THEORY/ CONTEXT: Make a blog post and write 300-500 words expressing your view on identity politics and culture wars. How does it impact society? Describe some of the positive aspects of groups harnessing their shared identity and political views as well some of the dangers of tribalism dividing communities. Provide examples both for and against, reference sources used and include images. Try and frame the debate both within a global and local perspective.
essay
Identity politics is a term that describes a political approach wherein people of a particular religion, race, social background, class or other identifying factor form exclusive socio-political alliances. Its aim is to support the concerns, agendas, and projects of particular groups, in accord with specific social and political changes.
In my opinion, depending on how you look at it, identity politics could have both positive and negative impacts on society. On one hand, it is a threat to those in power, since it destabilises the amount of control said people have. While on the other hand, it unites minority groups, making individuals who feel alone, have a safe area for those who are the same.
Some positives of groups harnessing their shared identity would be a way to make said groups feel more confident, understanded and empowered. It also acts as a safe space for all those who feel or are the same way. While this is a very positive aspect of identity policy, others may not view it as such since it takes away power from those in control.
An example of identity politics would be the suffragette’s movement. This was a group of women who were fighting to get women the right to vote. They would parade the streets and take risky actions in hope to get their points across (one event was when a suffragette jumped in front of a horse race in order to bring attention to their movement). Once they were given the right to vote, it took some power from men, who were originally the only voters at the time. Some saw their movement as unnecessarily violent while others viewed it as a necessary evil in order to achieve their goal of gaining women more rights and freedom.
THEMES: Define “femininity” and “masculinity” and explain how identity can be influenced by “place”, or belonging, your environment or upbringing with reference to gender identity / cultural identity / social identity / geographical identity / political identity / lack of / loss of identity / stereotypes / prejudices etc.
Femininity
Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles that are often associated with women and girls. Femininity is usually understood as a social construct, and is heavily influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors.
Femininity is usually shaped by the environment as it often changes depending on different areas in the world. For example, in the UK the standard is to be slim with large eyes and defined cheek bones while in Africa it is preferred to be curvaceous. Likewise, the concept of femininity brings about different stereotypes regarding women such as; viewing women as property or women being weak and more emotional than men.
A more modern and common type of social identity for femininity would be online on social media. While on apps such as Instagram, women are presented with the beauty standards and will often receive hate if they fall outside of that category. Women are often viewed as objects of sex meanwhile on world wide advertising women are more often shown for cosmetics or domestic products.
Masculinity
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles often associated with men and boys. Typical traits of masculinity include attributes such as strength, dominance and aggression.
Masculinity can often be shaped by the environment, for example in the UK, masculinity is currently associated with more negative traits like aggression or ignorant. Masculinity has also changed over time too, for example in the 17th century men were the sole providers for their family and held majority of the power in the relationship. However, now days relationships are viewed as equal, and there is not as much pressure on men to be the sole providers.
While views on masculinity have certainly changed over time, the concept of masculinity definitely still holds a lot of power over today’s society, with around 65% of all leadership positions being given to men.
To embed your understanding of the origins of photography and its beginnings you’ll need to produce a blog post which outlines the major developments and practices. Some will have been covered in the documentary above but you also need to research and discover further information.
Your blog post must contain information about the following and keep it in its chronological order:
Camera Obscura & Pinhole photography
Nicephore Niepce & Heliography
Louis Daguerre & Daguerreotype
Henry Fox Talbot & Calotype
Robert Cornelius & self-portraiture
Julia Margeret Cameron & Pictorialism
Henry Mullins & Carte-de-Visit
Each must contain dates, text and images relevant to each bullet point above. In total aim for about 1,000-2000 words.
Try and reference some of the sources that you have used either by incorporating direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarising of an idea, theory or concept, or historical fact.
Film notes
-1928, André Kertész’s meudon piece was an eye opener to photography.
-Camera obscura or pinhole photography is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. It is a natural method of creating unique and interesting pieces, in which the room becomes the camera. It is also the origin of photography
-It was well known that certain chemicals are reactive to light, e.g. silver salts. This was firstly used to try to capture images however the pictures would fade away shortly after appearing.
-Henry Fox Talbot was know as the inventor of the first photograph. In 1834 he discovered how to make and fix images through the action of light and chemistry on paper. These ‘negatives’ could be used to make multiple prints and this process revolutionised image making.
-De Geer’s photography style copies the subject onto metal plates, showing incredible detail and being one of the first methods of photography.
-Nicéphore Niépce was one of the most important figures in the invention of photography. He was born in France 1765, and was an amateur scientist, inventor and artist. In 1807, together with his brother, he invented the world’s first internal combustion engine, which they called the pyreolophore.
-Heliography is a photographic process that was invented by Nicéphore Niepce. In some cases – it is still used today (mainly for photo engraving). It was the process of Heliography that created the first and earliest known permanent photograph, taken from a nature scene.
-In February 2014 a daguerreotype self-portrait taken by the American photography pioneer Robert Cornelius of Philadelphia was considered the first American photographic portrait of a human ever produced, and since this was a self-portrait, it was also possibly the first selfie.
-Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer who is considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century. Pictorialism, an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality.
Essay
The very first type of photography ever invented was the camera obscura or pinhole photography. This method was created by Alhazen or Ibn Al-Haytham, as well as the pinhole camera which is based on the same idea. He carried out experiments with candles and described how the image is formed by rays of light travelling in straight lines. In order to accomplish camera obscura is to use a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side, through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. It is a natural method of creating unique and interesting pieces, in which the room becomes the camera. It is also the very first showcase of being able to copy scenery from one place to another.
Moving on to Heliography. It is a photographic process that was invented by Nicéphore Niepce. It was this process that created the first and earliest known permanent photograph, taken from a nature scene. It is still sometimes used today, although mainly for photo engraving. In order to create a heliograph, traces of solar energy are burnt into the film material using self-constructed devices and lenses with a diameter of up to one meter. Afterwards, the shots are then enlarged and printed on either; paper, the film sheets are directly shown in lightboxes, or the film slides themselves are projected onto hangar-sized walls.
Next in the timeline is Louis Daguerre and his Daguerreotype of photography. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was a French artist and photographer who invented a new process to photography. The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process from 1839 to 1860 made it possible to capture the image seen inside a camera obscura and preserve it as an object. This meant it was the first practical photographic process, and it ushered in a new age of pictorial possibility. In order to make a daguerreotype the silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror and was to be handled with great care. The plate, held in a lightproof holder, was then transferred to the camera. After exposure to light, the plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride. While being an impressive discovery and process, it was incredibly toxic to humans due to the number of dangerous chemicals involved, including mercury, cyanide, and sulfuric acid.
After Daguerre, Henry Fox Talbot created a new method of photography called the Calotype. William Henry Fox Talbot was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. He was born on February 11, 1800, and died 77 years later on September 17, 1877. Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 using paper coated with silver iodide. Paper texture effects in calotype photography limits the ability of this early process to record low contrast details and textures. To produce a calotype, Talbot created a light-sensitive surface by coating a sheet of paper, usually writing paper, with a solution of silver nitrate. He dried the paper to some degree and coated it with potassium iodide to produce silver iodide. Compared to the daguerreotype, many people saw the calotypes differences as flaws. The process was slower, and chemicals weren’t regulated and often impure which led to inconsistent results. Also, the fixing of an image was still a problem, as prints often faded over time.
Robert Cornelius was an American photographer and pioneer in the history of photography. He designed the photographic plate for the first photograph taken in the United States, which was an image of Central High School taken by Joseph Saxton in 1839. Cornelius shot the first successful portrait, a self-portrait to be exact, using the venerable daguerreotype as well as his own makeshift camera with the lense being made out of opera glass. He took advantage of the light outdoors to get a faster exposure but still had to stand motionless for around 15 to 20 mins. He became the first ever self-portrait photographer.
Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer who is considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century. She was an ambitious and devoted pioneer of photography who was best known for her powerful portraits often using the style of pictorialism. Born on June 11th, 1815, in India she would later pass on January 26rh 1879. Pictorialism, an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality. Cameron and her pictorialist contemporaries pursued painterly compositions, subjects, and qualities, hoping to elevate photography to a high art, a representation of a person or thing in a work of art. She revolutionised photography and immortalised the age of the eminent Victorian through her monumental photographs with her use of muzzy focus and dramatic lighting (including both sunshine and moonlight) against voluminous dark, her portraits were extremely famous in their day and have never gone out of style.
Henry Mullins was the first professional photographer to come to Jersey and establish a portraiture business in the very early days of photography. He is best known for his cartes de visite which were small photographic portraits of a person that were mounted on a piece of card. They were very popular as well as being very inexpensive. In 1864, the cost for these photos were between 25 cents and 50 cents in addition to the 3 cents tax. The cost would be equal to £3.17 to £6.30 today. While he mainly worked on portrait photographs, he would also take some family photos too.
Rembrandt lighting is a lighting technique used for portrait photography. It is named after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, the great Dutch painter and refers to a way of lighting a face so that an upside-down light triangle appears under the eyes of the subject.
In Hollywood in the early 20th century they used Rembrandt lighting and it became widely used in promotional photographs of film stars showing them in a dramatic and eye-catching way.
By using Rembrandt lighting you instantly create shadows and contrast which adds an element of drama and psychological depth to the character of your sitter. It’s effective, not just because it gives an individual ‘look’ to your portrait, but also because it acts as a photographic device to draw the eye. You can do this in so many ways in photography such as; leading lines, depth of field and negative space. These are all methods of drawing the viewer’s eye to the focal point/subject of the image. In portraiture, the eyes of your subject are nearly always the main point of focus. The triangle of light, placed just below the eye on the shadow side of the face, will increase the emphasis and the viewer really will be ‘drawn in’ to your image.
In order to create Rembrandt lighting you must focus on:
Light: Rembrandt lighting is created by the single light source being at a 40 to 45-degree angle and higher than the subject. Use cans use both flashlights and continuous lights.
Lens: Use a 35mm or 50mm if space is at a premium, or if you’re looking at including more of the subject than just the head and shoulders.
Butterfly Lighting
Butterfly lighting is a type of portrait lighting technique used primarily in a studio setting. Its name comes from the butterfly-shaped shadow that forms under the nose because the light comes from above the camera. You may also hear it called ‘paramount lighting’ or ‘glamour lighting’.
It is used for portraits and is a light pattern that flatters almost everybody, making it one of the most common lighting setups. It was used to photograph some of the most famous stars from classic Hollywood, and that’s why it’s also called Paramount lighting. With it, you can highlight cheekbones and create shadows under them as well as under the neck – which makes the model look thinner.
In order to create butterfly lighting you must focus on:
Lighting: Butterfly lighting requires a key light that can be a flash unit or continuous. If continuous, it can be artificial or natural. In other words, you can use strobes, speed lights, LEDs or even the sun. A butterfly lighting effect refers to the setup and not to the quality of light, it can be soft or hard light depending on the effect you want. If you want to create a soft light, you’ll need to use modifiers. Alternatively, you can use grid spots to direct it and create different effects.
Experimentation: Once you have the key light set up, you need to fill the shadows. You can use a reflector to bounce the light back up and soften the shadow under the chin and the one from under the nose. To do so, position the reflector under the subject’s face. Start at waist level and see how it looks. If the shadows are still strong, move it closer to the face and so on. Experiment with different positions to achieve different effects. You can also change the colour of the reflector. A white one will give you a neutral tone, while a golden one gives a warming overcast. The subject’s face needs to be towards the light in order to have the butterfly shadow under the nose.
Chiaruscuro
Chiaroscuro is defined as a bold contrast between light and dark. A certain amount of chiaroscuro is the effect of light modelling in painting where 3-dimensional volume is suggested by highlights and shadows. It first appeared in 15th century painting in Italy and Flanders (Holland), but true chiaroscuro developed during the 16th century, in Mannerism and in Baroque art. Dark subjects were dramatically lighted by a shaft of light from a single constricted and often unseen source was a compositional device seen in the paintings of old masters such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt.
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood’s classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.
In order to create Chiaruscuro lighting you must focus on:
Using Flash: An example of “bouncing” the flash to soften the effects and create a larger “fill” can be tried wherever there are white walls/ ceilings. Flash units offer a range of possibilities in both low and high lighting scenarios such as: flash “bouncing”, fill-in flash, TTL / speedlight flash, remote / infra-red flash (studio lighting), fast + slow synch flash, light painting c/w slow shutter speeds.
In this image, changed the exposure in order to darken the image in order to make the subject to main focus. I also increased the vibrancy and saturation to allow to photo to feel more natural. Lastly, I added vignette around the side to make the focus point the model.
In this photo, I wanted to increase the colour and texture of the image in order to make the subject appear more in focus. By increasing the saturation I was able to make the image appear more eye catching and entertaining to view.
For this picture, I felt that the model was not the main focus. To change that I changed the background to black and white by lowering the saturation and then increased the brightness of the model as well as the vibrancy. This makes the model stand out more against the blank background.
With this image, my aim was to make the model’s features stand out. By having the image in black and white, the brighter appearances are more likely to be noticed. I lightened the models eyes by changing the white tones in them as well as making the necklace stand out more in order to create a link between the two.
For this photograph, I wanted to add more colour to the image while adding a more shaper focus. I did this by increasing the saturation and vibrancy as well as sharpening the image by increasing the texture.
For this picture, I changed the image to black and white as well as increasing the contrast to create a more dramatic look. I liked how well focused the image is on the subjects face as well as the placement of her hands.
I decided to make this picture brighter and more colourful by increasing the brightness and tones of the image. I decided to also make the subjects eyes and the gem on her ring stand out more by increasing the brightness on them significantly.
I turned this image to black and white, then lowered the exposure in order to minimise some of the harsh lighting in the photo.
While you can’t see the subjects expression in the image, we are able to imply certain things from the image, such as her potential location. I edited this by making it in black and white while increasing the contrast.
In this picture, I increased the vibrancy and saturation in order to brighten the image. I also added vignette around the edges to bring the focus onto the model.
In this picture, I was originally going to blur the view from the window, however I thought that it was important to show the environment outside. I increased the vibrancy and saturation as well as lowering the exposure.
My main goal when editing this image was to make it brighter and more lively. I did this by increasing the brightness, saturation and vibrancy.
I made this image into black and white in order to create a more dramatic look. I did this by completely lowering the saturation and increasing the contrast.
Best Images
I would say that these three images are my best. This is because They are all focused on the subject and show some kind of body language or emotion. They are also the more appealing to look at in terms of colours and contrast.
Who- I’m going to take photo’s of my friend and possibly my dad at his work place.
When- I will take the photographs over half term.
Where- I’m hoping to take some pictures in common locations for my subjects. For my friend, I plan to take her pictures in her bedroom and at school. For my dad, i plan to take his photos at work.
Why- I will take some pictures in my friend’s bedroom as that is where she spends a lot of her time, giving the viewer an insight into her environment. The same applies with the location of the school. As for my dad, I want to take pictures at where he works as it would contrast to my friends environment.
Michelle Sank is a South African photographer. She left South Africa in 1978 and has lived in Exeter, in the South West England, since 1987. Her work is included in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Centre for Photography at Woodstock and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum. She was born in 1953 and prides herself on the diversity of young people in her images.
Her images often depict the youth and usually have vibrant tones. The models in her photographs are often styled with 2000’s clothing.
– Michelle Sank “Quincenera Girl, San Francisco”
Sank created this image by taking a face on full body shot. She had her model wear a bright orange ballgown dress to contrast the nature setting behind her making her really stand out. This allows the model to be the main focus of the image.
We are also able to see more modern aspects such as the car’s and electrical wiring in the background again contrasting with the nature we can also see in the image.
Laura Pannack
Laura Pannack is a British social documentary and portrait photographer, based in London. Pannack’s work is often of children and teenagers. Her work has been shown in three solo exhibitions and contributed to a couple of publications. She was born on June 12, 1985 in London.
Her images are usually of young people in some sort of emotional state. Body language and scenery often play a big role in her images with lots of cool tones.
-Laura Pennock, Hannah Farquhar Visit
In this image, Pannack focuses the image solely on the model making her the centre point of the image. She took this from a forward facing, eye view angle as well as keeping cool tones in the image. There are also links such as the blue from the girl’s eyes matching against the blue of her jeans or her hair matching the wheat field in the background.
We are also able to see the body language of the girl, her hands are placed awkwardly at the side of her legs and she is looking directly towards the camera with a concerned look on her face indicating she’s nervous.
Portrait photography is a very well-known and popular style of photography. The style is all about trying to capture the personality, identity, soul, and emotions of a person by utilizing the background atmosphere, poses, and lighting.
There are many types of portrait styles such as; constructionist, candid, environmental, and creative. Looking more into the environmental portrait style, it usually depicts people in their working environments or environments they are typically found in giving insight to said persons life and surroundings.
Portrait photography was invented by a french artist and photographer, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in 1835. The style later became publicly available in 1839 leading to the first photographic portrait studio opening in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1842, which brought portraiture into widespread use across America and Europe.
Environmental portrait mood board
The mood board showcases the different ways environmental portraits can capture the subject in their surroundings. On some of these images we can see people facing the camera straight on as well as others who have not taken notice. Both styles of these photos are effective, however in my opinion when they do not take notice to the photographer the images become more authentic.
Mind map
The mind map gives some insight into possible photoshoot ideas.
