How does the work of Francesca Woodman and Carolle Benitah explore isolation through self portraiture?
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.
Referencing:
whole text ref-
Townstead. C (2006). Francesca Woodman. London: Phaidon Press Limited.
in text ref-
The authors makes this point ect. ‘since the mid-1980s Francesca Woodman has become one of the most talked about influential of contemporary photographers.'(Townstead 2006: 6)
(year was published). title. publishing house- place included if edited add chapter
In what way have Rut Blees Luxemburg and Peter Bialobrzeski explored suburban and urban environments in their work?
“If I could tell the story with words, I wouldn’t need to lug around a camera!” – Lewis Hine
The theme of my personal study is Nostalgia, mainly in relation to childhood, and two artists I am wanting to respond to are Rut Blees Luxemburg and Peter Bialobrzeski who make photographs of city and urban environments. I want to explore the places from my childhood, such as the Watersplash, sand dunes at St. Ouens, the campsite at Greve De Lecq, Beuvelande, Fort Regent, Millbrook Park, and even abandoned places that I have not visited in a very long time. These places mean a lot to me because I spent a lot of my childhood in these areas. I used to go to Millbrook every day after school and every summer I would spend a lot of time at St. Ouens Bay and Greve De Lecq. On a rainy day when there’s nothing to do I would go to the jungle gym at Fort Regent and I’ll always remember the times when me and my friends would sneak into abandoned places. Places like the unfinished car park at the Fort, the abandoned brewery and even the abandoned cable cars when they were still up. Developing my project, I want to make a mix of observational photos and tableaux photos. I want to explore a general aesthetic for all of my images by trying various editing techniques to make the photographs look distorted and more interesting. I can do this by adding blur, changing the colour levels and using things like AI to enhance the images. In addition, I want to try putting the photographs on a polaroid printout too, to really convey a nostalgic feel.
My photos will be taking some inspiration from several artists such as Will Lakeman, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gustave Le Gray, Stephanie Jung and Robert Clayton. I want to take inspiration from these artist’s in particular because of the things each one specialises in. Will Lakeman with his AI work, the Bechers and their deadpan approach to photography, Le Gray’s sea photographs, Stephanie Jung’s city images and shaken editing and Robert Clayton and his estate/urban photographs.
Historically speaking, Art, and later Photography since it’s inception in 1839, has been used as a platform to express and represent the artist/photographer’s views and thoughts on the world and life in general. The framing of an image, its composition and colours have all been carefully decided to make the most accurate depiction that reflects their views and thoughts. Whether that be on memories they have, certain events they have been through or people and friends they have made on their journey. Before the tech we have today, to experiment and edit their image to what they see fit, photographers would put coloured gels as makeshift filters on their lenses to get a certain shade or colour and would also colour over an already printed photo with ink. Photography has changed along with the world too, with the industrial revolution probably being one of the most dramatic shifts in human history. New technology was improving, cities were being built, the world was becoming the world we live in today. Many photographers throughout history have reacted to this change in the world, mostly known photographers like Robert Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher and Henry Wessel Jr. who all of which took photos involving buildings in natural environments that were also in black and white – possibly to bring back a sense of “old times” as colour photography would have been invented around those times too. Many photographers around this time didn’t support colour photography as they believed it was a “distraction” and that black and white photos were a “truer form of documentation”. Two photographers I want to talk about in more detail are Rut Blees Luxemburg and Peter Bialobrzeski.
Luxemburg’s images, being taken at night, rely particularly on nearby lighting to brighten and bring life to the image. The colours are very familiar to most people, the orange colours from the street lights combined with the red lights from cars. All casted across the scratched and cracked concrete walls and grounds. The multiple puddles in the streets filling up every nook and cranny in the tarmac that reflect more lighting. The photos feature no people, yet the presence of people still remains because of the lighting and the man made areas. It makes the photos feel empty of human life yet at the same time retaining all the things humans have made. Perhaps to reflect that of the world, we humans have changed every aspect of the planet to our satisfaction and to the way we see fit, but perhaps Luxemburg’s images are asking; Was it really for the better? Did all of our advancements through history really lead us here, to this cruel and dark world? In fact, when an interviewer asked Luxemburg about whether she intentionally removes people from her photos and if they cause a disturbance in her work, she replied with ‘Yes, because I’m not thinking about individual stories, but around the space as a site of ideas and immersion. The human presence is absent. The city in my photographs is a structure in which the individual narrative does not dominate, but becomes a template to try and locate something that can be described as common. One can also think about the city as one that’s alluring, open, glowing even… yet also ambiguously wet, slippery and dark.’. I believe this quote very well speaks for all of her photos, she isn’t targeting people in these photos because they are simply not the targets, it’s the city. Almost as if the city is it’s own entity, has a soul and is sentient. The photos themselves show mostly buildings and streets. The building images are usually showing only a fragment of the building, like and edge or corner. There is an image of a corner of a building which takes good advantage of the lighting. It shows two different colour lights being casted on each side of the corner. One side is green and the other is yellow, the two lights each meet at the edge and they cut off. This defines and highlights the lined edge. Almost as if the lighting helps define the shape.
Bialobrzeski’s work covers places in cities too, but his photos are taken in the day rather than the night. His photographs cover abandoned buildings that have gone to ruin. In the photos framing, he tends to show in the background or nearby, buildings that are still in use and are newer. Almost to show some contrast between them. A difference too is that the newer buildings tend to be higher up than the old ones, this conveys the idea they are a higher class and simply better than the older ones as they are literally “higher ups”. The better buildings are tidier and have a more refined look due to their straight edges as apposed to the old buildings were time has caused them to decay and crumble, they have impurities all over. The more single photos, without any comparison between buildings, have a different comparison instead. For example, some photos take advantage of slow shutter speeds. They do this by involving in their frames, a collection of buildings and a busy road. The final image will show an abundance of red and white streaks trailing through the entire road while the buildings will come out completely still. This is because as the cameras shutter is open it catches all light, including motion. The road will of course have heavy use from cars using it constantly which leads to the streaks which choreograph the movement of the vehicles. While as the buildings, being inanimate objects, of course wouldn’t move at all during the opening of the shutter and will appear completely still on the photograph. This shows a contrast between the lively and the non-lively. His work has motivated him to travel the world and document multiple cities. He’s been to big and rich cities, poor and small cities and cities which have rich parts and poor parts. One of his images show an abundance of poor homes in a city, they are dirty and run down, in the background there are taller buildings that are more presentable and are newer. The name of this photo is called “Nail Houses”, which is a term used to describe a house which the owners refuse to move out from in order for development to be made. This implies that the higher class buildings are wanting to expand and are being prevented by the lower class ones, so when they are asked to move away they refuse, likely because they have no where else to go. When Bialobrzeski was asked why he likes to take photos of certain environments like this one, he said ‘For me, the urban environment is what is interesting. In a way, I’m like a 19th century photographer. When I was invited to a festival in Dhaka, I did a Google Image search of Dhaka and the only images that you find are colour pictures of the sites and poor people in black and white. But you don’t actually find what the city looks like, and that happens to a lot of cities. I can show people what they can’t see, and at the same time make an archive of the city.’. I think he very well explained why he takes these photos. To simply educate the world about the cities and places that have ugly parts that have certain issues and are often overlooked. He likes to show people the parts of cities that you don’t normally see, the abandoned and left behind.
In conclusion, I believe both artists have efficiently explored and documented city and urban areas. They have interesting stories and messages behind their photos and the photos themselves are very good and high quality, they look appealing and were very interesting to talk about. I like both of the photographers and their work. Both artists are similar in category and image subjects, yet have very different messages and meanings. The most notable difference of course would be the use of lighting. Luxemburg’s images are darker and appear more gloomy, Bialobrzeski’s images are more brighter and serious. Both artists cover cities and urban areas, both show a somewhat gritty and dirty environment, similarities like cracked crumbled walls and streets, gloomy street lights and places which are reasonably old are shared between each artist’s work. However, Bialobrzeski’s photographs involve people, which can make some appear more crowded and fuller, as opposed to Luxemburg’s empty and spacious environments she has created. While Luxemburg has made some use of slow shutter speeds on roads, Bialobrzeski has made much more of an effort with this method, for what seems to be for longer times too on busier roads. The time periods are different too, Peter Bialobrzeski started photographing cities sometime around 2013 and Rut Blees Luxemburg started around 1995. Which makes it interesting to see how time has changed the world, in the 90s the cities/urban areas were likely not as big as they are today, which can be seen when compared to Bialobrzeski’s work, where the cities are bigger and more full of people. All of these differences and similarities helps outline the importance of the photographers work. To be able to see that they are trying to convey different messages about the world, and the places we live in.
Bibliography: List all relevant sources used
Roberts. P (2007). The genius of Colour Photography. London: Carlton Books Ltd.
Bergmann. S (2018). City Diaries: An Interview with Peter Bialobrzeski. Berlin art Link.
This is the point that Roberts makes when she writes, ‘by far the most popular solution to remedy photography’s colour deficiency was to add colour by means of a brush, using oil and watercolour paints or ground powdered pigments.’ (Roberts, 2007: 13) It is telling us about how photographs used to be coloured, by going over the original photo with these different methods. Compared to now where you can simply edit the original photo on your computer, or even in some cases on the device used to take the photo.
Katrin Koenning is an Australian-German photographer known for her compelling and emotive photographic work. Her work travels across still and moving images and text, at times including found materials, painting and collage.
Her photographs are so versatile, they all have such a comforting atmosphere yet every one is completely different to one another. Why found her photographs so captivating was because they make people feel. They make the viewer feel the emotions that are created by each image, they can project emotions as well as be aesthetically pleasing.
Koenning has been involved in various photographic projects and exhibitions, both in Australia and internationally. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions, showcasing her talent and unique perspective within the realm of contemporary photography. Koenning’s work often explores themes of identity, place, and the human connection to the environment. Her photographs are characterized by a poetic and contemplative quality, and she has a keen eye for capturing intimate and emotive moments.
Koenning has collaborated with other artists and photographers on joint projects, contributing to a diverse range of creative endeavors. One of those collaborations is with Sarker Protick, with who’s she worked on the book Astres Noirs. By this book I have discovered Koenning and her work. I first came across it in a lesson when I was doing primary research of inspirational photographers of a similar topic that I wanted to explore. When I saw the imagery in the Astres Noirs photobook, I was stunned as I couldn’t see how the book linked to what I wanted to explore, but I knew that what the imagery made me feel, I wanted to make the viewers of my own photobook, to feel similar emotions. These emotions being; confusion, nostalgia, awe and gratitude. I want to make people feel appreciative for what they have by evoking these feelings.
Koenning is great at reflecting emotions through the photographs by, photographing subjects that are a part or were a part of everyone’s life’s, therefore each photograph feel nostalgic and resonates with the viewer. what pays an important role is how she is able to present the outcomes, which pictures are put next to each other, their composition and layout.
Bellow is a video of the whole book, Astres Noirs, being presented.
In an interview she stated it was actually the publishers who came up with the thought for the book and who initiated the idea of a more direct dialogue. As they have been following each of the artists for a while and realised there is a link between their works. she has previously met Potric in 2014 in Germany where the 2 became closer. The book is a form of communication between the 2 photographers. where every photograph is an answer to the previous image. it is a form of conversation that isn’t seen nowadays. this unusual conversation led to amazing outcomes that correspond with each other. by knowing this you can begin to see the pattern clearer where the images look so similar yet so different, where the photographs could be of completely different subjects, yet those opposing ideas compliment each other, by light, shadows or other light to dark ratio and colour values.
When Koenning was asked about how she feels about the result of the photobook, “Looking at it at different times of the same day, or even in a different room, will remarkably alter how the reflective ink will reach your eye. The ‘under’ pages suggest something hidden or out of reach, which works very well too within the overall tone and origin of the images.” You can tell she is most happy with the how the images were displayed, like the paper used and the ink, I think this is an important factor to take into consideration when designing the layout of the book, as it effects the mood of it.
The image depicts A human silhouette almost glowing with brightness illuminating in the waters, where we can see a circular central ripples surrounding the figure, behind a dense forest. the image is in black-and-white, and it’s cleverly split into half with the top part covering most of the forest and the bottom, the quiet lake as well as figure in the centre of the waters. we are first drawn to the centre of the image where the brightest source is the human it’s unknown if the figure is of a male or female as they are stood up facing the camera, however, is represented in a bright light where we cannot see any details of the body. Everything within the picture seems to be pointing to that figure like the ripples in the water, circling the person adding to the value of them being there. I chose this image as it seems the most mysterious and whimsical out of them all I realised also a pattern that continues throughout the book, which is the importance of the light. The light plays a vital role in the images to capture a certain mood. “ in this work. I was interested in both the elimination of the subject, but also the need for the viewer to imagine what’s behind, or in the light or even in the darkness.” she says, and I think this image portrays that the best through revealing as much as concealing. We know there’s a person, but we can only see its figure as the body is illuminated. This is why we begin to question what is behind this light, what’s in the darkness, and what importance does the darkness have? these questions said out loud Seem not only relevant to the photograph, but also to the viewer they seem personal. Another quote said by Koenning that I came across “ that’s an important question in photography, what isn’t shown” Making it specific about this image or any other image, we often think it without paying attention to it in the viewer to photograph always questions what’s behind the photo. I think of it, as I transport myself into the photograph to reveal it in the truth. In this case, the darkness hidden behind the light. when look at an image, it’s important to not only see it as what it is, but what it is not. We have to pretend imagine of shape and build the unknown like the meaning the story or even the emotions. I think there’s clues in every image that can answer those questions, except the answer will very depending on the recipient. to me, this image shows the importance of nature and how connected we are to. It is personal as we all can relate to our human body and we all can see ourselves as the being in the centre of the image. I think this image can be taken in two ways one being, it looks like the silhouette of a human looks like it is one with nature and it belongs there where it united with it, but then the other story is an opposing idea of that where the human form can be taken, as selfish and opposing to nature like it superior. this is because of the shifting light and because of how in focus and centre, it is everything leading to its existence valuing its importance. I would like to believe the photograph represents a beginning a start over where we are given a second chance to rebirth for the kinda more open and warming selves, where we can give more than receive more nature and the environment we are in the nearest to us.
Often people ask what I’m photographing, which is a hard question to answer. And the best what I’ve come up with is I just say: Life today – William Eggleston
David Chandler wrote an essay for the end of Kawauchi’s ‘illuminance’, and has compared William Eggleston’s work to hers. Chandler stated ‘Within the repertoire, this in itself is nothing new: making the ordinary extraordinaryhas been a common ambition (with varying rates of success) at least since William Eggleston decided that life’s epic voyages were now largely circumscribed, but not necessarily limited, by the spaces and object of everyday, material culture.‘
I find this analysis of their work interesting because it draws in the idea of surrealism, by creating an intensified and rich image out of an ordinary object, place or person. Not only is it creating an interesting image, but Chandler is stating that it is difficult to break free from the ordinary, and Eggleston has managed to do this, followed by Kawauchi.
Analysis of Eggleston’s work
Eggleston is known for his vibrant images, and for creating coloured images to become a new art form. Although I wont be capturing images in his style, I enjoy his work and the surreal and visceral emotion his images bring; like Rinko Kawauchi. He only captures an image of one thing. He never repeats an image, which makes his work so individual.
He tends to use the rule of thirds in his images to centre his composition and create main focal points.
The colours he use tends to be warm vivid oranges, reds and yellows. He also creates contrasts to them with warm summer blues using the sky. This draws in a calming and nostalgic emotion, almost creating a comfort in his retro style images. Most of the lighting he uses will be natural, possibly using reflectors to aim the light at his subjects. The contrast in colours min his images bring out the subjects as if the colour is jumping out at you, which makes his images powerful and impactful of the viewer.
It is clear that Eggleston’s main purpose behind his images is to present the ordinary as extraordinary and find a way to present life as a colourful journey. After looking at his work on a deeper level I have decided I might try to bring vivid colours into my photoshoot to create contrasts with more dull images and brighten up my photobook.
Comparison of Kawauchi’s work with Eggleston’s to inspire my photos
I want to explore the places from my childhood. Places like the Watersplash and the sand dunes at St. Ouens, The campsite at Greve De Lecq, Beuvelande, Fort Regent, Millbrook Park and even abandoned places that I have not visited in a very long time. These places mean a lot to me because I spent a lot of my childhood in these areas. I used to go to Millbrook every day after school, Every summer I would spend a lot of time at St. Ouens Bay and Greve De Lecq, On a rainy day when there’s nothing to do I would go to the jungle gym at Fort Regent. And I’ll always remember the times when me and my friends would sneak into abandoned places, places like the unfinished car park at the fort, the abandoned brewery and even the abandoned cable cars when they were still up. During development, I want to take a mix of observational photos and tableaux photos. I want to set a general aesthetic for all of my photos by trying various editing techniques to make the photos look distorted and more interesting. I can do this by adding blur, changing the colour levels and using things like AI to enhance the photos, I want to try putting the photos on a polaroid printout too, to really convey a nostalgic feel. An edit I really want to do is the “Clone” edit, where I take multiple photos with the camera in the same fixed position but with me in different locations, then putting all of them together. I have done this in GCSE and I intend on improving and doing it again. I also want to add some actually old photos that were taken in some areas and have a new one for comparison. Another thing I want to try is having any text be placed behind objects, mainly for the cover and the title. I want to try and have this entire project be presented in a photobook but may try and make a short film too. The photobook has been decided because most photos traditionally are kept in these books and since I am producing nostalgic photos I feel it would be very fitting to have the project be displayed in one. My photos will be taking some inspiration from several artists such as Will Lakeman, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Gustave Le Gray, Stephanie Jung and Robert Clayton.
I took these images at St. Johns football pitch as I would occasionally go and use this pitch when I was younger.
CONTACT SHEET
Image selection- I flagged the images I wanted to edit by using ‘P’ and ‘X’. There weren’t many images that fit my vision so I only selected a few images to edit.
Basic Edits
Again, I had a mix of colour image and black and white images to demonstrate our childhood memories and the present.
I took these se of images at Rozel football pitch. These images are important to me as this is the pitch belongs to the first club I played for.
CONTACT SHEET
Image selection- I flagged the images that I wanted to edit by using ‘P’ and ‘X’
Basic Editing
I chose to edit these image in a mix of coloured images and black and white images as this is the pitch where me and my sister would train together for Rozel girls on a Saturday. This is a key part of both our childhoods as we both shared a love for football. I decided to edit the training pitch images in black and white to show that these images hold memories and are from our past. I then decided to edit the main pitch images in colour as I still play at this pitch and it’s still apart of our lives as my sister comes and watches me paly.
Image selection- I selected the images that I though were good enough to be edited by using ‘P’ and ‘X’
Basic Edits
When editing these I wanted to show that this pitch isn’t from my childhood as most of the images are in colour. I wanted the images to be quite vibrant and lively as this pitch is currently apart of mine and my sisters life’s as she come to watch me play here
I then colour coded my images to help me with the process of deciding what images I want to put in my photobook
I took these set of images at the airport playing fields. The pitch is significant to me as it is where I played my first senior game.
CONTACT SHEET
Image selection- I flagged the images I wanted to edit by using ‘P’ and ‘X’
Basic Editing
When editing these images I wanted some of them be in colour as this pitch is still part of my life but now as a coach instead of a player. I also edited some images in black and white to show that this pitch is part of past.
I then went through my images and colour coded them on weather I wanted them in my photobook or not.
