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I enjoy the work of photographers who do not just use the images themselves to communicate their identity, instead taking the photos and editing them in some way to elevate their concept. For example Carolle Benitah is a French Moroccan photographer and artist who often weaves, writes or draws onto pictures, often from childhood. By doing this she can take the concepts of the original images and edit them to fulfil her own artistic vision.

Here Benitah uses gold foil to cover the faces and background of an old looking image of a large group of people. By covering their faces the viewer feels uneasy, unable to see the eyes or expressions of those shown and making them feel less human as there is nothing to emotionally connect to. The image is titled “Jamais Je Ne t’Oublierai” which translates from French to “I’ve loved you for a long time, I will never forget you.”. One could assume that the image is of a wedding and the couple in it are growing older, it could be interpreted that even as they are growing older and their memories of the exact details are lost, they will never stop loving each other.

Claude Cahun was a French Surrealist Photographer, Writer and Sculptor, also known by the name Lucy Schwob. Their work often explored their personal relationship with gender and sexuality, and they lived in Jersey with creative and romantic partner Suzanne Malherbe, who also went by the pseudonym Marcel Moore. Their work was incredibly ahead of it’s time and they did their best to push against societal norms, even after the island was occupied by Nazi forces.

Here Cahun really leans into the surrealist art they are most known for, fulfilling their intent of confusing and surprising the viewer with the images created. They are portraying a strongman while balancing masculine and feminine aspects of their presentation. The image is in black and white due to abilities of camera’s at the time, however it creates mystery as there are parts of the image the viewer will never get to see, creating a further sense of mystery and confusion.