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

Both photographers works are considered to relate to identity politics which is a term that describes a political approach where people of a particular sexuality, gender, race or other identifying factors form exclusive socio-political alliances, moving away from broad-based coalitional politics (political parties that formed an alliance). It aims to support and center the concerns, agendas, and projects of particular groups, in accord with specific social and political changes.

Claude Cahun was a Surrealist photographer whose work explored gender identity and the subconscious mind. The artist’s self-portrait from 1928 epitomizes her attitude and style, as she stares rebelliously at the camera in an outfit that looks neither conventionally masculine nor feminine. with her photography one of her many skins is gender-defying as she gives this photograph a very neutral look that leaves to question ‘What is this persons gender?’ this was one of the many question that were going through my head when I first saw this photograph.

I think she is trying to show us and tell us that it really should not matter what gender she identifies as because she is still going to be this quirky photographer from jersey and her gender does not identify her. She is the main focus point in this image which is quite symmetrical is a way as she has a heart on both sides of her check and her hair is styled the same and gives it an even more symmetrical look. I am pretty sure this image has been taken in the studio as she is sat on a chair with what looks to be a curtain for a backdrop.

Claude Cahun’s photographic self-portraits present mix of mystery, exuberance, and sobriety. Born in France, she lived most of her life on the island of Jersey with her stepsister and long-term love, Marcel Moore.

Themes of melancholy, futility, and uncertainty run deep through Cahun’s career. Cahun’s exploration of self is relentless and at times unsettling. From circus performer, clothed in layers of artifice, to a stripped-down Buddhist monk grounded by integrity, Cahun is engaged in an ongoing dialogue with abundance.

Shannon O’Donnell is an artist born in Jersey, Channel Islands. Her work explores themes around the gendered experience with a focus on femininity and masculinity as gendered traits. She studied Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales, Cardiff.

Her area of photography is in the genre of contemporary filmmaking, performed and documentary photography and is based around the claustrophobia of gender binary. She explores this through deep sociological research, with historical references, a mixture of archival images, a contemporary interview with specific demographics that enlighten her conceptual and visual approach to image making. She explores the self and identity. Her work lies with questioning society and challenging traditional views of gender through my work. “My work is informed by my personal experience.” Is one of my favourite quotes from her. Shannon O’Donnell’s work focuses on the sociological understanding of how gender is viewed or challenged within mainstream society.

That’s Not The Way The River Flows (2019) – Gender is being reconceptualized. Our experience of gender is changing, transforming from being solely male and female, opening to a multitude of subcategories including gender queer, non-binary, transgender and gender fluid. As we unpick the complicated narrative of gender and the generalizations that it encapsulates, we are forced to re-imagine what it is that makes us who we are and what we want or can identify as. The beginning of change starts with the self.

It is a photographic series that playfully explores masculinity and femininity through self-portraits. The work comes from stills taken from moving image of the photographer performing scenes in front of the camera. This project aims to show the inner conflicts that the photographer has with identity and the gendered experience. It reveals the pressures, stereotypes and difficulties faced with growing up in a heavily, yet subtly, gendered society and how that has affected the acceptance and exploration of the self.

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Francesca Woodman’s life was short but very productive, as even though she was only 22 years old when she died she was still able to produce over 800 images, quite a large amount in those days. She was born in 1958 in Colorado, US, to two fairly artistic parents, meaning she grew up in a household where art was a central focus, where she was raised to question everything and find beauty in everything as well. She was inspired by both Surrealism and the Conceptual art movement, and the majority of her work features the recurring themes of death, sexuality and the human body. Often, she would include mirrors, skulls or representations of ghosts in her work, creating a recognisable style throughout her whole body of work. This theme of death has been interpreted by some as a sort of foreshadowing to her death: as a result of a lack of success in her work and a failed relationship, she killed herself in Manhattan in 1981.

“I would rather die young leaving various accomplishments, some work, my friendship with you, and some other artefacts intact, instead of pell-mell erasing all these delicate things”

Francesca Woodman, in a letter left to a friend before her first (unsuccessful) suicide attempt.

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Her use of exposure is also quite particular and fairly well-known, often using excessively long exposure to intentionally blur herself or her subjects, creating a sense of movement and, in some cases, emotion in the image. She uses black and white almost exclusively, with only a very small selection of images produced in colour.

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IMAGE ANALYSIS-

LINKS/SOURCES-

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search/artist/francesca-woodman

https://www.vogue.com/article/francesca-woodman-photographs

http://www.artnet.com/artists/francesca-woodman/

https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/francesca-woodman-on-being-an-angel-review-foam-amsterdam

Laia Abril is a Spanish documentary photographer who often tells stories through her work, mostly relating to femininity and the struggles of life as a woman in the modern world. She has a degree in journalism, which is perhaps where her interest in telling a narrative in her work evolved from, Her long-term project, “A History Of Misogyny” has been awarded the Royal Photographic Society’s Hood Medal and the Paul Huf Award from Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam.

Another of her notable projects is “On Eating Disorders”, including “Thinspiration” and “The Epilogue”, which explored and documented both anorexia and bulimia. “Thispiration” comes from the term used by the pro-ana (pro-anorexia) community to describe the images of skinny, sometimes skeletal women that they surrounded themselves with and used as incentive to keep restricting their diet; literally “thin-inspiration”. It is a zine comprised of a collection of these images, exploring the connection between photography and social media culture and the battle with a person’s identity and self-worth that accompanies these sorts of disorders. These images (below) can be quite difficult to look at, as the widespread increase of eating disorders from the early 2000s onwards resulted in many fatalities and are still prevalent today. Unfortunately some of the women pictured may have succumbed to the disease and passed away as a result of continued and extreme malnutrition, but this hasn’t stopped young people, men and women alike, to develop the disorder even nowadays.

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Abril focuses on bulimia in “The Epilogue”, but in a more personal way than the generalised study in “Thinspiration”, as she followed a family recovering from the loss of a daughter as a result of bulimia. It feels far more intimate and painful, as she closely captures how the family are grieving their child from an inside perspective, as well as featuring images and memories from Cammy’s (the daughter) childhood and young adult life. It switches between photographing her absence in the aftermath of her death, and how she was present but quietly suffering when she was alive. The book also features commentary from both her parents and other loved ones, discussing how they perceived her illness and their struggles with guilt, shame, confusion and loss following Cammy’s passing.

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IMAGE ANALYSIS-

LINKS/SOURCES-

The Epilogue

Thinspiration

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cindy shermans work is mainly self portraits, which she uses to explore identity and gender. she dresses up in different outfits, puts strange make up and wears extravagant wigs, to alter her person to become a different one to portray different characters and story lines. sherman was once a painter but decided to persue a career in photography. quote from MoMA states that Sherman has always enjoyed exploring identity “as she has explained, “I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.””. after moving to New York Sherman created the untitled film stills, were she dressed up as different characters from mid-20th-century B movies and photographed herself in various locations. these photographs quickly became very popular and were used to spark up conversations on feminism, postmodernism and representation. the untitled film stills are still her most famous pieces of work. all the film stills were left untitled as a way to distance her away from them and the character she has depicted. a quote from MoMA stating how cindy sherman is more interested in the grotesque than the glamourous characters, “I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,””. a quote from artnet describes how sherman likes to dress up and act as something different, ” “It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It’s more challenging to look at the other side.””. is dressing up a part of an act of escapeism for cindy sherman, but the question is what, what is she escaping?

The colours that are incorporated in this image are garish and bright, and don’t really complement each other, but clash. The background is almost over powering of the face within the image, was this the purpose? It brings about the question of what relevance does it have to the face that Sherman has portrayed. The lines within the background lead the viewers eye towards the face in the image. Overall this image has a high level of composition. Who is Cindy Sherman trying to be here? Someone who likes to look pretty and glamorous? However she seems to be mocking them, as the makeup is over the top and excessive. Sherman was the youngest child in her family and always felt separated from her family because she was born along time after the rest of her siblings. So does she pretend to be different people to almost try and gain attention from people to make up for the lack of recognition from her family. During her childhood Sherman was obsessed with her appearance, and enjoyed to wear makeup, so does this image relate to her past self, and maybe she is mocking who she was?

what	self portraits in different outfits, ones i am comfortable in, ones i am uncomfortable in, my mums dresses
who	myself
how	with my camera on a tripod on timer mode
where	in my bathroom, where there is bright lighting
why	using sherman as inspiration, i would to take portraits that reflect my identity and who i am not

links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sherman

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1154

https://www.moma.org/artists/5392

http://www.artnet.com/artists/cindy-sherman/

https://www.thebroad.org/art/cindy-sherman

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/15/cindy-sherman-interview

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jul/03/cindy-sherman-interview-retrospective-motivation

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.

In relation to love and rebellion –

Mental Health problems such as anxiety and depression, can be explored in terms of love and rebellion due to the internal conflicts that one may struggle with. Although they are surrounded by those who care about them (love) they themselves cannot see this (rebellion).

who?	myself
what?	self portraits of me in clothes i wear for horseriding
where?	at the yard
how?	using my camera with a timer, on a tripod or proped up somewhere
why?	i want to take photos of myself in my horse riding clothes to add context for my book and film i want to take photos at the yard to gain some environmental photos as i would like some in my film and book

For my next project I wish to look at both themes, LOVE AND REBELLION together as I feel they intertwine and but also juxtapose each other. I want my project to display how I have rebelled the stereotypical life a teenage would have, going to parties etc. I have chosen to have a life which is dedicated to horses and my education. Having these focuses has meant that I have not experienced the same life as stereotypical teenager has. I feel I have rebelled, but anyone else looking into my life as an outsider would think that I haven’t, and have played my life safely. In a recent project, What Is Rebellion?, I explored what rebellion was and gave a personal response the question, stating that I haven’t lived at all. On reflection, I displayed this response incorrectly, if I look back now on my life, I haven’t experienced much, but then again I am only 18. My hobby has taken over my life, it is my passion, but it has meant that I have had to sacrifice many things. I also want to link in the idea that in the media are wanted to always be feminine. Although my hobby involves dirt, mud and pure determination, I am still feminine and enjoy dressing up and experimenting with my style. In my project want to further explore with make up and fashion to display my femininity.

I feel I am capable enough to make both a film and a photobook. My reasoning for doing both, is to show that I can make a film, with strong visuals including, landscapes, self portraits and audio that will contain my own thoughts. My photo book is going to contain stills from my film, even though this is very basic I am hoping that it will display my ideas in a simplistic way, which will be easy on the eye and can be interpreted by the viewer.

The photographers I am going to look at are Claude Cahun, Cindy Sherman, Shannon O’Donnell, Theo Gosselin, Jim Goldberg, Nick Waplington, Corrine Day, Lauren Greenfield, Jen Davis and Lyle Ashton Harris.

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Love

When it came to this half of my project I decided to choose a Love Story to do with my Dad and his love for music. I then made this into a zine to put the narrative together; I decided to lay it out as if the viewer was looking at the past and the present by adding archives from his previous gigs and places he travelled to and to his current position where he has his own music school and studio. I tried to link in the two photographers; Rinko Kawauchi and Francis Foot as my current photographer and archive photographer. I linked them by adding archives to my zine and by trying to represent hidden meaning and representation throughout each page e.g. Wabi Sabi. When I was planning my photoshoots for the zine, I was thinking that the different stages of my photo shoots will relate to different people, as some of the things that my Dad loves, someone else may be able to have the same passion and admiration; someone may be happy with someone they’re with and be happy with the life they’re living; someone may love a certain hobby; someone could be slowly finding a new love in their life, whether it’s a person or they find something they love as a hobby or something that brings them happiness in another way e.g. someone may love being surrounded by nature. These different things in life that my Dad loves will be shown in my photo shoots; music/guitars.

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Rebellion

The filming of certain clips could have gone a lot better as the camera was shaky at times but it added top the effect of how something bad was going to happen. Moreover, some shots were blurry although they didn’t appear blurry until using premier due to having to enlarge the video because it didn’t fit the frame properly. Furthermore, another improvement that could’ve been made is the amount of things we filmed for the life before lock down so the narrative was more clear but we ran out of time. We also went over the time limit of 90 seconds as we already tried to cut the movie down as much as possible but still tried to have a clear narrative at the same time.  Whilst editing I put a lot of small clips together to create a lot of effects and montages. Firstly I cut up my longer videos into shorter ones and put effects such as glitching in between to represent everyday life falling apart. I also faded in certain clips such as the beginning of the film and the beginning of lockdown to represent a change of events. Furthermore, I edited the shadows/saturations/contrast etc to make the film more vibrant and dull the places I wanted it to. I linked the more vibrant shots to the photographer Alex Prager who I mentioned in my film manifesto; he links to my film as he filmed colourful crowds in everyday life, just as I filmed everyday life at school as the more colourful part of the film. On the other hand, Theo McIness relates to the beginning of lockdown as he photographs people in masks and social distancing and edited them to be black and white; my way of linking him was making the sections in between the glitching black and white to show that lockdown was taking over. I also edited the sounds and music to make sure they were the right volume for each scene as certain things became louder, such as the clock, as the film went on. I also edited the videos of the clock as they were originally an hour; I managed to speed up the video to make a time lapse and made the clip around 14 seconds all together.

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