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Personal Study – Final Essay

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How can technical elements in Doug Dubois’ and Jeff Walls approaches to photography be used to analyse the identity of their subjects?

Identity/ʌɪˈdɛntɪti/noun 1.the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. (Oxford dictionary)

It is often stated that one does not have a true identity and that identity is something constructed by individual experiences. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment” (A Word To The Wise, January 13, 2014). My study will be exploring convoluted themes surrounding the idea of identity. These themes will be developed through the medium of photography and my own responses more specifically through the operation and style of insider documentary photography. Growing up as a young male in South Africa, I was taught lessons many young men are taught. A lot of these lessons where taught through a sport that has been a been a part of my weekly life since a young age. Weather it was running around barefoot on the dry, frost covered pitch at the local rugby club on a South African winters evening, or gathering in numbers with friends over a braai to watch a big fixture on the summer weekends, rugby has always been a part of who I am and a segment of my identity. Rugby has always been a sport that carries with it many stereotypical notions of identity. I believe rugby carries pride, patriotism, brotherhood and endurance within it. It was always a measure of toughness and strength. Two elements that are held in high value. However, these notions can loose their value when seen from the wrong perspective. Often these ideas associated with rugby can mutate into very toxic pressures placed on individual players. Hypermasculinity can have quite a negative effect when talking about identity. These pressures are ones that I have felt growing up under a traditionalist, rugby loving roof. The idea that ‘big boys don’t cry’ is something that has been planted in mine and many of my peers heads growing up. These discourses are what I want to explore when undertaking this study, overall proving they have a major affect on a young mans identity and how they present themselves amongst a community. I have chosen to analyse the work of Doug Dubois along with the efforts of Jeff Wall to gain inspiration and footing for this project. I have chosen these artists due to their narrative focused approach to photography as well as the straight aesthetic quality and ability to capture subjects exact emotions. For historical and contextual references and I will be studying pictorialism and straight photography. My own photographic responses will include an insider documentary style of a sequential narrative exploring the identity of an individual sportsman in his personal life as well as responses showing the scene of these individuals in action and in a team environment.

Historical and Theoretical Contexts
The premise of my hypothesis will require an understanding of the theoretical and historical contexts associated with the medium of photography. Realism is a photographic and artistic movement that emerged in the photographic world in the 1910s. The approach to my study concentrates on the genre of documentary photography which is a form of straight photography, categorized as realism. Realism was a break-away from pictorialism which included more tableaux methods apposed to straight documentary works. Pictorialism focused on the establishing photography as an art form rather than a way of documentation. It focused on migrating away from commercialism and making photography a handmade process overall aspiring to achieve an aesthetic which made photographs look like art pieces, such as paintings and drawings using a variety of way to manipulate photographs from smudging lenses, scratching negatives and using chemicals in the darkroom. Unlike pictorialism, realism was associated with making imagery that looked the same as what the photographer saw in the viewfinder of the camera. Realism took on an emphasis on geometric framing and a focus on shape and form taking on an almost abstract aesthetic which was noticeable in two early photographers of the realism movement, Alexander Rodchenko and Jaromir Funke. These two images give insight into how realism was introduced into the medium of photography. I have chosen these images, more to begin the analysis of the technical elements of an image relating to form and shape, which realism focused on, rather than typical straight photography that emerged from this movement, for example Blind Woman, 1916 by Paul Strand.

Alexander Rodchenko, Stairs, 1929 (left); Jaromir Funke, Abstraction, 1924, (right)

Alexander Rodchenko’s image on the left contains harsh natural light to create the intense shadows bordering each of the subjects. He used a narrow aperture to create a deep depth which is supported by the leading lines running parallel through the image. His image has been infused with sharp highlights and deep blacks to accentuate the shadows and the images tonal range. Rodchenko’s image also includes repetition, this is seen through all the duplicating steps. This image also has a sinister essence with the baby’s face emerged in a shadow it almost juxtaposes that an innocent being could be portrayed as having an evil soul. Jaromir Funke’s image contains abstract light experimentation that plays tricks on the mind. He uses a harsh fluorescent looking light to draw out shadows and create the images contrasting tones. The image contains a lot of sharp geometrical features which frame certain streams of light and let through others. His image is slightly under exposed to add depth to the shadows. A high ISO has been used to add sensitivity to the film which has created a slight grain and given the image texture. The space in the image is quite populated with little negative space. He has also shot the shapes at an angle instead of straight on which gives a unique perspective to how the shadows elope and given the image more depth. In order to further analyse how this realism can be used through a documentative eye and begin developing a narratology viewpoint in order to answer my hypothesis I looked at the work of Jeff Wall.

Jeff Wall

ICP Talks: Jeff Wall | International Center of Photography

Jeff Wall is best known for constructing and photographing elaborate mise-en-scènes, which he displays in wall-mounted light boxes as large-scale colour images. He takes his cues from the neorealism of Italian cinema, working with nonprofessional actors to stage scenes of everyday life. The above is Jeff Wall’s image titled, ‘Passer-by’ (1996). It is a street photography image where Jeff has captured a naturally occurring event. An event that he has encountered almost by accident that portrays a scene and can be interpreted beyond the frame by using intuition. This encapsulates one of Wall’s strong views of what makes an intriguing and meaningful image. “I think the pictorial problems emerge from the accidental encounter that reveals the subject” (Quote from David Company’s So Present, so invisible)

The image is of a sidewalk in what seems like an urban American suburb. Framed in the centre of the image is a tree, and on either side of the tree we see two men. The man in the foreground is wearing denim jeans and a denim jacket, we cannot see his face as he is looking over his shoulder at the other man while continuing to walk. The other man in the background is running towards a stop sign in the distance in the opposite to the man in the foreground. Overall the image has an overwhelming feeling with a low exposure and abundance of shadows the image has a sober emotion throughout. The image has a wide tonal range with the man in the foreground being well lit, along with an illuminated white wall which possesses the images highlights. In the background where the man is running is very dark and underexposed giving the images its pure black’s and therefore this wide tonal range. This tonal range connotes a sense of innocence for the well exposed man in the foreground who can be seen looking over his shoulder into what can seem like a world of darkness he is leaving behind. The man in the background is presented as a more corrupt character in the scene as he can be seen to run towards the theoretical ‘ dark side’. This lighting looks as if it has been achieved using an artificial source of lighting during the night time to achieve the vast contrast between the foreground and background. The lighting casts long shadows from the subjects and the tree in the centre of the image. These shadows aid in making the image significantly more dramatic as it adds more to the dark, ominous aesthetic while introducing a sense of depth. These shadows also connote to the theme of innocence and corruption, almost insinuating the man in the foreground is leaving his dark side behind him. The lighting also adds a shiny highlight to the leaves of the tree in the middle of the image. This gives it a glistening texture adding to the innocence of the foreground, while the background remains without light and therefore keeps a grainy texture adding to the theme of corruption. Analysing the method Wall used to create this theme of corruption in his image can be recognised as a fundamental ingredient to the way in which I will be studying the tenets of identity in a way where discourses of masculinity can corrupt and battle a young rugby player’s sense of themselves. Returning to the notion of Jeff’s use of an aesthetic created by photographic methods, I think this method of casting shadows shouldn’t be overlooked. It can bring more meaning to how photography is interpreted. The development of modern photography has preached a certain aesthetic to be correct, I think Jeff’s work challenges this. Having these drooping shadows can be undesirable by the modern photographer seeking to achieve this ‘correct’ aesthetic with a lot of photographers using fill-lighting to cancel out shadows in the background. Jeff challenged this view and believe in a balance between aesthetics and narrative. He used the shadows to add to the narrative of this image. “it’s not about some divide between the documentary mode or documentary style and cinematography – photography lives, I think, by means of the infinitely nuanced interplay between those modes.” (David Company’s So Present, so invisible)

Jeff used a narrow aperture to achieve the depth of field in the image and get everything in focus which allows him to tell relay the narrative of innocence and corruption between the foreground and background. Shooting with a closed aperture also aids in underexposing the image and making it appear darker. The way the image is framed where the tree separates the two men and the man who represents corruption is hiding behind the tree almost representing hiding from his true identity.
“I don’t agree about the weak or strong claim dichotomy. I don’t think there’s a better or best way to make any art that can be known in advance and turned into a guidance or criterion.” (David Company’s So Present, so invisible). Jeff Wall’s perspective of photography presents the importance to investigate pictorialism and how imagery can create art. He talks about how photography is like poetry where all elements of a photos narrative and aesthetic qualities evoke emotion and relay purpose like a poem does. This aligns with the above Quotes from David Company’s So Present, so invisible where Jeff discusses the relationship between the vernacular and the pictorial and how there is no one way to create art. I believe that the strongest pictorial images originate from a documentation of accidental circumstances that outline a subject. I believe art can be interpreted in all images that relay a narrative and also the importance of imagery in accurately documenting in an artistic fashion. I therefore wholly agree with Jeff’s view on photography. Another photographer who explores narrative through documentary photography is Doug Dubois.

Doug Dubois

Doug DuBois (born 1960) is an American photographer living in Syracuse, New York.

Most of DuBois’s photographs are portraits, and he is best known for his intimate family shots. He is part of a group of contemporary American photographers, including Philip Lorca diCorcia, Laurie Simmons, Cindy Sherman and Tina Barney, who have depicted domestic spaces predicting transformations of family life in a “tide wave of individualism and late capitalist aspirations”. (Knelman, Sara (Spring 2020). “Domestic Comfort”. Aperture.)

During Doug’s tertiary education studying a Bachelor of Arts, his father experienced a near fatal accident and spent several years recuperating at home. Dubois noted the process as a “Kind of emotional protection” (All the Days and Nights, 2009). His mother was the primary caregiver of his father and during this time Doug experienced the decent of his mother into a deep depression resulting in subsequent decay of his parents marriage as well as the maturation of his siblings. Family portraits formed the basis for a group of works around his family that would continue for twenty-four years and eventually be published by Aperture as a picture book titled All the Days and Nights. DuBois’ concern for his family, both himself and others, was also evident in a later set of photographs, “Avella”, which presented life in the mining town Avella, where his father grew up. Themes of economic turmoil and provincial life are also central to a recent series of photographs by DuBois, published under the title My Last Day at Seventeen. This is the project I want will be taking inspiration from for my study. This is because Doug is able to unveil the true identity of the subjects in this project. He does this by capturing the scene in which they live and their personal styles that give us great personal insight into the subjects he shoots. His work forces the viewer to interrogate the subject by his use of central framing and and neutrally arranged compositions. His images are usually taken with a 4 x 5 large format camera which allow his to capture great amounts of crisp detail while laying down a blanket of warm hues used to accentuate gestural echoes, emotion and plays of light and texture.

Doug DuBois on Kickstarting "My Last Day at Seventeen" – Aperture NY

The above image is part of Doug’s collection; “My Last Day at Seventeen”. This collection was published in 2015 and was a project to highlight themes of economic turmoil and provincial life as well as the idea of teenagers coming of age in these conditions. “Doug DuBois was first introduced to a group of teenagers from the Russell Heights housing estate while he was an artist-in-residence at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, on the southwest coast of Ireland. He was fascinated by the insular neighbourhood, in which “everyone seems to be someone’s cousin, former girlfriend, or spouse.” Little can happen there that isn’t seen, discussed, distorted beyond all reason, and fiercely defended against any disapprobation from the outside. DuBois gained entry when Kevin and Eirn (two participants of a workshop he taught) took him to a local hangout spot, opening his eyes to a world of not-quite-adults struggling — publicly and privately — through the last days of their childhood. Over the course of five years, DuBois returned to Russell Heights. People came and left, relationships formed and dissolved, and babies were born. Combining portraits, spontaneous encounters, and collaborative performances, the images in My Last Day at Seventeen exist in a delicate balance between documentary and fiction. A powerful follow-up to DuBois’ acclaimed first book, All the Days and Nights, this volume provides an incisive examination of the uncertainties of growing up in Ireland today, while highlighting the unique relationship sustained between artist and subject” (Aperture Foundation, 2015).

The image features a natural lighting scheme which brings authenticity to the idea of capturing the true nature of the location as well as the subject. This allows the image to be consistently exposed with no artistic efforts to create a darker mood but rather to capture detail from the scene. The image has a warm hue which accentuates a homely mood and the orange hair and warm skin of the Irish teenager. This hue helps achieve a smooth glow over the whole image.

Doug uses a narrow aperture to ensure both the Irish boy as well as the whole kitchen is in focus, this allows the viewer to see the coffee cups and the curtains and the syrup which gives insight into the subject and the themes of economic turmoil and provincial life.

The subject is positioned slightly left of centre frame, this allows focus to be placed equally on the subject and the scene around him to place focus on the aesthetic of provincial housing. It also gives the image a structure adherent to the rule of thirds.

The subject is seen to have his head resting on his hand with his facial expressions signalling he is unimpressed or bored. This presents ideas of the turmoil’s associated with growing up in an impoverished neighbourhood as an Irish teenager that Dubois was trying to capture. This emotion that Doug captures is part of an arranged tableaux encounter, however it is stated that the image in terms of its whereabouts and aesthetic formal elements are planned yet the emotion captured from the subject is not ‘staged’ for the most part. This complex, yet naturally occurring conversation between the photographer, the subject and the viewer is how the narrative of the subjects experiences and identity is captured. This relates back to the theories of Jeff Wall. Jeff states that “pictorial problems emerge from the accidental encounter that reveals the subject” (David Company’s So Present, so invisible). This approach of documentary photography will be the direction my personal investigation will follow in order to answer my hypothesis. This direction will allow the identity of a sportsman to be stripped and analysed through imagery, overall attacking the notion of identity .

This being said, it is evident that the photographic medium is effective in investigating, as well as portraying the identity and narrative of an individual. The combination of photorealism supplemented by a more tableaux approach allows for an insider viewpoint and a thorough narrative to be formed. By studying the technical elements of works from these photographers it is clear that certain photographic visual elements can be used to analyse the identity of their subjects. Overall showing that these approaches to imagery can be applied to my response to prove the adopted identity of young men in sports.

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Reading, Task

Essay 1

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What is the relationship between photography and memory?

One way in which photography and memory are linked is through the thought that photographs are a way of storing memories. For example, if you take a photograph of a special event like your wedding, you are essentially holding that as a memory and when later you look back through the photos, you will recall various events that happened that day. This may serve as a reason as to why people tend to commission professional photographs on such special days; to have a physical memory of the best day of your life, forever.

Science is on our side on this. A study conducted by Microsoft on individuals with a damaged hippocampus (autobiographical memory deficit) showed that, “photos of life events helps bypass the hippocampus and undergo processing in a different brain region or regions.” (Joshua) This suggests how photographs help enhance recall of events which is a very personal experience for the individual. Being able to recall moments in life is a divine experience since they are a tangible way to connect us to the past, feelings and stories which, again, is a very private and sometimes emotional experience. Since photographs help us connect us to the past, it’s interesting to also mention how photography is important for history. This links in with memory since historical photographs are instrumental in recording what happened in the past to people and how we got here. For example:

1918: Spanish flu. National Museum of Health / AP

This photograph powerfully depicts the state in which humanity was at in terms of medical advancements. This photograph was taken during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and successfully portrays a quarantine centre with hundreds of patients showing to the viewer how deadly that pandemic was. Not only that but as Stacker states, “Not only have these photographs captured our attention visually, but they’ve prompted action at times—even occasionally changing the course of history. During the 1960s, for example, images of Black children being sprayed with fire hoses brought attention to the civil rights movement.” (Cavanaugh, R. and E. Ciano 27 Aug 2020)

The Children's Crusade: When the Youth of Birmingham Marched for Justice - HISTORY
Black children being sprayed with fire hoses – 1960s

Photographs are typically kept either in a frame, album or archive. All alike in history but different for each individual. ? For this essay I’ll be focusing more on archival images and artists who have portrayed memories in different ways like Broomberg and Chanarin (archives) and Carole Benitah (personal memories.) For this Identity project I would like to explore my own identity. Unlike my mock project where I talked about the confusion one may have finding their sexual identity, I would like to talk about my past life before finding hope in God. To achieve this I will follow a similar approach to Broomberg and Chanarin and select biblical quotes which I keep in mind and “illustrate, contradict or subvert the text of the Bible”, (Bright and Van Erp 2019: 100).

History of Photography

In my opinion, the Shroud of Turin is the first recorded image. This is because the shroud is a long linen cloth containing a negative image of a man believed by the Catholic Church to be Jesus Christ, and in my opinion is one of the first images that did not fade quickly. How it was produced however is a mystery. Some believe the Shroud is a perfect example of Camera Obscura since some theorise that in the 13th Century men would pose in the camera obscura, have linen cloth at the back of the wall and if you waited long enough, sun rays would burn the image into the linen, i.e. The wave of the hypothetical UV radiation would have been of varying phase at the surface of the skin, yet the negative image demands the image is a minimum at the skin surface. Therefore, this links with memory because, since people believe the Shroud is the real image of Christ, believers who look at it will remember of the sacrifice Jesus made for not just them but us all. In turn, serving as a reminder that Jesus did exist and was the Son Of God.

Shroud of Turin, unknown artist and date

Contrastingly, George Eastman started a company in 1880 called Kodak. Eastman created a roll of film that did not require constantly changing the solid plates, such as, the dry plates (dry gelatine plates that were equal to wet plates, had a decrease in exposure times and meant the plates could be stored rather than made). Eastman therefore created a self-contained box camera that held 100 film exposures, the camera had a small single lens with no focusing adjustment. With Kodak, the consumer would take pictures and send the camera back to the factory where the film would be developed, printed and have a new roll of film fitted. All this while being affordable by average people costing around $1 per camera, allowing people to have a physical picture of a time they will cherish. As we can see, photography is a way for people to recall the past events they cherish (memory) and even find religious hope. In a similar fashion, Broomberg and Chanarin have found links between photography and religion.

Kodak ‘Brownie’ box camera, 1900

Broomberg and Chanarin

Graduates in sociology, history, and theology seeks to interpret and validate contemporary literal events. Adam Broomberg (South Africa, 1976) and Oliver Chanarin (UK, 1971) are two London photographers who combine archival imagery and fine art documentary photography with the visual trades. Broomberg and Chanarin travelled to Afghanistan to shoot the British Army and lived in small communities in Tanzania, where they shared in photographic peregrinations. From then, they created a series of projects. For example, Broomberg and Chanarin created a project involving the King James Bible, taking the viewer on a different kind of pilgrimage through the Bible. In it, they relate biblical quotes to images from the archive of modern conflict. The idea started with the quote from Israeli philosopher Adi Ophir, “Right from the start, almost every appearance he (God) made was catastrophic… Catastrophe is his means of operation, and his central instrument of governance.” This quote suggests that, “the idea when God reveals himself, it is often to catastrophic effect for the world and humankind.” (Bright and Van Erp 2019: 100). This relates to memory since Broomberg and Chanarin are using images from the archive which, as mentioned above, is a way to tap into the past.

Broomberg and Chanarin, Holy Bible, year

Due to the time the photographer existed; we can assume that this image was originally in a digital format since it is printed in high resolution. The image of the bible seems to be taken in a studio since it is professionally digitalised with a white background. The images in the bible however are recorded extensively within The Archive of Modern Conflict, the largest photographic collection of its kind in the world, and considering the images are quite old, we can assume that a mix between film and digital cameras were used to record the images in the archive. Broomberg and Chanarin did this for personal work. This is evident because in a review on the online platform Lenscultre it says, “Broomberg and Chanarin mined this archive with philosopher Adi Ophir’s central tenet in mind: that God reveals himself predominantly through catastrophe and that power structures within the Bible correlate with those within modern systems of governance…it must be viewed in multifaceted contexts: violence, catastrophe, global and regional politics, religion, power, corruption, greed, propaganda, consumer advertising, human conflict, nature, sex, life, death…and photography as a powerful visual language that can used and abused for multiple purposes.” (Casper)

The main focal point of this image is obviously the catastrophic images of a kid acting as police pretending to hit a man with a small batting stick, and of a child holding a snake. The other main focus of the image is the Bible, which is opened in Ecclesiastes chapters 3-8 with the following quotes underlined in red: “on the side of their oppressors [there was] power, but they had no comforter”, “better is the ending of a thing than the beginning” and “for who can make [that] straight.” This quote from the Bible may suggest that it is best when something ends because, that’s it, there is no turning back, it’s ended. However, at the beginning of things, you have to go through a lot of stressful life events, hence why the author for Ecclesiastes stated that.

Author? has powerfully used the rule of thirds to compose this image as the archival images and the bible are positioned in the centre. The main colours of this image are black and white tones. They purposely used the black and white technique to create this image to create a sense of light vs dark and may also have used it to show Divine (light) vs Violence (dark).

The light in this image seems to be coming from the top and from the sides as every aspect of the image is lit perfectly. Evidently, the light seems to be quite artificial as everything is well lit, there is a white background allowing for a better exposure of colours. In the image of a child holding a snake and the child pretending to be a policeman however, the images are quite underexposed as it seems the camera is facing away from the sun. I know this because the camera was able to focus on the subject, otherwise, the image would be pure white. The artists may have purposely naturally underexposed the image to keep it in focus and so it isn’t too bright or too dark just natural. The camera is still as this is a portrait and all the details are in focus suggesting that the camera was stationary; a tripod was likely used.

The way this image makes me feel is quite uneasy because the Bible is a book of hope and light but when you present the viewer with a set of unpleasant images like this one. The Guardian states, “there is a pornographic portrait of a naked young man with an erection and others of couples having sex, as well as photographs of suicide victims, Nazis in uniform, deformities and disfigurements” (O’Hagan). This serves as a way to help the viewer think that life is not a sea of roses, there’s more we can do to make the world a better place to live in, and Thomas Hirschhorn agrees with me on this since he says, “images of destroyed bodies need to be looked at. It is our duty to look at them.” This clearly shows that these images need to be looked at for people to be enlightened and realise the wickedness of the world.

It may be argued that actually, Broomberg and Chanarin’s project, The Holy Bible, may serve as a visual way for the viewer to see things from God’s point of view. God has stated many times in the Bible that the world is wicked, the human heart is born wicked and we take pleasure in doing evil. Once we start seeing it from God’s point of view, we’ll begin to understand his behaviours in certain parts of the Bible like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So to an extent, this project by Broomberg and Chanarin could be seen as raising awareness to the evil events of this world and to enable the user to see the world from God’s point of view.

However, linking back to my key theme, memory, we can powerfully see how archival imagery are a collection of “memories” in a sense since they are visual stimuli to trigger memories. Therefore, by using archival imagery in their project they are allowing people to recall information of the event which is being portrayed and trigger other memories.

Finally, I will follow a similar approach in my project using bible quotes that impacted me along with images I find relate to the text as well as who I am and gone through and an explanation on a separate page illustrating what the images and quotes mean to me and how they have influenced me, especially in my past romantic dates.

Carole Benitah

Carolle Bénitah, a French Moroccan photographer who was a fashion designer for ten years until 2001 where she found her love for photography. When she found photography, she started getting involved with the themes of memory, family and the passage of time. She did this through embroidery on old family photographs in an attempt to reinterpret her history as, not only a daughter but also a wife and mother. She reflects on memory by creating embroidery using images from old family albums. Bénitah states, “there is nothing subversive about embroidering, but I corrupt it through my intentions…I use its falsely decorative artifices to reinterpret my history and to denounce its failings.”  She continues, “each photograph lifts the veil from the past.  It is a story of revelation.  It is work related to emotions.” (Bénitah) Through this deeply personal re-examination of family ties and childhood memory, which according to the artist can be likened to archaeological work of the soul, Bénitah seeks to discover more of her identity and uncover a history of family secrets.” (Bénitah)

artist, title, year

The main focal point of the image is the family posing for the picture. The photographer has clearly composed the image using the rule of thirds in order to keep the family at the centre of the image. The one thing that is singled out and catches my eye, personally, is the red outline and filling on the shadows. Considering Benitah has stated before that she wanted to portray how she felt as a daughter, wife and mother, the viewer can powerfully interpret that she feels connected to her siblings and father. I think this is because she outlines them in red, leaving everyone behind which may also be suggested that she prioritises family over anyone.

The main colours the photographer has used are black and white but this may be due to the common film used at the time since the image is part of the family album. Apart from that, red is the main colour of the image. Red represents love (pain, hurt?) and health (and family bond/ blood). Knowing this we can assume that she wishes her family nothing but goodness and health, but also that she loves her family. Another perspective which links to the key theme of memory in this essay is that red may signify her nostalgia. I believe this because she specifically outlined her family in red in this image. Anyhow, this successfully links back to the key theme of memory since these are family photos and Benitah has used embroidery to show how she misses old times and how much she loves her family.

However, in her photo-book, Photos-souvenirs, she states that her “needlework, which suggests conflict, drama and pain, evokes the dark matter of family history that is precisely absent from photographs…” (Benitah) This suggests that the threads may not be about her having nostalgia over her family but rather serves as a coping mechanism for Carole since she also mentions that the “precise and slow process is a metaphor for the shaping of one’s identity and for the passage of time.” This completely contradicts my claim. This being said, the viewer may interpret that maybe her family has mistreated Carole since she’s highlighted them in thread, or maybe she felt left out; like she did not fit in.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I agree to a large extent that there is a correlation between photography and memory. Not only is it a way for people to recall moments in their life and “relive” in a way and have that feeling of nostalgia but also serves as a way to recall past events in history as a way to explain what we see in the present and helps give hope to believers. Through Broomberg and Chanarin we could powerfully see the usage of archival imagery (recall of events from the past which links to memory) and the bible as a duo to show why God sometimes acted in ways which make no sense to us because we have never been assigned the position of “god”. Through the project we could see through God’s eyes in a way, seeing the wickedness of this world. You may however argue that if “God so loved the world that he gave his only and begotten son” (John 3:16) for us then evil would not exist. On the other hand, God gave us free will so most of the evil that happens are because of human greed and power. So, you can see how Broomberg and Chanarin’s project, The Bible, can be seen as “seeing through God’s eyes”.

Similarly, as mentioned above, Carole Benitah “…reflects on memory by creating embroidery using images from old family albums. Bénitah states, “there is nothing subversive about embroidering, but I corrupt it through my intentions…I use its falsely decorative artifices to reinterpret my history and to denounce its failings.”  She continues, “each photograph lifts the veil from the past.  It is a story of revelation.  It is work related to emotions.” (Bénitah) Through this deeply personal re-examination of family ties and childhood memory, which according to the artist can be likened to archaeological work of the soul, Bénitah seeks to discover more of her identity and uncover a history of family secrets.” (Bénitah)”

As a response, I will attempt to recreate some memories from my past love experiences using biblical quotes that have helped and influenced my decisions in these experiences and use archival images to reflect these quotes. This links to Broomberg and Chanarin since I am using archival images and I am talking about my own, personal experiences which links to Bénitah.

References

Bénitah, C. Sous les Etoiles Gallery. Paris (https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/artists/carolle-benitah) Accessed 30 Jan 2022.

Bénitah, C.

Bright, S and Van Erp, H. (2019). Photography Decoded. London: Octopus Publishing Group.

Cavanaugh, R. and Ciano, E. (27 Aug 2020). 103 iconic photos that capture 103 years of world history. Stacker (https://stacker.com/stories/2250/103-iconic-photos-capture-103-years-world-history) Accessed 1 Feb 2022.

Casper, J. Holy Bible book review. lenscultre (https://www.lensculture.com/articles/adam-broomberg-oliver-chanarin-holy-bible) Accessed 20th Jan 2022.

Sarinana, J. (Jul 20, 2013). Memories, Photographs, and the Human Brain. Peta Pixel. (https://petapixel.com/2013/07/20/memories-photographs-and-the-human-brain/) Accessed 24th 2022

Controlled Conditions

final essay: stereotypes in photography

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How does Cindy Sherman or Martine Gutierrez represent and mimic stereotypes in their photography?

Introduction

“The artist disappears, no one knows where he went, he leaves his signs here and there he is seen in this part of town and, the next moment, miraculously, on the other side of town. One sense him rather than sees him- A Lounger, a drunkard, a tennis-player, a bicycle rider, always violent denying that he did. Everyone gives a different description of the criminal.”– Ray Gun  

Cindy Sherman is well known for her different costumes interpretations and her masquerades, in fact when Cindy Sherman was just a child, she loved to play dress up and she would create elaborate costumes out of a trunk of old clothes, many of which belonged to her great grandmother. As her career in photography blossomed, she would search flea markets to uncover old clothes, where she began to be inspired by the people surrounding her. Within her photography, she played a distinctive character in each of her shoots, creating identities much like Hitchcock’s heroes, a busty Monroe, an abused victim, a corpse, a cowgirl, a desperate clown and more on.  Was her dressing up an escape? ” If you don’t like me this way, how about you like me this way?”  “Or maybe you like this version of me.” (Cindy Sherman in Reilly, 2018) This reinforces the symbolism. She uses multiple characters in her photography to show a sense of diversity and mimic the numerous stereotypes that she came across. It is amazing how many characters Cindy Sherman can play at once. It is not just the way she poses. The style, the clothes, the accessories, the make-up, the decorations, the light, the gestures of expression, the framing are as important to create the ”Mise-en-scene”. Martine Gutierrez is the artist with whom I can identify with the most. In her photos, fashion is especially important. They help to represent stereotypes of indigenous women. Her images have an eccentric style, common gold, a mixture of pop and Indigenous culture. The colours and details in some of her images are fascinating and she uses Guatemalan textiles from her family’s collection styled with jewellery, bananas, high heels, and other accessories. She illustrates a contemporary living history, not one that is just buried and dismantles the tropes of nostalgia and poverty that are stereotypically associated with indigenous identity, to quote the artist. Her photos also confront the message of the long and harmful history of the fashion industry and how they appropriate of the Indigenous culture. “ Fashion is a good veneer for making people to look at what otherwise might make them feel uncomfortable” (Martine Gutierrez, 2018, artist magazine) For my own photographic responses I am intending to address Mexican stereotypes using masquerade. The name “Masquerade” takes up the theme of the “mask”. It is an intriguing subject to perform in photography since it hides the real face and therefore allows you to change your appearance without changing your identity. I will explore fashion and elements of clothing and how both males and females’ dress. The styling of the images that I make in response will reference a fashion shoot but also include parody.  

In 1977 Cindy Sherman began a series named Untitled Film Stills. I find this series very captivating since she exposes the stereotype of women in classic movies from the 50’s /60’s that we feel we must have seen. Sherman usually dresses very feminine, using make-up, wigs, and different poses to mimic the portrayal of women who are passive and sexualised conforming to male fantasies. Sherman always uses the male gaze by representing women in underwear, heavy make-up, or typically feminine costumes, to criticise this stereotype. She is disguising herself in different female roles like a sex object, career girl, housewife. Between 1970 and 1980 a debate emerged in photography by feminist. Criticizing Hollywood classics Laura Mulvey argued how women were portrayed in these films, they are only there for the pleasure of male viewers. In his seminal book Ways of Seeing (1972), art critic John Berger wrote, ”men look at women. Women watched themselves being looked at. This determined not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves” (Berger in Wells 2003: 324).  Mulvey also noted that between the camera framing the woman and the point of view of the male character looking at the woman’s character attract the audience. Reinforces the objectification of women in media. But the debate does not stop there since women in addition to being objected they have to have a specific appearance often young, slim and light-skinned. Latinos in the western media are the same, they have a specific physique. Latinas are exotic, seen with tanned brown hair and luscious lips. Men have long black mustacho, black hair, taint, small. Feminists also have argued that nudity in photography or in art is masquerade, it is an excuse to contemplate nudity, even if it is depicted in an abstract or pleasing way.

In her photography, Martine Gutierrez produces narrative scenes that use elements of pop culture to play with personal and collective identity in terms of race, gender, class, and culture. Indigenous woman is a fictional fashion magazine that features editorials detailed through Gutierrez’s work controlling her own identity. She is her own editor, model, photographer, stylist make-up, designer, and author. Gutierrez wonders how identity is formed, how it expresses itself, values itself and weighted. The magazine is a celebration of Mayan Indian heritage, it is constantly evolving, the magazine investigates the ways in which our sense of self is socially constructed and makes us ask more questions that we do not have the answers to. Throughout the indigenous woman, Gutiérrez challenges the stereotypes and the limitation that one can have in their identity that is imposed by white supremacy and colonialism. In her exhibition she reconstructs certain advertisements with a touch of parody. These skits explicitly illustrate these themes and allow you to express yourself more openly. Like on the tagline that appears on the cover girl’s mascara ad ”maybe she is born with it maybe it’s white supremacy” (Martine Gutierrez, cover girl ad, Indigenous Woman p43) and another advertisement for whitening soap features on the label is written ”keep out of eyes, keep away from children, animals, natural resources and indigenous cultures. Destroys everything on contact” (Martine Gutierrez, white wash ad, Indigenous Woman p13) .As the magazine letter to the editor states ” Indigenous woman marries the traditional to the contemporary, the native to the postcolonial and marginalized to the mainstream. In the pursuit of genuine selfhood revealing cultural inequities along the way’‘ Another interesting series she has is her series of demons called Deities of the ancient world resurrected in hair. She use element of masquerade to represent Aztec Gods. Gutiérrez is dressed in gold jewellery, masks, and a crown made of braided hair. They are Aztec gods that manifest concepts of love, duality, wealth… The artist said: “I was looking for an iconography that would celebrate the bodies of the binary deities even larger than the bodies because, in general, we tend to see ourselves in the image of a god, whatever that god is”.(Martine Gutierrez, 2018 Indigenous woman p92)

I have used this essay to investigate how Cindy Sherman and Martine Gutierrez use elements of mimic and stereotypes in their photographs to express what they see in their surroundings and the media (such as films, advertising, etc.) Thanks to these artists, I learned how to express my feelings with a touch of humour in relation to the stereotypes of Latinos in my photography. They each adopt the same approach for different battles, Martine Gutierrez wants to show the beauty of indigenous culture while Cindy Sherman wants to fight for the women’s paper in Hollywood classics. I learned about the feminists like Laura Mulvey that fought for women’s role in the media during the 70s. Which led to artist like Cindy Sherman to mock those stereotypes. After doing research for the essay I discovered more personal matter about both artists, Since a little kid Cindy Sherman love the idea of costumes and imitate people she saw on the streets. For Martine Gutiérrez it is important to demonstrate her culture, Indigenous Woman is a resource to reflect on heritage and narrative.

Bibliography:

Wells, L. (ed), (2003), The Photographer Reader. London: Routledge

Reilly, M. (ed), (2018), Courtesy the artist and Metro pictures. New York

Controlled Conditions

Island identity

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Jersey environment

In duo we each had a theme that represented the concept of Island identity. In my my duo we got the theme of Jersey’s environment. We learned: The character of the island countryside has been fairly well protected since the introduction of the planning legistation, 1964 dispite the large population growth. The natural environement is part of Jersey’s distinctive character.However the built environement can be remarkable cultural, social and economic resources, vitallyimportant for people’s identity and well-being. The board wanted to see distinctive Jersey architectural themes better preserved and new developments better harmonising with their historical and natural environment. They wanted to see more trees in public spaces, and better celebration of Jersey’s French heritage in the noming of buildings and streets.

Controlled Conditions

STATEMENT OF INTENT

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Identity

Eduardo Simoes

We were ask to write a Statement of Intent that contextualise;
What you want to explore?
Why it matters to you?
How you wish to develop your project?
When and where you intend to begin your study?
We need to describe our chosen theme about Identity & Community, subject-matter (topic, issue), artists (inspirations, references) and final outcome (photobook, film). And plan our first photo-shoot as a response to our initial ideas.

Remember Your culture: American Latinos in Jersey


What reminds you of your culture , how would you represent it? Identity and community is a very interesting theme since there are multiple ways to interpret it. After all, we all have diverse communities and identity. So we have variant opinions on this subject. When I was little I travelled and lived in many countries where the cultures were distinct. I had the opportunity to meet different communities. Today those communities are part of my identity. With this project I will have the opportunity to represent the cultures I grow with. I would like to focus on the Mexican culture because this culture represent me more and I think it would be fascinating to play with fashion. Today Mexican’s are represented in a certain way in the medias. The media portrayed Latin women as exotic and hot-blooded passionate in both love and in war arose In he cinema she is spicy, combative and hypersexual. She always speaks her mind she has no filter and often loud she has a temper that’s barely under control and she often violent and destructive when she’s angry. Latin men are very often represent it like mafias or are in gangs. There is Physical stereotype as well, e.g. in the medias we usually see Latin woman with tan skin, brunette hair, pouty lips and her body is voluptuous. And sometimes if when we don’t fill those categories we are not consider Latinos. The aim of this shoot is to make fun of these stereotypes and show that they are ridiculous because they shouldn’t define if you are Mexican or not. It reminds me a bit of Sherman’s work, more specific in ‘untitled film skills’. Sherman does self-portraits with various costumes and poses. She represents female stereotypes found in film, television and advertising – all of her photos are in black and white. What is special about her images is that they don’t come from recognizable films, nor from specific actresses’ interpretations, but they do show the types of personalities they have in general. Martine Gutierrez is an artist I find intriguing for my project. Her series “Indigenous Woman” is a reflection of her high-fashion and glamour. Her project is a mixt of humour/absurdity and fashion. It is something I would like to recreate in mine, making links to stereotyping of Mexican culture. She is her own model, photographer, stylist, creative director a challenge that I plan to do. Another photographer similar in the fact that they make their own self-portrait to show their own identity is Zanele Muholi. I find their project inspiring and very beautiful, I think I will be able to learn a lot.

Plan

  1. what? I’m planning to do several shoots(16) in different locations, (different stories) of Mexico in a fashionable and Stereotypical way.
  2. why? Its important to me to show that being Mexican doesn’t involve on those stereotypes and make fun of those stereotypes. Mostly just show my culture plus I’m able to work with fashion something that appreciate a lot .
  3. how? I’m planning to do self-portrait because I want my project to about my point of view on my culture.
  4. when? I’ll start to do my shoots during Christmas holidays.
  5. where? I want each photo to be a different story so for me it would be more suitable if I do each photo in a distinct location, They mostly be in house but I want to be spontaneous so anywhere that reminds of Mexico or I think is a perfect place for one of my stories would be great.
ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions, Independent, Task

Anthropocene – Evaluation

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In my opinion, I think that my Anthropocene project, through the style of altered landscapes, has been successful. This is due to the fact that I believe I have portrayed what man’s impact on the world may visually look like, by presenting the hypothetical situation in which Jersey’s National Park is not protected from mass development. With this my original intention was to show how the geological age in which humans have been around, has had resulted in an unbalanced nature. This starting idea then developed, once researching and analysing photographers Tanja Deman and Felicity Hammond, into the intention to display how the earth’s natural and beautiful landscapes are in danger of urbanisation and industrialisation, due to the incessant greed of man for land, property and possessions. I think my final images well reflect the work of my two chosen photographers as, from a visual standpoint, they all showcase the imposition of urban/industrial structures on rural landscapes. Furthermore, I also believe that my final images reflect Deman and Hammond’s work from a conceptual and contextual view point as well, as I have decided to create these images in order to defend the sanctity nature possesses and hold humans accountable for their actions and attitudes that warrant the destruction of this very thing. In addition, when looking at my final images a viewer may see the potential dystopian like future Jersey may hold if these regulations were non existent, in which our stunning coastlines are reduced to a mere setting of smog and pollution.

Although I believe that my final outcomes for this project are successful, I also think there are some ways in which my work could have become even better. One way this could have been achieved is by taking natural landscapes at more than one location, and potentially visiting another area belonging to Jersey National Park. In addition, by also having a wider range of urban photographs, I may have been able to include more structures within the natural landscape, therefore intensifying the message I was aiming to convey.

ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions, Independent

Anthropocene – Final Images

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Final Image Display

Sequence One

Sequence Two

Sequence Three

I have chosen these final images due to their strong link with Anthropocene and their ability to symbolize the growing industrialization of our world. My initial idea was to create a sequence of three images, each showing a different stage of urbanization in a sort-of storyboard style. Each image demonstrates how increasingly unnatural our world is becoming by revealing more of man’s impact on the surroundings. After carrying out photoshoots inspired by Edward Burtynsky and Andrew Moore I made the decision to edit each image with a harsher blue tint each time, so the final Burtynsky inspired image at the end of the sequence was of a cooler temperature, reflecting the landscapes emotionless atmosphere. Furthermore, the increased editing of each image symbolizes how manufactured and artificial the planet is turning out to be from society’s disregard of nature, with each image growing colder and more unnatural. The composition and leading lines in each image draw the observer’s attention along the sequence in a cyclical pattern, as if the story goes on over and over again, just like man-kind is frequently building modern structures and industrial sites which all aid in harming the atmosphere around us. Contextually, several photographs from my Burtynsky shoot (which have been chosen for my final display) document reclaimed land in Jersey. It is a fact that reclaimed land is highly susceptible to soil liquefaction, which can amplify the amount of damage that occurs to buildings and infrastructure – I decided to capture these landscapes to further my point on humans being the main source of global devastation, we are interfering with nature and creating danger for all, even destroying the industrial structures we have built in the process- ironic.

Edward Burtynsky Comparison

I have decided to compare this Edward Burtynsky image to one of my final pieces because of their similarities in composition and their use of the formal elements. Firstly, a clear similarity between them is the capturing of repetition throughout the landscapes, Burtynsky has photographed an area with circular structures reflected in uniform rows. I believe he was attempting to mirror how unvarying our planets architecture, and even societies themselves, are. Repetition is plainly captured in my image in the form of rectangular shapes from buildings, windows and structures – showing the increased artificial landscapes through geometric echoes. I wanted to reflect Burtynsky’s repetitive technique, however slightly differently to demonstrate the way different communities deal with Anthropocene, seeing whether they fight against it or let it take over. Also, the basic and elemental nature of these shapes shows how trivial these modernized areas in the world are. Additionally, another similarity between these photographs is their straight horizon lines which act as an indication for their wide depth of field. The leading line in Burtynsky’s image slowly reveals a disappearing background as the horizon becomes misty and unclear, this could possibly symbolize how man-kind is forgetting, or not choosing to see, their destruction and wrecking of the natural world – as if industrialization is all that can be seen going into the future. In my image there is also a clear straight leading line across the horizon, however in the background there is a hint of hope within the capturing of a natural environment where trees poke through the urbanized surroundings. The comparison between these two uses of leading lines demonstrates how there is still hope for our landscapes future, however if we don’t act now, that hope will disappear. A key difference between these images is the cameras point of view, while there is the similarity of them both being captured from above, Burtynsky’s birds-eye-view shows a greater span of land. Furthermore, due to my editing choice to connote a more derelict and cold atmosphere through turning down my image’s temperature, the colour palette in Burtynsky’s photo is slightly more muted then mine – nevertheless both still produce a sense of sadness, connoting the robotic and artificial mood of the setting.

Andrew Moore Comparison

I chose to compare this image by Andrew Moore to one of my final photographs due to their similarities in texture, composition and differences in colour/temperature. Firstly, one similarity between these images is their busy, rough texture which is created by the repeated leaves and brambles entwined around the greenhouses. In both images this texture connotes ideas of discomfort and restriction, symbolizing how nature is being forced into a corner to try and survive from man-kind’s destruction. Additionally, Moore’s image has a similar composition to my own as both are captured at an eye-level point of view with the main subject taking up the span of the entire frame. The scarceness of negative space in these photographs demonstrates how desperate nature is to withstand industrialization and retaliate against man-kind’s interference. Moreover, this creates a short depth of field as little can be seen beyond the overgrown structures, connoting how little time is left for nature to overcome this destruction. Furthermore, another similarity is the image’s use of shape, both mine and Moore’s photos capture triangular structures which are being consumed by the natural shapes of nature. The juxtaposition between these geometric and organic shapes reveals to the observer how the effects of human interference with the planets natural landscapes is causing nature to use force against what we have created, connoting the theme of man Vs nature. Nevertheless, there are also several differences between my image and Andrew Moore’s, for example they both hold different temperatures. Moore’s photograph has more warm tones of orange and yellow allowing us to guess the time of year is autumn and that the image has been taken later on in the day. The warmth of Moore’s photo could possibly symbolize global warming, showing the danger in industrialization, however the saturation of the tones also demonstrates how nature still finds a way to be beautiful even after all the carnage it’s been through. Contrastingly, my image holds much colder tones to represent the cold-heartedness of society – I wanted to symbolize how man-kind has made these landscapes feel, their atmosphere changed by the impendence of humans.

Review And Reflection

My aims and intentions for this Anthropocene inspired project were to demonstrate how man made structure were increasingly impacting our natural environment. I planned on capturing landscapes around Jersey in three different stages; the first highlighting the beautiful natural areas in fields and woodlands, the second showing areas of Jersey where nature can still be seen however man’s impact is taking effect and the third exhibiting the cluttered industrial landscapes of our island. While working on this project I discovered the relevance of camera point of view in images, I found it important to capture my photographs from specific locations and angles to represent the message of impending industrialization that I wanted to portray. One of the biggest obstacles I overcame during this project was my lack of confidence in my editing process, I found it difficult to portray my idea uniquely through editing and became stuck for ideas. However, I quickly overcame this obstacle by brainstorming and experimenting on Lightroom to discover how temperature effected the atmosphere of my images, I really love how the increase in coldness over each image symbolizes the heartlessness of the destruction of nature and the urbanization of landscapes. I would say my greatest strength during this project was my ability to create a storyline through a sequence of images, I believe I successfully connoted the growing industrialization of our world and used my time wisely to experiment and analyse my final images in comparison to the photographers I took inspiration from.

ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions

final outcomes for distorted imagery

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Since both of the black and white photos and their coloured ones hold very different strengths in what they help emphasise, i am going to pair them up and explore different ways to display them together.

I chose my favourite photo from each technique to show a range of distortion and how different materials distort and alter the background. I feel like these photos stood out from the others due to their clean and crisp materials, to me they were also the most aesthetically pleasing out of the edited handful.

I also feel like these photos share a lot of similarities with my chosen artist, Nick Fancher. However, one large difference between Fancher and I’s work is that Fancher shows no examples of using clingfilm in his photos, I decided to add this material as i thought it would complement the theme of Anthropocene in a broader way than just bubble wrap and oil.

Anthropocene is defined as human activity having a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. I feel like my photos present that as the materials in the foreground are also materials polluting the earth currently. The fact that these materials are in the foreground and not apart of the landscape also puts emphasis on the pollution overpowering the natural and rural landscapes.

ANTHROPOCENE, Controlled Conditions, Independent, Task

Anthropocene – Final Products and Editing

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Edits in The Style of Felicity Hammond

Edit 1

In order to produce this altered landscape edit, in the style of Felicity Hammond and through the lens of Anthropocene, I started off cutting out all of the structures I needed to use for that edit, from my urban landscape photo-shoot. After I had done this, I dragged the buildings onto my chosen photograph from my natural landscape photo-shoot one at a time. With each structure I adjusted the hue/saturation, brightness and contrast, and colour balance, to make sure the tones in that layer would match the tones and colours of the natural landscape, in order to make them fit in more with the landscape. Once I had done this, I then adjusted the perspective of the structure, meaning the angle of the layer would correspond with the angle at which I took the natural landscape from. Next I used the clone stamp tool to make sure the structure is embedded within the landscape, in the grass. Finally after doing this same process for the other three buildings I included in this edit, I added a solid orange colour as a layer and placed it over the flattened image, and selected the overlay option. This was done to cause the edit to look more similar to Hammond’s work. Then I also added a slight gradient overlay, starting from the bottom of the image.

Edit 2

For this next edit I followed the same editing process as the image above, however using a different structures and a different base natural landscape.

Edits in The Style of Tanja Deman

Edit 1

In order to create this altered landscape, in the style of Tanja Deman, I started off by cutting out the one structure I would need for this edit, from my urban landscape photo-shoot. With this edit I only used one building to replicate Deman’s work, as she usually has the focus on one structure instead of multiple. After this I then dragged the cut out image onto my chosen photograph, from my natural landscape photo-shoot. Next, I tried to match the tones and colours of both layers by adjusting the hue/saturation, brightness and contrast, and the colour balance. Once I had done this, I used the clone stamp tool to make it look as if the building was embedded in the grass. Then, after I flattened the image, I converted the image into black and white, whilst also adjusting the shadows and highlights. Finally, I used the dodge and burn tools to add slight adjustments, and highlight the side of the building that would have been facing the sun, if it were there .

Edit 2

For this edit, also in the style of Tanja Deman, I followed the same editing process as the image above, although this time using a different structure and landscape.