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In what ways do alterations in Jessa Fairbrother’s work make the visible what is invisible?

‘This is my story of severance’- an opening quote by Jessa Fairbrother for her book “Conversations with My Mother.”

The essence of photography lies in its ability to capture precise details and faithfully represent the reality perceived by humans, setting it apart from traditional methods such as drawing and painting. Yet, it is crucial to acknowledge the profound impact of art within the realm of photography. Throughout history, various forms of art, including poetry, acting, music, and photography, have consistently moved people. This exploration seeks to delve into the reasons behind the compelling nature of art, its capacity to inspire extraordinary outcomes, and the inherent meaning and thought embedded in creative expressions.

While photographs are often considered as objective records of reality, this investigation recognizes the transformative power of art. It sheds light on seemingly ordinary works that possess a subtle element capable of elevating them to a level of profound significance. The focus here is on understanding how alterations to images can significantly influence the overall message conveyed by a photograph.

The exploration further aims to evaluate the success of Jessa Fairbrother’s photographic outcomes, particularly in her project “Conversations with My Mother.” By employing unconventional methods such as thread, ink, burning, and other “destructive” techniques, Fairbrother manages to enhance the depth and meaning of her photographs. This study delves into the experimental nature of her work, questioning why and how these unconventional methods contribute to the success of her artistic expressions. “Conversations with My Mother” becomes a focal point, aligning with the genre of the researcher’s personal study. The project encompasses qualities that resonate with the exploration, such as the profound exploration of her mother’s life intertwined with her own, the visual representation of the connection between them, and the physical engagement with the art through alterations, mirroring the essence of the broader investigation.

Pictorialism, Surrealism and Symbolism

Early examples of pictorialism:

Pictorialism emerged as a significant photography movement in the late 19th century, peaking in the early 20th century. The technical process of photography, involving film development and darkroom printing, originated in the early 19th century, gaining popularity for traditional photographic prints around 1838-1840. As photography evolved, debates arose among photographers, painters, and others about the scientific and artistic aspects of the medium. English painter William John Newton suggested in 1853 that artistic results could be achieved by keeping images slightly out of focus, while others saw photography as a visual record of a chemistry experiment. Photography historian Naomi Rosenblum noted the dual character of the medium, capable of producing both art and documentation.

Amidst these debates, the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of Pictorialism, a movement characterized by its aim to elevate photography to fine art. Pictorialists manipulated photographs through techniques like soft focus, light and shadow manipulation, and alternative printing processes to create images resembling paintings or etchings. This movement blurred the boundaries between photography and traditional art forms, fostering a more inclusive approach to visual art. While Pictorialism waned in popularity, its emphasis on subjective interpretation and creative expression paved the way for subsequent photographic movements, including Modernism. Pictorialist photographs often lacked sharp focus, featuring visible brush strokes or surface manipulations to project emotional intent.

 “I could play with light and shadow, creating a new reality with the same elements of the visible world.” said Ray, in this quote he unfolds the process of his techniques as well as encourages us to think more creatively when it comes to ordinary objects, as even the simplest of elements can be turned into something extraordinary through the use of light, in a darkroom.

Surrealism, on the other hand, emerged as an artistic movement characterized by an interest in the irrational, dreamlike, and subconscious. Led by André Breton, Surrealism aimed to reconcile the contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality or surrealist. This movement significantly impacted various artistic disciplines, including photography. Key figures in Surrealist photography, such as Man Ray, Claude Cahun, and Salvador Dalí, contributed to the exploration and expression of the mind beyond conscious reality. Man Ray, associated with Surrealism, experimented with solarization and photograms, creating dreamlike and abstract images. Surrealism encompassed literature, visual arts, film, and photography, spreading globally from the 1920s onwards. They embraced techniques such as multiple exposures, photomontage, and distortion to create visually and psychologically charged images. Surrealism’s impact on photography helped widen the possibilities of the medium, encouraging photographers to explore the subjective, and the imaginative. The movement’s legacy is still seen in the ongoing exploration of unconventional and dream-inspired visual narratives in contemporary photography. 

In Surrealist Manifesto, Breton defined surrealism as: “pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought.”

However, the Surrealist movement was not officially proven until after October 1924, when the Surrealist Manifesto released by French poet and critic André Breton, became successful in claiming the term for his group over a rival group led by Yvan Goll, who had published his own surrealist manifesto two weeks prior. The most important centre of the movement was in Paris, France. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, affecting the visual arts, literature, film, and music of many countries and languages. 

Symbolism in photography entails utilizing visual elements to convey metaphorical or symbolic meanings that extend beyond the explicit representation. Photographers employ symbols to elicit emotions, communicate ideas, or narrate stories that transcend the superficial aspects of the image. This approach fosters a deeper and more subjective interpretation of the photograph by the viewer. A great example, one of the most iconic symbolic photographs is the Migrant Mother, photographed by Dorthea Lange.
Naomi Rosenblum comments ” The images were transformed into photographic works of art when they were exhibited under auspices of the Museum of Modern Art”.

The origins of photographic symbolism can be traced back to the broader Symbolist movement that emerged in the late 19th century. Symbolism, as an encompassing artistic and literary movement, sought to communicate abstract and emotional ideas through symbolic imagery. Within the realm of photography, Symbolism evolved into a potent tool for photographers to move beyond mere representation and delve into more profound and subjective themes. Early photographers, including Julia Margaret Cameron, incorporated symbolic elements in their work, drawing inspiration from literary and mythological themes. During the same period, photographers active in the Pictorialism movement also embraced Symbolism as a means of elevating photography to the status of an art form. Despite fluctuations in popularity, Symbolism continued to manifest in the works of individual photographers and experienced a resurgence in the latter half of the 20th century and beyond.

One of her particularly intriguing projects is “Conversations with my mother.” In discussing this project, Fairbrother revealed that it not only explores her relationship with her mother but also addresses her inability to conceive, thereby altering the anticipated maternal role she had hoped to shape — rendering her “Neither daughter nor mother.” The project commenced with a joint photographic endeavour with her mother, involving the exchange of a disposable camera through the mail, documenting their lives from their respective viewpoints. However, Jessa’s discovery of her infertility, followed by her mother’s diagnosis of cancer, dramatically shifted the narrative. Becoming her mother’s caregiver, Fairbrother left her existing life to be with her during her final moments. The resulting photographs include portraits of her mother, as well as self-portraits adorned with her mother’s wig after her passing. Some images within the project are deliberately destroyed, symbolizing the internal destruction she experienced.

 This destruction is not only seen through the photographs themselves but through her own words: “I cried in sorrow at the abrupt suspension of future narratives: for the mother I would not hold again and for the child who would never hold me.”. This loss effected her and this book is a representation of that.

Shifting back to ideas of Pictorialism, and Symbolism as well as Surrealism, these are the main genres her body of work revolves around, each photograph has aspects related to the subject, like the subject of infertility or subject of her losing her mother. These sometimes little sometimes big elements of Symbolism give the photograph more depth and emotional connection between the viewer and the photograph. Regarding the technical aspects behind her photographs, they are quite pictorial, they are positions, or stages in a way to create a visually pleasing photograph, which is then tampered with. The experimentation and physical alterations to the images especially labels her work as all the above, it is visually pleasing, it is taken for artistic purposes, it has symbolism through the alterations, and it is surreal through the literal yet sometimes harder to find metaphors. “I burned, buried and embellished photographs of us. I performed my grief and began to stitch.”, the metaphors behind the alterations are explained though that quote, that each photograph carries grief that is imbedded through the processes.

Fairbrother employed various techniques in this project, with each contributing to the visual and emotional impact of the images. For instance, using tissue and carefully burning each layer adds an intriguing dimension to the photographs, enhancing their visual appeal and conveying deeper meaning. Another captivating series involves stitched portraits of her mother and herself, each featuring a similar swirly pattern but with distinct colour variations. The stitching raises questions about the symbolic significance of colour, pattern placement, and the overall representation of the images. The layout of the project within the book is diverse, but it takes a distinctive turn with the montaged page. This spread across two pages features a collage of 14 images, predominantly focusing on nature — her mother’s garden. However, interspersed are images that appear older, potentially from her or her mother’s childhood, culminating in the central image of a pregnancy test. The combination of these pictures weaves a narrative, with each element holding importance. The pregnancy test, for instance, may symbolize her infertility, while the other images capture moments from both her life and her mother’s. Jessa Fairbrother’s project “Conversations with my mother” stands as a poignant exploration of personal struggles, mother-daughter relationships, and the intricate layers of human experience, showcased through the lens of photography and artistic expression.

When I discuss her work, I can’t help but envision a photograph that my mind comes back to, these ones being the two portraits, one being of her mother and the other of Jessica herself. When displayed next to each other they hold more meaning than separate, this is due to the link between them as well as the photographs. What differentiates them from any other portraits, is Jessica’s signature style of embroidering into them. She contrasts the portrait with stitched abstract shapes, changing the colours of the thread according to each portrait. These raise questions for the viewer, but especially, why? Why this patter, thread, colour? To me I like to think that the colour choice is not so random but symbolises something greater. I think it shows how she felt about her mother a lot, by stitching more colours together but for her only sticking to grey. To me it represents her as a person, showing her mother in a spotlight, showing she meant to her more than herself, or displaying her mother through connotations of how her soul felt, vibrant, kind, lively. This stitching itself uncovers the meaning embraided with it, although we can’t see her mother like she does, we can see her through her eyes, and that’s why it holds such poignant significance.  It is the symbolism behind the images is what I want to imbed into my own work I want to be able to display the emotions behind each photograph through manual and digital alterations. 

Overall, any photograph is produced due to an emotional experience, change or affect a subject has on the photographer. Photographs are a work of art, which needs to be celebrated, however the most successful ones are the ones that question us, and to me that is one of the most important qualities, because to question is to be intrigued, to be curious and confused. But, also to want to know the truth hidden behind a photograph, in another words “To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.” – said Susan Sontag in the book On Photography. It means to have a relation with the subject, for the subject to have an impact on a photographer. Photographs revoke feelings in us, so any successful photograph should do so. Without feelings created the photograph will not hold less significance to the viewer. Now it is important how the photographer displays these feelings through their work, in Jessica’s Fairbrother’s case, it’s through her manipulations and alterations, specific stitching, burning, collaging and physical changes she can do on a printed photograph she displays emotions. In another words she makes the visible what is invisible.  

Bibliography

Introduction to Early Photography

How to Understand and Use Symbolism in Photography

https://www.britannica.com/technology/Pictorialism

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/surrealism-photography

Home

Home

Conversations with my mother

https://jessafairbrother.com/projects/conversations-with-my-mother/embed/#?secret=h7iFQwzFC9#?secret=SXKRnYziFt

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/jessa-fairbrother-conversations-with-my-mother

https://www.tate.org.uk/research/tate-papers/33/severance-jessa-fairbrother-conversations-my-mother

Essay question: To what extent are photographs an accurate portrayal of memories and the past?

“These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”

-Carolle Bénitah from Photos Souvenirs (2017)

Since being invented in the mid-19th century, photography has served the world as the main way of collecting visual memories. Whether to capture personal or worldwide events, its development has been an important process for everyone. In this essay, I would like to explore how much accuracy photographs hold, when compared to the past. The quote above, taken from Carolle Bénitah’s project Photos Souvenirs, is a perfect portrayal of how photos act as memories. The contrast between the two phrases ‘something familiar and totally unknown‘, shows how Bénitah felt a sense of nostalgia when looking at the archives, however the feeling was mixed with something else entirely: a feeling of foreignness. Bénitah had a difficult childhood: growing up in a traditional, Moroccan household caused there to be a strict expectation of her: to grow up and become a traditionally flawless woman. I believe this quote perfectly summarises Bénitah’s project, since she manipulates these seemingly precise family snapshots to truly match the reality of her harsh past. The utilisation of multi- media methods (specifically embroidery using a red thread as seen in Photos Souvenirs) allowed Bénitah to present her actual memories in the staged photographs of her childhood over 40 years later, altering the innocent look that the snapshots have. Her work links in well with the question I want to investigate, since it is made up of her looking at these supposedly familiar pictures and then later correcting the mistakes by hand.

As most photographers know, photography is not a neutral observer but a reflection of the photographer’s perspective, suggesting photographs aren’t the past but perhaps more accurately a past, or how one person perceived the moment. The amateur visual of Bénitah’s family archives suggest the photographs were simply taken with the intention of creating a memory, perhaps captured by a parent or other close family member. This implies that the photographs are from the point of view from a single individual, reflecting their emotions in that moment and not of the people in the image. Carolle Bénitah is my chosen artist since she summarises the experience of looking at archives perfectly through her work. I believe that every individual has this experience when viewing archives from their own life, the feeling of familiarity being just as present as the feeling of strangeness.

In this photograph, Bénitah is about six years old and holding hands with her smiling brother, but an army of cockroaches surrounds the children, and their hands are bound together in a ball of red wool. Bénitah doesn’t express her true thoughts that went behind the manipulation of each photograph, leaving a lot of them up to the interpretation of the viewer. However, it is clear that Bénitah embroidered the images to show the truth behind them, indicating how their smiles were simply a pose for the picture. The red wool could be a representation of love, the love she had for her brother which is what made them so close. Or it could be a portrayal of violence or even blood, perhaps suggesting that they were simply close due to being family (the idea of being connected by blood) or even perhaps to support each other during hard times. Moreover, a line in The Photography Reader states “meanings and memories may change with time” (Kuhn 2003:397), which creates the idea that time is a significant factor when considering my question: perhaps the photograph was an accurate portrayal of a memory at some point in time, however time changed it in a manner that causes it to now appear untruthful. Sometimes, a child’s happy memory can be completely altered as the child grows up and matures, the person realising that the situation wasn’t as positive as their young- self thought. Returning to Bénitah’s piece, however, I believe she is trying to show her anger at the lies told by the seemingly innocent, happy photograph- suggesting that in reality her childhood can’t be truthfully shown through these family snapshots. It is very interesting how Bénitah softens these harsh emotions by creating beautiful embroidery with her needle, the thread changing their meaning entirely.

My grandparents were a happy couple, the archives I discovered show this truthfully. In my work, I used the thread to act as a foreshadowing of the pain caused by my grandmother’s death. Perhaps these photographs are an accurate portrayal of my grandparent’s past. However, I think it is important to consider how nowadays these photos cause sadness, justifying the idea of how memories can change with time, possibly making them seem untruthful. Like I mentioned in my introduction, photographs sometimes show a past, not specifically the past. The photographs above capture a past, before time moved on and my grandmother passed, now holding an entirely different meaning.

The daguerreotype was created by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), and was the first process that enabled family snapshots to be taken. The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. This very specific process caused it to be expensive business, meaning that only the upper class had their images taken. The photographs were posed and it took several minutes to capture one. Returning to my question, this shows how even the very first photographs aren’t an accurate representation of the past. Nowadays, editing is the main thing that people believe effects the credibility of a photograph, but even such early developments of the camera, before the manipulation of images was even thought of, prove to not be reality. Not only was a photograph such as the daguerreotype staged, capturing a person in a very unnatural position, with exquisite clothes and powder covering every imperfection, showing absolutely no indication of the individual’s character; they were also something that was only available for the rich. This once again promotes the idea of a past vs. the past, since the lower class weren’t photographed in the slightest until much later. Such photographs merely provided evidence for the existence of a person, without providing a recording of a memory. Susan Sontag writes in ‘On Photography‘: “to collect photographs is to collect the world” (Sontag 1977:3), each photograph you view contributes to your mental image of our world and its history, but even if we viewed every picture ever taken, we wouldn’t have an accurate view of the world, due to many different factors.

Among the colourful characters immortalized in the colourless daguerreotype medium are (clockwise from upper left): writer Henry Thoreau, Seneca leader Blacksnake, Navy Commodore Matthew Perry, mental health crusader Dorothea Dix, showmen P.T. Barnum and Tom Thumb, and actress Charlotte Cushman. 

Next came the ‘box brownie’, George Eastman’s revolutionary handheld invention. He claimed any one could afford it and simple to use, to the point were even children could master it. Sure enough, this development marked the start of amateur photography, an era where home portraits captured everyday family life. This added a sense of authenticity to the photographs and caused them to be a much more accurate portrayal of memories. I believe this was a time when photographs were most realistic, as not much thought went into the photographs, causing them to be natural and not staged.

“To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed”

– S. Sontag- On Photography: In Plato’s Cave (1977)

This is a key quote from Sontag’s book since it puts into perspective the way taking a photograph works. Without realising, every person ever to take a photo captured it in a way they see it, perhaps not showing it how it truly appears in reality. People have the habit of beautifying anything they capture with a lens, as society looks only for the beauty in the world. This quote highlights the idea that when taking a photograph, the person holding the camera takes the thing for themselves, arranging it to their liking. When considering this in relation to the question, it is important to note that a photograph is simply an interpretation of the world, and therefore it can’t be a completely accurate portrayal of the world in the past. “The photograph is a prop… it sets the scene for recollection” (Kuhn 2003:397) suggests photographs are a re-enactment of a time in history, and therefore have been altered in many ways. Once again considering Bénitah’s quote “These photographs taken forty years ago and which I do not remember the time of the shooting…awakened in me a fear of something familiar and totally unknown…”, we can see how the photographs have become old- fashioned and therefore not accurate when setting the scene, just as a prop might no longer be useful in a remade film. With time, photographs become more and more useful for some and less and less useful for others, which makes me truly contemplate just how accurate of a portrayal they are.

“Just like memories, photographs are created with intent“

-J. Colberg- Photography and Memory (May 28, 2012)

Another quote that gives us insight on the matter is one by Colberg. In his essay he examines the relationship between memories and photographs. It has already been justified why photographs aren’t a completely accurate portrayal of memories. However, this quote makes you consider the idea that the memories themselves are an interpretation of reality. After all, it is common for people to remember events different, for some to view them as positive and others as negative. So perhaps, photographs are a correct portrayal of memories, when considering that the memory for the photographer links up with the image.

In conclusion, a photograph can’t be used as an accurate portrayal of the reality of the past. However, perhaps even our own memories aren’t an accurate representation of the past, since both are created with some sort of intent. Photographs are part of a puzzle, and only once each piece is connected will they be an accurate portrayal of memories, which is simply not possible as not every moment from every perspective is photographed. Intent and interpretation cannot be avoided, therefore a true picture of the past cannot be created. Furthermore, the meanings behind photographs alter with time, the seemingly timeless moment captured continuing to change. Nowadays, there are even more ways of manipulating photos, and I don’t believe we will ever know how to identify a truthful image. Bénitah’s project is a way of her correcting her past, and making the archives show how she truly felt. She claims the family snapshots to be lies that avoided showing the reality of her childhood. She shows us how the individual behind the lens is the one in charge of the outcome, of how the given moment will be viewed in the years after. Photographs are absolutely a portrayal of the past, but they are only an accurate portrayal of a past, of a memory, of a moment from one person’s point of view. Photography is the most accurate way of recording history, but it can’t be assumed to be completely truthful.

Plan:

Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why (Carolle Benitah)? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?

Paragraph 2 (250 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses. Carolle Benitah (photo analysis, mention how CB doesn’t describe her images a lot)- compare with my own image (archive that I sewed).

Paragraph 3 (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. (its invention, family snapshots- rich and poor)- Photography- a critical introduction

Pg 4 (500 words): Analyse quote: (Link to Benitah) (refer to opening quote)

Pg 5 (500 words): Analyse quote: (Link to Benitah)

Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced– answer question (talk about both sides)

Contextual Studies:

Benitah. C (2016), Photos Souvenirs. Bonn: Kehrer Heidelberg Berlin

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory/

http://jmcolberg.com/weblog/extended/archives/photography_and_memory_part_2/

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/carolle-benitah-photos-souvenirs

https://www.carolle-benitah.com/copie-de-07-installations-photo-sou

https://lecube-art.com/artiste/carolle-benitah/?lang=en

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2021/01/Roland-Barthes_Camera-Lucida_extracts.pdf

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo21al/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2023/02/Stephen-Bull_Phototherapy_family-albums.pdf

Williams, V. (2013). ‘Who’s Looking at the Family, Now’ in Family Politics, Issue 20. Brighton: Photoworks.

Further Help:

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.

(around 23 minutes of recording all together, only transcribed the main/ most relevant sections)

Transcription

Me: Dziadek, jeździliście dużo razem, czy tak bardziej w domu, jak spędzaliście czas? Lubiłeś wyjść, wiesz, na spacery? 

Grandad: No wiesz, jak Gosia była młoda, ja pracowałem dużo na tej stacji benzynowej to czasu nie było. Ale, kiedy mogliśmy to wychodziliśmy, do lasu i tak dalej. Kiedy bylem młodszy to parę razy pojechałem nad morze z kuplami- dlatego tyle mam zdjęć. A później jak bylem już z Krystyną  to też jeździłem, to było takie wszystkich marzenie, żeby pojechać nad morze. Dużo razem jeździliśmy. Po rodzinie też dużo jeździliśmy, do Gosi kuzynów. 

Me: A to, w którym roku się poznałeś z Babcią, dziadek? Bo tu był 1970 i mama się urodziła w 76, czyli co, szybko dosyć co nie? 

Grandad: Ja jak z wojska wyszedłem, to był 70 rok. To gdzieś w 72 się poznałem z Krystyną.  

Me: To, kiedy był ślub? 

Grandad: 31 sierpnia, w 72 

Me: Aha, to szybko, bardzo szybko 

Grandad: Ja wróciłem z tego wojska, te kumple, ten się ożenił, ten się ożenił. No wiesz, to pomyślałem to ja też się ożenię. To taka była decyzja. I trochę na złość temu tacie, że on tego nie akceptował. No i zdecydowaliśmy, że chcieliśmy mieć dziecko. Bo ja bardzo lubiłem dzieci. O i tez, jeździliśmy też dużo do rodziny Krystyny, w różnych miejscach w Polsce. Twoja mama zawsze wspominała, jak bawili się w takiej piaskownicy, zrobionej z takiej plastikowej wanny. No i tez w góry lubiliśmy pojechać, żeby coś pokazać albo coś zobaczyć. Ale to już jak był samochód.

Jak się rozmawia to przywraca pamięć. 

Me: A później jak mieszkaliście razem, to jakie obowiązki były w domu.  

Grandad: U nas to ja dużo gotowałem. Bo lubiłem gotować, no i umiałem. I tak z domu się nauczyłem. Ale takie sprzątanie to Krystyna była taką pedantką. Nawet czasami to mnie wykurzało. Te podłogi, mówiłem zostaw to jest fajna pogoda, ale podłogi musiały być szorowane. Zawsze u nas było czyściutko, i dla niej było najważniejsze- za nim gdzieś się poszło musiało być to wszystko wysprzątane, wyprane, wyprasowane. Ale tutaj nigdy tak nie było że ona była zostawiona z tym wszystkim, oczywiście jakieś naprawianie, to nie było do pomyślenia, żeby ona to robiła. Lubiliśmy sobie pomagać, jak chciało się gołąbków to zawsze mówiła ze ja robię najlepsze gołąbki. Ona za to, lubiła piec ciasta, zawsze pachniało w tym domu. Jeszcze do dzisiaj te kartki z przepisami są w tym zeszycie, autentyczne jej pismo. Trzymam to, niby to nie potrzebne, ale nie wyrzucam. Taka pamiątka. 

Me: To jak wspominasz, życie razem? 

Grandad: To było wszystko bardzo fajnie, no, ona tam pracowała w kuźni, a potem otworzyła z koleżanką sklep. Taki butik, takie różne rzeczy tam były. Jak miałem wolne to jeździłem jej do Poznania po towar. Coś atrakcyjnego trzeba było przywieść. Wszystko szybko było sprzedawane. Ale później wróciła do kuźni, no i wtedy zaczęła już coś z tym zdrowiem podupadać. Nawet na tych zdjęciach już jest taka zmieniona. Niby nic nie wiedział co jej jest. Była trochę w pracy, ale zachorowała.

Gosia miała ferie zimowe. Była 12 w nocy i Gosia już pożegnała się z mamą i spała. Krystyna myła się a ja oglądałem telewizje. Taki kryminalny program. Ona wróciła i się położyła, i powiedziała włącz to jeszcze. Leżymy i w pewnym momencie taki dziwny dźwięk zrobiła. Taki nie naturalny. Zapaliłem lampkę i popatrzyłem się na nią a ona miała oczy takie wywrócone. Ja od razu dałem jej poduszkę pod plecy i próbowałem jej pomóc oddychać, ale ona zaczęła już sinieć. Nie wiem, czy mnie słyszała czy nie. Pobiegłem zamknąć Gosi drzwi, żeby spała i złapałem telefon i poprosiłem o pogotowie. Pobiegłem i walę w drzwi sąsiadki i ona pyta co się dzieje. Za chwilę przyjechało pogotowie. Jeden mówi że nie czuje pulsu no i ją zabrali. Pobiegłem po sąsiadkę i powiedziałem że Krystynę zabrali i żeby została z Gosią. Zabrałem samochód do szpitala i zadzwoniłem do kolegi, doktora, i on mówi że zaraz jedzie tam też. Jeszcze 40 minut próbowali ją uratować, i ten mój kolega mówi że nic nie mogą zrobić. Poszedłem się z nią pożegnać jak tam leżała na tej sali, rozmawiałem z nią. Czułem się jakby ona jeszcze słyszała. Pojechałem po moją mamę i pojechaliśmy do Gosi. Gosia spała do rana. Nie wiedziałem jak jej powiedzieć. Posłem do niej, pamiętam jak to było dzisiaj. Powiedziałem że muszę jej coś powiedzieć i że mama miała taki atak. Pamiętam, jak Gosia uklęknęła na tym łóżku i tak mnie ściskała i mówiła ‘no i co, no i co’. Przytuliłem ją i powiedziałem ‘Gosiu no po prostu nie masz już mamy’. Jak ona zaczęła krzyczeć. 

Było tak, Julciu… że twoja mama nie mogła sobie poradzić z tym. Przez lata nie mogła powiedzieć słowo ‘mama’. Niechciała nic wiedzieć jak to się stało. 

Translation

Me: Grandpa, did you travel a lot together, or did you spend more time at home? Did you like going out, you know, for walks?

Grandad: Well, you know, when Gosia was young, I worked a lot at the gas station, so there wasn’t much time. But when we could, we went out, to the forest and so on. When I was younger, I went to the sea a few times with friends – that’s why I have so many photos there. And later, when I was with Krystyna, we also travelled a lot; it was everyone’s dream to go to the sea. We travelled a lot together. We also visited Krystyna’s family a lot, her cousins.

Me: So, in which year did you meet Grandma, Grandpa? Because here it’s 1970, and mom was born in ’76, so it was quite quick, right?

Grandad: When I finished my military service, it was ’70. So, around ’71, I met Krystyna.

Me: When was the wedding?

Grandad: August 31, ’72.

Me: Oh, that was quick, very quick.

Grandad: I came back from the military, my buddies were getting married. You know, this one got married, this one got married. So, I thought, why not me? It was also a bit to annoy my father, who didn’t approve of our relationship. Anyway, we decided we wanted to have a child, I really liked kids. We also travelled a lot to Krystyna’s family in different parts of Poland. Your mom always remembers playing in a sandbox made from a plastic tub. And we also liked going to the mountains, showing or seeing something. But that was when we had a car. Talking about it brings back memories.

Me: And then, when you lived together, what were the household responsibilities?

Grandad: I did a lot of cooking at our place because I enjoyed it, and I knew how. I learned it at home. But as for cleaning, Krystyna was meticulous. Sometimes it irritated me. I’d say, leave it; the weather is nice, but the floors had to be scrubbed. It was always spotless at our place, and for her, before going anywhere, everything had to be cleaned, washed, and ironed. But it was never like she was left alone with all of it; of course, doing repairs were out of the question for her. We liked helping each other. If we wanted cabbage rolls, she always said I made the best so it was up to me to make them. She, on the other hand, liked baking cakes, and the house always smelled of it. Even today, those notes with recipes are in this one notebook, in her authentic handwriting. I keep it, it’s not really necessary, but I won’t throw it away. It’s a keepsake.

Me: How do you remember life together?

Grandad: It was all very nice. She worked in a forge, and then she opened a shop with a friend. A boutique with various things. When I had free time, I would drive to Poznań to get merchandise. Something attractive had to be received from bigger cities; everything sold quickly. But later, she returned to the forge, and that’s when her health began to decline. Even in these photos, she looks different. No one knew what was wrong. Gosia was on her winter break. It was midnight, and Gosia had already said goodbye to her Krystyna and was sleeping. Krystyna was showering, and I was watching TV, a crime show. She came back, lay down, and said, turn it on again. We lay there, and at some point, she made a strange sound, it was unnatural. I turned on a lamp and looked at her; her eyes were rolled back. I immediately put a pillow under her back and tried to help her breathe, but she started turning blue. I don’t know if she heard me or not. I ran to close Gosia’s door so she could sleep and grabbed the phone, asking for an ambulance. I ran and knocked on the neighbour’s door, telling her what was happening. The ambulance arrived shortly. One said she had no pulse, and they took her. I ran to the neighbour and told her they took Krystyna and to stay with Gosia. I took the car to the hospital and called a friend, a doctor, who said he would soon come. They tried to save her for 40 minutes, and my friend said they couldn’t do anything. I went to say goodbye to her as she lay on that bed, I talked to her. I felt as if she could still hear me. I went to my mom and drove to Gosia. Gosia slept until morning. I didn’t know how to tell her. I went to her; I remember it as if it were today. I told her I had to tell her something and that mom had an attack. I remember how Gosia knelt on that bed, squeezing me and saying, ‘and what, and what.’ I hugged her and said, ‘Gosia, you don’t have a mum anymore.’ She just started screaming.

It was like that, Julcia… your mum couldn’t cope with it. For years, she couldn’t say the word ‘mum.’ She didn’t even want to know how it happened.

Key Quotes

I picked out some key quotes as I would like to include them in my photobook. I think it will provide more insight for the viewer, being a more obvious indication of the story I want to tell. I think it’ll also be a powerful way of showing the past, creating a contrast between the photos, since they don’t show the complete true, and the quotes, key sentences presenting the reality of my grandad’s life.

“to było takie wszystkich marzenie, żeby pojechać nad morze”– “it was everyone’s dream to go to the sea”

“dużo razem jeździliśmy”– “we travelled a lot together”

“no i tez w góry lubiliśmy pojechać, żeby coś pokazać albo coś zobaczyć”– “and we also liked going to the mountains, showing or seeing something”

“jeszcze do dzisiaj te kartki z przepisami są w tym zeszycie, autentyczne jej pismo. Trzymam to, niby to nie potrzebne, ale nie wyrzucam. Taka pamiątka.”- “even today, those notes with recipes are in this one notebook, in her authentic handwriting. I keep it, it’s not really necessary, but I won’t throw it away. It’s a keepsake.”

“nawet na tych zdjęciach już jest taka zmieniona”- “even in these photos, she looks different”

“nie wiem, czy mnie słyszała czy nie”– “I don’t know if she heard me or not”

“rozmawiałem z nią. Czułem się jakby ona jeszcze słyszała”– “I talked to her. I felt as if she could still hear me”

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

• Essay question:

How does Mitch Epstein express the notion of family and relationships in his work?

• Opening quote
• 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?
• 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. 
• Pg. 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
• Pg. 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
• Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
• Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Bibliography

Surname of Author first (year of publish), title, city, publishing house

Epstein M. (2003), Family Business, Göttingen: Steidl.

In text reference –

“The business of family can never be separated from a family business” (Epstein, 2003: 11)

• 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 does Mitch Epstein express the notion of family and relationships in his work?

“The business of family can never be separated from a family business.” (Epstein, M., 2003: 11)

Introduction

Family and relationships are very often explored within photography, but certain artists, like Mitch Epstein, explore these themes slightly differently. For example, Epstein explores family through discussing his father’s family business and what he does, using stills from interviews, archival material and more. This is how I will be exploring these themes throughout my personal study; I was particularly interested in Epstein’s project Family Business as my family own a local bakery named ‘Vienna Bakery’. I will be exploring how the business came into my family and how it has been a large part of my life growing up leading me to have a lot of nostalgia surrounding the bakery. Most of my family have at some point worked in the bakery, proving Epstein’s comment to be true, that “the business of family can never be separated from a family business” (Epstein 2003: 11). Epstein chose this project in 1999 when he returned to his hometown of Holyoke, Massachusetts, to record the demise of his father’s two businesses—a retail furniture store and a low-rent real estate empire. The resulting project assembled large-format photographs, video, archival materials, interviews and texts written by Epstein. The book, Family Business, combined all these elements together to tell a story. This piece of work was specifically interesting to me as Epstein provides context into the background of his father’s company and his life growing up around a family business, which made me feel as though I could personally relate to it even though it’s two completely different companies.

P.g 1 

Documentary photography is used in nearly all of Epstein’s projects and is usually executed in a similar manner within his work. Documentary photography took the idea of telling a story with a picture to another social level however discussing the photojournalistic style is very problematic because trying to offer a single definition of the term is difficult as every photograph is in one sense or another a ‘document’.” Using this phrase, Epstein’s images of his father’s business could be read as ‘documents’. Epstein himself has said in an interview that the cinema has a significant influence on his work, showing his love of storytelling through the medium of photography. This is showcased in all of his work, but it is especially prominent in the project that I am exploring in this essay, Family Business, a multiple media project, where he uses photographs, video, archival material, interviews, storyboards, and a personal essay to document his father’s life through work. He uses this photojournalistic book to question how the ‘American Dream’ went awry. Epstein also studied photography under Garry Winogrand at the Cooper Union in New York. In my opinion, this is where Epstein is influenced by Winogrand’s street photography style. This influence can be seen in his project The City. Within Winogrand’s work, there is also a slightly performative style that can be seen in a lot of his images which can also be seen in some of Epstein’s work, for example, his projects Recreation and Common Practice, which is a technique that is rarely seen in the documentary photography genre. During an interview where he speaks about the project, he says “To me, the key challenge was to find the balance between being honest, very forthright, and direct with the work, and at the same time allowing it to be personal,” in my opinion, he uses this balance of the two to create his narrative from both a photographer’s and a family member’s perspective, using the sensitivity of a family member and the bluntness of a professional photographer.

P.g 2  

Using Abigail Solomon-Godeau’s academic paper Inside/Out, I will be looking at whether Epstein is an insider or an outsider while exploring his father’s business during the making of Family Business. When hearing that it’s his father’s business, you would assume that he’s looking at it from an insider’s perspective, but I think that there may be certain things that he’s looking at from a distance and this could be because at this point of his career, he had been travelling and had missed out on a lot of the events that had occurred to cause the downfall of his father’s business. In Inside/Out Solomon-Godeau says “The insider position – in this context the “good” position – is thus understood to imply a position of engagement, participation and privileged knowledge”. (Solomon-Godeau, A. (1995), Inside/Out: 49) In my opinion, this is seen in Family Business, Epstein got to photograph and film his father talking with tenants who were leaving the apartments, or telling those who refused to leave to get out of the building. If someone else other the Epstein did this as an outsider, he or she would probably be refused access as Epstein’s father would show his vulnerability or trust the image maker. He is also privileged enough to be able to photograph certain staff members that he probably would have grown up knowing and they would’ve felt comfortable and trusted him enough to be in front of the camera for him. However, Solomon-Godeau also says “the outsider’s position, is taken to produce an alienated and voyeuristic relationship that heightens the distance between subject and object.” (Solomon-Godeau, A. (1995), Inside/Out: 49) In Family Business this can first be seen in the way that Epstein photographs and films the tenants’ interactions with his father without knowing who they are and what their situations may be which gives him a voyeuristic view. The second way he has an outsider relationship with the subjects in the project is by recording the success and downfall of the town of Holyoake where his father’s business was located. Although it was the town in which he grew up, he had moved away to do his photography studies quite young so, in my opinion, a lot of the town and a lot of the people living there would have been foreign to him. I think that in his project Family Business, Epstein is both an insider and an outsider, but primarily an insider, considering the project documents his father’s business. In Andy Grundberg’s review of the project, he says “But here the artist works from the inside out; having left Holyoke to pursue his career as an artist decades earlier, he can be unsparingly frank about his parents, brother and aunt without glossing over the horror he feels about what has happened to them and to his hometown.” (Grundberg, A. (2003)), I think that this solidifies my previous point of Epstein being both an insider and an outsider within his project Family Business in saying that he can be “unsparingly frank” about his family’s point of view but also has to be careful what he says about his hometown that he had moved out of years earlier.

P.g 3

The way in which Epstein creates the narrative of his project can be seen as quite untraditional, instead of using the images, footage, text and archive material to create a linear storyline, he uses all of these to form a disorganised story, showing his ability to tell and create a narrative even if it’s not in a so-called traditional sense. Telling a story with pictures is an old device and Epstein helps give the idea a new meaning and helps make it more modernised than it once was. Within the media of still-images, he presents the different aspects of the business through, portraits, still-life images and images that would be classed as landscapes. Within the layout of the book, he presents all of these in a sort of mix-and-match way, making it seem as though he hadn’t pre-planned what order he would put the images in and just did it spontaneously. These mixed in with the interview footage with his mother and father, the footage of his father talking and having disagreements with the tenants and the material that he uses from the business’ archives, create a recognisable narrative without realising it. In contrast to Mary-Ellen Mark, who uses a linear narrative in her project Streetwise to help the consumer empathise with the homeless girl she is photographing, Epstein could possibly be using a nonlinear narrative to present the chaos that would have been happening in his family’s life at the time of the business’s demise. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mitch Epstein’s project Family Business explores family and relationships in many different ways using many different methods to do so. Using a documentary approach to his photography, he explores his father’s relationships with different people involved in the business like the tenants of the apartments, different employees and even police officers who get involved in the conflicts between Epstein’s father and the tenants. He also explores how, over the years, the business has impacted his family, more specifically his mother who he does numerous interviews with. In his storytelling technique, he uses flashbacks throughout the book, going against most narrative photographers’ traditional linear narrative. Epstein is privileged enough to explore the business from a mostly insider perspective, making the trust and relationships with different subjects in the project stronger and more authentic. Overall, through Epstein’s work, I have been able to explore my own family’s business history in depth, and learn about how family affects, interacts with and influences a family business, whether it’s consciously or not. I hope that my images inspired by Epstein’s project will represent the business well and help other people understand how family businesses work. 

How do Justine Kurland and Theo Gosselin show freedom in their work?

‘To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed’

From their inspiration I will explore the theme of teenage life and ‘girlhood’ and explore the idea of feminism. By doing this it will show how teenage years change and develop. Exploring and experiencing new things, ideas and experiences. By further exploring ‘girl pictures’ by Justine Kurland and the photos of Theo Gosselin. The photos allow us to link to the theme of nostalgia, these years of our lives being the formative years, which help shape our future and we will always be remembered, for good reasons or bad reasons, for the rest of our lives. So by capturing these moments, people may be able to relate to their own emotions, experiences and thoughts. After viewing Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographic studies in Paris I researched modern, equivalent artists who reflected the theme of freedom in their work. The two photographers who stood out are Justine Kurland and Theo Gosselin.

Julia Margaret Cameron

Justine Kurland’s take on the classic American tale of the runaway takes us on a wild ride of freedom, memorializing the fleeting moments of adolescence and its fearless protagonists. Kurland was born in Warsaw, New York. Her mother sold costumes at Renaissance fairs, so Kurland and her sister lived a somewhat nomadic lifestyle. At 15, Kurland ran away to Manhattan, moved in with a sympathetic aunt, and concentrated on becoming an artist. She earned her M.F.A. from Yale University in 1998. The following year, Kurland exhibited in the group show Another Girl, Another Planet, which critics considered a preview of a new generation of talented and innovative female photographers. Both Kurland’s childhood adventures and her current experiences influence her working style and subject matter. She now spends much of her time on the road, scouting locations for photographs and recruiting models. While her earlier photographs of schoolgirls were inspired by her own experience as a runaway, the birth of her son Casper in 2004 shifted her focus to pregnant women and mothers. Kurland also attributes her more recent photographs of trains and train stowaways to Casper’s love of those vehicles.

Kurland talked about her inspirations in an article she said  “I’m always thinking about painting: nineteenth-century English picturesque landscapes and the utopian ideal, genre paintings and also Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs. I started going to museums at an early age, but my imagery is equally influenced by illustrations from the fairy tales I read as a child.” By taking inspiration from Julia Margaret Cameron’s photography of famous Victorian women and interpreting this idea of being able to be a girl and be free to do whatever, it creates a story which many people will be able to relate to. The staging is key here, and creating painting-like images is a form of pictorialism. They are carefully crafted, but look like spontaneous encounters at first glance.

Kurland captures a snapshot of a moment in time which looks Utopian but by further research and questioning of the subjects, fault lines would appear. The life looks idyllic and appealing but would reality be as free from care? In the image above we can see barefoot girls emerging from a stark concrete building and wading through a rocky stream. It is an image of freedom but at the same time they look mystified as if they have just come from an evil place. These girls look as if they have a strong ‘sisterhood’ and will always have each others backs. They are adolescent girls who can be free from everyday commitments and the usual worries of adulthood. They are at an age where they can go off for the day without parents or guardians worrying about their whereabouts, as they are all together and therefore safe. It feels that in this image Kurland is trying to revisit her own youthful experience of freedom. To wear what you want, to go barefoot, wade through streams, explore strange places, be with friends and have little worldly care thinking only of the present.

Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass

Edouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass has a fairly similar subject and composition to Kurland’s image above. The painting was from 1862 shows that women seem free to be naked whereas the men are fully clothed. In Kurland’s image the girl is preparing to undress and go into the water and the boy is fully clothed. Even though these images are over one hundred years in difference they still show a similarities in the messages the images are trying to portray. There is a sense of abandonment, freedom, joy and discovery in both.

Deliberately cinematic, Gosselin’s photography reveals friends in the act of escaping from their regular lives into newly enticing and perilous modes of existence, ever in search of the persistent though elusive idea of freedom. Born near Le Havre in Normandy in 1990, Théo Gosselin grew up with the sea, the wind, the forest, and the sound of electric guitars, echoing in the deserted streets of this grey city from the north of France. Passionate about drawing, music, and cinema, he chose a path through the art school, and graduated in 2012 as a graphic designer in Amiens. He started photography around 2007, and it Became his reason to live. He loves to capture the simple life, love, good and bad moments, his friends and his adventures. Eternal traveller, Europe and USA and share his way of life with the people He loves ; because the truth is in wide open spaces and in the heart of the characters that meet along the way.

Gosselin captures this image with the sun beaming through the car just before the sun is about to set. This creates a warm light but also a warm feeling to the image, a feeling of relaxation and freedom. He goes along with his friends capturing moments of their adventures as a group while also living the same life as them but behind the camera. The woman in the image seems to have no worries about where she has to be or what she is doing. He portrays this idea of freedom through the story that they have each other and their campervan with no plan in mind. However from this image can we actually see if this woman is actually happy with the life they are living? Some people may say that his images are a glamorised version of what reality is. They are not staged, say Gosselin…but carefully lit, composed and sequenced.

Justine Kurland and Theo Gosselin both show clear themes of freedom in their work. Their ideas of freedom are similar as they both explore the fact that the people in the images don’t have a care in the world for living a ‘normal life’. Kurland captures moments of self expression and liberation. Focusing on subcultures and marginalized groups, showcasing individuals who defy social norms and embrace their own sense of freedom. Her images convey a sense of adventure, empowerment and personal autonomy, inviting the viewers to question her own notions of freedom. Some may say that her work is an exaggerated idea of feminism and that it dose not show the real reality of ‘girlhood’. Theo Gosselins work also expresses freedom, he captures intimate and raw moments of youth and adventure, in a natural setting. His images evoke a sense of carefree abandon and celebrating living in the moment. His models/ friends are often engaging in activities which also defy social norms, embracing their own unique paths and finding freedom in their choses. He invites the audience to explore the world and find their own sense of freedom in whatever way they want to. The lives are fleeting, but the images are permanent and resonate with our inner wildness.

Bibliography

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

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

https://www.theogosselin.fr/bio

For my seventh and final photoshoot, I again chose to photography modern buildings to ensure that I had perfect images for my photobook. Unlike my other shoots I didn’t go to a specific area for this one. Some of my images were out east, some were out west and some were more central. I think that this was one of my more successful shoot and I was happy with how quite a few of them turned out.

contact sheets:

final selection:

SELECTION PROCESS

RATING CODE:

RED – Bad quality images

YELLOW – Average images

GREEN – Good images

BLUE – Best outcomes which I can use for the photobook

EDITING PROCESS

PHOTOSHOOT OUTCOMES