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Personal Study – Final Essay on Photo Therapy

April 7, 2022 Sophie M Leave a comment

In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek used their photography as a form of therapy?

“Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.” – Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977.

The concept of escapism; the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, running away to a world where sorrows are only distant memories. Photographers Robert Darch and Josef Sudek explore this idea within their work, questioning how they can use photography as a form of therapy to convey their mental/physical illness through still-lives and landscapes. The use of photo therapy has grown substantially in recent years, pioneers of the style Rosy Martin and Jo Spence have worked together since 1984 exploring its concepts and benefits. In ‘The Photography Reader; Liz Wells’, a collection of essays from Martin and Spence describe how “out of the myriad fragments thus mirrored to us, first unconsciously as babies, then as we are growing into language and culture, aspects of our identities are constructed.” They use photo therapy as a method of coming to terms with and accepting themselves, in their essay ‘Psychic Realism as a Healing Art?’ it is stated that “what photo therapy engages with is primarily the ‘needy child’ within all of us that still needs to be seen and heard. The therapist has to become the advocate of this ‘child’ and to encourage her to recreate and witness her own history, to feel safe enough to protest, and then learn to become her own inner nurturer.”

In my personal investigation I aim 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 calm. 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. Analysing the work of Robert Darch and Josef Sudek reveals the methods of photo therapy that I wish to reflect, juxtaposing images of flowers cut down from their mother plant (adapting to their environment in vases), with pictorialism inspired natural landscapes. These photographers have the ability to convey deeper meanings, ambiguous stories and ideas in their work; locations and places that tell the stories of their lives, Darch especially revealing his pain and want for an escape. One must consider the subject’s relationship with themself, for instance the links between past and present, and how locations shape a person’s true self, exploring photography as a means of healing.

How can a Pictorialist style demonstrate an atmosphere of nostalgia and comfort? Aspects of the Pictorialism movement have been reflected in several photographic works long after the movement ‘ended’, nevertheless have morphed and adapted to fit our changing times. During the 1880’s, when Pictorialism first begun, it was a reaction against mechanization and industrialization, dismayed at increasing industrial exploitation of photography through commercialisation. Writer and lecturer Stephen Bull describes Pictorialism as “the imitation of painting in an attempt to raise photography up to the same status as art that characterises the Pictorialist movement”. Photographs resembled paintings, being manipulated in the dark room by scratching and marking their prints to imitate the texture of a canvas – photographers used a soft focus to capture landscapes and portraits by smearing Vaseline onto their camera lens. This method allowed for the creation of dream-like artwork on spiritual subject matters, taking inspiration from Allegorical paintings which personified envy, love and glory. It was a means of exploring the unreal, the weird and the mystical – though photo therapy was not a concept during the time, there are links to its ability of escaping the banal of everyday life into another world. In her 1977 collection of essays ‘On Photography’, Susan Sontag describes how “photographs are a way of imprisoning reality…One can’t possess reality; one can possess images–one can’t possess the present, but one can possess the past.” I believe this can relate strongly to the values of Pictorialism, reality is presented in a fanciful style, ‘imprisoning reality’ that has been manipulated into fantasy which results in possession of an altered reality. One may question whether Pictorialism can even be considered as reality at all?

A.L. Coburn, Fifth Avenue from the St Regis | *Morning 1908* by Clarence H White | Mary Warner à contre-jour, 1908 – Heinrich Kuhn

Photography can be a freeing medium, much like painting in the way it can cleanse the soul of creative ideas that need to be reflected on paper. The extent of the freedom of the camera all depends on what the photographer wishes to reveal; they have the ability to hide certain truths, or in contrast have complete unfiltered honesty. British photographer Robert Darch explores how to reveal the truths of his past through landscape photography. Darch’s website states “his practice is motivated by the experience of place, in which the physical geography and material cultures of places merge with impressions from contemporary culture that equally influence perception. From these varied sources, both real and imagined, he constructs narratives that help contextualise a personal response to place.” When Darch was just 22 years old he suffered from a minor stroke which has had an impact on his life ever since. Completing his Photographic Arts degree at the time, he had to continue his studies from home when his health did not improve – his home was as much a prison as a safe space. Darch viewed his illness as a space, a location he could not escape physically; so, he had to do so mentally. In 2020, Robert Darch published his second photobook which he titled ‘Vale’ – a name with many meanings such as letting go, or even a hidden valley tucked away in the mountains. Ambiguity is something that first drew me to Darch’s work, his ability to capture the most idyllic ethereal landscapes but make them appear almost eerie in their solitude makes observers question whether this world is real. Are these areas from Darch’s childhood that we are getting a glimpse of all they seem to be? Do these locations hold more hurt than hope, always being there for Darch through such a low point in his life? An extract from ‘The Vale of Despond’, by Curator Dan Cox, reads “The fictional worlds into which Darch escaped, exhibited characteristics which were at once benign and threatening…Vale is a result of this percolation and loss. It is the fictional space where Darch can relive and re-imagine a lost period in his life, journeys with friends both through physical spaces and through time.” What Darch is able to encapsulate is a feeling of dream-like nostalgia, his work in ‘Vale’ is persuasive and welcoming but as the book goes on, the flickers of discomfort creep in.

In regard to photo therapy, Darch’s use of photography to escape from the harsh reality of his past allows him to heal from it, seeing it in a different perspective to truly understand his feelings and emotions. I want to use this idea of ‘photographic healing’ to reflect on my experience of anxiety, documenting the locations where I feel safe and secure within myself to understand how they’ve shaped my personality and life. Darch’s use of light in his ‘Vale’ work conveys a sense of optimism, like the sun beams are rays of joy or hope; artificial light can only be seen in the last few images in his photobook, perhaps hinting towards closing this fake reality. Natural landscapes are dream-like in Darch’s photographic eyes, soft focus and light tones compliment the misty woodlands and sunlight reflects off ponds and lakes to create a world of picturesque fantasy. Pain and suffering are escaped from; the warm hues that cover each image fill the landscapes with comfort and peace, Darch’s use of colour (bold oranges, yellows and greens) reveals his desire for security and safety within this rural atmosphere. A quote from Darch, in an interview with FotoRoom, reads “the warmth of the summer is tempered by an internal melancholy of loss, and the poetic narrative is in direct response to the emotions, feelings and thoughts cultivated during the period of isolation I experienced.” The confessional tone and atmosphere created in ‘Vale’ was therapeutic to Darch, he was able to physically show other people this world of fantasy that he would escape to – what once was his secret, could now be seen by the rest of the world; honesty and truth revealed. As I responded to Darch’s work, I wanted to convey the same sense of intimacy and imagination. Taking inspiration from Pictorialism, my aim was to create similar sepia blurred landscapes using Vaseline to create the iconic dream-like mood – however, I had the idea to steam up my camera lens with my breath, as if physically breathing life into my personal story. Using this technique allowed me to form deeper connections with my work, it was remedial to physically create this escapism that my youthful anxiety craved.

Why do some photographers focus their energy and photographic art on one specific location? Perhaps it holds a happy memory, or maybe it is the only place they can get inspired, whatever the reason; it’s therapeutic. Concentrating on one singular place, similar to Josef Sudek’s work ‘The Window of my Studio’, allows the photographer to experiment with changing what they can see, healing can come from changing your perspective on the truth. Czech photographer Josef Sudek is well-known for his still-life photography, he captures orchestrated scenes of flowers, vases and abstract objects on the windowsill of his studio in Prague. Sudek’s images are mysterious and eerie, they hold an atmosphere of loss, but at the same time show hint towards hope for a brighter future. Looking into Sudek’s past it is clear that this photographic style was healing, he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War, when he was wounded and subsequently lost his right arm to amputation. After this sudden change to how he lived his life every day, Sudek turned to Photography and became a member of the Prague Club for Amateur Photographers from 1920-24, nevertheless he struggled with feeling isolated form the rest of the world. Russell Lord, from the New Orleans Museaum of Art, described Sudek as follows; “for Sudek, who grew increasingly reclusive over the decades, his studio, the window, and the small garden beyond became an important sanctuary, and a way to express his own tentative relationship with the external world. Sometimes perfectly transparent, sometimes coated with frost or water droplets, the glass window both frames the outside world and serves as a barrier from it.” Seclusion: Sudek struggled with this most, ‘The Window of my Studio’ served as a retreat from the judgement and staring eyes of 20^th century society, he created a series of images from the only place he felt safe and at one with himself. Though at the time Sudek may not have intended on creating imagery holding themes of anxiety, I can recognise similarities to the feeling of loneliness and uncertainty as if his window is his foggy, misconstrued version of the outside world.

Susan Sontag describes how “photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire” – to me, Sudek’s photography reveals his small corner of the world, his small corner of reality. It is clear that throughout Sudek’s work there has been a strong influence from Pictorialism, his work holds the same dream-like, soft atmospheres that many other Pictorialist photographers captured, for example the work of Alfred Stieglitz and his study of clouds in ‘Equivalents’. Sudek’s use of windows, documenting overcast murky days through frosted glass, additionally adds to his Pictorialist style – his use of light and aperture settings creates this soft blur around his flower subjects, almost replicating that of an oil painting. As Sudek was creating and photographing during the change of an art movement from Pictorialism to Modernism throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, his work holds an almost vintage feel when compared to those being created during the same time period. Delicacy contrasted with harsh shadows is an element of Sudek’s work that beguiles the observer, is it an image of hope or a reminder of tragedy? Are we meant to focus on the survival of nature in an unnatural environment, or the looming enigma behind the glass? Twisted shadows of trees, the misty soft texture, repetitive streams of rain drops; it’s the creation of the fantasy world where Sudek wished to escape from. We can look through, but also look beyond his subject – the negative space that surrounds each flower could be symbolic of Sudek’s past woes and struggles – each element is subjective. My response to Sudek’s work has been very experimentational, I wanted to take a similar abstract approach using a large aperture setting to create a high depth of field however still breathing onto the lens to create a mystical Pictorialist quality. Furthermore, I wanted to take advantage of the natural light source which formed many golden highlights over my images, taking a colourful but gentle palette instead of monochromatic allowed me to explore how colour affected the mood of my images. The fanciful escapist themes that I wanted to present were emphasised by such pastel warm colours, Sudek’s work provided the concept of how one can explore serenity juxtaposed with confinement.

Josef Sudek, The Window of my Studio (1940’s)

We are led to believe that imagery can bear witness to reality, sometimes that reality is twisted and manipulated, forming what could be seen as an entirely different world; yet who’s to say this is a bad thing? Both photographers have gone through difficult points in their lives, with Darch suffering from a stroke at a young age and Sudek losing his arm during the war. Creating these fantasy realities has helped them to escape, to heal and to learn. In respect to my Personal Investigation, both artists have used photography as a method of escapism from an illness/disorder that had impaired them throughout their life – I have explored how elements of their images may have deeper meanings in regards to symbolism of weakness or hope. Although Sudek’s images are not known to have been made with his impairment in mind, I can still recognise themes of optimism in a time of isolation through his project; as if the flowers are symbols of life continuing, adapting in a new environment – they are still able to survive in a singular glass of water. Nevertheless, Darch’s work noticeably conveys a sense of escaping from reality through vibrant colours, dream-like compositions and golden hues that relay this idea of ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’. Though Darch reflects his sickness throughout his project, it is done subtly, with Darch himself stating “during the illness I no longer wanted to turn the camera inwards, to linger on the reality of my situation, preferring to lose myself in fictional constructs of the mind”. This fictionality in his work is honest and raw, giving the observer a glimpse into his own imaginative mind. In my own work I wanted to use locations from my past as a catalyst for a tribute to my childhood escapes, the worlds I would create to get away from anxious thoughts and feelings. Nevertheless, to interject moments of reflection and calmness, I wanted to use Sudek inspired imagery of flowers, some wilted, others blooming wilding – all to relay the concept of hope, of carrying on and taking a moment to revaluate my perspective. In her essay ‘Frames of Mind; Photography, Memory and Identity’, Patricia Marcella Anwandter questions “what do we choose to remember and how do we reinforce it? Who are we in relationship to who we were?” – I have mimicked the work of Darch and Sudek’s photo therapy to answer and heal from these questions.

My Response:

Bibliography:

Wells, L. (ed), Martin, R & Spence, J (2003), The Photography Reader. London. Routledge; Taylor & Francis Ltd

Martin, R & Spence J. (1988), Psychic Realism as a Healing Art. London. Ten8, No 30 Spellbound

Bull, S. (2009), Photography. London: Routledge; Taylor & Francis Ltd

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

Darch, R. (2020), Vale. Devon. LIDO Books

Cox, D. (2020), The Vale of Despond. London. LIDO Books

FotoRoom. (2020), Beauty & Unease Coexist in Robert Darch’s Vale Series. [Online] at; Beauty and Unease Coexist in Robert Darch’s Vale Series | FotoRoom

Balcar, M (ed), Sudek, J. (2007), The Window of my Studio. Torst.

Lord, R. (2018), Analysis of The Window of my Studio. [Online] New Orleans Museum of Art at: Object Lesson: The Window of My Studio by Josef Sudek – New Orleans Museum of Art (noma.org)

Stieglitz, A. (1925-1934), Equivalents. [Online] at: https://archive.artic.edu/stieglitz/equivalents/

Marcella Anwandter, P. (2006), Frames of Mind; Photography, Memory and Identity. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania.

Independent, Reading, Task

Essay 2

March 7, 2022 Tiago De Sa Leave a comment

Is God dead/does he exist?

No one can disprove the existence of God.

One reason for this is because in the beginning there was an explosion and within minutes, 98% of the matter that there is or ever will be was produced; we had a universe.

For 2500 years most scientists agreed with Aristotle’s theory of a steady state universe; that the universe has always existed, with no beginning and no end.

However, the Bible disagreed. In the 1920s, Belgian astronomer, George Lemaitre, a theist (someone who believes in the existence of God), said that the entire universe jumping into existence in a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, out of nothingness, in an unimaginably intense flash of light, is how he would expect the universe to respond if God were to actually utter the command in Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light.” All of which points to a God that created it. For example, in the real world, we never see things jumping into existence out of nothingness. But atheists, want to make one small exception to this rule, namely the universe and everything in it.

You may argue that in the book, The God of Delusion, Richard Dawkins says, “if you tell me God created the universe, then I have the right to ask you who created God.” But Dawkin’s question only makes sense in terms of a God who has been created, it wouldn’t make sense to apply that question to an uncreated God which is what Christians believe in. Even leaving God out of the equation, I then have a right to turn Mr. Dawkins’ own question back around on him and ask, “if the universe created you, then who created the universe?”

As you can powerfully see both the theist and the atheist are both burdened with answering the same question of how things started.

You may argue that Stephen Hawking, the world’s most famous scientists, and who is not a theist, has come out in favour of a self-designing universe. This is clearly shown in the quote, “Because there’s a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something instead of nothing. It’s why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to set the universe in motion.”

But, Professor John Lennox, who teaches mathematics and philosophy, has demonstrated that there are 3 errors of logic contained in that one simple sentence which all boils down to circular reasoning. Hawkins is basically saying that the universe exists because the universe needed to exist and since the universe needed to exist it therefore created itself. For example, imagine I come to you and say, “I can prove that spam is the best-tasting food that ever existed because in all of history, no food has ever tasted better”, you’d probably look at me strange and say that I haven’t proven anything. And you’d be right, all I’ve done was restate my original claim.

But when Hawkins claims that the universe created itself because it needed to create itself and offers that as to how and why it was created, we don’t immediately recognise that he’s doing the same thing. But he is, promoting Lennox to further comment, “Nonsense remains nonsense, even when spoken by famous scientists. Even though the general public assume they’re statements of science.”

I’m not trying to say that Stephen Hawking is wrong, I’m saying that John Lennox, a professor of mathematics and philosophy, has found Professor Hawking’s reasoning to be faulty, and I agree with his logic.

On the other hand, if you can’t bear to disagree with Hawkings thinking, then I suggest you turn to page 5 of his book, “The Grand Design”, where he insists, “philosophy is dead.” And if you’re so sure of Professor Hawking’s infallibility, and philosophy really is dead, then there is really no need for people to ever study philosophy and this argument is useless.

Another point to consider is that for the last 150 years, Darwinists have been saying that God is unnecessary to explain man’s existence and that evolution replaces God. But evolution only tells you what happens once you have life. So, where did that something that’s alive come from? Well, Darwin never really addressed it. He assumed that maybe some lighting hit a stagnant pool full of the right kind of chemicals and bingo, a living something. But it’s not that simple.

Darwin claimed that the ancestry of all living things came from that one single, simple organism, which reproduced and slowly modified over time into the complex life forms we view today. Which is why, after contemplating his own theory, Darwin uttered his famous statement, “Natura non facit saltum”, which means, “Nature does not jump.” Well, as noted, author Lee Strobeck pointed out, that if you can picture the entire 3.8 billion years that scientists say life has been around as one 24-hour day, in the space of just 90 seconds, most major animal groups suddenly appear in the forms in which they currently hold. Not slowly and steadily as Darwin predicted, but in evolutionary terms, almost instantly. So, “nature does not jump” becomes “nature makes a giant leap.”

So, how do theists (someone who believes in the existence of God) explain this sudden outburst of new biological information? “And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So, God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” – Genesis 1:20.

Put simply, creation happened because God said it should happen. And even what looks to our eyes to be a blind, unguided process could be divinely controlled from start to finish.

People have the right to believe what they want to believe but, it’s easy to dismiss what you don’t understand or what you don’t want to understand.

Another argument could be said that evil is atheism’s most potent weapon against the Christian faith, and it is. After all, the very existence of evil begs the question, “if God is all-good, and God is all powerful, why does he allow evil to exist?” The answer at its core is quite simple: free will. God allows evil to exist because of free will. From the Christian standpoint, God tolerates evil in this world on a temporary basis so that one day, those who choose to love him freely will dwell with Him in heavily, free from the influence of evil, but with their free will intact. In other word, God’s intention concerning evil, is to one day destroy it.

Contrastingly, others may argue that “one day, I will get rid of all the evil in the world. But until then, you just have to deal with all the wars, and Holocausts, tsunamis, poverty, starvation, and AIDS. Have a nice life.” You may assume that next I’ll talk to you about moral absolutes. But why not?

Someone who’s an atheist, doesn’t believe in moral absolutes, but let’s say that you find someone cheating in the same exam you’re taking and gets a good grade. I bet you’ll suddenly start sounding like a Christian, insisting it’s wrong to cheat, that the person should have known that. And yet, what basis do you have? If the actions of others are calculated to help them succeed, then why shouldn’t they perform them?

For Christians, the fixed point of morality, what constitutes right and wrong, is a straight line that leads directly back to God. And I’m not saying that you need God to be moral, that a moral atheist is an impossibility. But with no God, there’s no real reason to be moral. There’s not even a standard of what moral behaviour is. For Christians, lying, cheating, stealing, in my example, someone stealing a grade they didn’t earn is a form of theft. But if God does not exist, as Dostoyevsky famously pointed out, “if God does not exist, then everything is permissible.” And not only permissible, but pointless. If this is right, then all of our struggles, our debate, whatever we decided to do is meaningless. Our lives and ultimately our deaths have no more consequence than that of a goldfish.

In conclusion, it all comes down to choice of believe or don’t believe, that’s all there is. That’s all there’s ever been.

Additionally, James Warner Wallace – homicide detective was the author of the book ‘Cold Case Christianity’. In his book, a subtitle he writes was, “A homicide detective investigates the claims of the gospel.” He was an atheist at the time of his research which reduces bias. Obviously, his duties as a homicide detective includes investigating cold case homicides. He states that ZERO of his cold cases were solved through the use of DNA evidence. He states that the cases got solved by examining eyewitness claims, even ones made many years earlier. This is possible through the number of techniques that they use to test the reliability of an eyewitness such as, forensic statement analysis.

Forensic statement analysis is a discipline where researchers scrutinize the statements of eyewitnesses while looking at what they choose to minimise, emphasize and omit altogether, how they expand or contract time. By examining these eyewitness accounts, researchers can tell who’s lying and who’s telling the truth, and even who the guilty party is.

Interestingly, as a former atheist, he applied his expertise to the death of Jesus at the hand of the Romans while also looking at the Gospels as he would any other forensic statement. The fact he was a non-Christian at the time means there was zero bias or influence for his findings to support or disprove that Jesus was not a real person. Within a matter of months, he determined that the 4 gospels, all written from different perspectives, contained the eyewitness accounts about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. Also, he considered that the 4 accounts may be part of a conspiracy, designed to promote belief in a fledgling faith. However, he states that successful conspiracies often involve the fewest number of people. For example, it is a lot easier for 2 people to lie and keep a secret than it is for 20. That is where the problem with the conspiracy theories related to the apostles in the 1st century; there are just far too many of them trying to hold this conspiracy for far too long a period of time. And far worse, they’re experiencing pressure like no other.

Everyone one of these people were tortured and died because of what they claimed to see, and none of them ever recanted their story. Therefore, the idea that this is a conspiracy in the 1st century is really unreasonable. Instead, what was found in the gospels was something James called, “unintended eyewitness support statement”. For example, the Gospel of Matthew, the passage states that Jesus is in front of Caiaphas at a hearing, “Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, ‘prophecy to us. Christ. Who hit you?'”. At first, it seems like a simple request given that the people who hit him are standing right in front of him which makes no sense. Why would it be prophecy to be able to tell you who hit you? But it’s not until you read Luke that you get an answer to this. He says, “the men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They Blindfolded him and demanded, ‘Prophecy, who hit you?'”. So, now we know why this was a challenge, the gospel of Luke tells us the thing that Matthew left out, that he was actually blindfolded at the time this took place. This kind of unintentional eyewitness support that fills in a detail that the first witness left out is very common.

After years of scrutinizing these gospels using the template that James uses to determine if an eyewitness is reliable. He concluded that the four gospels in the Bible contained the reliable accounts of the actual words of Jesus on the other hand, it may be argued that there are numerous discrepancies between these accounts. But James Warner Wallace says that that is exactly what we should expect. This is because reliable eyewitness accounts always differ slightly in the way they recall a story. “They’re coming to it from different geographic perspectives, their history, even where they are located in the room.” When Wallace examined the gospels, he was trying to determine if these were accurate, reliable accounts in spite of any differences there might be between the accounts.

Finally, he states that when he began his study, he was a devout atheist. He began examining the gospel as a committed sceptic, not as a believer. He wants raised in a Christian environment even though he does have an unusually high regard for the value of evidence. He says that the reason why he’s a Christian now is not because he was nurtured into it or because he hoped it would satisfy some need or accomplish some goal. He says he’s a Christian because it is evidently true.

Bibliography

Solomon, C. and Konzelman, C. (2014). God’s not dead. 1st film, Greg Jenkins Productions, Pure Flix Entertainment, Red Entertainment Group.

Solomon, C. and Konzelman, C. (2016). God’s not dead. 1st film, Greg Jenkins Productions, Pure Flix Entertainment, Red Entertainment Group.

Uncategorized

Photobook Essay Bibliography

February 9, 2022 Chantal LB Leave a comment

What role does photography play in celebrity culture?

Bibliography

G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

Wikipedia – Countess of Castiglione

Wikipedia – Lillie Langtry

Jersey Journey Boutique – Lillie Langtry

Clay Shirky – End of Audience Theory

Uncategorized

Photobook Essay

February 9, 2022 Chantal LB Leave a comment

What role does photography play in celebrity culture?

‘Society beauty, spy and mistress of Napoleon III, was so concerned about her image that she constructed it with her personal photographer’¹.

NPG x12166; Lillie Langtry - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery — Post card of Lillie Langtry (1880’s)

For my personal photobook project, I wanted to find a topic that I find fascinating and can also be linked to my own identity. Because of this, I decided to investigate how photography affected the lives of celebrities from the past, and how that compares to the role of photography in relation to celebrity culture in modern times. For this essay I will be looking into historical figures such as The Countess De Castiglione and Lillie Langtry. I will compare these figures to a more modern and controversial personality, Kim Kardashian. Celebrity culture and fame can be seen as a very contentious topic for most, especially today, with the newly found trend that is ‘cancel culture’, which can ruin the reputation of celebrities within a day. Photography plays a huge part in the film and social media industry, but whether this is a positive thing can be heavily disputed. For example, some may argue that with the development of technology, capturing important moments in our lives have been made much more accessible and easier than ever before. Sharing images to friends and family online has also had a huge positive impact for people worldwide, especially during the height of Covid. On the other hand, the evolution of photography has become a threat to the careers and lives of many others. Celebrities and those heavily involved in social media are largely at risk with the access of photography to all, as a simple controversial photograph can turn fans against them and even end careers. Contemporary photography can capture anyone at any time with the invention of mobile phones, which can be extremely damaging to those in the public eye. I have looked at the positive and negative effects of the development of photography within the celebrity world, and the issues of photography as a career rather than a hobby. Photography can be seen as an issue when it comes to a way of making money, as some may focus on creating their content as a need to make a living rather than a pastime, meaning they will go to extreme lengths to get their photos, to the extent of ruining a celebrity’s career or even their own life.

[Countess de Castiglione], Pierre-Louis Pierson (French, 1822–1913), Albumen silver print from glass negative — ‘The Countess De Castiglione’ – Pierre-Louis Pierson (1895)

The Countess of Castiglione (1837-1899), was an Italian aristocrat, who is considered to be an important figure in portrait photography. La Castiglione was brought into disrepute as a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France, and became known as an significant icon for portrait photography, she was also widely considered as the most beautiful woman of her day. The Countess had an obsession with her own appearance, she was so obsessed to the point that in her later life she decorated her entire house in the colour black with the blinds drawn and banned mirrors and would only leave her house at night, so she would not have to confront her deteriorating beauty through old age. During her peak of youth, she was photographed over 400 times by Pierre-Louis Pierson and others, causing her to eventually go into debt. These images were taken between 1861 and 1896, with Pierson also taking around 110 images of her son and 5 others of her dogs ². The Countess used photography to her advantage and had full power over the picture that was made of her and how she was going to be perceived, and were considered as ‘one of the first postmodern portraits’³. La Castiglione controlled nearly the whole process of her modelling, including the title of the image and the camera angle, therefore being in control of her whole image that was to be portrayed into the media. Although the media had little power then compared to now, La Castiglione used it as a form of self-advertisement and self-expression, and stated as someone who ‘was bold enough to appropriate the male gaze for herself’⁴. She became a popular socialite because of this and attended masked balls and soirées and recreated her looks again within her portraits. She would often ‘flirt with the camera like a fan dancer’⁵, to achieve a playful yet promiscuous reputation. Following her death, her legacy of a woman of beauty and mystery continued, and a substantial portion of her photographs are kept at the Metropolitan Museum, as well as numerous biographies detailing her life and even a film to further explain her experiences and obsession with beauty. For this reason, she is labelled as an important figure in photographic history, and represents the brighter side of photography and media within the lives of celebrities.

Lillie Langtry is in character as the adventuress Lena Despard from the play "As in a Looking-Glass." In this full-length portrait, she is seated, facing right, holding a lizard-shaped cigarette lighter and smoking a cigarette in front of a painted backdrop. — ‘Mrs Langtry in “As in a Looking-glass”‘ – Falk, B.J (1887)

Lillie Langtry albumen portrait, Pears' Soap advertising: I prefer Pears' Soap to any other | Lillie Langtry — Lillie Langtry in ‘Pears Soap’ advertisement (1882)

Another historical figure to feature in the public eye is Lillie Langtry. Lillie Langtry’s story inspired my essay as she is a distant relative to my family from my grandfather’s side, with her birth name being ‘Le Breton’, therefore linking my essay to my own identity. Born in Jersey as Emilie Charlotte Le Breton in the October of 1853, Langtry married and moved to London with her husband, Edward Langtry, in 1876. Langtry became well known in London through her acquaintances and mutual friends, and had multiple painted portraits made of her which became popular on postcards. Through this publicity, Lillie was able to further her career as an actress and featured in plays such as ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ and ‘As You Like It’⁶. Langtry was also photographed by photographer Rupert Potter whilst she was visiting Scotland. Langtry can be considered as an early example of celebrity endorsement, as she used her huge public profile to endorse products such as cosmetics and soaps, proving her to be a kind of historic ‘influencer’. Soon enough, word of Lillie’s fame reached the Royal Family which led to her era of bad publicity through the media. Langtry was invited to a dinner party with the royals, in which she was sat next to The Prince of Wales, Albert Edward. Edward (who was also married) became infatuated with Langtry, which led to them engaging in an affair of three years. Langtry also had a brief affair with the Earl of Shrewsbury, however this ended due to Langtry’s secret relationships being revealed all over the media in newspapers. Lillie was admired for her astonishing beauty, which lead her to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for a young girl during her time and this was further celebrated in the media, however, the media started to turn against Langtry once finding out about her affairs with the royals. This led her to be responsible for divorces through those she cared about, and damaging relationships between her and her loved ones. Langtry was left to find her own way in the world and support herself financially, which led her to become an actress, at the suggestion of her good friend, Oscar Wilde. Langtry’s stage career was a success and further projected her to fame, she decided to continue her career in Jersey and even officially opened the current Opera House⁷ . Lillie Langtry’s story is proof that the history of media, through the use of newspapers, that controversies were quickly forgiven for those they think deserve it. This suggests that photography for the most part still had a positive impact on the lives of celebrities during this century, as ‘pretty privilege’ is most definitely a factor during controversial times. This means that the public do not hold the same standards for all celebrities, and the more attractive are most likely to be forgiven than those who are not.

Kim Kardashian photoshoot for ELLE UK — ‘Kim Kardashian’ – Photoshoot for ELLE Magazine (2016)

Kim Kardashian calls out tabloid for Photoshopping the color of her clothes - New York Daily News — Kim Kardashian featured in ‘OK! Magazine’

Contemporary photography is considerably more dangerous to the livelihoods of celebrities today. As mentioned before, the invention of mobile phones has become both an advantage and disadvantage to the celebrity world. Theorist Clay Shirky states that the audience now have power to become media producers and to share the content they make⁸. On a positive note, celebrities can take advantage of this and use the audience as a form of self-promotion. This can be seen when the public post images or videos of interactions with celebrities, and positive interactions being shared online can increase the fan base of the celebrity. However, negative interactions can cause the opposite affect and can lead to the public creating negative connotations with the celebrity, reducing their fanbase. Linking this to the theory of ‘cancel culture’, celebrities are more at risk than ever. ‘Cancel culture’ has become a recent trend in the last few years, and is considered a modern-day form of ostracism in order to hold celebrities accountable to their mistakes. Oftentimes, celebrities are ‘cancelled’ due to the use of racial or homophobic slurs, or being exposed for how they have treated others, and to ‘to suggest that those with fame are only human’. Another addition to the threat of celebrities in terms of photography, Is the role of paparazzi. The job of paparazzi is to pursue celebrities in order to get photographs of them. This means that people working as paparazzi will go to extreme lengths to get these images, and since controversial images sell the most successfully, they are the most desirable due to ‘cancel culture’ articles selling the more than most other stories. ‘Trendy’ celebrities are most at risk as the media surrounds them, celebrities like Kim Kardashian. Although the Kardashian family have been seen in the public eye for years now, they are still very relevant in current times. Kim is seen as an idol for fashion, makeup and for her luxurious lifestyle in general, however the origins of her fame are controversial. Kim was associated with many other celebrities before her own fame; however, she was boosted to fame thanks to her explicit photos and videos that had been leaked through the media. This scenario can prove how dangerous photography can be in the celebrity world and how invasive it can become, however for the Kardashian family it started a domino effect of fame for them, as each member became more famous than the one before. The whole success from the Kardashian family has risen through the use of photography and social media, with promotional photoshoots for their modelling and brands, movie features and their reality show ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’. Although the family have had success with the progression of photography, it also carried a lot of negativities in their lives. The stress of constantly being stalked by paparazzi and having their privacy invaded sparks the debate of whether the lives of celebrities are as idyllic as we depict them to be. This debate also shows the negative impact that photography has over the lives of celebrities, and that the role of photography in the celebrity world is equally negative and positive.

When comparing the role of photography throughout history to present times, there is clear similarities and differences. Some of the roles of photography will always stay the same, like using photographs as a form of self-expression and self-advertisement. In the past, photography was a revolutionary form of art, and those who were able to get their photograph taken were considered more important and superior, and their photographs certified this. In modern times, anyone can take a photograph or be photographed, meaning the superiority complex of those who are photographed has been lost; you do not have to be rich or famous to have an image taken of you. However, because of the wide accessibility to photography amongst the public, those who are rich or famous can have their image taken at any time, including in their times of struggle, or perhaps committing actions that could be considered morally wrong. Celebrities must act as though they are always being watched in public to defend and preserve their reputation, which becomes more difficult overtime as technology and cameras develop. The role of photography in modern times within celebrity culture is to catch the good and bad sides of celebrities to sell stories rather than to prove their importance, which was considered it’s role in previous centuries. My images relating to this theme focus more on the role of photography in the past, and to show the model as glamorous and successful. This will be shown through excessive clothing and settings as well as props and professional lighting.

¹ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

² Wikipedia – Countess of Castiglione

³ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁴ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁵ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁶ Wikipedia – Lillie Langtry

⁷ Jersey Journey Boutique – Lillie Langtry

⁸ Clay Shirky – End of Audience Theory

Independent, Reading, Resource, Task

Finished Essay

February 8, 2022 Matthew B Leave a comment

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 accu 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.

Pictorialism

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

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).

Modernism

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). Ansel Adams and Robert Adams 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 on the beauty of nature and he produces romanticised images, compared to Robert, who photographs 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). To get answers to their questions they would have to view the situation from a different angle, the quote sums it up nicely. “Our vision will be changed because we can see the world from unfamiliar viewpoints, for instance, thought a microscope, from the top of high buildings, from under the sea.” (Photography: A Critical Introduction, 1988: 19) This implies that by viewing the situation differently, there is a whole new way of thinking that introduces new ideas and new concepts, as it was a whole new notion, “modernism aimed to produce a new kind of world and new kinds of human beings to people it. The old world would be put under the spotlight of modern technology and the old evasions and concealments revealed.” (Photography: A Critical Introduction, 1988: 19). This is explains the changes in art movements and, how people are focusing on the future by putting the old movements behind them, however not completely forgetting them, which would help embrace the future and, what it holds.

Postmodernism

Finally, Postmodernism is the newest art movement and ism, and it has been in place since the second half of the 20th century. “Writers on postmodernism postulated the idea that modernity had run its course”. (Photography: A Critical Introduction, 1988: 21). Meaning that there was a new way of work, which allows new artist to take lead and express themselves.

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). It gives everyone a fair chance as, “no longer governed by, so called, ‘grand’ or ‘master’ narratives.” ((Photography: A Critical Introduction, 1988: 21), which allows people to embrace the full chance of freedom, so they can create what they ideal.

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). A good example of Postmodern work would be “The Destroyed Room” that was created by Canadian artist, Jeff Wall in 1978.

This image shows exciting and vibrant colours that contrasts the abandoned, destroyed room. It aims to explore themes of violence and eroticism inspired by Eugène Delacroix’s monumental painting The Death of Sardanapalus. (Gagosian, 2018). The emotion that Wall is trying to express within his artwork is the anger and hatred after a breakup from a relationship. This explains why the main colours in the image is red, because red represents violence and blood. However, red is also the main colours that dominates Delacroix’s painting, along with the skin tones of the women in the painting. Therefore, I believe that Wall has created a modern version of Delacroix’s painting by taking inspiration form it, however instead of focusing on people and their emotions, he has focused on objects and belongings to visualise a heartbreak .

Robert Adams

The first photographer I have decided to study is Robert Adams, as he is a historical 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.

When analysing one of Adams many books, “Beauty in Photography” he started the essay off with the quote, “The beautiful places to which we journey for inspiration surprise us by the melancholy they can induce.” (Adams, 1996: 13). A reviewer said, “I found this to be an interesting statement and one I can agree with. I am not really a landscape photographer myself, I can appreciate a good image but I often feel uninspired in my own attempts.” (35mmc, 2020) This really shows how Adams produces exceptional photographs which have the ability to inspire other people, which is why he is considered one of the most important and influential photographers to capture the American West. By Gilman (the reviewer) being inspired to practice photography herself, means that Adams has had a strong influence on her, however when Gilman realises that she is not a master at photography, it makes her more appreciative of Adams work. Many people may agree to the statement, “I often feel uninspired in my own attempts.” (35mmc, 2020). And the main reason is because they are not decided to photography in the same way that Robert Adams is, therefore the work they have produced seems bad and less important when being compared against Adams work.

When Adam’s was asked in an interview, “How do you go about finding the photograph you want to take?”, he spoke about how Ansel Adams pre-visulises all the details and specially plans the photoshoot, however Robert Adams doesn’t take the same approach and he said, “You do try to get as much as you can right there on the spot when you make the exposure, but there are a lot of surprises in photography. If you’re not interested in surprises, you shouldn’t be a photographer. It’s one of the great enlivening blessings of the medium.” (Art21, 2017). This shows how Robert Adams has a natural eye for photography and is very good at improvising according to his surroundings. It also shows how Adams had patience as he would have ended taking more photos than he planned and each exposure would have taken a long time. Finally Adams is also saying how unique and different each shoot can be, by using the word, “surprising”, this is the way to get the best photographs, which Adams described as the, “blessings of the medium.”

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.

Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz.

The second photographer I’ve decided to study is Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz. She is a contemporary 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.

Jędrosz fits into the contemporary documentary photographer category, which is a style of photography that provides a straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects and events. (Tate, 2017) These are my two favourite images from the Rummu Quarry photo collection, and they are an accurate representation of place, as she has used the quarry landscape to set the scene. Photos captured for contemporary documentary purposes, like Jędrosz’s images, are often used in reports such as, in the newspaper and on the news. Jędrosz’s images of the quarry were useful as the Rummu Quarry was being assessed for redevelopment, therefore she documented the quarry before it was repurposed or destroyed.

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.

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.

For Adams only being able to shoot in a monochromatic format, the image he produces often contains a more moody atmosphere which creates stronger emotions, as there is a greater contrast between certain elements in the image. Plus, shooting in black and white can removed some visual distractions by removing distracting colours to simplify the final image. Without colour, it is sometimes easier to make out the photographic camera techniques used in an image such as, framing, form, positioning and, surface texture. Robert Adams once claimed, “Black and white are the colours of photography,” (NYTimes, 2012) meaning that Adams feels that he doesn’t need colour to create the perfect image. On the other hand, colour is an important variable in landscape photography. It creates a visually appealing image which draws the viewer into the image where they can notice smaller details, which might have been missed if the image was in black and white, as colour in landscape photography can help differentiate depth and detail in an image. Colour can be used to convey emotion such as, cold and warm, it can also show emotion using the lighting conditions and the weather.

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 uses a large-format camera which is much slower to operate and can only make one exposure at a time, whereas Jędrosz uses a digital camera, so she can quickly and efficacy capture images. The large format camera was the best camera at the time for taking landscape images, as it had incredible detail and focus, a shallow depth of field and, interchangeable lenses. Both photographers capture different environments in their own style, and affectively showcase a whole geological location with a selection of images.

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

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

Gagosian, “Jeff Wall”, Gagosian. (2018) Available at: https://gagosian.com/artists/jeff-wall/ (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Tate, “Documentary Photography”, Tate. (2017) Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/d/documentary-photography (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Art21, “Photography, Life, and Beauty – Robert Adams”, Art21. (2017) Available at: https://art21.org/read/robert-adams-photography-life-and-beauty/ (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Martha Schwendener, “A review of ‘Robert Adams’ the place we live in New Haven”, NYTimes (2012) Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/nyregion/a-review-of-robert-adams-the-place-we-live-in-new-haven.html (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Holly Gilman, “Review of ‘Beauty in Photography’, by ‘Robert Adams'”, 35mmc. (2020) Available at: https://www.35mmc.com/09/12/2020/beauty-in-photography-by-robert-adams-book-review-by-holly-gilman/ (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Liz Wells, “Thinking about photography – modernism”, Photography: A Critical Introduction. (1988) Available at: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Photograph-as-document_modern-and-postmodern-debates.pdf (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Liz Wells, “Thinking about photography – The postmodern”, Photography: A Critical Introduction. (1988) Available at: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Photograph-as-document_modern-and-postmodern-debates.pdf (Accessed: 8 February 2022)

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Reading, Task

Personal Study – Final Essay

February 7, 2022 Michael K Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeff Wall

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

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

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

Doug Dubois

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Independent, Reading, Task

Personal Study – Essay Introduction

January 31, 2022 Michael K 1 Comment

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.

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

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-6.png — 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.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-47.png — *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

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

January 31, 2022 Matthew B Leave a comment

1. Literary Sources

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
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/
It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages.
Photojournalism, environment
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography

Why should you reference?

To add academic support for your work
To support or disprove your argument
To show evidence of reading
To help readers locate your sources
To show respect for other people’s work
To avoid plagiarism
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

Essay question:
Opening quote
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?
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.
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
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

4. Essay Introduction

Open a new Word document > SAVE AS: Essay draft
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?
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?

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

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.

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.

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.

Conclusion

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)

Controlled Conditions, Independent, Reading, Task

Essay 1

January 25, 2022 Tiago De Sa 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.

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.

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)

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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

References

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

Bénitah, C.

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

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

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

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

Controlled Conditions

final essay: stereotypes in photography

January 12, 2022 Carmen Altamirano 1 Comment

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

Bibliography:

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

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

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¹ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

² Wikipedia – Countess of Castiglione

³ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁴ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁵ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁶ Wikipedia – Lillie Langtry

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final essay: stereotypes in photography

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What role does photography play in celebrity culture?

Bibliography

What role does photography play in celebrity culture?

1 G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

2 Wikipedia – Countess of Castiglione

3 G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

4 G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

5 G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

6 Wikipedia – Lillie Langtry

7 Jersey Journey Boutique – Lillie Langtry

8 Clay Shirky – End of Audience Theory

History of Photography

Broomberg and Chanarin

Just another Hautlieu Creative site

¹ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

² Wikipedia – Countess of Castiglione

³ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁴ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁵ G.Badger (2007) ‘Face to Face’ in The Genius of Photography. United Kingdom: Quadrille Publishing Ltd.

⁶ Wikipedia – Lillie Langtry

⁷ Jersey Journey Boutique – Lillie Langtry

⁸ Clay Shirky – End of Audience Theory