there are also ones against men which generally aren’t represented as much throughout the media.

Final Film –

Key Frames –

Evaluation –

Overall, I believe that my film was a success as it covers and represents the main messages I originally intended to convey. I definitely think that prior planning was key to this film and allowed me to develop on my final outcome. In addition, the use of a storyboard also allowed me to focus on key ideas for my film such as the close-up on the eye and the bath scenes. I also believe that by adding and deciding on my audio before I filmed allowed me to accurately link together both visual and audio components; supporting each other in order to emphasise the fight on gender stereotypes and changing scenes depending on what was being said.

One thing that I did aim to improve on based on my 1st draft was my overall narrative and how each scene linked into the next in order to create a story. I therefore re-organised some of the scenes, using the close-up of the eye at the begging and end of the film in order to represent a form of equilibrium – disruption – resolution – new equilibrium.

As the film is just over 1 minute long, it was hard to incorporate all the elements of gender stereotypes that I wanted to cover. Therefore, in order to improve I think that I would focus on a more specific area of gender norms and stereotypes rather than the broader option.

Behind the scenes –

For some of my scenes I used torches in order to manipulate the objects shadows and their angles. I also used a tripod for all of my scenes as this allowed my videos to be even and steady, so that I wouldn’t have to later stabilize them in premier.

Definition –

Artistic movement in modern art that began around World War 1. It was meant to ridicule the meaninglessness of modern life and society. It was thought to start in Zürich, Switzerland, but it also flourished the most in Paris, France. Ultimately, this movement led to other artistic movements and styles such as surrealism, pop art and punk rock.

Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century. It began in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916, spreading to Berlin shortly thereafter. Originally, the movement began due to the negative reacions of WW2. Dada rejected reason and logic, prizing nonsense, irrationality, and intuition, sharing similar traits and themes to the latter movements it was a catalyst to.

In relation to society –

• Emphasized protest activities, despair regarding Great War
• Values, reason, logic had been responsible for the war
• Art purpose to enrage and engage audience
• Rebels against everything, anti-everything
• Total anarchists- work anti-art, defying reason
• Dadaism was nihilistic, anti-aesthetic, ran to rationalization, rules, and conventions of mainstream art
• Many DADA artist’s considered work “Anti-Art” or art that defied reason
• First to ask the question what is art? Who defines it?

Dadaism Artists/ influencers –

Although not directly associated with the dada movement, Marcel Duchamp was a prominent artist during the time of the movement and did have a massive impact on Dadaism. One reason why he is associated with the Dada movement would be his disregard for popular ‘art’ of the time, such as his rejection of many pieces of work by other artists such as Henri Matisse, claiming they are intended to only please the eye, whereas he used his pieces in order to explore, engage and serve the mind of its viewers. The most prominent example of Duchamp’s association with Dada was his submission of Fountain, a urinal, to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit in 1917. Artworks in the Independent Artists shows were not selected by jury, and all pieces submitted were displayed. However, the show committee insisted that Fountain was not art, and rejected it from the show. This caused an uproar among the Dadaists, and led Duchamp to resign from the board of the Independent Artists.

In relation to my piece –

Dadaism focuses on the more abstract areas of photography and art, such as the challenging of nationalism, rationalism, materialism, and other threatening “isms”. As my film is going to focus on the rebellion against ‘sexism’ ‘genderism’, many ideas and artists related to dadaism and the movement would be able to influence my work, such as Marcel Duchamp. In addition to this, the abstract theme which is very common in ‘Dada’ pieces of work should be prominent in my film due to the (intentional) lack of colour and explanation, which should allow the audience to generate their own ideas and beliefs whilst also being influenced by mine via moving image photography.

Suffragettes –

‘Fight on. God will give the victory’

Emily Wilding Davison

At the start of the 20th century there was a boom in support for women’s suffrage, signified under the banner ‘Votes for Women’. The women-only movement, ‘Women’s Social and Political Union’ (WSPU) was founded by Emmline Pankhurst in 1903 which pushed for equality for women more harshly as previous ‘peaceful’ tactics had not been successful, this approach was know as militant and In 1906, a reporter writing for the Daily Mail coined the term suffragette for the WSPU, from Suffragist, to belittle the women advocating women’s suffrage.

Unlike New Zealand who had granted the vote for all women over 21 years of age in 1893, enfranchisement for women in Britain still hadn’t occurred by 1903, leading to more militant actions being taken by the suffragettes.

Deeds, not words

WSPU motto

Emily Wilding Davison – (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) 

Emily was a militant suffragette, she was arrested 9 times and went on hunger strike 7 times, being force-fed on 49 occasions. She unfortunately died at the 1913 Derby, when she walked onto the track during a race. On June 14th 1913, Emily’s body was transported from Epsom to London, inscribed on her coffin was ‘Fight on. God will give the victory’. Five thousand women formed a procession followed by many male supporters.

The Cat and Mouse Act 1913 – Some members of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU, commonly referred to as suffragettes) had been imprisoned for acts of vandalism in support of women’s suffrage. In protest at being imprisoned, some of the suffragettes undertook hunger-strikes. The hunger strikers were force-fed by the prison staff, leading to a public outcry. The act was a response to the protestations. It allowed the prisoners to be released on licence as soon as the hunger strike affected their health; they then had a predetermined period of time in which to recover after which they were rearrested and taken back to prison to serve out the rest of their sentence. Conditions could be placed on the prisoner during the time of their release. One effect of the act was to make hunger strikes technically legal. The nickname of the act came about because of the domestic cat’s habit of playing with its prey, allowing it to temporarily escape a number of times, before killing it.

1918 – Women’s grant to vote if over 30 years old

1928 – Women of the age 21 and over could have the vote

Women’s vote locally – Was debated over several days, it was passed on 22nd May 1919 and entered into force on 12th July 1919. 

Femen –

Femen is a feminist activist group in Ukraine intended to fight for and protect women’s rights. The organization became internationally known for organizing controversial topless protests against sex tourism, religious institutions, sexism, homophobia, and other social, national, and international topics. Founded in Ukraine, the group is now based in France.

Ultimately these protests were born out of the normalised misogyny that underpins Ukrainian society. Though this protest may contrast to many previous, feminist protests look different everywhere. Ideas behind protests such as this take the main focus or cause (in this case the female body) and use it as a device to torment the tormentor. In addition, as this form of protest is more radical it is likely to attract more attention from both everyday people and the media.

#Metoo –

In 2006, Burke founded the Me Too movement and began using the phrase “Me Too” to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society. The phrase “Me Too” developed into a broader movement following the 2017 use of #MeToo as a hashtag following the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations.

Similar to other social justice and empowerment movements based upon breaking silence, the purpose of “Me Too”, as initially voiced by Burke as well as those who later adopted the tactic, is to empower women through empathy and solidarity through strength in numbers, especially young and vulnerable women, by visibly demonstrating how many women have survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.

BLM –

In July 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin 17 months earlier in February 2012.

Recently, the George Floyd protests are ongoing series of protests and civil unrest, mostly throughout America that are fighting for the equality of black lives. Polls in summer 2020 estimated that between 15 million and 26 million people had participated at some point in the demonstrations in the United States, making the protests the largest in U.S. history. Protests have continued as of October 2020.

The protests in America sparked other protests internationally, with the hashtag #BLM being used to raise awareness on multiple social-media posts. This cultural reckoning on racial injustice has also raised multiple questions about the federal governing in America. The systematic racism has been evident throughout American government for many years. For example the 13 Amendment was created in order to prevent slavery however, it only acts as a disguise for institutions to take advantage of certain people and cultures for profit (e.g the mass arrest of innocent black people in order to gain profit through prisons/ sentences).

Compare Suffragette movement to Femen Movement

Initially, both of these movements appear very different which is mostly due to contextual factors such as time, socio-economics, dominant ideologies and identity. The suffragette movement began in 1903, a time where enfranchisement or many other rights for women was viewed as irrelevant. On the other hand, founded by Ukrainian activist the Femen movement began in 2008. The key similarity between these two movements would be the continuation of a hegemonic struggle, suggested by Antonio Gramsci, whereby women are still seen as inferior in comparison to men. However, a more subtly similarity would be how the fight for equality for women is still being fought, over 100 years after the suffragette movement. Although the suffragette movement was massive and ultimately life changing for the role women played in society, it is evident that true equality is still yet to be reached. Furthermore, I believe that the suffragette movement was the catalyst which led to multiple other movements, for women as well as other identity political demographics such as the BLM movement.

Useful Sources –

FEMEN

Claud Cahun –

If there is horror, it is for those who speak indifferently of the next war. If there is hate, it is for hateful qualities, not nations. If there is love, it is because this alone kept me alive.

Shannon O’Donnell –

​My fascination lies with questioning society and challenging traditional views of gender through my work. My work is informed by my personal experience and through interviewing specific demographics to help gage a sociological understanding of how gender is viewed or challenged within mainstream society.

Comparison –

Useful Sources –

Shannon O’Donnell

Jersey Heritage

Claud Cahun Bio

• Deconstructing Gender binary stereotypes
• Claude Cahun
• Duane Michals
• Casa Susanna
• Walter Pfleiffer
• Adi Nes – war – work on masculinity/ sexuality, book – masculinity
• Judith Butler – gender social construct
• Gendered roles don’t have to be followed
• Wales in relation with suffragette movement
• Suffragist Vs Suffragette
• the cat and the mice
• Dadaism
• That’s not the way the river flows – short film

Suffragists believed in peaceful, constitutional campaign methods. In the early 20th century, after the suffragists failed to make significant progress, a new generation of activists emerged. These women became known as the suffragettes, and they were willing to take direct, militant action for the cause.

A Dadaism was a movement with explicitly political overtones – a reaction to the senseless slaughter of the trenches of WWI. It essentially declared war against war, countering the absurdity of the establishment’s descent into chaos with its own kind of nonsense.

Sexism – Refers to the typical way in which men and women are taught to view each other as opposites, with the male being the more dominant/ superior gender.

Feminism – A range of social, political and ideological movements that aim to achieve equality in all fields for the sexes.

Patriarchy – A social system in which men hold most power and dominate in roles such as political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property – a system where women are largely excluded.

Enfranchisement – The giving of a right or privilege, especially the right to vote.

Conservatism – Commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation.

Neo-conservatism – Someone whose politics are conservative or right wing, who believes strongly in the free market and thinks that their country should use its military power to become involved with or try to control problems in other countries.

• Feminist = Political position
• Female = Matter of biology
• Feminine = Set of culturally defined characteristics

Key Theorists/ People

Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) – English writer and a passionate advocate of educational and social equality for women. She called for the betterment of women’s status through such political change as the radical reform of national educational systems. A Vindication of the Rights of Women .

Virginia Woolf (1929) – Argues that a woman needs financial freedom so as to be able to control her own space and life—to be unhindered by interruptions and sacrifices—in order to gain intellectual freedom and therefore be able to write independently (expressed through the title of her book – A room of one’s own).

Simone de Beauvoir (1949) – The Second Sex, discusses the treatment of women throughout history. Beauvoir researched and wrote the book in about 14 months between 1946 and 1949.  The author also uses the comparison of girls being ‘treated like a live doll’, showing how they are totally submissive and only serve the purpose of looking pretty and being admired for that.

Jean Kilbourne – In the late 1960s, Jean Kilbourne began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. Critic of how women are depicted in advertising. made the documentary “Killing Us Softly”. began collecting ads with shaming or anti-feminist implications in the late 1960’s and things keep getting worse. Heavily critical of the use of women’s images in ads that teach women that looks are what matters most. most women feel ashamed and guilty when we fail. failure is inevitable because images are retouched, impossible for women of color to be perfect because only light-skinned woman achieve the ideal black women in ads are frequently featured in jungle settings and animal-skin-like clothing.

Laura Mulvey – Male Guise – The concept that texts present females through the eyes of a heterosexual male, often objectifying the physical form for gratification.

Judith Butler – According to Butler’s theory, gender is essentially a performative repetition of acts associated with male or female. Currently, the actions appropriate for men and women have been transmitted to produce a social atmosphere that both maintains and legitimizes a seemingly natural gender binary. For example, men must be masculine, they are expected to display attributes such as strength, power, and competitiveness, and less openly display emotion and affection (especially toward other men). Whereas women are forced to be conveyed as over-emotional, fragile and weak especially without a male partner. Judith Butler describes gender as ‘an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts’ meaning that as we grow our gender adapts and changes based upon representations we are presented with suggesting that gender is only a construct and should be viewed as something that is fluid.

Waves Of Feminism –

The First Wave Of Feminism – Occurred during the 19th and early 20th century throughout the Western world. It focused on legal issues, primarily on securing women’s right to vote, a key movement/ group would be the suffragette movement which occurred during this period.

The Second Wave Of Feminism – began in the United States in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It quickly spread across the Western world, with an aim to increase equality for women by gaining more than just enfranchisement.

The Third Waves Of Feminism – Influenced by the postmodernist movement in the academy, third-wave feminists sought to question, reclaim, and redefine the ideas, words, and media that have transmitted ideas about womanhood, gender, beauty, sexuality, femininity, and masculinity, among other things. Started in the US in the early 1990s and continued until the fourth wave which began in the 2010s.

Raunch Culture – Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture (2005) is a book by Ariel Levy which critiques the highly sexualized American culture in which women are objectified, objectify one another, and are encouraged to objectify themselves. Levy refers to this as “raunch culture.”

THEORY & CONTEXT: Identity Politics and Cultural Wars

Identity politics can be defined as the calling of groups for ‘special treatment’ based upon gender, race, religion, or other contextual factors that may influence their identity. Originally, identity politics emerged as a result of discrimination against those of a certain background by those who are presented as ‘normal’ through false dominant ideologies. Some key examples of different identity politics would be the emergence of Civil rights, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights due to the amount of discrimination previously held against them, new actions were demanded in order to secure political and social equality. In my opinion, these groups acted as a platform for those who share similar backgrounds and beliefs, to express their need and right to equality with those in the ruling classes of the social hierarchy. In terms of cultural wars, referring to the conflict between social groups and their fight to become the most accepted or dominant ideology, theorist and activist ‘Antonio Gramsci’ can be useful. Gramsci coined the term ‘Hegemonic Struggle’ which alludes to the suppression of one groups ideologies because of the support for its ‘opposing’ groups ideologies, with the opposing group commonly being the one located highest on the social hierarchy. In my opinion, both Cultural Wars and Identity politics allow for change on old ideas and for new equalities to be emphasised, however the downside to these concepts would be how they are portrayed negatively, especially in politics whereby they are described as extremist and deconstructive methods.

Identity politics and Cultural wars both have massive impacts on society both positively and negatively. For example, the idea of having a group that allows individuals to feel connected and valued based upon shared ideas or themes is obviously positive and emphasises greater actions to be taken in order to protect and support these groups. On the other hand, due to these groups societies have been completely changed, which could be viewed as a positive or negative based upon individual thought. Similarly, it also allows for the development of more extremist groups, who may use their group in order to gain power and therefore influence and enforce their own ideas rather than allowing each individual to harness their own. Which then links into an idea suggested by Noam Chomsky called ‘Manufacturing Consent’, which is the idea of how mass political powers (those at the head of Governments i.e Trump) use their power in order to control and manipulate the population and those that are underneath them via mediums such as propaganda, forcing the public to follow his views, falsely imitating the idea of consent. Those who may oppose his views would therefore be positioned against those who agree which would then lead to matters such as a cultural war.

Without identity politics, movements such as the ‘Suffragettes’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ would have been a lot less likely to occur and have the impact in which they did. The suffragette movement is key as it was the beginning of a cultural war, that is still being fought, however the amount of change that has occurred since the movement in 1890, in terms of the improvement of treatment and equality of women has grown massively. The opposite of this positive may be the emergence of ‘Tribalism’ which can end in the dividing of communities due to the contrasts between their beliefs in which they portray as a representation of the person as a whole rather than just a belief they have.

In terms of a local context, Jersey is quite a small island and therefore the spreading of one idea if fairly easy, however after that view has been expressed by the majority it is hard for it to be changed. The emergence of new media and technology allows for more demographics to be connected on a global scale which therefore allows for ideas and views to be shared quickly and easily. This would be hard to obtain in an Island such as jersey as concepts on race, religion and sexuality are constantly changing and without significant technologies like those in major cities it is highly likely for many dominant ideologies to remain stagnant.

Sources used –

Cultural War definition

Themes –

Environmental – A formal portrait that uses physical surroundings as well as non-physical contexts such as social, cultural and political factors in relation to the subject.

Candid Portraitures – More informal photography, used to represent the subjects daily life and how they would usually act. Candid photography is useful in terms of narrative as the subjects are more relaxed and ‘natural’.

Introduction –

Environmental and Candid photography are similar in the way that they both emphasize on the contexts that effect a person. Social, economic, political, cultural and religious contexts are factors that can shape a person. Environmental photography is more formal in comparison to candid, with the subject usually facing the camera directly, the background is used in order to create an identity for the subject. Whereas, candid photography is deliberately less formal as it, similar to street photography, takes advantage of real-time events, allowing the subjects to express true emotions rather than exaggerated ones. The first dedicated examples of candid photography can be traced back to the 1920s, which then led to a boom in photojournalism during the 1930s. The early stages of Environmental photography can be traced back to the 1870s in America.

Environmental Artists –

Larry Sultan: Pictures from Home – MoodBoard

Alec Soth from I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating Mood Board

Daniel Meadows: Middle England, 1973-79 MoodBoard

Candid Artists –

Richard Billingham, Ray’s A Laugh MoodBoard

Sam Harris, The middle of somewhere

Planning Environmental –

Locations – My main location will probably be at home though, as this would allow me to use techniques by artists such as Alec Soth and Larry Sultan. However, I will also use the subjects other common locations such as work and school in order to express the theme of ‘Environmental’ photography too.

Feeling – Overall, I’d like my images to express strong emotions that may convey the different characteristics of that character through visual design. For example, the use of different backgrounds that could create an identity for the subject. (Arnold Newman)

Lighting – For my environmental portraits, I am going to try and take advantage of natural lighting as any other lighting would interrupt the atmosphere of the image and how the environment usually is. Though if the area is too dark tools on photoshop such as levelling will enable me to expose the background a bit more, which is key in environmental portraiture photography.

Subjects and Setting – As the key underlying theme of this project is ‘someone you love’, I am therefore going to take photos of family members who are working or doing every-day things that creates their own personal identity. As my mum works in a cafe, my first photoshoot will be of her working there, my next shoot will be of my brother and him going/ at school.

Inspirations –

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Planning Candid –

Locations – For my candid shoot, I am going to try and cover a range of different locations as a way to express the effect of these on the subjects mood and feeling.

Feeling – Unlike my environmental portraits which aim to be more formal, my candid images are going to express multiple emotions. As each shoot isn’t necessarily planned like a formal one in a studio, it is hard to suggest what feelings may be expressed as multiple variables will play a part of what the subject is feeling.

Lighting – Similar to my environmental shoot, I am also going to use natural lighting for my candid shoots as they aren’t meant to be staged in order to represent life on a ‘daily basis’ accurately. Another advantage of natural lighting would be the shadows and tones that are created and how this can also affect the subjects mood.

Subjects and Setting – For my candid photoshoots, I am going to take photos of the same people however, in different situations and environments that may be less or more formal in order to contrast the different fragments that make up their identity.

Inspirations –

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Environmental Shoot 1 –

Environmental Shoot 2 –

Candid Shoot 1 –

Candid Shoot 2 –

Editing Ideas –

After I have completed my shoots and edits, I am going to place two image with similar visual compositions, lighting/ stance, and place them side by side for a final piece. Hopefully, these images will express different emotions in order to express the different parts of the subjects persona and identity.

Idea 1 Outcomes –

Experimenting –

Analysis –

Conceptual –