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“Photographs thus are not just manufactured memories, they are also expressions of our desire to hold on to something.” (Colberg, J, May 28, 2012) 

This extract from the thoughts of Jörg Colberg highlights the topics in which I will discuss in this essay; questioning also how Carole Benitah in particular, explores these past memories in attempt to gain a wider knowledge of her own identity. This investigation of identity through archival images resonates with myself, as within this personal study I wish to revisit past memories of the senior generation in my family, in attempt to argue that these depictions often do not recount the whole truth of the past and are in fact a method of regaining control of our identity. Carolle Benitah is an archetype for reshaping the past through the manipulation and reworking of archival materials, due to her emotional attachment to the images and people within them. Furthermore, I am also choosing to look at Benitah’s work in detail as a result of her multi-media methods she undertakes, in order to create her contemporary commentary of the idealistic family in contrast with reality, using stitching, gold leaf, ink drawings and beading to achieve this. This utilisation of multi-media by Benitah can be linked with my previous work throughout the course, such as my use of maps in digital collages for an identity project and recent experimentations with embroidery. I intend to respond to this unique style again by producing reworked images of my family, that centre around my maternal grandparents and the life they have built – a life that have been both archived and recently captured. The style in which these new photographs will be created, will be mostly staged tableau pieces, with some candid images also. I will achieve this also by using multiple media, similar to Benitah, such as stitching as well as digital collage.  

Forms of family photography have always been a prominent element in photography’s history; from formal portraits taken in the 19th century, to the blurry snapshots of everyday domestic life we are far more used to nowadays, these images are a way of identifying the stories of ourselves and lineages. It is known that some of the first products of photographic technology were depictions of human life, with the invention of the Daguerreotype in 1839 being a popular way to document loved ones, as a more efficient substitution for realistic paintings. This method of capturing a moment in time became more accessible, as well as affordable, as the 19th century progressed. With inventions such as the portable film camera being introduced in 1888 by George Eastman, and even a camera for children coined the ‘Brownie Camera’. Sold for one dollar in 1900, people were able to produce their own archival material specific to their family. As well as the technology, the manner in which these photographs were taken evolved, with family portraits moving from formal, staged pieces to candid images that often-celebrated notable events. All of which made with the intent to communicate the familial bond they wished to display “Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait chronicle of itself – a portable kit of images that bears witness to its connectedness.” (Sontag 1977: 8). The way in which Benitah utilises this supposed commonplace form of photography in the present day, in order to create new meanings and significance to these snapshots, can be said to be influenced by movements such as modernism in the 20th century. This is due to Tate gallery’s description of the movement that stated that during this time “artists around the world used new imagery, materials and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies” (Tate). Benitah displays this within her work by using the medium of embroidery and materials such as beads, in order to transform the narrative that had been created by both the photographer and society’s expectations of what a ‘perfect’ family looks like. In turn, producing a piece that more accurately depicts the reality of Benitah’s family. Furthermore, some of Modernisms key defining traits were artists experimentation with form, technique, and process, which Benitah demonstrates by the variation in the way she uses such methods of alteration; from simply covering the faces with thread or beads, to erasing identities in the images completely. In addition, this particular use of multi-media to reform false depictions, can also be linked to the movement Dadaism, which operated under the time period and characteristics of Modernism. Dadaism was a movement established as a result of the First World War and the atrocities associated with it, producing work of that was usually satirical in essence. However, the aim of this movement was “to destroy traditional values in art and to create a new art to replace the old.” (Tate), which closely relates to the intent of Benitah’s work, if viewing the art in question as the constructed memories of her past. Moreover, when looking at Dada artists such as Raoul Hausmann (MT; include an illustration of his work) in comparison to Benitah, it is easy to draw similarities between their work; for instance, the physical parallels such as the concealment of identity through collage, as well as the way in which they approach their work in an emotional manner, that evokes anger towards the subject, shown by the harshness of the cuts and punctures.  

la chute / the fall, from the series Photos-Souvenirs © Carolle Benitah
la chute (the fall) – Photo Souvenirs – Carolle Benitah (2009)

This reworked image created by Benitah in 2009, displays a black and white scene, which originally appeared to be a mother standing with her two children. However, now the image showcases one of the children cut out and placed outside the photograph, with a red, silk thread connecting her hand to a large mass of stitching on the mother’s hand. Here, the dark tones of the original archival photograph heavily contrasts with the vastness of the cut-out sections, only leaving empty white space behind. Furthermore, elements of juxtaposition are only increased by Bentiah’s signature use of bold, red embroidery. This piece was named ‘La Chute’ by Benitah translated to ‘The Fall’ and is featured in Benitah’s photobook and series Photo Souvenirs, published in 2016. This photobook presents a retelling of her past through archival photographs, in chronological order, starting with her as a child and ending with her as an adult, with a child of her own. Benitah has stated that with this series “I decided to explore the memory of childhood through my family photographs, because it allows me to understand who I am and to define my identity today.” (Benitah, 2017). From this, it can be said that this particular piece is aiming to deal with a familial struggle, that was never portrayed through this original construction of so-called perfection, meaning that the child cut from the photograph is in fact Benitah herself. The issues Benitah is presenting here may be an expression of the child’s disconnection from her mother, possibly due to being replaced as favourite, by a younger sibling, or simply the pains of growing up and out of childhood bliss. Although, through Benitah’s alterations further depth is added to the piece with her embroidery, in which the red stitch here may represent the feeling of still being tethered to the pain through the connections of family. In addition, this could mean that this long stich connecting mother and daughter represents bloodlines, showing the connection between the two similar to a family tree. The element of embroidery here itself is significant due to the fact that the medium is associated with femininity as well as the stereotypical roles of a housewife, in particular repairing things. Consequently, this use of stitching into the archival photograph could possibly be a means of fixing a broken relationship, or even fixing the perspective that nothing was broken at all. Moreover, Benitah herself has claimed that “It’s like an exorcism. I pierce the paper until I have no more evil.” (reference source) when referring to her use of embroidery. This means that this skill is used by Benitah as a form of therapy, as well as a means of finally being able to project the truth. 

Carolle Benitah | Quatre soeurs, Four sisters (2018-2020) | Artsy
Quatre soeurs, (Four sisters) – Jamais je ne t’oublierai – Carolle Benitah (2018-2020)

This reworked photograph also produced by Benitah more recently, showcases an originally black and white scene containing at first glance three sisters in the frame. However, when referring to the name of this piece ‘Quatre soeurs’ translated to ‘Four sisters’, it becomes just about possible to notice the legs of another girl hiding in the back of the image. With this particular photograph, Benitah has made the choice to cut out the heads of these girls, replacing this empty space with the material of gold leaf and blending it into the background. This method of reworking archival images is a relatively new one for Benitah, although a large contrast is still created through the juxtaposition between the darker tones in the grass, of the black and white image, and the extravagance of the reflective gold. This piece is one of many taken from Benitah’s photobook and series ‘Jamais je ne t’oublierai’, which can be translated to ‘I will never forget you’, published in 2019. In this series, Benitah has used not only her own archival materials, but also photographs she has collected at flea markets, analysing the happiness and joy constructed for these images. With this, Benitah has stated her intent in creating this photobook, claiming “I am rebuilding the memory of my family that I missed” (Benitah, 2019). From this it can be said that this piece is aiming to confront issues of neglect or mistreatment of the hidden sister, by either parents or siblings. It is clear that this child is not valued as highly as other siblings by the photographer, who most likely is a parent, as her position in the frame is not equal to those around her and is overshadowed by the sister standing in front of her. It is not clear however, if this photograph specifically is a piece of archival material from Benitah’s personal collection or a piece she rescued from a flea market. Benitah’s decision to use gold leaf with this project, instead of her signature red stitch, is significant in the way that the photographs featured in this series, which she purchased for a low price “change status by a simple gesture: the application of gold leaf on the photograph” (Benitah, 2019). In addition to this, Benitah also uses this this new material as a tool to allow the audience a retrospective experience, as a result of the new properties gold leaf provides “The golden flat surface operates both as an obliteration and a shiny surface on which our own faces are reflected” (Benitah, 2019). This piece of work is similar to the previous image analysed in the way that both are dealing with a struggle for love and attention from a youthful perspective inside a family. In addition, the relationship between sisters is emphasised in both images with at least one receiving a higher standard of appreciation than another, from what it appears. Furthermore, their physical similarities are also prominent due to both original images being taken on black and white film, meaning they are dated and may reference issues that have now been solved for Benitah or at least something she has able to have come to terms with through this work. Although, the differences between the two are also substantial from their use of different mediums alone, with the red stitching representing elements of pain whilst the gold leaf represents a sense of self-reflection. This may be a result of Benitah’s personal growth and healing through her progression in this style of work, and the relief it has brought her.  

Overall, it is clear that Benitah uses the alterations of archival photographs as a method in better understanding her own personal identity, as well as using it as a form of self-expression. This is evident throughout many series she has produced, using both her own and others family memories to construct a new narrative, that demolishes the ideals of a perfect family and the notion that we must present this façade to the world through family portraiture. Here Benitah has been able to come to terms with the truth of her past as well as react to the lies that were told through these photographs, on behalf of her childhood self. My work that I will produce for my personal study, will resemble many of the elements seen in Benitah’s. One of which being the retelling of the truth, through alterations made to archived family images of my own. The aim in developing these pieces, will be to highlight how the production of these past images were often a way of holding onto the supposed perfection of the past, which never existed. However, I will also be using new photographs of my own to reject the notion that photographs must be made for this reason, therefore reinforcing Susan Sontag’s statement on how photography is used to produce memories “A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it” (Sontag 1977: 9). This means my new photographs will attempt to counteract the untold truths in the archived images.  

Literary Sources

Sontag. S (1971), On Photography. London: Penguin Books

Colberg. J (May 28, 2012) Photography and Memory. [online] Available at: http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory/

Tate. Modernism. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/modernism

Tate. Dada. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/dada

Benitah, C. (2017). Photo Souvenirs. [online] Available at: https://www.carolle-benitah.com/copie-de-07-installations-photo-sou

Benitah, C. (2019). Jamais je ne t’oublierai. [online] Available at: https://www.carolle-benitah.com/copie-de-jamais-je-ne-t-oublierai

Independent, Reading, Task

Personal Study – Essay Introduction

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How can the medium of photography interrogate the notion of adopted hypermasculinity by individuals who are part of a sporting community, specifically rugby?

Statement of Intent

My projects central focus will be around the complex idea of identity. I want to explore this theme through emotional and aesthetically consistent imagery and videography. I am going to hone in on something close to me to explore the idea of identity. I want to examine the sport of rugby. I have been playing rugby for Jerseys rugby team for a number of years and have been playing the sport since a young child which will give my project the aspect of an insider documentation. I want to explore how a team conducts themselves as a whole and the notion of finding identity within a team.

Jersey Reds mini rugby coaching Sunday session Picture: MIKE KENEALY

However the main focal point of my project will hone in on one person to explore their identity. In this way I want to focus on the idea of identity in terms of ideologies of masculinity and also the idea of escapism. I believe this is important to explore; growing up rugby has always been a sport that carries with it many stereotypical notions. 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. With my project I want to explore a rugby player who resembles the stereotypical Viking-like nature of rugby players and strip the ideological walls down and explore a real identity not just the face value aspect of ones identity. I have already began collecting images that represent begin to explore this idea.

Essay Plan

Opening Quote – “The whole point of photographing people is that you are not intervening in their lives, only visiting them. The photographer is a supertourist, an extension of the anthropologist.” – Diane Arbus

Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Documentary photography centred around exploring the theme of identity. Which artists will you be analysing and why? Doug Dubois, his narrative style and inspiration around documentary photography and capturing the emotion of a subject. Tom Jenkins for his technical ability regarding sports photography. How will you be responding to their work and essay question? Through the medium of photography. Specifically a photobook, in which a narrative response is presented through the use of an essay and sequential imagery.

Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=41508&action=edit Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=41621&action=edit

Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Subject interrogation, intimate aesthetic and the idea of documenting individuals. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42398&action=edit

Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Sportsman, masculinity ideologies, uncovering deeper meaning and art of war. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42398&action=edit

Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced

Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Essay Draft

Identity/ʌɪˈdɛntɪti/noun 1.the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. It is often stated that one does not have a true identity and that identity is something constructed by an individuals 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”. My study will be exploring convoluted themes surrounding the idea of identity. These themes will be developed through the medium of photography and 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. 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 his narrative focused approach to photography as well as the straight aesthetic and ability to capture a subjects exact emotion in his work as well as analysing the importance of pictorialism and its role in challenging discourses. I have also chosen to look at a sports photographer by the name of Tom Jenkins. This is because of his technical ability to capture sports as well as his ability to challenge stereotypical ideologies associated with rugby and being able to capture a more beautiful side of the sport.

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. This movement was a break-away from pictorialism which focused on the establishing photography as an art form rather than a way of documentation. Pictorialism 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. 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 of the pioneers of photographic realism, Paul Strand and Jaromir Funke. These two images give insight into how realism was introduced into the medium of photography.

  • Paul Strand
  • Jaromir Funke

Pauls 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. His 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.

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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 Jeff 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.

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Quote from David Company’s So Present, so invisible
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-19.png
Quote from 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.
Jeff Wall’s perspective of photography and 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”.

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”. 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, plays of light and texture.

My Last Day at Seventeen - Photographs and text by Doug DuBois | LensCulture
My Last Day at Seventeen - Photographs and text by Doug DuBois | LensCulture
My Last Day at Seventeen - Photographs and text by Doug DuBois | LensCulture
My Last Day at Seventeen - Photographs and text by Doug DuBois | LensCulture
My Last Day at Seventeen - Photographs and text by Doug DuBois | LensCulture
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” .

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 unique shape.

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 not a tableaux encounter, meaning the image is not ‘staged’ for the most part. This complex, yet natural 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”. This approach of documentary photography will be the direction my personal investigation will follow in order to answer my hypothesis.

Independent, Reading, Resource, Task

Essay Plan/Development

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1. Literary Sources

  1. Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, YouTube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references.

    Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz http://www.hannakatrina.co.uk/oldstone/4uo4oflfjpc32v23aptblqq4ym1scm
    https://academy.wedio.com/documentary-photographers-in-london/ (Second Paragraph)

    Robert Adams
    Turning Back – Study on a single place.

    Richard Misrach
    Petrochemical America – includes history of the area, geological diagrams, and plans of the drilling routes.

    Images (Societe Jersiaise)
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110028439
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110029905
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110030527
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110030719
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110031503
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110016302
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110004577
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110005322
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110003987
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110035835
    http://photographic-archive.societe-jersiaise.org/Details/archive/110024737

  2. Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
    https://thesouthwestcollective.co.uk/interview-with-photographer-hanna-katrina-jedrosz/
  3. It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
  4. Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages.
    Photojournalism, environment
  5. Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography

Why should you reference?

  1. To add academic support for your work
  2. To support or disprove your argument
  3. To show evidence of reading
  4. To help readers locate your sources
  5. To show respect for other people’s work
  6. To avoid plagiarism
  7. To achieve higher marks

2. Essay Question

How can photography capture and record an environment, and accurately depict its atmosphere?

How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?

3. Essay Plan

  1. Essay question:
  2. Opening quote
  3. Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
  4. Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. 
  5. Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  6. Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  7. Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
  8. Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

4. Essay Introduction

  1. Open a new Word document > SAVE AS: Essay draft
  2. Copy essay question into Essay title: Hypothesis > if you don’t have one yet, make one!
    How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?
  3. Copy your essay introduction (from Essay Plan) which will give you a framework to build upon and also copy your Statement of Intent.

STATE OF INTENT
My idea is to make a photobook in which I explore the area Bouley Bay, overall I want to capture the activity, views, and close ups of key feature such as rocks, shells, heritage, the hill climb, and the bay. I could also look into the history of the bay and the Jersey Folklore, involving the Black Dog.

It is important to me as I grew up in that area, and have many memories of it. And I hope to capture it in the same way in which remember it.
I wish to develop my project by exploring the bay and collecting lots of objects to photograph in a studio, and also to take long exposure, aerial, and underwater of the bay, as I have been inspired by many photographers, such as, Martin J Patterson (@ mjplandscapes on Instagram), Jaun Munoz (@ drjuanmdc on Instagram), and David Aguilar (@ davidaguilar_photo). Using these images I can look into topics such as, beach pollution, environment and beach life. Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz and Barron Bixler have studied environments, so it would be interesting to analyse them and their work.Identify 2 quotes from sources identified in an earlier task using Harvard System of Referencing.

4. Use one quote as an opening quote: Choose a quote from either one of your photographers or critics. It has to be something that relates to your investigation.

You say that you are “interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” Could you please elaborate on what this means to you as a photographer and how it influences you’re thinking when picture making?

1.

“This is about how I experience and encounter a place, and I feel that’s important to me when I’m taking photographs. I listen as much as look and am emotionally present when I photograph.”

In-text citation: (Isle, 2019)

Refrence: “I am interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” Jędrosz, H.K. (2019) Isle. Avaible at: https://www.isle-stories.co.uk/hanna-jedrosz (Accessed: 12 January 2022).

Foreworld – 9
Truth and landscape – 11
Beauty in photography – 21

2.

“With the help of a camera we can recognize and enjoy an unnamed New Mexican mesa or the Delaware Water Gap. Although we are not as naive as we once were about the accuracy of the pictures, we continue to value them initially as reminders of what is out there, of what is distinct from us.” page 14 beauty of photography

3.

“f64 is the smallest aperture available on most view camera lenses; by its use the depth of focus is maximized, and the most precise possible rendering of detail is achieved.” page 27

4.

“For a picture to be beautiful it does not have to be shocking, but it must in some significant respect be unlike what has preceded it (this is why an artist cannot afford to be ignorant of the tradition within his medium). p27

5.

“A photographer can describe a better world only by better seeing the world as it is in front of him.” p 26

5. Add sources to Bibliograpphy

6. Begin to write a paragraph (250-500 words) answering the following questions below.

Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. Or think more philosophically about the nature of photography and its feeble relationship with reality.
You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g.
What are you going to investigate.
How does this area/ work interest you?
What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument?
Whose work (artists/photographers) are you analysing and why?
What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against.
What links are there with your previous studies?
What have you explored so far in your Coursework or how are you going to respond photographically?
How did or will your work develop.
What camera skills, techniques or digital processes (post-production) have or are you going to experiment with?

Essay Introduction Draft

How can photography capture and explore an environment, and accurately record it’s atmosphere to a viewer?

Introduction

“I am interested in the influence of place, and the shape of it around us, as we follow in the footsteps of those who came before.” (anna-Katrina Jędrosz, Isle, 2019).

Environmental documentary photographer Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz said this is how she experienced and encountered a place. She is an influential photographer to my project as I’m studying the environment surrounding Bouley Bay in Jersey. I plan to investigate different features, like Fort Leicester, the Islet, and boats, and other elements of the bay through different methods of photography, such as long exposure, aerial photography, and minimalistic close ups in a studio. This location is especially important to me as I grew up in that area, and regularly went to the beach in the summer. There are many memories that brings cheerfulness, for-instance meeting my friends at the pontoon in the bay, and many barbeques in the hot summer evening. I know this area extremely well and is relishing the opportunity to explore it from different perspectives and viewpoints. Using a selection of photos I have produced, I plan to prove that using photography you can accuracy depict an environment in detail. I plan to look at photographers Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz and Robert Adams as they document landscape environments well in in a clear way that captures the area in detail. I am using historical context of the bay from the Societe Jersiaise, because they have images and in-depth information on the history of the bay, which I can use in my project to juxtapose time. There are a few links to my pervious projects, such as the Anthropocene project, and how I linked it to water pollution by capturing images around Bouley Bay, which I used to create a photo manipulation from in Photoshop. I have also taken photos at Bouley Bay in other projects, for example, long exposure of the mini waterfall, and a slow shutter speed of waves crashing on the rocks near the L’Islet. For my current project I would like to develop long exposure photography of the bay, and it’s smaller features, also aerial photography to capture unique angles that showcases the bay that aren’t accessible to the average beachgoer. It would be displayed via a photobook that consists of images of the bay, the history of the bay and, images relating to the bay. All of the images that I will use in the photobook I will edit them in Photoshop, mainly using the camera-raw filter as it works extremely will since I only shot in RAW which, produces a .CR2 image. This helps me bring back shadows, highlights, and colour in post production as there is greater dynamic range. Compared to a JPEG file which uses compressed data as there is less information in the image file, so recovering and editing the images is more challenging. The processes I use the most in Photoshop are gradual and radial filters, spot healing brushes, and the clone stamp tool.

Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography, visual and popular culture

There are four main art movements and isms in photography and, they are, Pictorialism, Realism/Straight Photography , Modernism, and Post-Modernism. I plan to look at modernism, creating images inspired by Robert Adams and, Ansel Adams.

Firstly, pictorialism was most popular in the time period 1880-1920, and the goal of it was to make photographs look like art, and to make them look handmade. There were many methods of creating this effect. The main two ways were to rub Vaseline on the camera lens to blur parts of the picture. Scratch the negative, and use chemicals to create an interesting print, information from The Genius of Photography. (Archive, 2007). Alfred Stieglitz was later dubbed Hill “the father of pictorial photography” and featured his and Adamson’s photographs in his publications and at the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession in 1906. (TheArtStory, 2018).

Realism and Straight photography was effective approximately around the time period 1915, and its purpose was to use the photographic medium and it’s ability to provide accurate and descriptive records of the visual world, information from The Genius of Photography. (Archive, 2007). Gustave Courbet was the first artist to self-consciously proclaim and practice the realist aesthetic. After his huge canvas The Studio (1854–55) was rejected by the Exposition Universelle of 1855. (Britannica, 2020).

MT: You need to redo the way you reference sources as it doesn’t make sense. Use Harvard system of referencing

Modernism is what relates to my project the most, and I what Robert Adams fits into, as he is most know for taking photos of the American West, which is the same objective that Ansel Adams had, who is considered the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century. (Britannica, 2020).

MT: explain the difference between Ansel Adams and Robert Adams. They are both environmentalists and use photography as a tool to highlight areas of the natural world that they care about. However Ansel focuses his lens of nature beauty and produce romanticised images, compared to Robert who photograph the man-made world in the American West.

Modernism is characterised intellectually by a belief that science could save the world and that, through reason, a foundation of universal truths could be established. The common trend was to seek answers to fundamental questions about the nature of art and human experience. (The Genius of Photography, 2007)

Finally, Postmodernism is the newest art movement and ism, and it has been in placed since the second half of the 20th century. Postmodernism is relativism, and it is the belief that no society or culture is more important than any other. It explores power and the way economic and social forces exert that power by shaping the identities of individuals and entire cultures. (The Genius of Photography, 2007). There are many examples of post-modernistic art, however the most recognised founder of the Postmodernism movement is Jacques Lacan, who was a prominent French psychoanalyst and theorist. His ideas had a huge impact on critical theory in the twentieth century and were particularly influential on post-structuralist philosophy and the development of postmodernism. (Tate, 2017)

MT: provide an example of a postmodern work of art – within contemporary photography. For example, Jeff Wall

Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz.

The first photographer I’ve decided to study is Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz. She is a photographer who does documentary work with places, people and the environment in focus. In 2017 she did a photo series on the Rummu quarry. It stands as a remnant of the cold war. She highlighted the recent trials of refurbishing the area into something more beneficial to the nearby society. (Academy, 2021). This links with my study on a geographical point, such as Bouley Bay. I can study how Jędrosz has captured the quarry in a way which makes the viewer see the historical value of the site, before it is destroyed. Jędrosz uses several photographs from different vantage points to represent the location. Doing so she creates unique and interesting angles that reflects the areas age and emotion. The shots consist of a variety of close ups of walls with iron rods in them, barbed wire fences vanishing into the horizon and, a low squatted building on a frozen lake. All of the images have been shot during winter, and what seems to be a single photoshoot. This gives the collection of images a general look, which is a cold atmosphere, however it would have been nice to see the location in different seasonal states, as it would have give the quarry a whole different look. Although, after research, this aproach of showing the area in different lighting, seasons and, moods goes against Jędrosz’s way of work as this question in an interview was asked, “What influenced your photography?”, and she replied, “The people and places I photograph have the biggest influence on my photography. I try not to impose too much, and to respond to what’s happening in front of me in a genuine way, to make photographs that are a documentation of an encounter.” (Academy, 2021). This is evidence that Jędrosz likes to capture the initial, untouched environment, and how she doesn’t want to manipulate the location, as it wouldn’t produce an authentic image. This would take some of the meaning away from the final image. These are my two favourite images from the Rummu Quarry photo collection.

The image on the left is my favourite image. It shows the area in a wider perspective, and Jędrosz has made an extremely powerful composition by including small hints of the side of the cliff, which creates depth to draw the eye into the middle of the image, where the building is located. The spacing between the building and the land is mostly consistent, which adds to create a visually appealing composition. The building having the same colours as the rocky cliffs around it means that the blue, frozen ice emphasis the focus on the building. The blue ice constructs a balance between the light blue, hazed sky, which makes the viewer notice the brown areas more, this is because blue and brown are the main two colours in this image. Overall, the vantage point Jędrosz has taken this image from and inspired me to use high pinot to take images from to get the aerial photo type look.

The photo on the right is extremely different to the other image. It doesn’t show the general area that is surrounded by miles of trees, instead it show the security measures in place and provides a more realistic representation of what it would of been like to work at the quarry when it was open during the rein of the Soviet Union. The meaning changes when you look into the historical context of the quarry. “The workers were drawn from the near by Rummu Prison” (Hanna-Katrina, 2010?). Knowing that prisoners use to work at the quarry creates links to the barbed wire fences, and the graffiti, which could have been done by the released prisoners or street artists.

Robert Adams

The second photographer I have decided to study is Robert Adams, as he is a photographer who has documented the extent and the limits of our damage to the American West, recording it in over fifty books of pictures, both reasons to despair and to hope. (Fraenkel Gallery, 2012) His work is very well known and he fits into the modernism art movement, as his photos embrace its social, political and aesthetic potential, experimenting with light, perspective and developing?, as well as new subjects and abstraction. (Tate, 2016). Adams study on the American West link to my project in the same way that Jędrosz’s work does. This is through the study of an environment within an area. After reading a small section in Robert Adams book, “Beauty in Photography”, Adams describes how an image is meaningful even if it isnt the best image in the world. “For a picture to be beautiful it does not have to be shocking, but it must in some significant respect be unlike what has preceded it (this is why an artist cannot afford to be ignorant of the tradition within his medium). This is quote is from Adams influential book Beauty in Photography (which provides a theory on his approach to landscape photography), and it means Adams feels that for an image to be good it must be different and unique compared to what other people have captured. These are two of his photographs that I picked from a wide range of Adams work in Western America.

These two images where both taken by Robert Adams. The image on the left shows temporary caravan housing which contrasts with the mountain in the background, as the rectangular lines on the caravans clash with the smooth nature lines from the mountains on the horizon. The bottom half of the image being congested creates a busy, active, loud atmosphere that creates a conflict in emotion with the tranquil, clam, peaceful mountains and clear sky. Despite the cameras not being as advanced, this image is very clear and contains lots of details.

The image on the right is a more zoomed in shot to create a deeper personal connection. This effect is achieved by focusing in on the drive way of the house. The image is slightly under exposed, which makes the highlights more noticeable, therefore making the car a focus point. Adams commonly makes the 50/50 split in the image rather than using the rule of thirds, but in both of these image it works out well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Jędrosz and Adams capture an environment in detail and, they accurately recreate the atmosphere as if the viewer was there. The main similarities between both photographers, is that they both include a wide variety of shots from the same location to provide more infomation about the place. For example, a wide angle view of the location, and a close up shot of objects in the environment. On the other hand the main difference is that Adams shoots in black and white, where as Jędrosz shoots in colour. MT explain what effect the difference between monochrome and colour has on landscape images.

Another difference is that Adams composition in his images seem more precise, compared to Jędrosz. The main reason I think this happened is because Adams has to setup a massive tripod and allow a lot of time to take the image (MT Adams uses a large-format camera which is much slower to operate and can only make one exposure at a time – research this in more detail)

, whereas Jędrosz uses a digital camera, so she can quickly and efficacy capture images. Both photographers capture different environments in their own style, and affectively showcase a whole geological location in just a few images.

MT, Overall I feel the essay has a lot of potential, but you have not done enough research, especially around Robert Adams. You need to discuss more details and bring in different points of view. There are many interviews with Adams and many reviews of his work. For Jędrosz you need to reflect on her work in relation to how contemporary photographers work within a documentary landscape tradition.

Read this article and incorporate into your analysis

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo17ase/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2017/07/David_Bate_The_Art_of_the_Document.pdf

Structure, swap paragraph between Adams and Hanna. He is first (historical) and she is last (contemporary)

Read two articles on Modernism vs Postmodernism and include references in your first paragraphs.

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Stephen-Bulger_Photographs-as-art_Pictorialism_Modernism_Postmodernism.pdf

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Photograph-as-document_modern-and-postmodern-debates.pdf

Bibliography

Jędrosz, H.K. (2019) Isle. Available at: https://www.isle-stories.co.uk/hanna-jedrosz (Accessed: 12 January 2022).

The Genius of Photography. (2007) Available at: https://archive.org/details/tGoPhoto (Accessed: 30 January 2022)

Anonymous. (2018) TheArtStory. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/pictorialism/ (Accessed: 30 January 2022)

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “realism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/art/realism-art. Accessed 30 January 2022.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Ansel Adams”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ansel-Adams-American-photographer. Accessed 30 January 2022.

Tate, “Postmodernism” Tate. (2017) Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/postmodernism (Accessed: 30 January 2022)

Academy, “Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz”, Academy. (2021) Available at: https://academy.wedio.com/documentary-photographers-in-london/#2-hanna-katrina-jędrosz (Accessed: 30 January 2022)

Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz, “Rummu Quarry”, Hanna-Katrina. (2010?) available at: http://www.hannakatrina.co.uk/oldstone/sdgtnd6c7vm0n20r5ggsqxm2ypx7hx (Accessed: 31 January 2022)

Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz photo (Left): http://www.hannakatrina.co.uk/oldstone/rxrz38mskho1qqik5jgu89qm038f6d

Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz photo (Right): http://www.hannakatrina.co.uk/oldstone/ixspoh80iz62t8aslein3hsqgsq5tv

Fraenkel Gallery, “Robert Adams”, Fraenkel Gallery. (2012) Available at: https://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/robert-adams (Accessed: 31 January 2022)

Tate, “Modernist Photography”, Tate. (2016) Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/photography/a-z (Accessed: 31 January 2022)

Adams, R (2005) Beauty in Photography. Aperture; 2nd Revised ed. edition (June 15, 2005)

Robert Adams Photo (Houses/Left): https://www.google.com/search?q=Robert+Adams+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJE982JE982&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj538ncodz1AhWPQEEAHZeDCpgQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1&surl=1#imgrc=A4-HKkh00u4fPM

Robert Adams Photo (Car/Right) https://www.google.com/search?q=Robert+Adams+photos&safe=active&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJE982JE982&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj538ncodz1AhWPQEEAHZeDCpgQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1&surl=1#imgrc=aVnrgzYwWffsHM

Independent, Reading, Task

Personal Study – Essay Plan

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Essay Plan

Opening Quote – “The whole point of photographing people is that you are not intervening in their lives, only visiting them. The photographer is a supertourist, an extension of the anthropologist.” – Diane Arbus

Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Documentary photography centred around exploring the theme of identity. Which artists will you be analysing and why? Doug Dubois, his narrative style and inspiration around documentary photography and capturing the emotion of a subject. Tom Jenkins for his technical ability regarding sports photography. How will you be responding to their work and essay question? Through the medium of photography. Specifically a photobook, in which a narrative response is presented through the use of an essay and sequential imagery.

Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=41508&action=edit Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=41621&action=edit

Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Subject interrogation, intimate aesthetic and the idea of documenting individuals. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42398&action=edit

Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Sportsman, masculinity ideologies, uncovering deeper meaning and art of war. https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42398&action=edit

Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced

Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Reading, Task

Essay 1

1 Comment

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

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Personal Study – Literary Sources

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Photographer Matt Day’s analysis on Doug Dubois ‘All the Days and Nights’

This analysis gives a second opinion on one of my artist inspirations for my personal Study, Doug Dubois.

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42398&action=edit

By studying this analysis, it allows a broader scope of interpretation of Doug’s work to be considered rather than my own biased opinion.

Matt Day uses Dubois’ work to talk about the responsibility photographers carry, specifically the role of considering what story you are trying to tell. Matt talks about how the sequence of a foreword from Donald Antrim followed by the photographic progressive arrangement concluded by the afterword by Doug himself created a huge impact and delivered emotion effectively. This is something I want to perfect by including an essay and a sequential photographic arrangement in my personal study to also effectively entice emotion from an audience. Matt talks about the effectiveness of Doug’s method of shooting over a long period of time in terms of bettering a narrative. The introduction talks about the role of a memoirist in terms of documentation and how photo selection, especially when shooting over a long period of time, plays a role in how we understand a story. He talks about the use of light alongside the detail of the subjects facial expression that Doug uses to capture a mood.

NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction – Pg 70 -76 Tzvetan Todarov – Structural analysis of narrative

Tzvetan Todarov was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He was the author of many books and essays, which have had a significant influence in anthropology, sociology, semiotics, literary theory, intellectual history and culture theory. I want to apply his work on narratology to my personal study. His study’s on the structural analysis of narrative would be beneficial to apply to my project as I want to emphasise an impactful narrative through the medium of photography. Todarov states that all effective narratives share a structure that involves movement of one state of equilibrium to another. He describes the notion that two states of equilibrium are separated by a disruption in the narrative. Referencing my photo-shoot-plans I have implemented this idea of disrupted equilibrium – https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42513&action=edit. This idea is also presented by Kurt Vonnegut – Shape of a story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ

Useful Quote from this piece of literature:

“The object of our study must be narrative mood, or point of view, or sequence, and not this or that story in and for itself. […] The minimal complete plot can be seen as the shift from one equilibrium to another. This term “equilibrium,” which I am borrowing from genetic psychology, means the existence of a stable but not static relation between the members of a society; it is a social law, a rule of the game, a particular system of exchange. The two moments of equilibrium, similar and different, are separated by a period of imbalance, which is composed of a process of degeneration and a process of improvement.”

Judith Butler – Gender trouble

Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.

Her work on the gender performativity theory is what I am interested in. This theory presents the idea that “identity is performatively constructed by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results (it is manufactured through a set of acts)”. This can be applied to my project where I will be documenting an individual struggling with performing identity in different environments, overall aiding in answering: How can the medium of photography interrogate the notion of adopted hypermasculinity by individuals who are part of a sporting community, specifically rugby? Judith describes gender as a social construct – masculine and feminine are created through repetition.

“To operate within the matrix of
power is not the same as to replicate uncritically relations of domination.”
― Judith Butler, Gender Trouble

“As a result, gender is not to culture as sex is to nature; gender is
also the discursive/cultural means by which “sexed nature” or “a natural
sex” is produced and established as “prediscursive,” prior to culture,
a politically neutral surface on which culture acts”
― Judith Butler, Gender Trouble

Other Useful Sources:

Documentary Photography https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo17ase/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2017/07/Documentary-Photography.pdf

Ethical questions regarding the photographer’s position of being inside or outside from PhotoPedagogy.

https://www.photopedagogy.com/insideout.html

“On the one hand, we frequently assume authenticity and truth to be located on the inside (the truth of the subject), and, at the same time, we routinely – culturally – locate and define objectivity (as in repertorial, journalistic or juridical objectivity) in conditions of exteriority, of noncomplication.”
​– Abigail Solomon-Godeau

https://www.photopedagogy.com/uploads/5/0/0/9/50097419/week_5_abigail_solomon-godeau_inside_out.pdf

“The whole point of photographing people is that you are not intervening in their lives, only visiting them. The photographer is a supertourist, an extension of the anthropologist.” – Diane Arbus

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deconstructing photobook

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  • Book in hand: Raised by Wolves – Jim Goldberg
  • Paper and ink: a bit bigger than an A4
  • Format, size and orientation: Portraiture with 315 pages
  • Binding: hard cover: image wrap with PUR binding
  • Cover: graphic – outline of a woman’s head with a red background and a black and white image of a man – the woman’s head appears to be the main focal point of this book since it is quite a big outline compared to the rest of the images. This suggests how this book might be talking about how when women are raised by men it feels as though they’re being raised by wolves since they’re quite more violent than women.
  • Title: Raised by wolves – enforces the idea of youthful sin
  • Narrative: The Narrative appears to be about a series of mistreated children telling their testimonies / story of how they’re parents treated them. For example, the most impactful image to me in the book was of this woman’s torso with a healed gunshot wound and, the writing next to it says, “My mom was a 15 ye old junkie s**t who i ain’t never seen – My old man is a biker from hell – the f****ed up a**hole shot me in the gut when i was 10 yrs old – aint gone home since or had one.” This powerfully shows how this woman did not have a pleasant father which clearly enforces the theme of the title, “Raised by Wolves.” This being said, the purpose of the book seems to make sure that people are not alone, to give hope to people who are going through similar events.
  • The artists has successfully done this by making the book a sort of anecdote. It begins with childhood pictures, and a bit of narrative text suggesting that parents were arguing and/or that the child didn’t feel like she had a family. This is because, when in the book she recalls a journey where she climbed a tree and her parents were spectating, she says that “that was the only time I can remember us being a real family.” Having done this, the artist is sharing their story causing the reader and viewer to feel sympathy because we are seeing the artists in a different way and feeling sorry for the artist and if the story sounds familiar to some, it will make the viewer feel hopeful because the artist has gone through stressful, upsetting events but managed to get past them.
  • The book then moves on to show, what looks like the same or similar girl grownup, but the images make the viewer feel protective this time. For example, one image is of an old man behind a gate, just staring at us causing fear since we are thinking, “What’s going to happen?” and then it moves to a picture of a man neck kissing a blonde girl who looks quite uncomfortable. These images being portrayed in the way they are, one after the other, may produce the idea that women are being taken advantage of by creepy men at times and the artists has produced this book to raise awareness.
  • Design and layout: images vary as there are a few polaroids
  • Editing and sequencing: he juxtaposes raw black-and-white images of diurnal life in harbours, on the thoroughfares, in conventions, and in sleazy hospices with rosy filmland from their nonwage, filmland that frequently disguise the brutality numerous of these teens endured at home. Goldberg portrays with shocking candour the varied aspects of the runaways’ actuality IV medicine use, teen gestation, battle scars ( similar as rotting teeth, lesions, the disfiguring scar that covers Dave’s stomach, or another boy’s vacant eye socket), and death. Eventually, there seems to be little stopgap for these kids, although Goldberg does them a great service then by fastening on their plight and giving them voice.
Independent, Task

Essay Plan

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Essay Question

In what way does Carole Benitah explore family archives through her work as a method of understanding identity and self expression?

Introduction Draft

“Photographs thus are not just manufactured memories, they are also expressions of our desire to hold on to something.” (Colberg, J, May 28, 2012) 

This extract from the thoughts of Jörg Colberg highlights the topics in which I will discuss in this essay; questioning also how Carole Benitah in particular, explores these past memories in attempt to gain a wider knowledge of her identity. This investigation of identity through archival images resonates with myself, as within this personal study I wish to revisit past memories of the senior generation in my family, in attempt to argue that these depictions often do not recount the whole truth of the past and are in fact a method of regaining control of our identity. Carolle Benitah is an archetype for reshaping the past through the manipulation and reworking of archival materials, due to her emotional attachment to the images and people within them. Furthermore, I am also choosing to look at Bentiah’s work in detail as a result of her multi-media methods she undertakes, in order to create her contemporary commentary of the idealistic family in contrast with reality, using stitching, gold leaf, ink drawings and beading to achieve this. This utilisation of mulit-medias by Benitah can be linked with my previous work throughout the course, such as my use of maps in digital collages for an identity project and recent experimentations with embroidery. I intend to respond to this unique style again, in regard to my personal study by producing reworked images of my family, that centre around my maternal grandparents and the life they have built, that have been both archived and recently captured. The style in which these new photographs will be created, will be mostly staged tableau pieces, with some candid images also. I will achieve this also by using multiple medias, similar to Benitah, such as stitching as well as digital collage.  

Paragraph 1

  • 500 words
  • Historical context of family photography and its development
  • Photography in relation to memory and identity
  • Link to contemporary art movement and influence from movements such as Dadaism

Paragraph 2

  • 500 words
  • Analysis of an image from Carolle Benitah’s photobook ‘Photo Souvenirs’ in relation to identity, self-expression and memory
  • Explain the significance of the use of red stitching and beading in her work

Paragraph 3

  • 500 words
  • Analysis of an image from Carolle Benitah’s photo series ‘Jamais je ne t’oubliera’ (I Will Never Forget You) in comparison to the previous image, and in relation to to identity, self-expression and memory
  • Explain the significance of the use of gold leaf in her work

Conclusion

  • 500 words
  • Link similarities between Carolle Bentiah and my own work
  • Explain also how my work differs from Benitah

Literary Sources

Carolle Benitah

  1. https://www.carolle-benitah.com/bio
  • “I decided to explore the memory of childhood through my family photographs, because it allows me to understand who I am and to define my identity today.”
  • “The past of a human being, unlike the remains of some ancient temple, is neither fixed nor reconstituted but finished by this”
  • “It’s like an exorcism. I pierce the paper until I have no more evil.
  •  “I transform my traces of the past.”
  • “I’m building a fantasy album like a crossing of appearances where I enjoy demolish the myth of the ideal family to let emerge a more nuanced picture”
  • “The past of a human being, unlike the remains of some ancient temple, is neither fixed nor reconstituted but finished by this”

2. https://lecube-art.com/artiste/carolle-benitah/?lang=en

I use the falsely decorative function of embroidery to create designs that break the images of happiness and deconstruct the myth of the ideal family.

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

  • “To look at a photograph is to look at the past”
  • “photographs are more perfect memories, because we are given more power to control our past”
  • “photographs are manufactured memories”
  • “Photographs thus are not just manufactured memories, they are also expressions of our desire to hold on to something.”

Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory Marianne Hirsch (Harvard University Press 1997)

  • “Barhes connects photography not just to life but to life-giving” (p20)

On Photography, Susan Sontag (Penguin Books, London, 1977)

  • “Through photographs, each family constructs a portrait chronicle of itself – a portable kit of images that bears witness to its connectedness.” (p8)
  • “photography came along to memorialize, to restate symbolically, the imperilled continuity and vanishing extendednedd of family life.” (p9)
  • “A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it” (p9)
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Personal Investigation – Statement of Intent

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Identity Mind-map

Identity Moodboard

Write a Statement of Intent that clearly contextualises;
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?
Make sure you describe your chosen theme (IDENTITY & COMMUNITY), subject-matter (topic, issue), artists (inspirations, references) and final outcome (photobook, film).

Statement Of Intent

The discussion of teenager’s mental health is growing in everyday society, some disregard it and some understand it’s increasing prominence; I wish to create a study on the theme ‘Identity’ surrounding the topic of anxiety. I have personally suffered from generalised anxiety disorder from a young age, it has always been a part of my life and I am still learning to deal and live with it, however it is not something I am ashamed of. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that I am not alone on this journey, many of my friends and family are also affected by it so can understand and help each other through any days or moments in life that are particularly difficult. I really want to use photography as a medium to explore how I have coped with anxiety throughout my life, focusing on the idea of finding safety and comfort in certain places around my home, family member’s homes and areas around the island that have always made me feel less anxious. The whole concept of anxiety has been quite normalised in today’s society, having both positive and negative effects, as some feel less alone while others feel less seen. Highlighting this topic, by studying the positive areas of life where I have felt most safe, is very important to me; what matters to me most is creating a truthful display on a personal topic. My ideas for the development of this project are to capture some still life images around my home, using windows in many compositions with reflections of sunlight being a reminder of hope. An artist that has interested me while researching this type of imagery is Daniel Blaufuks, whose are naturalistic yet orchestrated scenes in his images hold questions around memories and nostalgia. Additionally, I have really connected with the work of Robert Darch and his project ‘Vale’, where he documents rooms in and around his home that he has lived in isolation with throughout his struggles with illness. I would really like to develop my project by taking inspiration from Darch’s photography, possibly capturing moments of countryside walks I would go on when feeling anxious during lockdown or visiting the woodlands I would explore as a child – highlighting the idea of ‘escaping reality’ through made up stories and games to keep my mind away from getting worried or scared. I aim for my final outcome to be a photobook that is able to capture and focus on the positive memories dealing with anxiety, where I’ve felt safe and loved by those around me while also showing moments of fear and realism to contrast.

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Personal Study – Planning

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Story

Expose, Masculinity, Identity

Hone in on the identity of a rugby player a part of a team and explore more intimate sides of his life overall telling the story of how identity shifts and how true personality is hard to find.

Begins with introducing a rugby team and sets the scene in terms of the aesthetic qualities of the individuals that belong to this community. The narrative then begins to explore one person in this community acting as a part of this setting. After the introduction of this character the story begins to reveal more about this character such as what car he drives, where he lives, and his other interests. It then begins to tell the story about an emotional side of the character. This will begin by delving into the idea of a façade that the character has adopted. It will break into ideas of a hidden sadness and forced masculinity. The story will conclude with this façade being emphasised as the character is seen back in the original setting.

The story will be told through sequentially ordered and aesthetically thought out images along with the addition of captions and an essay that responds to a question this narrative poses.

Shoot 1:

What – Rugby team, individual player as pert of a team environment

Where – Jersey Reds Rugby Club

Why – To introduce the main subject of the project and give vewier insight into his identity as a part of a rugby team

How – Close focus, high detail, fast shutter speed

When – at a evening training session

Shoot 2 :

What – Shoot the subject in a more intimate way to explore his individual identity away from other people. Shoot his house, his car, his family etc

When – During the whole day, a Sunday where he is at home

How – interrogate the subject by his use of central framing and and neutrally arranged compositions. crisp detail while laying down a blanket of warm hues used to accentuate gestural echoes, emotion, plays of light and texture.

Why – It then begins to tell the story about an emotional side of the character. This will begin by delving into the idea of a façade that the character has adopted.

Where – Subject house

Shoot 3

What – The subject back in a social environment at the pub with his teammates

When – during a social event

Why – façade being emphasised as the character is seen back in the original setting.

How – interrogate the subject by his use of central framing and and neutrally arranged compositions. crisp detail while laying down a blanket of warm hues used to accentuate gestural echoes, emotion, plays of light and texture.

Where – at a local pub