How does Carolle Benitah and Birthe Piontek explore the concept of family through their work? 

“Those moments, fixed on paper, represented me, spoke about me and my family told things about my identity, my place in the world, my family history and its secrets, the fears that constructed me, and many other things that contributed to who I am today”. – Carolle Benitah

The quote from Carolle Benitah is a representation of how photographs that have been taken and passed down through generations can give us a deeper insight into our senior generations as well as providing us with a wider knowledge of our identity. Focusing mainly on family I want to explore the meaning of islandness and how living on island can disconnect people from their extended family, interlacing the two will be interesting as they are not topics that would usually be put together because of their vastly different factors. Exploring the two themes made me think how we make our own ‘Jersey Family’ through our friends and our parents. I feel that this is very prominent in Jersey, especially with teenagers, as our parents moved to the island leaving family behind. This led to friends slowly turning into family figures as they provide the support systems that a ‘normal’ family would. One of the photographers that I have chosen is Carolle Benitah as her project ‘Photos Souvenirs’ connects to my work as I was inspired into using images from family albums. One thing I found interesting about this piece was how Benitah chose to manipulate and reshape her archival photos. Embroidery was a big feature in her work as well as the use of needle, thread and beads. I will also be looking closely at her ‘Jamais je ne t’oublirai’ work as I was moved by the way she uses gold paint the cover parts of the images and the message behind this specific project. She wanted to rebuild the image of her family before her parents’ marriage as there were only a few images. I have also chosen to investigate Birthe Piontek as well as her project ‘Mimesis’ as her editing and manipulation style inspired me a lot as these techniques helped to produce aesthetic photographs which held a clear story. Piontek collected most of her images from flea markets, so with the lack of knowledge about the individual she used different materials such as mirror and cutting the images into different formats to create her own fiction for them. Piontek stated that this style of manipulation is a “very physical, almost sculptural process” (Piontek, B; Humble Arts Foundaton, December 2014) but it was something she enjoyed as she was able to create something new. I intend to use a similar creative style of manipulation as Benitah and Piotek in my own work to produce engaging photographs of my family, I also plan to have each image designed differently to help portray their individual stories.    

Family identity has always been a big part of art and photography with family portraiture becoming popular in the 1820s and still being a big part of photography today. It has changed greatly over the years developing from expensive art into more affordable and evolved photography. As photography has advanced art portraiture has been left behind, as the 1840s phototropic skills had improved leading to studios being set up meaning family portraiture become more accessible to less wealthy people. One of the main reasons this type of photography became so popular was the influence from Queen Victoria as she was very fond of photography, documenting parts of her life which guided the middle class to “have their lives and families immortalised in a photograph” (Venture Studios, July 2021). As cameras started to become more efficient and available, families started to take their own photographs and making archival images of their family. The invention of the Kodak in 1888 by George Eastman as well as further advancements in this technology helped family portraiture shift from formal, staged artwork to more relaxed and candid images of special events. This genre of photography has grown with time, adapting to the different concepts of family as in the 21^st century many photographers focus more on the social bonds rather than the biological ones.

Family photography is one of the many ways of looking back on who we once were and having that stage in our lives permanently documented, it’s also a way of having physical memories of those we have lost. We decorate our walls, nightstands, desks and shelves with these photos that capture key moments in our lives, including the people we value most, these images help to create the idea of family and how these individuals belong together. Many have stopped displaying showing these photographs on walls and around our homes as we now carry our memories in an archive that is constantly on us, mobiles phones allow to us to have access to these images all the time making it easier to see our friends and families anytime we want. Furthermore, I think my personal study relates a lot to modernism as it includes experimentation with images, this is shown in both my artists as they make alterations to the original images that they have chosen. They make these edits through different methods and the use of different materials, for example with Piontek she includes mirrors, frames as well as using scissors to make physical alterations. 

Carolle Benitah is a French Moroccan photographer, she started as a fashion designer and pursued this career for 10 years, in 2001 when she took a sabbatical year and wanted to use this time to investigate other creative pathways outside of her profession, this led her to photography as she stated, “there was something that seemed easy to me in this apprenticeship: press the button for the magic to happen.” (9 lives magazine, October 2020). After a few years in the industry, she started to use her personal archival photographs in 2009 which she used embroidery, beading, as well as coloured pens as a way of manipulation. Benitah used these materials to change the story of her images as she didn’t feel that she owned her past being from a family that used the narrative of only girls from ‘good families’ could embroider. In Carolle Benitahs more recent pieces of work she explores the themes of memory, family and time. In her ‘Jamais je ne t’oublirai’ project Benitah started to build this imaginary family album through collecting photographs from flea markets which she states she felt ‘magnetised’ (Benitah. C, 2017) to, she wanted to do this as older generations didn’t keep many images of their lives. I found this extremely interesting as she was trying to recreate a whole new family to her preference but while still having the memories that were completely different to how she chose to portray her constructed family. Carolle Benitah wanted to transform old photographs into art pieces that hold a story which she has physical made, this changes societies perception on what a ‘normal’ or ‘perfect’ family looks like. “I’m building a fantasy album like a crossing of appearances where I enjoy demolishing the myth of the ideal family to let emerge a more nuanced picture”. (Benitah. C; 2017). 

This adapted image in Carolle Benitah’s ‘Photo Souvenirs’ collection was published in 2016, it’s what seems to be a family photo of 6 children. In Benitah’s manipulation she has completely covered one with her eminent red string as well as cutting two of the children out of the photographs and placing them onto the background making it appear like they have fallen out of the original image. Benitah has even cut one of the heads off the young child while also scribbling the face of the other. Carolle Benitah has made a clear advancement towards which emotion she is trying to display through this single image, the anger and betrayal that is conveyed in the photograph is clear by the lengths Benitah has gone to make this type of adaptation. Through Carolle Benitah’s ‘Photo Souvnirs’ project it has shown how a family, which is seen to be as ‘normal’ can also have underlying issues which aren’t always seen by the rest of the world, it demolishes the ‘perfect family’ front that many are trying to portray, much like Benitah’s family and their stereotypical traits. By adding the white background onto the image Benitah can disconnect from the two girls which have been removed from the untouched photograph. This helps to change the narrative in her book as well as the image itself, there is a clear difference between the three people who have be edited to show Carolle Benitah’s feelings. The first being the individual blocked out through the red string, in many interview Benitah’s has stated that the concept of the needle and thread is “a putting to death of my demons” (Benitah C. Lensculture). I find this interesting as it could hold more meaning than the other reconstruction of people placed on the background, being sliced out of the image holds very strong emotions but Benitah has made clear that the puncturing of the paper means something personal as it connects her to her past and her families’ values. Carolle Benitah wanted to explore her childhood as she thought it would be to get a deeper understanding of her identity and how it affected her adult life, I think this is a key image which represents that as there is clearly memories which Benitah doesn’t resonate with, by cutting off the head and scribbling out the face shows the powerful feelings towards the two people. 

Birthe Pionteck was born and raised in Germany but moved to Canada in 2005 after graduating from Folkwang University of the Arts. She is now a Vancouver based photographer who specialises in narrative-driven portraiture, one of the projects that I took the most inspiration from was ‘Mimesis’ where she uses different materials as a way of manipulating her images into telling her own story. Piontek based many of her projects around investigating human identity and how we perceive ourselves as well as how others see us. ‘Mimesis” was centred around photographs which Piontek found on Ebay or in flea markets, these were mainly portraits with the subject looking directly in the camera, this is so that their history can be shown through the image. “The moment where it is all about the person and not so much about capturing a situation or event, so that the image becomes a representation of that person.” (Piontek B: Humble Arts Foundation, December 2014). Once Piontek has found these photographs, she transforms them by cutting out pieces and putting them together with others that she thinks will create a capturing narrative. She also uses different unique materials we wouldn’t normally see being incorporated into photography like glass, foil, mirrors and paint. Another project of Piontek’s that I found fascinating was ‘Her Story’, this piece was personal for her as it was looking into her mother and Grandmothers fight with dementia and Alzheimer’s, she wanted to display the theme of memory loss through her interest in collaging and manipulation of images. Her deeper connection to this piece of work is what made it so moving as was able to convey her fear of potentially carrying either one of the diseases as well as her feelings towards both generations. Furthermore, Piontek also wanted to explore the way in which humans connect with their memories and they can change us but also shape us into the people we are. Birthe states “our identities are shaped by our memories, to a point where I almost want to say: we are our memories” (Piontek B: Der Greif, September 2016). 

Above is one of Birthe Pionteks images form her collection ‘Mimesis’, before she made adaptations, they were originally school photographs from different years of the young girls education. To change the narrative of these images Piontek has connected them together with a long piece of fabric which seems to be the same one as the background in both images. As Piontek based this project around identity, I think that the message which is trying to reveal itself is that we are always connected to our past selves no matter how much we change our appearance or behaviour, there will also be the memories of our ‘old selves’ which has left an impression of the society we live in. By using the same material throughout the whole manipulation is a creative way of linking each feature together, it tells a story of how each part of our lives are connected, past, present and future no matter how hard we try to detach from them. Even though Piontek doesn’t know this girl she is able to convey a deeper connection to her by creating her own fiction and telling a different story of this girls life. Birthe Piontek got her photographs for ‘Mimesis’ through flea markets and thrift shop meaning she has no background on the individuals she decides to reconstruct but she is still able to use different materials and skills to recreate this persons whole identity. Piontek states “I usually spend quite a bit of time with the image, looking at it and familiarizing myself with it” (Piontek B: Humble Arts Foundation, 2014), I think this is the main reason why Piontek is able to convey such a powerful message through many of her collections, she gets to know these individuals bringing them into her family so that she is able to reconstruct them the best she can creating whole new narrative for them which are completely different to their actual lives.

The image above displays another one of Birthe Piontaks photographs, it is from a different collection hers named ‘Her Story’. This project is very moving as it investigates the theme of memory loss, which connects back to Pionteks mother and grandmother who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s. I think with this specific image Piontek is trying to communicate how people with these diseases endure the feeling of losing themselves, with it getting with each day that comes. In this adaptation four cut outs of the same image have been placed on a black background, the alternating photographs faces have been cut out leaving only the frame of the face as well as the hair and shoulders, the other cut outs have been places towards the back on the right side with one filling in the empty space that was once there. Each face is a representation of the same person, but by cutting out the identifying features it represents what has been forgotten and what has replaced these memories. Piontek states “the more we remember something and look at it with our minds eyes, the more we alter and change a memory” (Der Greif, 2016), I think this is interesting as it has been scientifically proven that with the recall of memories they alter and we lose sense of what the original once was. I think that Piontek wanted to add this matter into her collection as it is something similar to what her older generations go through on a daily. I believe that with this project it was able to help Piontek feel more connected with her mother and grandmother as she was able to explore their history as well as their present, she can rework these photos into something she wants to see and believe while also spreading awareness of this diseases.

Overall, through the manipulation of archival images as well as photographs found at flea markets, Birthe Piontek and Carolle Benitah are able to get a deeper understanding of their identity and also their families, they recreate their own families into something they wish they had in their past. They use these projects as an outlet and a way of connecting to who they use to be and exploring how they have change over years. The theme of identity and family has been interlaced throughout their whole careers making their collects even more powerful, as people can go back and look at the development as well as how they have demolished the stereotype of having a ‘perfect’ family. Carolle Benitah did this through her manipulations with thread which emphasised on the fact that she was brought up with the narrative that girls from ‘good’ families could embroider and sew. Birthe Piontek did something similar with the materials that she used but for her it was rebuilding the family and the identity of the individuals she found in images. Above this is one of my adaptations to an archival image, with this specific photograph I have taken inspiration from mainly Carolle Benitah by incorporating the red a gold, I think that these colours compliment each other as well as symbolising something deeper.

Bibliography

Benitah, C (2017) Photo Souvenirs [Online], Photos Souvenirs | carollebenitah (carolle-benitah.com) [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]

Benitah, C Lens Cultrure [Online] Photos-Souvenirs – Photographs and text by Carolle Benitah | LensCulture [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]

Benitah, C (2017) Jamais je ne t’oublierai [Online] Jamais je ne t’oublirai | carollebenitah (carolle-benitah.com) [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]

(2 September 2016) Der Greif [Online] dergreif-online.de [Accessed 6 Feb 2023]

Feinstein, J (3 December 2014) Humble Arts Foundation [Online], Birthe Piontek Gives New Identity to Found Photographs — Humble Arts Foundation (hafny.org) [Accessed 6 Feb 2023]

(20 Novermber 2018) Musee Magazine [Online] museemagazine.com [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]

Piontek, B [Online] About — Birthe Piontek [Accessed 6 Feb 2023]

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(July 2021) Venture Studios [Online] Where did family portraits come from? | Venture Studios (venturephotography.com) [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]

(5 October 2020) 9 Lives Magazine [Online] La photographe Carolle Benitah est notre invitée – 9 Lives Magazine (9lives-magazine.com) [Accessed 1 Feb 2023]