The following presents and explains the process of selecting and displaying my final prints.
Two of my most compelling landscapes work well together side by side with a large boarder. I presented these images together the two images both complement and contrast each other at the same. They juxtapose with the black and white sky’s. They work well side by side with the leading horizontal line of the horizon staying mostly consistent and in line through both compositions.
I did experiment with a different layout for these images before deciding on this one. I liked the obscurity of the experiment with the two pieces of land meeting in the middle creating a sort of kaleidoscopic illusion.
The following layout I decided to mount includes a collection of images sharing physical similarities with a clear theme of long vertical leading lines and eerie colour grading with all images sharing a navy green and low saturation. The random scattering of the layout makes it more impelling. I arranged them in an order where the central images share the same colour properties to create a seamless conjoined landscape while the greyscale images surround them and create a border around the larger central image.
I then mounted prints that fit the theme of industrialisation and the Anthropocene. These images all share warm yet lifeless hues. This demonstrated an apocalyptic theme with these images. I once again decided that a scattered collage would work well the the images all having different orientations. I preformed photomontage with the photo of the construction sight with the rubble being split into two images on opposite sides of the layout.
I then decided to make another large mount but this time followed a more symmetrical layout to satisfy the rule of thirds. I rotated the image on the left from an originally landscape image to portrait. The images all complement each other colour wise as well as all following the same contextual and conceptual theme.
I then displayed a set of prints from my photobook in a simple triptych format.
I then mounted images that work well on their own. The following image presents my photographic ability with sharp focus high clarity and a bokeh effect. Therefore I chose to present it by its self.
I then decided to complete the some variation into my final displays by mounting a small A3 headshot.
I finally decided to create a virtual gallery from my favourite diptych of the two landscape images.
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.
Robert Darch, Vale (2020)
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 20th 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
Marcella Anwandter, P. (2006), Frames of Mind; Photography, Memory and Identity. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania.
How can reality be presented and altered through the medium of photography?
How can the concept of escapism be represented through the medium of photography?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek explored the concept of escapism in their work/ photography?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek used their photography as a form of therapy?
In what way have Robert Darch and Josef Sudek explored the concept of ‘the real world’ in their photography?
Essay Structure Plan:
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?
Discuss the concept of escapism, what does it mean to me/to the world?
Area of study = anxiety shaping identity, celebrating the locations I would escape to/the worlds I would create to feel safe and calm in etc.
Responding using still life and landscape photography.
Taking inspiration from Robert Darch and Josef Sudek – describe summary of their work.
Discuss Rosy Martin and Jo Spence ideas on Photo Therapy, use extracts from their essay ‘Psychic Realism as a Healing Art?’.
Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography, visual and popular culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian.
Add images from Pictorialism movement – A.L. Coburn, Fifth Avenue from the St Regis
Explore how Pictorialism has impacted my project, how I think it links to both Darch and Sudek’s work.
Historical facts and ideas on Pictorialism – what influenced it? What’s its main concepts/message? How are Pictorialist images created, discuss use of Vaseline/manipulation in dark room etc.
Themes of Pictorialism that I want to replicate, eg; dream-like atmosphere/fantasy, altering reality similar to how I would alter my reality to escape to different worlds, escaping anxious thoughts etc.
Bring in idea of Susan Sontag opinions of photography, use quotes from series of essays ‘On Photography’ .
Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Add images from Robert Darch’s ‘Vale’ Photobook
Discuss freedom of photography, how photographers can show us what they want to show us.
Robert Darch information, who is he? What’s his backstory? Why did he inspire me?
Use quotes from his website/from essays written on his work, eg; Dan Cox.
Analyse why Darch takes the photos he takes, what do they mean to him? Explore how his work has deeper meanings to do with childhood and past memories.
Analyse Darch’s photography style, his compositions/tone/lighting/shadows etc – why do they matter?
What did I do to respond to Darch’s work, how did I use him as inspiration>
Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
Add images from Josef Sudek’s ‘The Window of my Studio’ series
Discuss use of location in photography, question the values of a place connecting to photographers memories or life story.
Introduce Josef Sudek, his series ‘The Window of my Studio’ – how does it relate to my project? What do I see when I analyse his work?
Give Sudek’s background, who is he/what did he do/what was he famous for?
Talk about how Sudek’s injury and amputation may have hindered his life both physically and mentally, perhaps photograph was his escape from the outside world.
Use quote from critics of Sudek eg; Russell Lord discussing how Sudek isolated himself from society and became completely interested in capturing scenes from his window.
Analyse what techniques he uses, his links to Pictorialism and use of soft focus.
How I respond with my project, what similar styles did I use etc?
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
Display selection of both Darch and Sudek inspired images from myself
Conclude by comparing both photographers use of photography as a healing art, how do they do it? Why did they do it?
Draw points together by mentioning photographer’s pasts, and how this influenced their imagery.
Discuss how I have responded with my work, what techniques I used and what they all mean to me, use ideas from critics and photographers to discuss similarities between artists.
Historical factors and movements (Pictorialism) that have been inspirations throughout project.
Close with idea from Patricia Marcella Anwandter about how photography reflects memory, and is therefore healing to the photographer.
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
List online websites
List essays I have read and quoted
Photobooks that inspired me throughout
Use Harvard System of Referencing to create bibliography
How to format references;
Photography book used = Zanele Muholi.
How to set out Bibliography –
Muholi, Z. (2020). Zanele Muholi, Tate. London: Tate Publishing.
In your text cite author’s surname, the year of publication and the page reference immediately after the quoted material e.g. Where a section of your main text directly quotes another source, or else uses ideas which have been drawn from another source, the end of that quote should have an entry like this …which is the point that Liz Wells’ makes when she says ‘one of the central principles of the documentary aesthetic was that a photograph should be untouched, so that its veracity, its genuineness, might be maintained’ (Wells 1998:40)
Themes and Ideas to Discuss:
Symbolism and metaphors
Windows = light, wellbeing, to grow, opening to another world
Mirrors = reflections of past, future etc
Comparison – Vale shows the idyllic escapism from anxiety, into different realities/worlds as one would in childhood imagination, whereas Sudek’s images, to me, represent the present hopes towards escaping – flowers and nature are cut down from their original source however they still thrive using a vase of water as a new way of living, its adapting to surroundings just like I have had to do when finding places to feel safe with anxiety.
Changes; possibly edit my Sudek inspired image in colour but softer vibrancy and clarity – inspiration from pictorialism – could mention in essay about the inspiration Sudek has taken from the pictorialism movement.
Quotes of Possible Use?
“It’s hyperreal and dreamlike,” Darch says. “I daydreamed a lot as a kid, I still do as an adult, and definitely in those years when I was isolated, I was inside, I was in my mind all the time.”
‘So successful has been the camera’s role in beautifying the world that photographs, rather than the world, have become the standard of the beautiful.’ Susan Sontag
“To suffer is one thing; another thing is living with the photographed images of suffering, which does not necessarily strengthen conscience and the ability to be compassionate. It can also corrupt them. Once one has seen such images, one has started down the road of seeing more – and more. Images transfix. Images anesthetize.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
“In the real world, something is happening and no one knows what is going to happen. In the image-world, it has happened, and it will forever happen in that way.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
“Photographs, which cannot themselves explain anything, are inexhaustible invitations to deduction, speculation, and fantasy.” ― Susan Sontag, On Photography
The above is the first image I chose due to its powerful use as a double page spread. This is because the landscape can fill the page and create an immersive experience when this page is opened. The negative space is also powerful as it splits the page horizontally and also presents an obscure aesthetic.
I then gathered related images and laid them out to create a photo-story. I chose theme images as they feature good framing, focus and balance while presenting the emotion of the subjects. After presenting them in this way I decided to configure them in a more traditional fashion suitable for a newspaper, with some images bigger than others and set out where a readers eye would easily follow down the page from left to right.
I then decided on another full double page spread using the below image as it presents the idea of identity and community well. With the girl staring into the lens it confronts whoever is looking at at the image and evokes emotion. This images is effective as a double page spread as it it immersive with depth of field created by the subjects in the foreground being out of focus while the subject in the background staring into the lens, makes it feel like you are part of the team huddle. The girls head is placed just before the middle of the spread so her head is not split in half.
Finally I presented a montage of screenshots from the NFT film.
Tell the story of an hypermasculinity in sports and the pressure it puts on young men and how it effects life off the playing ground.
A story about how the pressures of sport can effect individuals off the playing grounds. The story delves into how a young man finds a sense of identity on the field however struggles with the overbearing nature of masculinity within sport and the need to always put on a brave face as a young man. The narrative will begin by introducing sportsmen in action followed by juxtaposing images of them out of action. The story then follows on by introducing the main protagonist who is a young rugby player. It follows him around his life, around his home environment and begins revealing the emotions this individual feels. The story concludes by settling on this side of the narrative and lets the notion of the bleak condition linger and leaves reader with this stale sentiment.
Design
I want my book to feature a minimalist front cover possibly with an inconspicuous portrait or an object. I want this minimalist design to continue through the colour scheme on my front cover, this being no more than two earth tone colours. I want the book to have a matte texture on the exterior with the pages being Mohawk proPhoto Pearl paper. The format will be A4 portrait and will have a hard cover and be case bound and section stitched. The title for my book is ‘Big boys don’t cry’. The book will be structured with a combination of single images on one page as well as multiple collages and double page spreads with blank pages being included to create an interlude in the narrative. The images will be sequentially placed to create the narrative I intend to convey. The use of epilogues and text captions will aid in conveying this narrative.
“Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are brutal holidays in our family”
The Epilogue is a book that tells the the story of the Robinsons family after losing their 26 year old daughter and the aftermath suffered from this. The style of the work falls under the style of documentary photography, specifically outsider documentary. The photographer works closely with the family as an outsider to reconstruct a narrative surrounding the family’s lost loved one through the memories and experiences of various family members. The daughters name was Cammy and she died from bulimia. The imagery has an intent to capture the essence of absence and grief while juxtaposing this with omnipresent celebration of life. This is done through straight photography with collections of portraits as well as imagery that captures the mise en scene of Cammy’s home are used in sequential tandem to tell the story.
Laia Abril
An artist, born in Barcelona, 1986, who explores notions of eating disorders, sexuality, bio-politics and woman’s rights in her work. She made The Epilogue to explore the subject of eating disorders. This has intentions of bringing to light the extent that eating disorders effect people and their loved ones. The book is made for the attention of young people, specifically young women who are living a similar experience, weather that be by the first hand or someone close to them struggles with an eating disorder. The book received a rating of 4.5 from CPHmag and received an in-depth coverage in The Guardian as well as an award from Aperture Paris and was, therefore well received.
The book has a hard cover with a coarse texture with a smaller patch of smooth paper in the centre of the front and back covers. This varying material on the front cover contains the title of the poetic and intriguing tile in a small digital style font and covers the face of the girl in the image on the front and back cover it contains the blurb. This image is assumed to be an old portrait of Cassy and possibly her younger sister on the back.
It is fairly heavy for a 19 x 16 book and feels quite rugged. The first page consists of a matte paper while the rest of the book consists of a glossy paper. The use of colour is consistent throughout the book with dark cold colours being prominent in order to set the mood of the narrative. The book features inserts of old documents and letters personal to the family being documented which are fitted in sequentially in between pages.
The book is in A4, portrait format. It is 172 pages long. It is case bound and section stitched.
The story of Cammy and the Robinsons family is told by Abril through a combination of tableaux images taken by herself, along with old family archival imagery which is subtitled and dated. These images are constructed sequentially to annotate to the narrative and are all tied together by an epilogue quoting a family member along with the occasional formal document of hand written letter relating to the narrative at the end of each sub-set of images. Each sub-set contains a combination of small single page images as well as a double page spread and the occasional blank page to allow for a sort of intermission for the reader.
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.
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.
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 emotionof 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.
Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
By studying this analysis, it allows a broader scope of interpretation of Doug’s work to be considered rather than my own biased opinion.
Matt Day uses Dubois’ work to talk about the responsibility photographers carry, specifically the role of considering what story you are trying to tell. Matt talks about how the sequence of a foreword from Donald Antrim followed by the photographic progressive arrangement concluded by the afterword by Doug himself created a huge impact and delivered emotion effectively. This is something I want to perfect by including an essay and a sequential photographic arrangement in my personal study to also effectively entice emotion from an audience. Matt talks about the effectiveness of Doug’s method of shooting over a long period of time in terms of bettering a narrative. The introduction talks about the role of a memoirist in terms of documentation and how photo selection, especially when shooting over a long period of time, plays a role in how we understand a story. He talks about the use of light alongside the detail of the subjects facial expression that Doug uses to capture a mood.
NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction – Pg 70 -76 Tzvetan Todarov – Structural analysis of narrative
Tzvetan Todarov was a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. He was the author of many books and essays, which have had a significant influence in anthropology, sociology, semiotics, literary theory, intellectual history and culture theory. I want to apply his work on narratology to my personal study. His study’s on the structural analysis of narrative would be beneficial to apply to my project as I want to emphasise an impactful narrative through the medium of photography. Todarov states that all effective narratives share a structure that involves movement of one state of equilibrium to another. He describes the notion that two states of equilibrium are separated by a disruption in the narrative. Referencing my photo-shoot-plans I have implemented this idea of disrupted equilibrium – https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo22al/wp-admin/post.php?post=42513&action=edit. This idea is also presented by Kurt Vonnegut – Shape of a story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ
Useful Quote from this piece of literature:
“The object of our study must be narrative mood, or point of view, or sequence, and not this or that story in and for itself. […] The minimal complete plot can be seen as the shift from one equilibrium to another. This term “equilibrium,” which I am borrowing from genetic psychology, means the existence of a stable but not static relation between the members of a society; it is a social law, a rule of the game, a particular system of exchange. The two moments of equilibrium, similar and different, are separated by a period of imbalance, which is composed of a process of degeneration and a process of improvement.”
Judith Butler – Gender trouble
Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.
Her work on the gender performativity theory is what I am interested in. This theory presents the idea that “identity is performatively constructed by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results (it is manufactured through a set of acts)”. This can be applied to my project where I will be documenting an individual struggling with performing identity in different environments, overall aiding in answering: How can the medium of photography interrogate the notion of adopted hypermasculinity by individuals who are part of a sporting community, specifically rugby? Judith describes gender as a social construct – masculine and feminine are created through repetition.
“To operate within the matrix of power is not the same as to replicate uncritically relations of domination.” ― Judith Butler, Gender Trouble
“As a result, gender is not to culture as sex is to nature; gender is also the discursive/cultural means by which “sexed nature” or “a natural sex” is produced and established as “prediscursive,” prior to culture, a politically neutral surface on which culture acts” ― Judith Butler, Gender Trouble
“On the one hand, we frequently assume authenticity and truth to be located on the inside (the truth of the subject), and, at the same time, we routinely – culturally – locate and define objectivity (as in repertorial, journalistic or juridical objectivity) in conditions of exteriority, of noncomplication.” – Abigail Solomon-Godeau
“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
Hone in on the identity of a rugby player a part of a team and explore more intimate sides of his life overall telling the story of how identity shifts and how true personality is hard to find.
Begins with introducing a rugby team and sets the scene in terms of the aesthetic qualities of the individuals that belong to this community. The narrative then begins to explore one person in this community acting as a part of this setting. After the introduction of this character the story begins to reveal more about this character such as what car he drives, where he lives, and his other interests. It then begins to tell the story about an emotional side of the character. This will begin by delving into the idea of a façade that the character has adopted. It will break into ideas of a hidden sadness and forced masculinity. The story will conclude with this façade being emphasised as the character is seen back in the original setting.
The story will be told through sequentially ordered and aesthetically thought out images along with the addition of captions and an essay that responds to a question this narrative poses.
Shoot 1:
What – Rugby team, individual player as pert of a team environment
Where – Jersey Reds Rugby Club
Why – To introduce the main subject of the project and give vewier insight into his identity as a part of a rugby team
How – Close focus, high detail, fast shutter speed
When – at a evening training session
Shoot 2 :
What – Shoot the subject in a more intimate way to explore his individual identity away from other people. Shoot his house, his car, his family etc
When – During the whole day, a Sunday where he is at home
How – interrogate the subject by his use of central framing and and neutrally arranged compositions. crisp detail while laying down a blanket of warm hues used to accentuate gestural echoes, emotion, plays of light and texture.
Why – It then begins to tell the story about an emotional side of the character. This will begin by delving into the idea of a façade that the character has adopted.
Where – Subject house
Shoot 3
What – The subject back in a social environment at the pub with his teammates
When – during a social event
Why – façade being emphasised as the character is seen back in the original setting.
How – interrogate the subject by his use of central framing and and neutrally arranged compositions. crisp detail while laying down a blanket of warm hues used to accentuate gestural echoes, emotion, plays of light and texture.
