Mood board of her work

Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills comprises of over seventy black and white photographs made between 1977 and 1980. When thinking about this series, some aspects of her entire body of work immediately come to mind: disguise and theatricality, mystery and voyeurism, melancholy and vulnerability. The artist initially started these series in her apartment, using her own interior as setting for the scenes. Soon however, she moved her camera and props outside and shot in urban and rural landscapes as well, requiring a second person to assist her in taking the photograph. The artist Robert Longo, with whom she lived at that time, assisted her for a while, as well as her father, other family members, and friends.

What is Cindy Sherman’s message?

Sexual desire and domination, the fashioning of self-identity as mass deception, these are among the unsettling subjects lying behind Sherman’s extensive series of self-portraiture in various guises. Sherman’s work is central in the era of intense consumerism and image proliferation at the close of the 20th century.

Deconstructing “Woman”

Started when she was only 23, these images rely on female characters (and caricatures) such as the jaded seductress, the unhappy housewife, the jilted lover and the vulnerable naif. Sherman used cinematic conventions to structure these photographs: they recall the film stills used to promote movies, from which the series takes its title. The 70 Film Stills immediately became flashpoints for conversations about feminism, postmodernism, and representation, and they remain her best-known works.

Sherman is able to change her identity by adopting performative behaviours that have come to define femininity. Through the photographic series I have examined, Sherman’s photographs visually describe the feminist social constructionist argument that there is no natural identity behind the mask of gender. Women affirm their gender identity through performative behaviour; gender is constituted through the ongoing and repetitive assemblage of female representations depicted in culture. These behaviours position the male as a spectator, fixing his gaze on the sexualized female. Sherman’s photography is a depiction of the different ways culture defines “woman.” Her art plays on the feminist idea that gender arises exclusively within culture and deconstructs dominant gender ideologies, representing the underside of popular culture’s definition of “woman.” She exposes the arbitrariness of performativity and presents a variety of female identities that are found within popular culture, and reveals that these are nothing more than constructions. Behind each character there is no central identity. Each is a series of manipulations according to cultural conventions. There is no essential femininity; the whole self is an imaginary construct that can be changed through performativity.

The series features Sherman posing as various female stereotypes from generic black and white Hollywood B films of the 1950s. She is unrecognizable from one photo to the next, changing her appearance as she tackles the different identities, each an illustration of a cultural representation of women. Sherman plays the role of a young woman studying her own reflection. The photo visually portrays a woman assembling her identity, caught in the act of construction. It implies the lack of a fixed identity. Though Sherman is both the woman in front of the lens and behind it, she appears masked through make-up and costume, disguised to resemble familiar female stereotypes; her women are images of women, “models of femininity projected by the media to encourage imitation and identification” As in her other works, Sherman adopts the format of stereotypical female roles. However, her characters are unlike those found in magazines. “Instead these women suggest awkward adolescents or young women uncomfortable with their sexuality”. She interrogates the format and photographic genre of the centrefold and aims to destroy dominant notions of beauty and eroticism. The spread offers no context before or after the image, meaning that audiences must construct their own narrative, generally based on texts already embedded within popular culture.

She is not perpetuating the stereotypes but is assuring female audiences that there is no fixed femininity. Defending Sherman, Mulvey argues that as the gaze behind the lens, she is not perpetuating the objectification of women, but rather subverting the gaze. In each photograph, Sherman explores contemporary ideas about female identity – one being the trope of a sad female longing for a male companion. The male spectator engaged in scopophilia pleasure should feel as though he has interrupted a private movement. As the woman behind the lens, Sherman exposes the role of the male gaze in an attempt to make those who objectify the constructed woman feel like the violators they are.

“I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,” She stated in 1989

At the time, images of ailing bodies were painfully on view in the news during the AIDS crisis; these added poignancy to her investigation of the grotesque and of various types of violence that could be done to the body. In these series and throughout all of her work, Sherman subverts the visual shorthand we use to classify the world around us, drawing attention to the artificiality and ambiguity of these stereotypes and undermining their reliability for understanding a much more complicated reality.

Image Analysis

This image stood out to me the most as she is interpreting the stereotype of a woman. This could link to her message of ‘ Deconstructing a woman’, within this image there is a sense of objectification and housewife aesthetic. I state this because the image depicts a domestic scene in which the character – seemingly a housewife – stands at her kitchen sink. The construction of the picture hints at a number of possible narratives and is open to a range of analyses. Though almost cropped from the picture, the woman’s gaze – out of frame and away from the viewer, accentuated by eye makeup surely unnecessary in her own kitchen draws my attention. For me, though the image offers a portrait that I read as a stereotypical representation of a housewife from the late 1950s or early 1960s. Sherman’s gaze indicates an awareness of the world beyond the confines of the frame; the way her hand rests protectively on her stomach suggests the possibility that this is not without threat, creating a tension within the image. I think this image is a mirror due to the fact it is reflecting as of the artist herself. I also think it is a mirror as she is trying to intend an element and theme of gender roles within society during this time, but how she feels about it. She is also wearing an apron to emphasize the role she is playing. As well as this, the photo is set up to take an image of herself. It is obvious it is a staged approach due to the unfocused saucepan pointing directly at her, and the placement of the camera, clearly being on the counter to see from a lower angle. Furthermore, the gaze away from the camera also tells us it is a staged photoshoot and is not natural in any way, purely to reflect the artist. I think this image is a subjective expression, as in a way every viewer could have a different take on it. For example, as she is portraying gender roles in society in the late 1950’s she could not be intending to express herself, but how women as a whole felt during this time through a sense of reality. Therefore, she would be expressing the external world during this time.  This brings to the debate is the only natural thing in this image herself? Therefore, this famous image of Cindy Sherman, reflects her as an artist, however meanwhile reflecting stereotypes of women in the 70’s. Sherman in my opinion, is sexualizing herself and playing the role of the ‘ house wife’ to execute the theme of stereotypes successfully as women in that time were seen only to make children and be there for the husband.

Another image analysis

This image has slight similarities but a few differences. A main difference to me is that the previous image was of Sherman, and also taken by Sherman, or so we assume. However, this image is not Cindy Sherman and is possibly taken by Cindy Sherman. The main factor that effectively stood out to me was the apron and the gaze. This is similar to the previous image as this woman is also portraying the role of the ‘ house wife’ which is a typical stereotype of women. Although, this image has a different setting. This one does not tell much and shows a dirty door. From what I personally get from this image, could be waiting for the husband to come home or putting coats back, I assumed this through the coat pegs. This in my opinion, is ‘deconstructing women’ as a women’s role in the 1950’s was to look after their home. The image of American women in the 1950s was heavily shaped by popular culture: the ideal suburban housewife who cared for the home and children appeared frequently in women’s magazines, in the movies and on television. Another effective factor that significantly got my attention was the female gaze. The subject is looking away from the camera, possibly looking at the male in the household or to something else. Either way, this creates a sense of objectification as women were only seen to be makers of the household. The black and white is used in almost all of Sherman’s images which I like as it keeps the older aesthetic which is relevant as Sherman’s images were in the 70’s, however it also creates an element of mystery and keeps people analysing images and attempting to find a story.

Image Analysis

This image stood out to me because of context and time lines. Cindy Sherman took her images between the 70’s and 80’s. This time line was when it was expected or stereotypical for women to be the house wife. Being the house wife normally meant for the female to be waiting at home meanwhile the husband was at work and looking after the children. Males were seen to be the educated ones and women not. This is proved through the second wave feminism movement took place in the 1960s and 1970s and focused on issues of equality and discrimination. Starting initially in the United States with American women, the feminist liberation movement soon spread to other Western countries. This allowed equal education for male and females. This image does not focus on the role of the house wife but instead of education. This significantly links to Sherman’s message of ‘ Deconstructing woman’ as Sherman has taken a self portrait of her in the library, grabbing a book. This is relevant to the timeline as this would of been a new acceptable thing for women to learn themselves equally to men. Not only this, women were seen as weak and nurturing to their children which was the only objective women were expected to do. One element that catches my eye is the female gaze, like every other one of her images. She is always looking away from the camera, potentially objectifying herself in the others, but possibly not this one. The purpose of the ‘female gaze’ becomes to connect with the female viewer via the female creator, coming together in a way that serves them, and upholding the idea that women are powerful and can control their own destiny. That is why one of the most notable differences between the male and the female gaze is intent.

For my photoshoot its going to be about girlhood influenced by Philippa James. I took photos of teenage girls doing their normal weekend or day to day activity, such as shopping, sitting down, walking around with mates, etc.

top 3 images

These are my top 3 best images because they are all very aesthetic. The first image is colourful and a bit blurry but it makes it more interesting. The second one has loads of different shades of black and white which catches peoples eyes and so does the last image since the whole image is a different shade of purple which makes you feel calm, as the colours in the images isn’t too light or too dark.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is an Irish photographer, born in 1951, who lived and worked in different places in the UK, mainly in Liverpool. During his days of photography, he has published a multitude of books including Looking for Love, Men / Women, and more. in 1973, Wood started to take photographs with a more serious manner and attitude towards it. Throughout his photography, he has used many different types of cameras, printing types and film types, which leaves a different feel to each of is photographs. He has used old cine film and out of date film stock to take his images causing a grainy quality to the outcomes.

Wood’s photographs all have an old, timey look to them from the period of time they were taken. Many of the photographs by Wood have a lot of colour which pops and draws in your attention because of the usually, darker backgrounds, sometimes caused by the dark time of day or because of the surrounding environment. The photographs that I am focussing on of his, are the ones that capture people, they are mix of candid photographs of people in their natural domain or staged images of people posing in front of the camera. However, his way of photographing these people always seems genuine and raw whether or not they are set up.

Wood has a variety of projects and aims of his photography such as his ‘Looking for Love’ project. The images taken for this are inside of a popular nightclub in darker lights. His photos captured the typical manic nightlife of the drunken customers who were either full of life, partying or half asleep, ready to leave. He was able to capture these images because of the trust he would gain from the people, Wood said, “People were so made up when I went to the trouble to make a print for them that, when you saw them again, they and their friends would accept you”, this is how he would make them comfortable enough to allow him to photograph more often. Another project of his is ‘Men / Women’ in which, he’d take photographs of men and women, separately for the most part, who were working-class. These images consisted of them looking and posing for the camera in their natural scene, however, some images were candids taken without the need for staging.

Andriana Nativio

Andriana Nativio is a photographer born in Cleveland, Ohio, who now lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona. She has done many projects such as, ‘As We Rest in the Shadows’, ‘sleeping bear’ and others. In 2023, she was named one of Lens Culture’s Emerging Talents in Photography and her work has been featured in group exhibitions across the United States.

Nativio’s work is usually in black and white and her images explore femininity, childhood and memory. Her project ‘As We Rest in the Shadows’ consists of photographs of two young girls who are captured having fun, playing and talking, just acting like normal girls. Nativio said about this project, “My photographs meld the sisters’ journey & my memories together in an attempt to return to my girlhood”. This project records the tranquillity of life when you are younger and free. This work has inspired me to dive into the aspect of childhood and to capture and explore images of different parts of it.

Another project by Nativio is ‘Sleeping Bear’, these photographs by her were taking over a month at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. These photographs are of many different people, different ages, races, family dynamics. Some of the images are portrait photographs where the subjects are posed in front of the camera, however, some are candid photographs of moments people aren’t expecting to be documented. I think this project is a really good one as it captures many different people who are all at the same place at the same time but with no intention of being so. It is a way to portray the differences between each individual.

Andrew Kung

Andrew Kung is an Asian-American photographer who lives and works in New York City. His images focus on place, identity, and belonging. Kung often uses his own lived-through experiences to produce his images. ‘Through my images, my aim is to normalize Asian American beauty, belonging, and individuality.  I often investigate themes of masculinity, family, intimacy, and what it means to be American’ —Andrew Kung

Kung started out photographing for brand such as Nike and Adidas before he decided to start his own series. This was ‘The Mississippi Delta Chinese’, in this project, he documented a small Chinese community. This project was the start of him reclaiming his own Asian identity. He then began to have conversations with his family and friends figuring out it meant to be Asian American to each person, he also read more literature, and watched more movies to learn more about and find comfort in who he is.

The photographs by Andrew Kung that I am focussing on and taking inspiration from, use the natural sunlight to capture the images. This way, his images are all the accurate white balance, keeping the lightening even. Often, the photographs are taken when the sun is setting, using the natural orange/golden glow to highlight certain aspects of the picture. This adds a familiar feel to the photographs and draws in the viewers attention as there is now a hint of brighter colour in the image.

Originally being a fashion designer for a period of ten years, in 2001 Carolle Bénitah began to make herself known as a French Moroccan photographer whose work was largely concerned with themes of memory, nostalgia, family and the passage of time. Her work was a form of reinterpreting herself and her own history as a daughter, wife and mother; defining her own identity. Bénitah tends to incorporate embroidery, beads, ink and collaging into her work through pairing these different art mediums with old family snapshots, or images taken during her childhood.

HER WORK:

These selection of images are taken from her three-part series entitled ‘Photos-Souvenirs‘, created between 2009 and 2014, intending to explores the memories within her Moroccan family and adolescence by reworking these images into a new form, creating heavy contrast, texture and depth into her work. Her work focuses on Freud’s concept of the uncanny; representing the suppression of emotions and perceptions alongside incoherent experiences during her life. While the images that she used were taken from approximately 40 years ago at the time, it meant that she could turn her attention to her own history and decipher what occurred at the time to allow her to express the emotions she may have not been able to portray at the time due to her being a child with a good perception of the world, as children do. Through this series, it enabled her to unravel the fears and secrets of her inner child that have constructed her into who she was as an adult, using those experiences who formulate her identity and differing perceptions of the world that would become more realistic and conscious. The concept of nostalgia is evident throughout this series where her images of her as a young girl would convey the sense of relativity whilst seeming so distant and unknown, creating tones of strangeness and comfort, juxtaposing each other.

Embroidering is perceived as a majorly feminine activity due to the fine work and precision it requires because of its delicacy, leading on to symbolise the way that traditionally, this is linked to the mother and daughters of the family taking up sewing and embroidery whilst waiting for the ‘man of the home’ to return. As Bénitah was born in 1965, she stated that:

‘Embroidery is intimately linked to the milieu in which I grew up. Girls in a “good family” used to learn how to sew and embroider — essential activities for “perfect women”. My mother embroidered her trousseau.’

Through utilising the expressions and insights practiced within her childhood, this gives her the ability to symbolise these developing opinions by pairing embroidery with old family archives. I like the concept behind this because whilst the image and the embroidery is supposed to represent these traditional roles at the time, it makes the snapshot have movement within it, adding direction and form into something that is old in order to formulate a new fresh piece. This could be representative of all of the ever-developing perceptions of life within society.

This reflection back onto childhood experiences confronts Bénitah to face her own inner conflicts and past repressions, whether they she may be consciously aware of them or able to use this as an aid to overtly face unpleasant memories in her subconscious. This would enable her to understand her current identity through being able to come to terms with what has occurred in her life as these experiences would have shaped her outlook on life, regardless of the emotions they convey. As well as this, the consistent use of the same shade of red in the images ensures that they all collaboratively link up to guarantee that the viewer can identify the story here and be capable of forming their own personal narrative through interpreting Bénitah’s story in their own perspective. This allows the viewers of her work to make a more personal and intense adaptation to draw their own conclusions and ideas based off of factors in their own lives. This can be a very powerful technique because it leads people to resonate with her work, for example if a parent of a young child sees this they may recognise a similar story from their own childhood, and begin to attempt to make sure similar things don’t occur for their child.

I would like to incorporate the methods of Carolle Bénitah into my own personal study about my experience of growing up with a brother who has Bipolar disorder because I feel that the concepts of our work, while not the same, correlate clearly. I think this use of an obscure metaphor in order to portray a story of loss is very effective through the ambiguous format that the lines move in. It is a way of visually expressing a story that the picture alone wouldn’t be relevant to or able to reveal. Because my intention behind my personal study is tapping into the human psyche as it concerns topics of psychological change, behavioural differences and the impact this has on a family dynamic, I feel that this will be a good starting point for me to experiment with and develop upon in order to make my work very metaphorical and symbolising. This idea of “performing a kind of exorcism of inner demons and past repressions” connotes a tone of liberation which could be very compelling in my work, and allow me to freely express myself, the concept and message that I am trying to send.

ANALYSIS OF HER WORK:

This specific image from Carolle Benitah’s series of Photos Souvenirs, engaging with her childhood constraints and anguish, particularly caught my eye. Upon initial sight, it is evident that this image was taken from around the 1970s to the 1980s from the overall tone of the archived image of Benitah’s family being a more yellowed tone due to age; instead of it just being black and white, the film has gained a cast of discolouration as well as a large crease in the top left corner from being folded. This connotation also stems from the aesthetics of the individuals in the image, wearing respectable and modest apparel that was very common in the 70s, whereas in the 21st century, children may be wearing more casual clothing such as a tracksuit, instead of such a humble appearance. As well as this, the different hairstyles portrayed in the image highlight the large contrast in generational trends to successfully demonstrate how old this image is. For example, the woman on the right holding the baby has had curlers in her hair in order to create a feathered look, which was the general choice for women in the 70s. As the embroidery string used is red, this immediately makes the image become eye-catching and more visible due to it juxtaposing the original image’s more vintage, recessed tone. Benitah has embroidered an empty silhouette around each person within this family image at an angle that is slightly off – the silhouette isn’t accurately outlining each individual. As this series is Benitah’s form of establishing her identity, this could be representative of looking outward herself, picking apart each family member and therefore, making her have an almost ‘out of body’ experience by revising over her past life events. This metaphor stems from the distance that the silhouette has with each person. Because this uses ambiguous shapes, this creates dynamic lines within Benitah’s work that add a sense of direction, causing the viewer to scan the image for a reasonable response. I feel that Benitah’s concept behind this can be perceived as forcing the viewer to become familiar with her family and really have to look at each individuals face and demeanor in the image. This would assist her in trying to portray a story of her childhood as it allows the viewer to gain an initial impression of what that person is/was like. Leading on from this, Benitah has formulated a randomised pattern of plus signs or crosses over four of the individuals faces. I feel that this may be a obscure metaphor for absenteeism and loss, hiding the faces of the people behind these markings. It adds a sense of anonymity, creating questions as to why these people have been concealed within their own family image. Because family snapshots kept as memories and keepsakes, this may be symbolising that the four people within the image have became part of an unpleasant memory that Bénitah desperately wants to forget and ignore instead of coming to terms with it. This evokes tones of mourning, deconstructing the myth of an ideal family and altering an image to hint at a personal secret behind it. Due to the needle piercing the image during the embroidery, this has left small holes and tears in the image that are only visible if the image is truly explored in detail. The violent nature of the needle stabbing the image, almost looking explosive, may suggest conflict, drama and/or pain because of the aggressive nature behind it – in this case, pricking the archived outlines of family members to erase their identities from being in the saturated image. Because of this image imitating the ‘snapshot aesthetic’, when the archived image has been photographed, there are slight patches of the light bouncing back off the image. This reflection, possibly from the cold artificial lighting from photographing this image again at a ‘birds eye’ angle, could be interpreted as a sort of ‘calm after the storm’. What I mean by this is that this reflection of like may act as a symbol for her own person growth by creating this study, healing some sort of unresolved trauma from her childhood that was gained from events that occurred relating to this image, due to brightness tending to correlate with cleanliness or holism.

Links:

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/artists/carolle-benitah

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/exhibitions/the-farther-i-remember

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

Who is she?

Nancy Goldin is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing with the devastating HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Mood board of her work

Her roles in portraying power dynamics within gender roles-

 In 1985, Nan created The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, a photo series about the struggle between autonomy and dependency and the power relationships between men and women that put her in danger.

The artist’s visibility grew, and she photographed herself with her face wounded by her boyfriend’s punches. He couldn’t stand who she was and what she saw. “My photos in which I look battered were what prevented me from returning,” she says. Many women in her situation were able to talk about it because they saw the photos. I haven’t found Nan to define herself as a feminist, nor Laura, but the only seconds in the film in which they speak as a duet take place when Nan says that when her boyfriend tried to destroy her eyes with his fists, at least she didn’t have the “ballad” slides on her screen — and here comes the double take: “Because he would have destroyed them.” The artists both say. The women who know that their eyes are their voice speak.

Comprising almost 700 snapshot-like portraits sequenced against an evocative music soundtrack, Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is a deeply personal narrative, formed out of the artist’s own experiences around Boston, New York, Berlin, and elsewhere in the late 1970s, 1980s, and beyond. Titled after a song in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, Goldin’s Ballad is itself a kind of downtown opera; its protagonists—including the artist herself—are captured in intimate moments of love and loss. They experience ecstasy and pain through sex and drug use; they revel at dance clubs and bond with their children at home; and they suffer from domestic violence and the ravages of AIDS. “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is the diary I let people read,” Goldin wrote. “The diary is my form of control over my life. It allows me to obsessively record every detail. It enables me to remember.” The Ballad developed through multiple improvised live performances, for which Goldin ran through the slides by hand and friends helped prepare the soundtrack—from Maria Callas to The Velvet Underground—for an audience not unlike the subjects of the pictures. The Ballad is presented in its original 35mm format, along with photographs that also appear as images in the slide show. Introducing the installation is a selection of materials from the artist’s archive, including posters and flyers announcing early iterations of The Ballad.

“My work has been about making a record of my life that no one else can revise.”

Nan Goldin’s photographs are like pages of a diary, sharing at once the intimacy of ordinary connections, the isolation of abuse, and the joyful abandon of being with friends. Upending typical art hierarchies, she showed her work in her loft and in New York City nightclubs and bars in the late 1970s and ’80s, where the audience consisted “entirely of the people in the slide show, my lovers and friends.” Goldin would often reorder her slides, and her restless images capture scenes in the middle of things; they are “fragments of life as it was being lived.” Most of her career has also been defined by activism within her community: first, in the late 1980s, around the AIDS crisis, and then, beginning in 2017, around the opioid crisis.

The intense realism of her photographs—and their accumulation in slideshows, books, and films—introduces a frank and riveting narrative. You get the sense, as the artist once said, that “the camera is as much a part of my everyday life as talking or eating or sex;” her photographs capture all three activities. Often garishly lit by a sudden flash, Goldin’s images offered a stark contrast to that of other emerging photographers in 1980s New York, who gained renown for posed and conceptual compositions. “I knew about those photographers who were doing media-related stuff, from Cindy Sherman, whose work I love, to Sherrie Levine and Laurie Simmons and all those other ones,” Goldin said, “but I was never part of any movement, and I never read theory. I think that was to my benefit.”

Image Analysis

Buzz and Nan at the Afterhours, New York City1980

This image stood out to me out of all of her work. This is because it is at a very natural, normal setting which I assume to be a nightclub or a bar. Nan Goldin’s nostalgic snapshots depict intimate moments of bohemian sex, transgression, beauty, spontaneity, and suffering. Her frames are marked by unflinching candor, rich hues, and a keen sense of empathy and lyricism. The main thing that stood out to me in this image was mannerisms and posing positions. This is because I personally got from this image that the male is more interested and could potentially be searching for intimacy that the female may not want. I gathered this theory through the male gaze and his body turned slightly towards her with his eyes faced to her neck possibly at her necklace or skin. To emphasize this, the female in the image is very faced frontally, facing her body away and instead towards the camera meanwhile not maintaining eye contact with the male. Her eyes are facing down at herself possibly to avoid intimacy. This interests me as it portrays gender roles and power dynamics within gender. This is because of the stereotype of males being dominant and confident, whereas a female having to avoid if not interested considering the sterotype of females being gentle, naive sexually inexperienced, soft and accepting. The female also has her arm up on the table potentially signalling an uncomfortable element or putting a barrier to prevent intimacy. Another way Nan Goldin portrays power dynamics within gender is through this image.

This image portrays the same theme as this is Nan Goldin trying to get awareness of domestic abuse between her and her boyfriend. However, there is a difference as this image shows violence within relationships specifically Nan Goldin within the bravery of sharing her own experiences. This image shows power dynamics and the stereotypes of men and women linking to the image above.

Originally from Texas, Dotson graduated from Austin community collage and worked as a art director and taught art and design at the Austin community collage and the Texas state technical collage as a curriculum advisor. As an avid traveller, Dotson has carried a camera across the world in places like India, above the artic circle in places like Greenland and of course, his home turf of the US. Currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee he is enjoying the live music, southern food and the beauty of the world around him.

As a contemporary photographer specialising in black and white images, Dotson drawn to and creates beautiful images of landscapes, cityscapes and abstractions of nature. his images have been displayed in may places across the US. Dotson has also authored books about photography: Unloved and Forgotten: Fine Art Photographs of Abandoned Places, published in 2019, and The Wheeling Portfolio, published 2022, and has also had his work featured in Ken Burns’ important 2022 book Our America: A Photographic History.

He believes the landscape has a spirit that’s shaped by its aesthetics, weather, geography, topography, history, and human activity. His photos allow for the beauty of things that wouldn’t normally be seen. for example, Dotson’s backside of a sunflower. This piece looks at a side of the sunflower that people wouldn’t normally look for.

Other work by Keith Dotson

Philip-Lorca diCorcia uses a lot of still, dull, no emotion photos that involve a lot of loneliness throughout his photos.

There is a specific photo he uses which is called ‘Bruno. 1993’. I think this photo resembles the ‘Ophelia’ photo which many artists have recreated before.

I think his photos are all staged with having a constant theme of odd-looking people stood or sat down by themselves, or showing loneliness in their house or their environment, but with his ‘Bruno. 1993’, photo I think it was his version of Ophelia.

With the grass, forest theme all around and with the person in the middle lying on their back with there arms either side, maybe it’s trying to show they died, or passed away peacefully, but diCorcia used a baby instead of a women to show his take on this recreation.

William Klein (1828-2023) was an American born French photographer, filmmaker and graphic designer, widely regarded as one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. He is known for his ground-breaking approach to both fashion and street photography, Klein revolutionised the visual language of photography with his unconventional style. Klein’s work would often break traditional rules, favouring spontaneity, high contrast, and bold composition. He is known for shooting with wide angle lenses, capturing dynamic and chaotic moments, often with blurred motion, grain, and stark contrast. His photos were raw, candid, and sometimes confrontational, focusing on the energy and diversity of urban life, particularly in New York, Paris and other major cities. One of his most iconic works would be “New York” (1956), a photo book that marked a major departure from traditional fashion and street photography. His images, often featuring stark juxtaposition and chaotic city scenes, helped redefine the concept of urban photography. Klein’s work also included fashion photography for vogue, when he introduced a more spontaneous and edgy style that contrasted with the highly polished approach typically associated with the magazine. 

Rejection of traditional fashion norms: Klein’s fashion photography was revolutionary because he rejected the idealised, glamorous aesthetic that dominated the industry at the time. He often shot in urban settings rather than controlled studio environments, preferring the grit and spontaneity of the streets. This made his images more alive and unique compared to polished, staged looks that were the norm. 

Dynamic, Candid shots: Instead of the carefully posed, idealised models typically seen in magazines, Klein’s photos captured models in motion, often blurred or interacting with their surroundings. This gave his images a sense of energy or urgency. He was also known for using wide- angle lenses to distort and exaggerate perspectives, which further intensified the impact on his upcoming photographs. 

Use of high contrasts and grain: Klein was known for his high contrasted black and white images that featured deep shadows and bright highlights. He also embraced grainy textures in his work, often resulting from shooting fast film in challenging lighting conditions. This gave his photos a gritty, almost rough aesthetic, in stark contrast to the soft-focus images commonly used in high- fashion magazines. 

Controversy and provocation: Klein’s approach to fashion photography often provoked controversy. For example, his photos sometimes depicted the models as “imperfect” with wrinkles, motion blur or awkward poses. He also frequently introduced elements of social critique, incorporating elements of the political and cultural landscapes into his work. Most of his images were positioned in working class environments. 

Klein’s initial interest in photography developed during his time in Paris in the early 1950s, It was there that he met the photographer and painter brassai, who had a significant influence on him. Brassai encouraged him to take up photography, Klein then began taking photos realising that paintings couldn’t capture moments and stories like a camera could. 

One of William Klein’s most famous work would be these photographs above referred to as Dorothy + Japanese lights or Dorothy juggling with light balls from his Paris + light series in 1962. Klein’s approach was revolutionary, blending high fashion with urban dynamism and experimentation. The image features a model, Dorothy, engaging with illuminated balls in theatrical, surreal composition, set against Klein’s distinctive use of emphasising energy and spontaneity. This work was created using the gelatine silver print process and reflects Klein’s signature avant-garde style that merged fine art with fashion and street photography. part of a limited-edition series, the print is valued not only for its aesthetic quantities but also as a cultural artefact that captures Klein’s innovative spirit and his influence on photography during the mid-20th century. 

This image has a nice, strong contrast due to the black and white tones, between the light and dark areas the figures and patterns emphasise the composition. This image uses a dynamic composition with leading lines created by the crosswalk stripes, guiding the viewer’s eye across the scene and towards the subject. There is also a depth of field being used, as both the foreground and background elements are in focus, contributing to the busy, layered atmosphere. The primary subjects (the women in the foreground) are positioned off-centre, aligning with the rule of thirds to create a visual interest. This image would also be described as the Candid style, as the photograph captures the model not posed, spontaneous moment, characteristic of the street photography, giving it an authentic and documentary look. The fashionably dressed women contrast with the more casually dressed crowd, creating an interplay between elegance and the mundane. The presence of people walking in different directions conveys motion and liveliness, typical of casual street scenes. The lighting in this image is quite precise as the natural light illuminates the subjects and enhances the patterns of the crosswalk, contributing to the image’s clarity and impact. This description describes how well William Klein has used technical and artistic techniques to create an engaging and visually striking image. 

His images are hugely different an unusual from the rest as some would say that they are not necessarily staged and that the model is just misplaced, it is a way of reflecting how one individual might feel, misplaced, they do not belong there because they are too different. All the other people in the image are unaware that they are in a photo which makes the image even more powerful, it could show that people are uncomfortable where they are, they don’t fit in in society and nobody around them is aware of that, they are clueless as they are focusing on their own lives, although many other people in this photograph may be feeling this, William has focused on the one wearing the “fashionable clothes”. Although that isn’t what William Klein is going for, it does show that not all images have intentional factors, Klein’s imagery was inspired by tabloid sensationalism, overturning established styles in street and fashion photography, Klein liked the idea of mixing the street background with the fashion photography, he didn’t like the basic studio that models would pose in so he tried to charge it and make it more personal. I really like how his images turned out as the mixture of the streets and fashion could be seen as opposites, the streets are normally dirty and full of people, but Klein made sure that the backgrounds in the images were all neutral, I also like that all his images are in black and white as that adds a modern look but also stops all the colourful items in the background taking the attention, the main focus would be the model that is in the middle of the street looking different from everyone else who looks “basic”.