“the way children negotiate their surroundings and respond with an unharnessed spatial awareness, which I find really interesting when applied to the adult body.”

 “… each living body is space and has space: it produces itself in space and it also produces that space.”

https://clarerae.com/

These photographs form part of an ongoing series of engagements with institutional space and architecture. Through my photographic performances I investigate specific gestures and movements undertaken within public and private spaces, considering the impacts on the body by educational and institutional authority. The photographic process of recording the body in space depicts my physical and experiential memory of these sites, which is often absurd or uncomfortable.

My practice at large is informed by feminist theory and considers the implications of representing a woman’s body (my own) in an inherently fetishizing medium. My aim with all my photographs is to subvert the dominant ways we depict women’s subjectivity.

This series was captured in various spaces at RMIT University (life drawing studio, court room, design archive), an institution I have engaged with as a photography student and now lecturer. It is also where my late father studied architecture in the 1950s, which prompted my thinking when making this work about our personal connections to these educational spaces over time. -Clare Ray.

The common theme shown in these specific images are that only her legs and body are visible, her face is hidden and mainly focals the legs which is representing how women’s bodies get fetishized.

In these photographs action is opposed with stillness, danger opposed with suspension; the boundaries of space, both of the body and the environment, the interior and the exterior, memory and dream, are changed.

Chemigram is an experimental piece of art where an image is made by painting with chemicals on light-sensitive paper. Such as photographic paper, which is light sensitive. It requires, light sensitive paper, developer and fixer. this is the use of materials from silver halide-based photography . Like the photogram, the chemigram is made without a camera, however the difference is that it is created in full light instead of in the darkness of the darkroom. For this reason it is arguably not “light that writes” but rather “chemistry that writes”.

often Chemigrams are produced for artistic aspects, not many agree it is a form of photography. however it is an important little part of photography to understand a little more about the subject, and how it works. Chemigrams show similarly how a camera works. Showing the importance of darks and lights, especially film photography.

In a small group we have went for a trip to experiment with light sensitive paper and understand the chemical process behind Chemigrams. We have used a variety of different materials to create our images, the materials were applied before dipping the paper in a developer/fixer. like wax, glue and different methods to apply the developer of fixer, like through a paintbrush, sponge, spray bottle etc.

Identity is our sense of who we are as individuals and as members of social groups.

Mood-board

I wanted to make separate mood boards focussing on aspects of femininity and another for aspects of masculinity. This way I can incorporate more ideas for each side and capture ideas for my own photoshoots.

Femininity mood board

Masculinity mood board

Mind map

task

THEORY/ CONTEXT: Make a blog post and write 300-500 words expressing your view on identity politics and culture wars. How does it impact society? Describe some of the positive aspects of groups harnessing their shared identity and political views as well some of the dangers of tribalism dividing communities. Provide examples both for and against, reference sources used and include images. Try and frame the debate both within a global and local perspective.

essay

Identity politics is a term that describes a political approach wherein people of a particular religion, race, social background, class or other identifying factor form exclusive socio-political alliances. Its aim is to support the concerns, agendas, and projects of particular groups, in accord with specific social and political changes. 

In my opinion, depending on how you look at it, identity politics could have both positive and negative impacts on society. On one hand, it is a threat to those in power, since it destabilises the amount of control said people have. While on the other hand, it unites minority groups, making individuals who feel alone, have a safe area for those who are the same.  

Some positives of groups harnessing their shared identity would be a way to make said groups feel more confident, understanded and empowered. It also acts as a safe space for all those who feel or are the same way. While this is a very positive aspect of identity policy, others may not view it as such since it takes away power from those in control. 

An example of identity politics would be the suffragette’s movement. This was a group of women who were fighting to get women the right to vote. They would parade the streets and take risky actions in hope to get their points across (one event was when a suffragette jumped in front of a horse race in order to bring attention to their movement). Once they were given the right to vote, it took some power from men, who were originally the only voters at the time. Some saw their movement as unnecessarily violent while others viewed it as a necessary evil in order to achieve their goal of gaining women more rights and freedom.  

A snoot is a tool placed over the strobe head. The snoot controls and directs your strobe flash by creating a narrow or broad light beam in its cast, depending on the effect the shooter desires. Snoots do not create the flash – they are merely a tool used with your existing strobe to direct the light.

The light that the coloured fillers that the snoot has, is then emitted onto the person changing the colour of the image. A disadvantage is that it may get very hot and gloves will have to be used to remove the plastic filters. what may happen is the plastic may melt if it is wrongly adjusted.

I have experimented with different lighting that are emitted by the snoot, but haven’t changed the location of the light stand. However bellow is the basic set up of where the snoot is advertised to be placed.

I have produced a tiny selection of the photographs that look the best to me. I wanted to have a variety of different coloured images and different positions.

Because of the different coloured photographs and different positions, I was able to merge 2 or more images together to create a virtual double exposure.

To create this I have opened 2 separate images in Photoshop and have layered one on top of the other. I have changed the opacity and placement of a layered image which gave a ghost-like appearance .

I have also change the setting of the effect of the image by choosing different blending methods, as well as regulated the strength of the effect.

Final results:

Claude Cahun was a Surrealist photographer whose work explored gender identity and the subconscious mind. The artist’s self-portrait from 1928 epitomizes her attitude and style, as she stares defiantly at the camera in an outfit that looks neither conventionally masculine nor feminine. “Under this mask, another mask,” the artist famously said. “I will never be finished removing all these faces.” Born Lucy Schwob in Nantes, France on October 25, 1894 to a prominent Jewish family, she would later attend the University of Paris, Sorbonne. Her first recorded self-portraits are dated as early as 1912, when the artist was about 18. In the early 1920s, she would change her name to the gender neutral Claude Cahun, which would be the third and last time the artist changed her name. Along with step-sister and lover Marcel Moor, she moved to Paris and fell into the milieu of the Surrealist art scene. The artist went on to collaborate with Man Ray, as well as founding the left-wing group Contre Attaque alongside André Breton and Georges Bataille. In the late 1930s, Moore and Cahun moved to Jersey, an island off the coast of Normandy, where they, disguised as non-Jews, they produced and distributed anti-Nazi propaganda. After being caught, imprisoned, and sentenced to death, they successfully escaped such a fate when Jersey was liberated by allies in 1945. Cahun is considered to be a ground-breaking artist who fully embraced her gender fluidity long before the term came into use. Tragically, she never fully recovered from her maltreatment in prison and passed away on December 8, 1954 in Jersey, United Kingdom. Her work left a huge impression on photography and directly influenced contemporary photographers Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing, and Nan Goldin.

Cahun shares an interest in certain motifs such as hair, hands, and animal familiars with other female Surrealists, and similarly uses techniques of doubling and reflection to call into question fixed notions of gender and identity.

Cahuns Work

Due to Cahun being non-binary this influenced a lot of their photos due to them featuring some oppositional characteristics of the stereotypical traits of their biological gender, such as shaven hair on a biological female like the image below, due to this it shows that Cahun wanted and did challenge gender performativity.

Cahun inspired may other artists with her work for example in 2017  Gillian Wearing  was inspired by her work and almost identically recreated her work, there for Cahun was very influential even after 70 years.

Cahuns photographs she has created throughout her time can be seen as ab-normal and strange as they aren’t your stereotypical portrait photos from that time, they can be seen as scary due to the reflections she uses of a mirror to create two versions of the person in the photo, in many of Cahuns photos the models are wearing what is deemed as odd outfits which adds character and mystery to there photographs.

WHAT IS IDENTITY POLITICS?

Identity politics is a political approach where in people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities.

Europe, identity politics are exclusionary and based on the idea that the silent majority needs to be protected from globalization and immigration. During the 1980s, the politics of identity became very prominent and it was also linked to a new wave of social movement activism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_politics

Identity Politics and Cultural wars can positively and negatively impact a country. Society is either united or there is a cause of disruption within the peace.

One of the many rights that has divided belief’s within the public is women’s rights for abortion. This protesting has brought some of the people in the USA together and united them against the governments choice, however it has also caused much violence with the difference of opinions.

Many of the disagreements are caused by religious views, most Catholics believers, think that having an abortion kills human life that God created. Which goes against the faith of religion that you should not kill human life. However the other half of the people believe it is a woman’s body, which makes it a women choice whether to have an abortion.

However, even though protesting brings the people together and can create a beautiful way to fight against rights it can also create a threat and disruption. Due to different views this can create chaos and violence within humanity, which can lead to riots and ultimately can lead to death.

Chaffey theory predicts that by establishing a long- term relation with clients, social media marketing plays significant contribution to increase the business performance

This can be shown in social media, especially in the 21st century, that social media is a way that information is presented to the world. Social media is also a system that is able to reach billions of people on an international scale to increase knowledge.

Femininity

Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors.

Masculinity

Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors