Title of my essay

How do Justine Kurland and Julia Margaret Cameron portray the theme of girlhood in their work?

Essay Plan:

Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph

• two artists- Justine Kurland and Julia Margaret Cameron
• compare how they portray girlhood/childhood

• Opening quote

‘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.’

-Susan Sontag- On Photography

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?

– using my statement of intent

Our personal study project is based around the theme of nostalgia. For my personal study I want to explore identity, but more specifically femininity and what it means to be feminine. My interpretation of the theme nostalgia is going to be based on Girlhood and parts of my childhood that represent growing up as a girl. There’s a lot of women in my family who I’ve closely grew up around and my strong relationships with my friends and family are a big part of my life, which I appreciate a lot therefore I am creating my personal study around this.

I plan on photographing my friends and my family, my mum, sister, cousins, aunties and my grandma. I’m going to capture images of my friends in everyday situations when we meet up to create candid shots and to show real scenes of girlhood. As well as that, I plan on photographing my family at family events to create the same kind of images but with a different story.

Although I want to capture candid pictures that represent reality, I also want to do staged photoshoots. I am going to do research and study artists such as Justine Kurland, Sian Davey (developing my exam project from May of ‘Identity’) and Theo Gosselin. From then I will set up staged photoshoots in both rural and urban settings of my friends. For the exam project in May, me and my friends did a few photoshoots in rural environments, following the theme of ‘femininity’. These were inspired by Justine Kurland.

For my final images, I plan to present them in a photobook, I don’t plan on putting any text on/ with them at the moment, however this might change during the process of my project. I intend to start my project by taking photos of my friends in every day situations, for example, in the car, on walks, in town, later on in the evening/night when we meet up. This will give me a starting point to then decide if the outcomes are worth it and when, where and how to begin planning my staged photoshoots.

I plan on taking a variety of different images, in terms of composition, framing and lighting. However, I am mainly going to try and take photos in the rural environments with softer lighting to give the dusty, vintage kind of look. So around the time the sun is setting or rising, or on more overcast days so the lighting is dim. As well as that, the images I take in urban settings, town, I want darker lighting or on the other hand, bright lighting to create harsher shadows. Both types of photoshoots I want to use natural lighting, none in the studio. As well as documentary and tableaux for variety, also to represent the reality of girlhood.

I want my final outcome of a photobook to tell a story of girlhood and what it’s like growing up as a teenage girl on this island. I aim for the images to be quite relatable

• Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. 

Girlhood is my theme so for my first paragraph I plan on explaining what it is and what it means, explain how girlhood was like years ago. How it was like living as a woman years ago compared to now. Could write about feminism movements.

• Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.

In this paragraph I will analyse Justine Kurlands work and explain how she presents girlhood in her work. I have done multiple artist references on her so I will use them to help me.

• Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.

In this paragraph I will analyse Julia Margaret Cameron’s work, how she presents girlhood ect. Compare her work to Kurland’s work. She was making work in the 1850s, a long time before Justine Kurland; also a big difference in woman’s rights and other things.

1. Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced

I will compare overall differences and similarities of both artists work. Then I will relate this to my own work and the photos I have produced, how I was inspired by the artists.

• Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Bengal, R. (2020). ‘The Jeremys’ in Justine Kurland: Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture foundation

The New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) emerged as a style in Germany in the 1920s as a challenge to Expressionism. As the name suggests this art movement was to express reality and a focus on the objective world. You are able to see New Objectivity through Blossfeldt’s works, where he makes hyper-realistic images of flowers and nature. In his work you are able to see all the details within his work and the fine lines, which supports this idea of New Objectivity within, Expressionism.

Blossfeldt’s created his own typology, by taking and studying natural elements he ‘collected’ images and presented them as an art project. I intend to do this is my own personal study when taking images of houses, therefore creating my own typology.

MOODBOARD OF HIS WORK:

Karl Blossfeldt is best known for his precise photographs of plants; however, he began his career as a sculptor, completing apprenticeships at the ironworks and foundry in Mägdesprung and the Kunstgewerbeschule (Institute of the royal arts museum) in Berlin from 1884 to 1890.

Blossfeldt first published his photographs of plants in 1928 achieving overnight fame. These images had a direct influence on artists, such as Hilla and Bernd Becher which led them to their fame of Typologies. He was inspired by nature and hence reflected this muse in his close-up photography of living organisms and plants. He was enthusiastic towards the study of nature and he spent three decades photographing nothing else but plants. For him, plants held an “artistic and architectural” pattern.

Blossfeldt’s photography career began when he was photographing botanical specimens for Moritz Meurer. Blossfeldt later continued to develop his skillset, and his collection of photographs, while he was working as a professor. Karl Blossfeldt was one of the first photographers to build his own unique camera, which was made of wood and had one metre long bellows. In the 1930s the photographs he produced with it were just as unique as the homemade contraption itself.

CRITICS:

Looking at the images, one has the eerie sensation that the forms are simultaneously known and yet completely unrecognizable.

https://www.artbook.com/blog-at-first-sight-karl-blossfeldt.html

IMAGE ANALYSIS:

Emotional Response:

These images are presented hyper-realistic way. Although Blossfeldt photographed these images through his own camera , the photograph of the plant seems unrealistic due to the sharpness and the in depth lines and details of the flower. The flower is presented as isolated and dangerous, perhaps when Blossfeldt took this image he was attempting to shows how nature individually is beautiful.

Visual – what we can see in the image

In this image you are able to see a single flower, which seems to be on a muted background. This is to have the focal point on the flower, which leads you from the stem to the petals. By putting the image in the middle thirds it draws your attention straight to the image and leads you through the shape of the flower. In the image you can clearly see all the stems and every detail in the image. This image is basic and plain yet holds so much power in the message that Blossfeldt is trying to present, the beauty in nature.

Contextual – who, when, where etc…the story, background, impact:

Karl Blossfeldt was one of the first photographers to build his own unique camera, which was made of wood and had one metre long bellows. In the 1930s the photographs he produced with it were just as unique as the homemade contraption itself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

https://www.moma.org/artists/24413

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

https://www.famousphotographers.net/karl-blossfeldt

Photoshoot 1:

For my first photoshoot I am going to take pictures of old cards that my parents received when we where born along with old outfits of how we where always dressed as individuals and hardly ever wore the same outfits, I am then going to take pictures of some of our childhood toys and the contrast of me liking dolls and her liking cars. I am planning on doing this photoshoot in the studio as I feel that that’s where I am going to get the best lighting and it would be the best setup for this idea. This would be the photoshoot that’s inspired by Gabriele Galimberti.

Photoshoot 2:

For my second photoshoot I am going to take portraits of myself and then my sister, this is because I want to edit them on photoshop with my face mirroring hers, and also use old pictures of us and do the same. This is because even though we are fraternal we still have similarities regarding our face as do most siblings. I would probably do this photoshoot at my house against a white wall with a mixture of natural and artificial lighting. and then edit them on photoshop or lightroom. This photoshoot wold be inspired by Irina Werning and Vibeke tandberg.

Photoshoot 3:

For my third photoshoot I am going to use old photobook that my parents made for me when I was a child and take pictures of my sister holding the book and also individual images of the pictures inside. I am doing this as these old photobooks hold a lot of memories from my childhood with my sister and show us growing up together.

Here are the archived images I have collected so far.

MON: Academic Sources

• Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
• Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
• It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different pints of view – not only your own.
• Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages
• Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography

Bibliography

List all the sources that you have identified above as literary sources. Where there are two or more works by one author in the same year distinguish them as 1988a, 1988b etc. Arrange literature in alphabetical order by author, or where no author is named, by the name of the museum or other organisation which produced the text. Apart from listing literature you must also list all other sources in alphabetical order e.g. websites/online sources, Youtube/ DVD/TV.

Quotation and Referencing:

Why should you reference?

• To add academic support for your work
• To support or disprove your argument
• To show evidence of reading
• To help readers locate your sources
• To show respect for other people’s work
• To avoid plagiarism
• To achieve higher marks

What should you reference?

• Anything that is based on a piece of information or idea that is not entirely your own.
• That includes, direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, definitions, images, tables, graphs, maps or anything else obtained from a source

How should you reference?

Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.

Bibliography

Cruz, A. (1997). ‘Movies, Monstrosities and Masks; 20 years of Cindy Sherman’ in Retrospective. New York; Thames & Hudson Inc.

• Saturday 07 May, 2016
• Text by Shelley Jones
• Photography by Jim Goldberg / Magnum Photos
• https://www.huckmag.com/article/flipping-gaze-photos-jim-goldberg-documentary-storyteller

how is youth shown in photography? How truthfully is youth depicted in the work of Jim Goldberg and Theo Gosselin?

The focus on my essay is going to be Youth In Photography and the question is, How truthfully is youth depicted in the work of Jim Goldberg and Theo Gosselin?

I am going to be creating a critical analysis on two artists Theo Gosselin and Jim Goldberg, i am going to make it on powerpoint, talking about each photographer their background information their work and information about their work, i am going to include an analysis on an image and show where they audience gets drawn to within that image. I am going to include a slide on the history of truth in photography talking about background information behind it, followed up with how I believe the truth in photography can be questioned by the two photographers and their morals behind their work.