About Milica Marković

Milica Markovic is independent author from Paracin, Serbia. She was born on 26th of March in 1984. The photography she creates is mostly a portrayal of her state of mind, and often these are self-portraits. She specialises in black and white portraits, mostly distorted or obscured in some sort of way.

‘Milica Marković may only photograph herself because she is least ashamed in front of herself, free, relaxed, unrestrained, dark or empty of herself. Shame is condemned by some, while for others it is an expression of the moral, that is, the connection with the divine. She probably wants to surprise herself and like a skilled psychonaut, travels around her innerself. Many have exemplified that the soul, aside from light areas, also has areas of fear, dread, tension, unfulfilled desires and unreasonable passions’.

– Dejan Đorić, art critic

Her Work

Her self- portraits portray her in a very abstract and distorted way, the black and white creating a lot of contrast within the picture as well as creating a more isolated and mysterious environment. They present her as lonely yet beautiful in an eerie, unique way; the multiple exposures and blurred effects adding a sense of timelessness to her photos. She explores her femininity in her pictures, presenting her self as both powerful and delicate.

Image Analysis

This photograph is a multi- exposure, the main area of focus being the profile of Marković, her face showing a clamed, neutral expression with her eyes closed. Another layer can be seen in the image, a similar profile portrait of her being in the top left corner of the photo, yet this time facing the other way, the lips aligning with the forehead of the centred picture.

I found this photograph very inspiring and interesting, the title ‘Nobody loves you like I do‘ having an interesting link with the photo itself. The soothed expression she wears on her face creates a serene and tranquil mood throughout the picture. The composition of the piece is very specific, the second portrait being in a positioned in a way that creates an illusion that she is kissing herself on the forehead, being a portrayal of the commonly- used metaphor ‘no one can love you more than yourself’, as well as being a clear inspiration for the title of her piece. The title is very engrossing, as she is talking to her self, causing this to be a very personal and intimate piece, the closed eyes highlighting how she is being soothed by the kiss. The light background shining through from behind her darkly silhouetted body creates a intense contrast in the image, causing her to stand out even further. The photo includes a wide tonal range, varying from the lightest greys and the darkest areas of black. The second portrait of herself is much more blurred and obscured by the background, causing there to be a ghostly feeling throughout the picture and making the second exposure to seemingly blend in with the background. This causes the centred portrait to be an area of focus, being detailed and clear, her features being the most pronounced thing in the entire photograph. This photo consists of a very shallow depth of field, the entire background being hazy and shadowy, clearly representing that nothing else matters in the photo. Despite the distortion of her face, she still manages to present as feminine within her photos, creating beautiful yet mysterious photos.

About Francesca Woodman

She was an American photographer who created black and white pictures, capturing herself and other female models in interesting ways. Her photos show herself and other women either in unique outfits or stark naked, in weird positions. The photos mostly appeared to be blurred, since she used a slow shutter speed, letting more light in to create movement in a eerie way throughout her work. She was born on April the 3rd in 1958 and died on the 19th of January in 1981, aged just 22 years old. Despite her dying so young, Woodman has continued to inspire many upcoming photographers, being an icon of self- expression in photography.

Her father was a painter and photographer and also lectured in photography at the University of Boulder in Colorado. Her mother was a ceramicist and sculptor. She took her first self portrait at the age of 13, and then went on to continue to photograph herself and other women until she died. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and travelled to Rome as part of its honours program in 1977. In 1980, she shared many of her portfolios with fashion photographs, wanting ‘to make a career in photography’. She was rejected, however, which lead to her becoming deeply depressed and she attempted suicide in autumn of that same year. A breakup with her boyfriend also added to her depressed state. This lead to her having to live with her parents, unfortunately in early 1981, she took her life after jumping out of a window.

Although Woodman used different cameras and film formats during her career, most of her photographs were taken with medium format cameras producing 2+¹⁄₄ by 2+¹⁄₄-inch (6×6 cm) square negatives. Woodman created at least 10,000 negatives, which her parents now keep. Woodman’s estate, which is managed by Woodman’s parents, consists of over 800 prints, of which only around 120 images had been published or exhibited as of 2006. Most of Woodman’s prints are 8 by 10 inches (20 by 25 cm) or smaller, which “works to produce an intimate experience between viewer and photograph”.

“Am I in the picture? Am I getting in or out of it? I could be a ghost, an animal or a dead body, not just this girl standing on the corner” 

– Francesca Woodman

The ‘Die Young’ Effect

There are always celebrities and other artists that die young, which for some reason always leads to more questions about their short life. Suicide has always been seen as a taboo aspect of our life, but something that draws fascination and interest from the public, especially when it is a famous or talented person. Like many others, Woodman died young and left behind her interesting story along with her unique art. Her photographs were almost like a representation of her short life, the ghostly obscured and intimate photos clearly being a portrayal of her and her personality. Her portraits portrayed her as vulnerable and isolated, but also intense and powerful, creating a interesting contrast.

Her Work

Here are some famous examples of her work, where she portrayed herself in many different positions and angles. Every single photo is unique and full of mystery, causing her style to be an inspiration for many. She challenged the idea that the camera captures a single time and space – something that had always been seen as one of the fundamentals of photography. She manipulated light, movement and photographic effects, and used carefully selected props, vintage clothing and decaying interiors to add a mysterious gothic atmosphere to the work and create a new technique of portrait photography. The concept of vulnerability is brought up a lot my critics, and although I do understand that her poses create a sense of vulnerability, her pictures embrace her, a lot of the time naked, body in a powerful manner, showing she is the one in control.

Image Analysis

One of her most iconic photographs, portraying her in a bent over position on top of a mirror, capturing her staring intensely into the camera lens. It is believed that it was a photo she sent to her boyfriend at the time, sending it in advance to her return to the US from Italy.

This photographs composition is very interesting, being taken from a bird eye view angle, capturing her entire body in the shot. The entire look of the photo creates a mysterious mood throughout the image; the black and white causing us to focus more on her face which appears blurry as through she was moving. This along with the wild look in her eyes creates her to have an unhinged appearance, adding to the eeriness of the photo. She appears to be naked on the lower half of her body, adding to the weird look of the photo and creating another interesting aspect to the photo, perhaps being something to do with the photo being meant for her boyfriend, Woodman portraying herself in a seductive way and enhancing the sexual representation within the photo. Despite her face not being in focus, it is clearly the area of focus within the photograph, her neutral expression contrasting with her wide- open eyes, causing the viewer to immediately look at them. The mirror creates an interesting shape around her, framing her body and causing us to focus on her even more. Moreover, the dark tone of the wood contrasts again her light skin and clothes, causing her to stand out even more. The mirror creates an idea of other dimension, and her face being blurred creates a sense of timelessness.

For my self- portraits, I am inspired by FRANCESCA WOODMAN, CLAUDE CAHUN and MILICA MARKOVIĆ.

Definitions

The definition of ‘femininity’ according to Wikipedia is ‘a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles generally associated with women and girls’, however this definition has been criticised by many people throughout history, as it causes it to be a very general and constricting term. The idea of femininity is a social construct, and people are slowly realising (especially younger generations who are typically more open minded) how the term doesn’t only surround women- but people of all genders and it is slowly becoming a much more fluid term. Despite there still being many people who have very traditional views, many artists (such as photographers) have being bringing light to the topic and opening peoples eyes. Furthermore, the opposing word ‘masculinity’ is defined as ‘is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles associated with men and boys’, the same definition but for men/ boys.

Although some people believe there is one ‘correct’ definition of both femininity and masculinity, each culture has its own views on the terms, some of which even completely contradict each other. Moreover, any human can portray both feminine and masculine traits. Gender stereotypes link in a lot with femininity and masculinity, which can be very harming to both sexes, especially when the people surrounding them pressure them into presenting a certain way. This is one of the reasons why younger generations have started to challenge these social concepts, creating new definitions and meanings for these terms as well as breaking stereotypes. I believe everyone has and needs aspects of both femininity and masculinity, since they are simply human values which are put into stereotypical sections.

Identity

noun

the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.

In the past, identity had a very different and less fluid meaning however slowly over time, people began to express themselves much more openly and proving that your identity isn’t just who you are born as and can be developed throughout your life. Identity is mostly formed during your childhood, when your opinions are easiest to influence and when you gain experiences from the people around you. This is when your cultural identity is formed, learning your culture from your parents and close family members.

Your teenage years, are where the majority of your identity is formed, your gender identity and sexuality shaping with the influence of the people you surround yourself with as well as the internet. It is seen as the hardest time in a persons life, as dealing with puberty and the development of your identity can be overwhelming for some. It is especially hard for people who don’t feel as though they fit in with the heteronormality of society, and experience gender dysphoria and the questioning of their sexuality, especially if they have no support.

Femininity and Masculinity in Photography

Artists, especially photographs have has a massive impact on how society views femininity and masculinity, showing how traditional views and stereotypes aren’t always accurate and shouldn’t be used to define people. There were many photographers throughout history who created their own meaning for femininity and masculinity.

Claude Cahun was one of the main photographers that explored their own femininity and masculinity, as well as showing that it is normal to be a mix of both. Despite their work not being seen during their life and being destroyed by the Nazis (since Cahun was an activist during their life), they became a famous artist after their death in 1954 and still influence many to this day. They once said: “under this mask, another mask; I will never finish removing all these faces”, showing how they had many layers of both feminine and masculine traits. They experimented with clothes and hairstyles, showing both sides of their personality and identity.

Cindy Sherman is another important photographer as during her career she explored the stereotypes surrounding women in America during the late 20th century. She creates many different personas, creating self- portraits that resembled each of them. Through her photographs, she showed us how women are expected to be both beautiful and elegant while also being caring- in other words the stereotypical housewife.

Definitions

Identity politics is a political approach wherein 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.

A culture war is a cultural conflict between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal values.

Essay

Identity politics and culture wars are both very important aspects of our current society. Despite these both being quite controversial topics, especially in right- wing societies with conservative views, I personally believe that they are vital aspects of helping our world reach equality and freedom. Identity politics is simply an approach that allows people to freely express who they really are, and although there will always be extremists, people who disagree with our world developing in a positive way (such as abolishing constricting laws to do with abortion and non- heterosexual marriage) need to be educated, especially since the majority tends to have opinions of issues that don’t involve them. Like I mentioned, extremists (in culture wars) are a problem and shouldn’t deal with issues in the way they do, however I believe many people base their opinions solely on extreme instances which can be very inaccurate. Moreover, many view culture wars as a way of dividing societies and when protests and other forms of conflicts begin to create problems such as vandalism and violence, I can understand how some may view certain aspects of culture wars as negative. Acts like this create a bad name for something that should result in positive change and a better life for minorities. However, educated people will look past this, seeing the true desired outcome. Moreover, I find it difficult to understand how people can have opinions about issues that don’t include them, for example cisgender people refusing to support the idea of transgender rights, even through it doesn’t affect them. This selfish ideology is what leads to these culture wars, as if these limited and closed minded opinions is what discourages people from being who they truly are and prevents the world from being equal.

One of the most known culture wars is the Women’s Right Movement in America, a culture war which resulted in more equality between men and woman (at least in America). The 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention marked the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States. Over time, the women’s right movement grew into a cohesive network of individuals who were committed to changing society.

Many still have negative views on feminism to this day, not viewing it as equality but as women attempting to rise above men. The Suffragettes were part of the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign that had long fought for the right of women to vote in the UK. This was one of the first movements that provoked negative reactions to the idea of women gaining equality and not being lesser than men. This was due to them using art, debate, propaganda, and attack on property including window smashing and arson to fight for female suffrage, which many people, including women who disagreed with women being equal to men. In my opinion, the vandalism that the Suffragettes caused was completely justified, as it seemed as through nothing else could provoke change to happen.

These pictures were taken using a very slow shutter speed, and the model moved side to side repetitively, creating an interesting smudged effect, adding multiple exposures of the model.

I set the shutter speed to be quite slow, causing any slight movement of the model to be picked up, creating blurred and obscured images.

These are some pictures I took a few months back, experimenting with lighting in a studio. I used candles for different lighting affects, as well as both continuous and flash lighting.

Edits

I enhanced the best features of each photo in Lightroom, using photos that used butterfly and Rembrandt lighting.

Contact Sheet

For these pictures, I once again focused on the butterfly and Rembrandt lighting techniques.