KURLAND INSPIRED IMAGES:

EDIT ONE:

In this image I decreased the exposure so The lines would become more defined and more sharper to the eye, however due to decreasing the exposure it caused my image to get slightly darker. In order to adjust this I increased the highlights and decreased the shadows so I could have a brighter image while also having detail seen in the image. Increasing the highlights created brighter spots in the image so that when you look at the image you are able to see that they are lighter and darker areas which creates more levels. To create a brighter and colourful image I increased the colours red and green, so the image is presented more colourful and feminine instead of dull, and muted.

EDIT TWO:

The first editing to this image was minimal. Not much was changed in this image due to the lighting and the scenery being perfect in the style of Kurland, however some changes were made. For example I decreased the exposure so the trees in the background could create more depth to the image. I increased the highlights, as the clothes that the girls were wearing are light colours which would make them seem brighter.

EDIT THREE:

During this edit I added the filter PM04 which created a cool tone within the image. Furthermore to this I decreased the exposure to enhance the flowers that intertwine in the walk through. I increased the whites in the image to highlight the white seen in the image, in contrast I decreased the blacks and shadows so create a lighter image. Due to the bright colours seen in the image I adjusted the purple hue to enhance the colour.

EDIT FOUR:

In this image I lowered the exposure and heightened the contrast, this is so you are able to see the more defined lines in the clothing (top), and facial features. I increased the green hue considering majority of the background in green. Increasing the hue meant that the colour would appear more distinctive. I slightly decreased the highlights, and white in order to further show the fine points within the linen top.

RAE INSPIRED IMAGES:

EDIT ONE:

In this image I increased the exposure in order to try and bleach out the black spot in the middle, left third (rule of thirds). I decreased the highlight trying to restore some of the darkness in Phoebe hair, from the heightened exposure, also decreasing the blacks was able to return some of the colour within the clothes and hair. However as a result of trying to recover some of the darker colours in darkened the black spot. To try and minimise the black spot I added a dark vignette around the image to create the focal point of Phoebe.

EDIT TWO:

In this image I elevated the exposure to lighten the image from its dark tone. This was able to bring some life into the image however even by elevating the exposure and reducing some of the darkness the spot in the image was still very visible. In order to try and minimalize the dark spot I increased the blacks and shadows to try and bleach out the black in the image. In order to try and make the images in a similar style I also added a dark vignette, while also trying to minimalize the black edge in the image.

EDIT THREE:

Overall in these Rae inspired images I could have improved the lighting in the studio. Due to the shadow in the left corner it has caused the editing process difficult and has created this series of images less valued then what it could have been. Even thought during the editing process of this I have tried to improve the quality and bleach out the shadow it has not necessarily worked. However this dark vignette has significantly improved these images.

WHO IS CLARE RAE?

Clare Rae is a photographer which explores feminism through women’s bodies. In her photography she represents women how society views them, and creates art through shapes and shadows that are created.

‘In her photographic practice Clare explores ideas of performance and gesture to interrogate and subvert dominant modes of representation. Her work is informed by feminist theory, and presents an alternate and often awkward experience of subjectivity and the female body, usually the artists’ own.’

https://clarerae.com/Info

MOODBOARD OF HER PHOTOGRAPHY:

RAE PHOTO ANALYSIS:

 

Rae uses the female body to create messages and art through the way these women present themselves. In this image the women is seen in the centre third, the rule of thirds is defined as a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open, however is also slightly leaning to the right due to her balancing on the chair.

Emotional Response:

This image is a creative way to explore the views of femininity and uses all the objects in the frame in order to creates this distorted images. In this image you are able to see a woman is a slightly distorted position, yet she still looks delicate and careful, which reinforces the female stereotype that women are weaker then men.

Visual – what we can see in the image

This image shows that women can be careless and reckless, this is connoted by the threatening position on the chair and how se is using the wall to help balance herself and avoid injury. The natural lighting is shining on the women through the window, which gives a direct light onto her which makes her the focal point of the image, furthermore the dark colours contrast against the white background which lead your eyes through the stance of her body.

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

Climbing the Walls and Other Actions is a photographic series primarily concerned with visually representing my experience of femininity, whilst also exploring aspects of representation that relate to feminism. This project by Rae was a way to explore the relationship between body and space and how to use every element within the photograph she is taking. She promotes and takes awkward pictures, in order to create discomfort to obstruct the traditional view of feminisms; this could be a connotation in which how Rae feels about the dominant ideology of feminism and expresses this through her photography.

THEORY:

Gender-as-Performance-Judith-Butler

According to Butler, gender is by no means tied to material bodily facts but is solely and completely a social construction. Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender studies writer, she is also the author of Gender Trouble.

‘Butler critiques the notion that gender – whatever it is – is stored within the body as if it were something akin to the soul’. Rae supports this idea by showing women defying their stereotypes, and showing them in dangerous and reckless positions. In her project ‘never standing on two feet’ shows that women are adventurous and can do reckless activities, and have qualities are stereotypically found in men.

‘Our genders are not stable but are constructed through repeated actions. Rituals and performative actions constantly reinforce our identities’. Rae shows this through photography that women and men should not have a definite way they should act. However due to change in gender identity, society may feel uncomfortable with this due to the fact that the certain ideas that were put in place are being replaced, and the more people defying the stereotypes the more society will feel the dominant ideology is being challenged.

RESPONSE TO HER IMAGES:

 

BEST IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT:

COMPARING MY WORK TO KURLANDS ‘GIRL PICTURES’:

In comparison to my images I believe that there a similarities in both the images. In these images you are able to see how both image shows the stereotypes of women and reinforces them instead of discouraging them.

Visual – what we can see in the image

In both images you are able to see that the setting is in a similar place. Kurland’s image perhaps is taken in urban surrounding and the colour palette is slightly different; as you can see hers is slightly more earthy, and muted colour palette whereas my image has more vibrant and powerful colours. Both images the females are wearing white colours which connotes purity, innocence and, simplicity, these can also be seen as connotations in the images as most have a minimalistic aesthetic. The main difference seen in the image is that no females in Kurland’s image is giving direct eye contact, which suggests that they are frightened to look into the audience; however in my image one female is looking directly towards the camera whereas the other is looking away this is significant as it connotes that some females are able to stand up to the stereotypes whereas some prefer to stay submissive.

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

https://nmwa.org/art/artists/justine-kurland/

‘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’.

Her images are now perhaps influential for women now that society is now shifting the stereotypes of women and men. Her photography show how women are seen in society and for the male gaze. Laura Mulvey states that women are sexualised for the male gaze; to pleasure the male sex, perhaps this is what Kurland is supporting by reinforcing these views created by men.

THE STUDY OF LAURA MULVEY – THE MALE GAZE:

https://study.com/learn/lesson/what-is-the-male-gaze-by-laura-mulvey-the-male-gaze-examples-theory-art-movies.html#:~:text=The%20%22male%20gaze%22%20is%20apparent,%2C%20literature%2C%20and%20other%20media.

PHOTOSHOOT MOODBOARD:

WHAT?

This photoshoot inspired by Kurland is in order to showcase femininity and the teenage girl utopia, this will be used for my IDENTITY project. I will be taking picture of a group of girls (friend group) to create a photoshoot in the style of Kurland. This images are able to vary from a small group of 3 to something like 6.

WHERE?

LOCATIONS FOR PHOTOSHOOT:

• WOODS (GREVE DE LECQ, ROZEL)
• BEACH (BRELADES BAY, BEAUPORT)
• CAVES (PLEMOUNT)
• FIELDS (SAND-DUNES, FLOWER FIELDS)
• THE SEA WALL (AVENUE)
• CLIFF PATHS (LE BONNE NUIT)
• RURAL AREAS

WHEN?

This images must be taken by Friday 19th, so editing and another shoot can be taken place. It is important to see the images with in regard of editing and creating improved images. However with that being said the weather is an important factor, as you can see in Kurland’s images they a bright, with clear skies.

HOW?

I will be using a camera from school so I am able to created higher quality images, however I will also take some pictures on my phone in order to get the images to feel more personal and in the view of the teenage girls themselves.

WHY?

This photoshoot is designed to break the stereotype of girls. It is used to change the dominant ideology how girls actually spend their time and show how society have created this image. This is also to highlight how correct and factual society is, whereas actually showing the truth and perhaps exposing that this dominant images is fake.

WORK OF JUSTINE KURLAND (GIRL PICTURES)

WHO IS JUSTINE KURLAND?

Justine Kurland is a contemporary American photographer. Her work often depicts communes in rural America as her subject matter, inspired by 19th-century idyllic English landscape painting, children’s fairy tales, and Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs, among others sources.

PURPOSE FOR THE GIRL PICTURES PHOTOSHOOT:

The objective to the Girl Picture photoshoot was to deliver the fantasy of a ‘female utopia’ and a stereotypical teenage girl fantasy. While Kurland is trying to reinforce this feminine utopian world she is also trying to show the impact of female intimacy and how girls are able to strengthen and support each other whereas individually they are seen as vulnerable and weak. While Kurland was trying to highlight this teenage fantasy and support the girls she is playing into the dominant ideology of females. Laura Mulvey states that women are represented for the visual pleasure for the male sex, Kurland supports this theory by representing the girls in a hyper-feminine stereotype; playing in flower fields which have connotations of pure and delicate, girls getting ready in the bathroom perhaps for a night out makeup is stereotypically products for females and they are wearing elegant, earthy colours which men would not stereotypically seen in. This shoot may target a wide range of audiences including: paedophiles, advertisers, recruiters, social-media influencers, fashion magazines, due to the fact they all traffic in photo media.

WHY TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THIS PHOTOSHOOT?

Justine Kurland’s Girl Pictures photoshoot shows the adventures of girls during their teenage years. This shoot is reinforcing the ideology of teenage girls identity and how it is assumed how they spend their time together. This photoshoot is easy to manipulate due to it being targeted to teenagers and young adults. Girl Pictures coordinates with the identity project within my unit of Portraiture, this photoshoot is something I am able to have a deeper connection and understanding with.

IMAGE ANALYSIS:

This image has an overall earthy and subtle hint of pink tone which reinforces this feminine stereotype. Pink is stereotypically a female colour and has connotations of love, kindness, nurturing and playfulness. Playfulness is seen within this image as the girl is using a hula hoop, furthermore showcasing the feminine ideology through the girls clothing’s. The focal point of the image is the girl in the centre third (rule of thirds) which implies that the image is about her or overall about women. The height difference between the girl standing, and the two girls sitting on the floor, could be an underlying connotation Kurland created in order to signify; that no many how many women rise in the hierarchy we will always be the submissive sex. The lighting is natural and stationary which further creates this minimalistic image. In Kurland’s project Girl Pictures she has created a minimal aesthetic by using soft, subtle colours yet adding that hint of colour needed in order to show this femininity within the use of colours. It is interesting to see how Kurland portrays femininity through colours and aesthetic and how she portrays teenage girls in a delusion created by an audience, to fulfil their fantasy.

WHO IS CLAUDE CAHUN?

Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob was a French photographer, sculptor, and writer. She is best known for her self-portraits. She defied the conventional ideals of beauty and femininity with her shaven head and male attire. She was challenging the politics of gender while exploring the means of her identity.

Cahun who moved to the Jersey in 1937 with her stepsister and lover Marcel Moore. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death in 1944 for activities in the resistance during the Occupation.

https://www.npg.org.uk/blog/claude-cahun-freedom-fighter

THE GUARDIAN ARTICLE https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/14/claude-cahun-finding-great

CLAUDE CAHUN IMAGES:

Cahun staged images of herself that challenge the idea of the politics of gender. Cahun was championing the idea of gender fluidity way before the hashtags of today. These images could be seen as abnormal as she was going against the stereotypical view of females during that period. She was able to explore her identity by taking images, expressing herself in an artist way. She was able to take advantage of her unique facial features in order to mock and explore the significant differences society created between femininity and masculinity.

Amelia Jones: The “Eternal Return”: Self-Portrait Photography as Technology of Embodiment

In Jones’ article on femininity she states ‘Cahun in order to flesh out Phelan’s idea, which gets at the core of how the subject relates to—and is established via—representation. The structure of exaggerated self-performance set up in the works I discuss here points to the profound duality of the photographic representation of the body’

This implies that Cahun was indeed using herself and body in order to represent the difference between what society states between masculinity and femininity. During that era there were strict rules and dominant stereotypes created by the public by defining how a female and male should act. However during this century Judith Butler gender theory states that ‘no means tied to material bodily facts but is solely and completely a social construction‘. This implies that now people are able to identify and represent themselves how they view themselves from their values.

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.

ARTIST 1: HANNAH FLETCHER

The Sustainable Darkroom is an artist run research, training and mutual learning community. They are developing low-toxicity chemistries and practices in analogue photography, in order to use less damaging products.

Hannah Fletcher is the founder of this project, The Sustainable Darkroom, and began it in 2019. During this one day workshop with Fletcher she revealed how she creates this sustainable products to develop photographs.

ARTIST 2: ALEXANDER MOURANT

Alexander Mourant is an artist, educator and writer based in London. The work of Alexander Mourant embraces autobiography, literature and reference-based thinking, to create narratives that question the relationship between the body and the photographic medium. 

Mourant also works with Fletcher on this Sustainable Darkroom as the subordinate/assistant photographer. They both try to create a sustainable way to create art and photography.

WORKSHOP: METHOD CHEMIGRAMS/SUSTAINABLE DARKROOM

Arriving at Greve de Lecq Hannah Fletcher gave a overview of the project, The Sustainable Darkroom, in which she explained how she has managed to create renewable ways to develop art and photography.

As a group we went down to the beach to collect seaweed, which Fletcher said would be used as a natural developer. Yet there is a specific criteria the seaweed needs to meet, it needed to include the bubble bits on the length of the seaweed. Furthermore then we went into Greve de Lecq woods to pick up leaves to create chemigrams, the leaves would be used as a print on the image.

WHAT IS A CHEMIGRAM?

A chemigram is made by painting with chemicals on photographic paper.  It requires the use of materials from silver halide-based photography (light-sensitive paper, developer, and fixer).

In order to do our chemigrams sustainably, from the collected seaweed we boiled it for 10minutes in order to get the minerals we needed for the natural developer. Furthermore we mixed ‘vitamin C’ powder and a chemical to create the fixer. We used tools such as pipets, spray bottles, wax and sponges to create different designs. We used the developer and the mixer to create different colours, we also used this process with the leaves and flattened them.

MY RESPONSE TO CHEMIGRAMS:

WHAT IS FEMININITY AND MASCULINITY?

FEMININITY – qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls.

MASCULINITY – qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men or boys.

WHAT IS BINARY OPPOSITION?

The themes of ‘FEMININITY and MASCULINITY’ are a binary opposite – a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.

Ferdinand de Saussure, the binary opposition is the “means by which the units of language have value or meaning; each unit is defined against what it is not”.

https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=122#:~:text=According%20to%20Ferdinand%20de%20Saussure,against%20what%20it%20is%20not%E2%80%9D.

Binary opposition originated with Ferdinand de Saussure structuralist theory in Linguistics. According to De Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another.

EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITES:

HOW CAN IDENTITY BE INFLUENCED?

ENVIRONMENT/UPBRINGING – This can affect your identity due to how you have been raised, and what values you have been brought up with. It is difficult to change your views after a period of time with how someone else had build these into you.

CULTURAL IDENTITY – Cultural identity can mean a various of things; nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. Their are many wars that have been created due to different beliefs and stereotypes people have been taught to know. Stereotypes include that; black people are ‘dangerous’ and more likely to cause trouble, after George Floyds death many people unionised and created the BLM movement to contradict this stereotype.

LOSS OF IDENTITY – People that may have lost a part of themselves, or changes who they are: eg. transgender, different pronouns, mental illness, or going through a trauma , may have a different view on identity. This could vary from people that have experienced themselves, people who know people that have experienced something, or people that feel empathetic.