Raised in Nigeria and then moving to London in 1980, Shonibare became immersed into the art world. He began exhibiting his art in 1988 exploring themes of colonialism, imperialism, and social mobility. His most notable exhibition being Diary of a Victorian Dandy in 1998 displaying staged images of role reversals between Black and White people in the Victorian era.

https://yinkashonibare.com/

Shonibare’s artwork not only comments on historical and modern society but as a black, disabled artist his pieces are now created by a team of assistants and he himself works as a conceptual artist. Before this, however, his works included sculpted public pieces like ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ that was displayed in Trafalgar Square in 2010 and then shown outside the Greenwich Maritime Museum where it still stands. The most notable works that he has created that I believe to be a key part of my own project is his re-enacted exhibition of ‘Diary of a Victorian Dandy’.

‘Diary of a Victorian Dandy’

“Shonibare’s ambitious photographic suite Diary of a Victorian Dandy has frequently been considered in relation to the satirical art of the 18th-century painter”

This exhibition presents Shonibare as a Victorian aristocrat, commenting on the highly racist society that was Europe in the Victorian era. The series was meticulously staged, with every action decided and choreographed to create the scene. Yinka Shonibare himself, being the centre of attention looks out of place in the images as the only Anglo-African subject in the image. All others are white and follow the rich, victorian businessman stereotype. This forces his series to comment on the racial stereotypes of the time and being an obviously modern image, framed in this ancient style frame, accentuates this recognition of Britain’s racist history.

This image specifically is intriguing as Shonibare has a monotone facial expression and holds himself in way that seems unbothered by the actions of those around him. In the image, all of the other rich men are admiring him specifically, either laughing at jokes or applauding him. Naturally, the subject of this attention would be happy and basking in this minor triumph for whatever reason, but he seems unfazed by the situation which is interesting when put into the context of Shonibare’s aims. When understanding that the artist wanted to comment on racism in Britain’s history, the monotone and unfazed facial expressions suggest the oppression that those of African nationality felt under British rule. It also establishes that the image is fabricated history and a rich Victorian Dandy would have most definitely been white.

First known as a painter and lithographer, Oscar Gustave Rejlander pioneered the practice of combination printing, a photographic technique in which two or more negatives are used to create a single print. After studying art and antiquity in Rome, Rejlander settled in England, exhibiting his paintings at the Royal Academy in 1848. He learned photography from Nicholas Henneman in 1853. In 1857 and 58 he exhibited his Two Ways of Life, a large allegorical study, at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition and at the Photographic Society of London. He met Henry pEach Robinson in 1858 and introduced him to his techniques. Rejlander established a studio in London in 1862 and subsequently concentrated on portrait work; his sitters included Lewis Carroll and Gustave Dore. In 1871-72 he produced the illustrations for Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.

‘Two Ways of Life’

The image above seems like a simple composition showing a tableaux image but The Two Ways of Life was one of the most ambitious and controversial photographs of the nineteenth century. The picture is an elaborate allegory of the choice between vice and virtue, represented by a bearded sage leading two young men from the countryside onto the stage of life. The rebellious youth at left rushes eagerly toward the dissolute pleasures of lust, gambling, and idleness; his wiser counterpart chooses the righteous path of religion, marriage, and good works. Because it would have been impossible to capture a scene of such extravagant complexity in a single exposure, Rejlander photographed each model and background section separately, yielding about thirty-two negatives, which he meticulously combined into a single large print.

The photograph made me think about a possible effect that I could try when editing my images. As it was made through combination printing, I thought that perhaps one image could be pieced together from a series of photographs that join together in many different ways. Perhaps a portrait or still life that I want top photograph to create this combined print. This pioneering photograph was such an achievement that I should produce some kind of outcome in relation to it. It is key piece from the history of photography and with the project being about my own theatrical life, it seems fitting to include such a big part of Rejlander’s work in my own history.

‘The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals’

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1227/1227-h/1227-h.htm

Charles Darwin produced this book as a scientific exploration of how humans and animals express emotions and why, a topic that coincides with his theory of evolution and natural selection.

“I must have the pleasure of expressing my obligations to Mr. Rejlander for the trouble which he has taken in photographing for me various expressions and gestures.”

Working with Charles Darwin in the latter years of his, Rejlander produced these images above. These very stylised emotions and positions that Rejlander himself posed as appeals to my study greatly. It is a very clear aspect of acting and although used by Darwin for scientific purposes, coincides perfectly with my project.

The plate of images above are used in Chapter X of Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals titled ‘Hatred and Anger’. These heliotype images clearly describe the heightened expressions of human emotions, something every actor learns as their first lesson. Expressing strong emotions are essential to my life and therefore, by producing images similar to these, I believe that portraits created would be perfect for my project.

“The mouth is commonly compressed, and there is almost always a frown on the brow. Instead of the frantic gestures of extreme rage, an indignant man unconsciously throws himself into an attitude ready for attacking or striking his enemy, whom he will perhaps scan from head to foot in defiance. He carries his head erect, with his chest well expanded, and the feet planted firmly on the ground. He holds his arms in various positions, with one or both elbows squared, or with the arms rigidly suspended by his sides. With Europeans the fists are commonly clenched.” – Darwin’s description of Indignation, clearly shown in Rejlander’s image.

With my personal study, I want to explore the relationship between theatre and photography. Understanding how creating scenes onstage is similar to creating an image. As a theatrical student, this theme connects to my life and through shows and performances over the past few years, I am starting to notice similarities between these two disciplines. When creating a piece of theatre, one must think about the relation between what the audience sees on stage and how the actors perform it. Theatrical aspects like set, lighting, sound and projections must also coincide with the overall performance and be completely in sync with the overall storyline. When producing images, the photographer must also think about the relation of light and framing within an image, but it is restricted into how the images are presented. A photographer can only present through mounting images on a wall or producing a film or photo book for example. Whereas, theatre has a sense of freedom. The actors and scenery are not restricted to a stage or theatre. Productions have the ability to immerse an audience and actors are free to roam the aisles and auditorium, or bring an audience into a performance environment. It is this difference between the two that i want to show in my project.

The theme of ‘Nostalgia’ made me think of using my own experiences in theatre to influence my final outcomes. It would be represented through my use of images from past productions that i have been involved in. When creating new images, I want to take the point of view of a theatre director rather than a photographer. Meaning that I want to show my story by creating a staged production through a series of still images rather than a moving piece of theatre or film.

The majority of my photoshoots will take place on location (ie. at the Jersey Arts Centre and at venues that I, myself have performed/worked in) but I still want to use the studio to create portfolio headshots that are a key component for anyone working in the theatrical industry. I am going to create a series of environmental portraits within the theatrical world, using areas like technical boxes or rehearsal studios. From this I would combine images of different settings by manually tearing apart images and physically changing how they look. With regards to headshots, I want to use some of my own as well as new images that I take, and physically change the images by hand and through AI software like Adobe Photoshop (Beta). I also want to explore ways of showing movement in my images through blurring techniques both during and after photoshoots, for example taking a series of images at fast shutter speeds to capture the series of movements and combine them in photoshop or capture a movements on slow shutter speeds to create more of a blurred image.

When presenting my final outcomes, I aim to create a linear display of images within a photobook, but use a background of carefully chosen sheet music – adding a musical element to the story. This would add to the achievement of my aim to create a full theatrical experience presented on paper as opposed to the stage. I want to show as many aspects of the theatrical world as possible within my story, creating a full autobiography of my own personal experiences in the industry.

I want to start my photoshoots at Mont Orgeuil Castle during the Jersey Youth Performing Arts production of ‘Ghost Stories by Candlelight’, an immersive piece of theatre that I have directed from scratch working closely with the playwright in order to create something that hasn’t been seen before.

When thinking on what topic I could have for my personal study, I initially thought of the island’s relationship with Guernsey and take more of a historical approach. But the theme of Nostalgia and the idea of the project being personal to me, all I could think of my experiences in the theatre world. How similar are theatre and photographic art?

Environmental Portraiture

This topic in my studies so far allowed me to create aspects of drama within my photographic images. Commenting on the lives of people in their everyday environments.

Environmental images allow an insight into the lives of those pictured. For example, an image taken by Arnold Newman shows two men posing on a stage in a theatre – you can tell that they have some kind of connection to theatre, without knowing that those depicted, are famous playwrights, Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. The ways in which environmental portraits are put together outline the subjects story in ways that don’t necessarily show it so obviously.

Typologies

Typologies allow a photographer to tell stories in images where the settings on the camera don’t change, the subject in the images are similar, the framing could is the same. This topic was a useful way to understand the simplicity of just having multiple images of similar subjects (ie bunkers or water towers) being presented in a way that is actually quite impressive and explores its own message as a whole.

Henry Mullins

Mullins was a Jersey based photographer in the 19th Century that took thousands of portraits of the islanders during his time in the island. Presenting his images in the traditional format of a diamond cameo. This simple style of portraiture reminds me of the simplicity of actors’ headshots – a simple image is a necessity in the theatrical world.

Romanticism

Romanticism itself could be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony and rationality that typified Classicism in general and late 18th-century Neoclassicism in particular.

Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.

These ideas greatly influenced how actors and directors approach aspects of theatre, differing from the traditional operatic productions to modern day musicals and non-naturalistic plays stemming from the works of Steven Berkoff and Bertolt Brecht.