identity and place

Identity- the definition of identity is who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world and others. This may be presented by the characteristics that define you. An example of identity is a persons name.

Identity can be influenced by many different factors such as a place, belonging, gender identity or even loss of identity. For example if someone is from a certain place/country they might take photos of the place they grew up in to show what their surroundings were like which might have influenced their identity they have today.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE

In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other.

Some examples of double or multi exposure- Looking at Man Ray

Man Ray was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all

What Is Photomontage - The Definition and History | Widewalls

Turning my headshots into double exposure images through photoshop-

Procedure-

I opened 3 to 4 images of my model that I took for the ‘headshot’ blog post and I copied and pasted them over on top of each other in the area that I wanted it to be in. Once I was happy with where all the images were placed I used the ‘overlay’and the ‘opacity’ option to alter how strong I wanted them to over lap each other and how visible each image was. I changed all my images to black and white for a much clearer effect as I didn’t want different colours to clash with another when I overlay them. Using black and white also creates a more sad and mysterious effect which I wanted as using double exposure makes images look abstract and changes the way you see objects or people. Overall I really like how my images turned out and how I edited them because it makes you analyse the image in more depth a lot is going on and makes you focus on different areas of the image.

FINAL IMAGE-

This is the final image I have edited. Once I got comfortable with the overlaying tools and did a few edits prior to this one I knew how I wanted my final image to look like. I selected three of my favourite photos of my friend and turned them black and white as well as decreasing the brightness and increasing the contrast as I wanted all 3 images to be a lot more darker and have sharp contrasts between the white and black tones. By using the overlay option this makes the image look a lot more abstract and using 3 images instead of 1 shows you every side of the model which creates this idea of multiple personalities. Using double exposure is very useful when you try to show a model expressing loads of different emotions on their face and then creating and merging it all into one image however I didn’t do that as I wanted to create a simple image for my first try.

HEADSHOTS

Henry Mullin

the collection of his photographs are owned by the Jersiaise Society, many guards arranged on the island were willing to pay half a guinea to have their portrait taken by him . His specialty was business cards . He was popular with officers of the Royal Militia Island of Jersey, at the time it was very popular to take portraits, He made portraits of their wives and children, for older and richer officers. In these photos we can notice the fashion at that time: long hair, whiskers and beards … Indeed the appearance was very similar.

File:E16MullinsMulti1.jpg

My pictures

Headshots

Headshots black/white

theory: literary sources

In this folder here you can find texts to read in relation to a number of subjects and themes below. Some of these files are too large to upload to the blog here so go to the folder below.

M:DepartmentsPhotographyStudentsLOVE & REBELLIONContextual Studiesreading

Photography
Histories > Identities > Codes > Meaning

Barthes, R. (1984) Camera Lucida. London: Flamingo

Benjamin, W. (1936) ‘The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ in Hannah Arendt (ed) (1973) Illuminations. London: Fontana

Documentary
Realism > Representation > Ethics > Truth

A short PPT on Documentary Photography

Sontag, Susan (1977) ‘In Plato’s cave’ in On Photography. London: Penguin Books

Sontag, Susan (1977) ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ in On Photography. London: Penguin Books ch 2

Here some helpful resources on Sontag: On Photography from PhotoPedagogy

Rosler, Martha (1981) ‘In, around, and afterthoughts (on documentary photography)’ in Stallabras Julian (2013) Documentary. Cambridge (MA): The MIT Press.

Here is an introduction to John Tagg: A Burden of Representation (1998). Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press from PhotoPedagogy

Bate, David (2016) ‘The Art of the Document’ in Art Photography. London: Tate Gallerie
How documentary photography now is considered within a fine-art context

Max Pinckers Interview: On Speculative Documentary
How fact and fiction today in documentary photography is blurred

Solomon-Godeau, Abigail (1994), ‘Inside/ Out’ in Photography At The Dock: Essays on Photographic History, Institutions, and Practices. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press

Here some helpful resources on ethical questions regarding the photographer’s position of being inside or outside from PhotoPedagogy

Photography and truth

Photography and Truth – see blog post with many resources.

Bright, Susan (2019) Is it Real? in Photography Decoded.

See more short essays here in Photography Decoded

Photography & Truth

Issues in Photojournalism

Photojournalism: Truth, Representation, Propaganda, Aesthetics

Richard Billingham

Richard Billingham: Ray’s A Laugh – a photographer who worked on the inside documenting his parents life and relationship.

Interview Richard Billingham

Documentary film: Fish Tank based on his book and parents relationship

Feature film: Ray & Liz

Interview in The Guardian and The Observer by Tim Adams (2019)

Larry Sultan

a Review in the Guardian Newspaper.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/02/larry-sultan-pictures-from-home-review

Tableaux Photography
Pictorialism > Narrative > Cinema

A short PPT on Tableaux Photography

Bate, David (2016) ‘Pictorual Turn’ in Art Photography. London: Tate Galleries.
How Tableaux has been influenced by Pictorialism

Aesthetic Theory
Beauty > Sublimity > Judgement

The Concept of the Aesthetic

Read Greek philosopher Plato’s thesis on Beauty

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/beauty/

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-aesthetics/

Snapshot Photography
Vernacular photography

Photography and Feminism
Gender Studies > Male/Female Gaze > Self-portraiture

Mulvey, Laura (1973) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ in Screen (1975)

Judith Butler is an academic and writer who is an authority on feminism and gender studies, incl queer theory. Her seminal book is: Gender Trouble which we do have a copy of in the Library LRC and in Media. Here is a good overview of her work – make sure you read it all and watch video as well.

Kotz, L. (1998) ‘”Aesthetics” of Intimacy’ in Bright, D. (1998) The Passionate Camera: Photography and bodies of desire. London: Routledge

Photography and Portraiture

Robert Mapplethorpe: The Male Gaze – in pictures. The Guardian

Amelia Jones The “Eternal Return”: Self-Portrait Photography as Technology of Embodiment

Cindy Sherman:

Paoli, J. Deconstruction Woman: The works of Cindy Sherman

Cain, Abigail, A Brief History of Cindy Sherman and Feminism

Owen, Samantha Rosemary (2014) Gender and Vision Through the Lens of Cindy Sherman and the Pictures Generation. University of Vermont

Lots of interviews and video and with Cindy Sherman on MOMA

Have a look at Shannon’s O’Donnells work here and when she was an A-level student?

Francesca Woodman:

Towsend, C. (2006) Francesca Woodman: Scattered in Space and Time. London: Phaidon Press Limited.

> Go to folder with pdf Francesca Woodman essays here: M:DepartmentsPhotographyStudentsLOVE & REBELLIONContextual Studiesreading

Online texts

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/an-hourglass-figure-on-photographer-francesca-woodman/

Thematic Essay about Francesca Woodman

Have a look at an essay and research by previous student, Francesca Hogan

Jo Spence and Photo-therapy

Jo Spence Memorial Library

Dennett, Terry (2008): Jo Spence’s camera therapy: personal therapeutic photography as a response to adversity

Heath, Charlene (2017). Work, Politics, Survival, British Journal of Photography

Weiser, Judy (2005) Remembering Jo Spence: A Brief Personal and Professional Memoir… PhotoTherapy Centre

Jansen, Charlotte (2020) Is Photography An Effective Form of Therapy? Elephant

Bull, S. (2009) Photography. London: Routledge

Photography and Memory

Kuhn, A. Remembrance: The Child I Never Was in Wells, L. (ed) (2003) The Photography Reader. London: Routledge

Here are a few articles and photobooks on Photography and its relationship with memory. You should read them and references them in your essay.

Colberg, J (May 28, 2012) Photography and Memory
blogger on Conscientious

Frames of Mind: Photography, Memory and Identity
by Anwandter, Patricia Marcella
In Frames of Mind, I have sought to explore the themes concerning the dynamic construction of memory. What do we choose to remember and how do we reinforce it? Who are we in relationship to who we were? Working with a collection of over five hundred images accumulated throughout my life, I have reinvestigated the images and their interrelationship with one another

A Matter of Memory: Photographs as Objects in the Digital Age 
An exhibition at George Eastman House

A review on British Journal of Photography

Barthes, R (1982) Camera Lucida, London: Jonathan Cape

Overview of Barthes book Camera Lucida in Photo Pedagogy
The first half of this article talks about Barthes theory of a studium and punctum. The latter part about a photograph of his dead mother which allows him to think about memory.
Commentary on Barthes book

Rereading: Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes
Article by Brian Dillon in the Guardian, 26 March 2011
Grieving for his mother, Roland Barthes looked for her in old photos – and wrote a curious, moving book that became one of the most influential studies of photography

DEATH IN THE PHOTOGRAPH – critical article in response to Roland Barthes seminal book ‘Camera Lucida’ reflecting on photography.

Photography and Narrative

Family / childhood Photography:

Photography and Archives / Narratives / Memory:

Colin Pantall Landscape, Power and Climate Change

HEAD SHOT

THE SET UP

We set up the studio with 2 barn door lights set up at 45 degree angles and put a blue colour gel on the key light and red on the backlight. After taking my first set of photos I switched the colour gels around to create an opposite colour effect.

FIRST SHOOT CONTACT SHEET

SECOND SHOOT CONTACT SHEET

Using photoshop I cut out my subject on my favourite photo of him and then superimposed it on top of a similar but accidentally blurred photo of him. Using the eraser tool i got rid of imperfections in the background such as residual blue from the in focus background

In conclusion, this task started off badly as most of my photos came out slightly blurred and out of focus but this ended up adding to the aesthetics of the shoot, making my end result look

photo-montage

David Hockney

David Hockney was born July 9, 1937 in Bradford. He is a portrait painter, draughtsman, engraver, decorator, photographer and theorist of British art. These photos look like a collage. it looks like he takes a picture, cuts it into several pieces and then reconstructs it differently way like a puzzle.

Hockney commented that photography is all right if you don’t mind looking at the world from the perspective of a paralyzed Cyclops for a fraction of a second. Her harsh opinion, however, changed when in February 1982 a curator visiting her home in the Hollywood Hills forgot a Polaroid movie and Hockney began experimenting with it, trying to capture the three dimensions of the surrounding reality. What was born of these experiments are the most amazing composite photographs/photocollages (you call it) that you will see in a long time.

My photos

I took pictures that I used for another work (portraits with differents lights) I use my favourites pictures from this work. I wanted to create a very fashionable style for my photos. I was inspired by David Hockney.

Plan

Who: For this shoot I asked my mom to pose

Where: I took my pictures in a studio

Why: I needed different pictures for my montage

Here are the results:

First montage
seconde montage

CONTROLLED CONDITIONS Identity

What is Identity?

Identity is who you are and how you became this way. Its how you portray yourself to others, and to yourself. This can be based on anything in your life: culture, upbringing, social identity in person and on the media, gender and sexuality, etc.

Social Identity on the media is commonly very different to your social identity in person. Many people use social media to portray how they would like to be viewed by others, rather than they actually are in person. Just like on social media, our identity can be portrayed through art- it can be difficult to describe yourself in words, so describing yourself through your own creations of colours and shapes can show more than some words can. This also links to any other form of identity.

Photo-montage

Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image.

Thomas Sauvin, a French artist, created a series of images called, ‘No more, No less.’ This is where he weould edit and move around parts of the image, but not add or take away anything, creating the name ‘No more, No less.’ This was his one rule with the images, ‘nothing is removed, nothing is added.’

This interests me because it gets the photographer to work with what they’ve got and see how they can manipulate an image to create a new meaning/look.

This is one of his finished images. The edits made are simple but effective, leaving the final image looking clean and not over edited or distorted. The image is in black and white which gives eddied contrast to the blacks and shadows in the image, while the wide aperture focuses on the face of the subject, both adding depth of field to the image.

My Image & Edit

Here i used the same tonal range of Thomas Sauvin by changing the original RGB image into a grayscale image. I then Cut out a triangle around the eye and moved it to a seperate layer. I then cut out another identical triangle in another part of the image, moved that triangle to a seperate layer aswel, then swapped the location of the two shapes. The layers were ordered so that the original is behind the newly edited parts of the image.

Headshots – double/multi exposure, juxtaposition, sequence/grid

Double/Multi Exposures

What are they?

‘Double or multiple exposures are an illusion created by layering images (or portions of images) over the top of each other. This can be achieved in the camera settings, or on Adobe Photoshop by creating LAYERS and then using BLENDING OPTIONS and OPACITY CONTROL’

Example taken by Man Ray:

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My Double Exposures

Here, i layered two images of the same subject over each other in Adobe Photoshop. I then cropped the images to the desired size and changed the opacity of the layers. I moved them so that the heads of the subject are aligned and the correct transparency was achieved.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is placing two images together to show contrast or similarities.

Here is one example by Henry Mullins where he compares a currant image and an old image, where the subject has a similar expression and is framed similarly:

My Juxtaposition

Here i used the same idea as the above images, where one image is recent, and another image is old, but both have a similar expression and framing:

Sequence/Grid

Duane Michals – ‘ The sequences, for which he is widely known, appropriate cinema’s frame-by-frame format. Michals has also incorporated text as a key component in his works. Rather than serving a didactic or explanatory function, his handwritten text adds another dimension to the images’ meaning and gives voice to Michals’s singular musings, which are poetic, tragic, and humorous, often all at once.’

Here is his sequence:

My Sequence

My sequence of images shows a series of 3 photos where the subject is exactly the same in all three. The camera is moving away from the subject with each photograph but the framing of the subject is the same. This creates a greater depth of field as the focal length of the lens is greater as the camera moves further away from the subject.

MULTI EXPOSURE

A ‘multiple exposure image is a type of photograph that is created by exposing the same frame of film to light more than once. Multiple exposure images allow a photographer to superimpose one subject over another on the same frame of a photograph.

My multi exposure images

To create these images I used Adobe Photoshop. I picked 2 images and then layered them and made them the same size and then changed the opacity of one of the layers to create the multi exposure look.