Cindy Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, in 1954. Sherman majored in painting and graduated from the state university of New York buffalo and very quickly rose to fame with her work in art. During her major, she began to explore the ideas which became a hallmark of her work: She dressed herself as different characters, cobbled together from thrift-store clothing. She was frustrated with the limitations that painting offered her and quickly realised the advantages of photography and noticed that this was something she preferred and had a talent for.
“I was meticulously copying other art, and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead.”
Cindy Sherman’s photography is very clearly focussed on the topic of female stereotypes. She regularly alters her appearance beyond recognition through makeup, prosthetics, and costumes. To create her images, she assumes the multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, and stylist. She becomes the character in the story she is attempting to portray through her images.
Sherman said, “I never thought I was acting. When I became involved with close-ups I needed more information in the expression. I couldn’t depend on background or atmosphere. I wanted the story to come from the face. Somehow the acting just happened.”
Many people have perceived Sherman’s photography to be uncomfortable creepy, or even terrifying since we see the depicted woman in a vulnerable position. a few of her photos show herself with her back to the camera which can also be an example of vulnerability as it could be seen as someone watching her and she doesn’t know.
What impact did she cause to photography or society?
Cindy Sherman’s photography is important because of the way it depicted how women are viewed in society. The exploration of identity, gender, and representation have inspired countless artists and photographers to up level and push boundaries when nit came to their own artwork.
In this photo, I could be interpreted by the viewer that Sherman is impersonating a stereotypical house wife from the late 1950s or early 1960s. This can be clear by the objects she adds to the image to subtly create this thought. the use of the pan and soap bottle suggest to the viewer that she could be pictured in a kitchen. as well as this, she is also wearing an apron.
The construction of the picture hints at a number of possible narratives and is open to a range of analyses. One analysis a viewer could make is a negative event occurring. The black and white can cause an ominous feeling or sense of tension and the tone of the image makes it feels like a dark and scary moment for the woman. she can be seen to be looking over her shoulder and the viewer can interpret that to what they like but it was usually be a negative thing she may be looking at as her eyes look concentrated on something that could be making her scared. Sherman is also seen holding her stomach which could be a usual comfort for a woman so this could further suggest something to make her uncomfortable is going on and further shows how she depicts the theme of vulnerability in her photos.
My plan for my personal study is to look at people’s fashion in the streets and how everyone is dressed differently. I’m not sure if I’m going to make my images staged or I’m just going to go round town and try to identify people with unusual styles that catch my eye. My plan If my images will be staged: I would quite like to get a model or a selection of models to wear some of their favourite clothes but to make it more fancy and less formal so that they stand out from the crowd. If I have a selection of models with me I would rather do one model at a time in the shoot so that there isn’t too much going on, or I could have a few of the models in the background and see a few of them on the sides so that the main focus isn’t completely gone from the main model in the image. I could also get the models to wear bright colours and position themselves around town and photograph that. The way for me to get a good set of images is to try and get a few ideas of a photoshoot so that at least one will be successful. If my images were not staged: I would go round town and try and capture anyone who has a unusual style as they are walking towards me, I would try and have my camera at waist level to try and recreate Vivian Maier’s photography, the aim would be to get them to look at me and not the camera so that they are distracted his would be an image of what I see in the moment of what I’ve captured, having all of their focus on the camera and stopping what they were doing. I would see what type of style is most recognised and try and find an opposite theme of clothing to photograph, I would quite like for the background to be filled with people to be able to notice the difference of clothing between the model and normal people walking around.
For my first photoshoot I would quite like to try and get some un staged images to see if that works well, if that doesn’t work well and I can’t find anyone wearing different types of clothing I will use models to recreate the images. I would need to try and take photos of things like Vivian Maier’s and William Klein as I am inspired to try and recreate similar images that these artists had worked on. I’ve done my research on many photographers and identified how they have produced their images and what they did to make them as good as they can. I really like the street photography element, but it would be quite bland and it’s a broad topic, therefore I tried to find things I can incorporate in my images. I’ve looked at staged and candid photography and I feel like I might try and include both styles of photography in my work. For example, when looking at the artist William Klein, his photos were staged, and he dressed his models into really high classed modern clothing to make them stand out. William would use the streets as his studio and make his images more unique and inspiring to him. Whereas the artist Vivian Maier looks at people on the streets, she takes candid images and doesn’t let people know that she is photographing them, she holds her camera at waist level so that her camera is more discreet. Both those artists have very different styles of photography, but I feel like a mixture of both the styles could mix really well and it would help me to make a great set of images.
I think the way I’m going to do my photoshoots will be inspired by William Klein where I am focused on peoples styles, most likely make my image staged and get some of my friends to help out, I would do through town or a busy scenery and get the model to stand in the middle or walk around as if they are part of everyone else except they stand out a lot more. To include Vivian Maier’s work into my project, I’m going to make most of my images waist length and tell the model not to look in the direction of the camera, this is just an experiment to see what works best for me, if this photoshoot doesn’t go to plan I can always try again but improve my plan and focus more on one artists than the other and still incorporate both artists ideas but change it and make it more original to me. I think it would be quite difficult for me to recreate as I don’t live in a big city and live in a small island which makes it more difficult, I won’t be able to find big signs and have a busy surrounding, this could help me make it more original to me and towards and beach and go somewhere near a lake, something that is more personalised to Jersey.
Although Vivian Maier’s and William Klein’s work are very different from each other and have completely different styles of photography as one uses waist length to capture the perfect image whereas the other one doesn’t quite use birds eye view but uses a higher angle to capture every detail around the model, I do like how both artists use a black and white effect on their images, it helps to make them more modern and less tacky, all of the colours in the background aren’t taking the attention away from the model and what they are doing . Most of the images here have models looking in the direction of the camera which makes the image look more mysterious and also makes them realise that their surroundings are different from usual. I would also like to make my images into a vogue magazine and help make them look slightly different to the artists and make it more personal to me. I will have a look at Anna Wintour, the vogue editor and see how she edits her images and why it makes them stand out.
Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the American vogue is widely regarded as the most influential figure in fashion since 1988. She has greatly influenced fashion trends, elevated the status of fashion journalism, and shaped the careers of numerous designers. She eventually moved to New York City with her then-partner and continued to climb the editorial ladder at a number of publications. In 1988 she was offered the position at US Vogue, which she now holds “indefinitely” — as Condé Naste stated several years ago amidst a flurry of retirement rumours. The original US edition of Vogue was first published in 1892, with the British edition coming next in 1916. Currently, there are over 28 international editions of Vogue magazine. The expansion of the brand has shaped the global fashion scene. Wintour’s editorial decisions have played a role in how the magazines operate in their respective countries.
I would like to use the vogue symbol in my work as it will make it look more unique and special to me. I feel like making a magazine as my project can help me put meaning into my work. I would quite like to add the concept that people stand out some more than others and it’s identified differently. Each photo i remake could symbolise how each person stands out from the rest and why I am focusing on them and them only. Some of the models in my images will be dressed different on purpose to recreate the images inspired by William Klein and Vivian Maier, although the aim is to prove and show that everyone is unique and stand out differently whether my photos are staged or not, it makes the image look different from the rest and makes the viewer question why they are dressed differently and what is going through their minds to be able to attract attention.
Observe : A verb- notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.
Seek : A verb- attempt to find (something), attempt or desire to obtain or achieve (something).
Challenge : A noun- a call to someone to participate in a competitive situation or fight to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength, a call to prove or justify something.
M19 Bunker, Corbiere – The Bunker some of these men where in, and is where the soldier, Engelbert Hoppe was in command of at the age of 19.
Circa 1980s – Engelbert Hoppe, re-visiting the old bunker he was in command of from 1943 – 1945, Corbiere.
Project ideas –
Idea centred around war: more specifically Jersey and its occupation, with the lives of German soldiers within MG battalion 16, 2nd Company, E.g. Horst Herrmann and Engelbert Hoppe.
Documentative style photography: Candid, natural, In the moment.
Past, present future: Current conflict, based on culture, immigration, economics, ideologies, prejudices.
Threat of isolation, stationed far away from Germany, family, what was the physiological impact. With no contact mainland Europe after D-Day what would their concerns, or hopes be? Liberation or fighting to the death?
Inspiration –
Imageworx:
This social media page recreates iconic and some lesser iconic events from the second world war, with modern editing, these images are given a dramatized aesthetic which use a vivid colour pallet to retell these moving stories. With photos taken often in natural lighting it creates that immersive feeling as if they are coloured from originals. As their photograph Marcel Bahnen states, they “Visualise” the Second World War, this to me creates an accurate and genuine insight to these people from past, which I feel when I look at original photographs.
Another group, Paralightworx, a German historical film company, recreate these sorts of images also:
Using colour grading as well as practical and digital effects, these to me can effectively be used to tell a visually appealing story. Used in their short films, it is applied very well. Paralightworx also make create use of colour schemes based on location which I would like to try and replicate. Basing of the tone of the area, I will try to do the same within my photographs.
Another photographer who explores this sub-genre of historical visualisation is Michiel Peters. With numerous images covering the conflict he specialises in portraying these men and women who fought as accurate as possible, even down to locations they fought at. With his photography’s aesthetic style, I would like to recreate the gritty, low-saturated colour scheme he uses. Using his idea of photographing in the exact locations soldiers where, I will replicate that through doing the same within the bunkers of Corbiere. With many of the bunkers restored to look how they did during the Second World War, this was add to the depictive value I aim to replicate.
Story through photograph inspiration –
Germans of 2nd Company, MG Battalion 16 and their stories:
CIOS Review NO.35
Engelbert Hoppe –
Born on the 18th August 1924, In the town of Eschweiler, six miles from Aachen. Engelbert was raised by family as a roman catholic. At age 11, Engelbert experienced the Nazi regimes take-over, and would be forced into his future career: “I wasn’t a member of the Hitler Youth and I was ‘arrested’ along with some friends for wearing the blue shirt of the catholic boy scouts whilst camping in the Eifel woods. Even here the Gestapo had traced us. We were locked up in a barn for the day and our two leaders were taken to Aachen Gestapo Headquarters for Questioning which lasted for two days. This was all terrifying”. Being well-educated, Engelbert was studying at boarding school, awaiting his call to university, this however was not case as his conscription papers arrived and he was forced to report in Aachen. Assigned to Stamm-Komp./G.E.B. 464 (Regulars company/Grenadier replacement Batallion 464), there barracks where situated in his hometown, marching past his parents house, they had not known he had been drafted.
In May of 1944, He was moved to St Malo to then be shipped to Jersey, here a stroke of luck would occur. Running into the commander of St Malo himself, Oberst Von Aulock, he was ordered to report to a Bunker in St Malo, on presenting his ticket to Jersey he was able to convince him to allow him passage to his ship. This would prove to be lucky as in the later months of that same year St Malo was laid waste to a siege by allied forces.
Serving in Jersey, apart of MG Battalion 16, 2nd Company he was put in charge of the M19 bunker complex. Reaching the Headquarters of MG battalion 16 the Feldwebel at the desk asked him from, replying Eschweiler, near Aachen, the Feldwebel in shock replied he was too, and a frequent guest to Engelbert’s parents café. To Engelbert, although being far from home, he felt somewhat closer with this first impression of the island. When reaching Corbiere he gave his first impressions “walking on, all of a sudden I was fascinated by a wonderful seascape – Corbiere lighthouse. This wonderful sight made me stop for a while and take a deep breathe, smelling and tasting the sea air, I saw the Corbiere tea room and 2 bunkers on my right spoiling the view of the lighthouse”.
living in the bunker with 6 other men he would come spend a lot of time with them, all aged around 40, they all could’ve been his father. Life on the island was static, to pass the time, Engelbert and his comrades played games, fished, sung. One of his Comrades, Gustav, singing, when asking the lyrics he told Engelbert not to bother as this was a political song in support of a left-wing political view, and ideology that he had been punished for in the past and went against the sentiments of the Nazis. When exploring the area, Engelbert became friends with some of the locals, Mr and Mrs Le Brocq, when dining in their tea room, Mrs Le Brocq said to him that she did not see him as an occupier but a new neighbour, like with the men of the bunker, he saw them as his grandparents, feeling again somewhat closer to home.
By June 6th, 1944, the allied invasion had began. with the recapturing of Europe, Jersey was cut off, food imports stopped, hunger began. With allied planes over the island, the men where put on alert 24/7. With the food ration dwindling in the colder months, the local population began to starve. Within the cold concrete bunker, small stoves kept them warm. Food was gathered by ‘the poacher’ Karl heinen, hunting rabbits with his rifle, fishing was done by a West-Prussian, named Joszef Proehma who was skilled at the craft.
Being written a letter from home. Engelbert discovered his home town had been bombed, luckily his parents and sister had survived, His brother who also was in the war had lost his Bf109 over paris and was reassigned to a parachutist unit. With Germany bombed and Jersey not he was saddened at the unfortunate circumstances. With the arrival of the SS Vega in late December, the Le Brocqs had been given red cross parcels from Canada and New Zealand. Visiting them, Engelbert was given a small bundle of items such as chocolate, biscuits and butter. Brought to tears he had no way to thank them, spending time with them they used their secret wireless to listen to the BBC, the news gave him home that the war would end in a few months. Surviving the rest of the war Engelbert became one of many POWs (prisoners of wars) or as Engelbert named it POPs (Prisoners of peace), and was taken to England to then be sent back home.
Engelbert’s Poem:
An Die Nacht –
“Ewige Ruh liegt um mich her,
veträumt hör ich die wasser rauschen.
Ich sitz am weiten weltenmeer
und will den wellen lauschen.
Klar ist die Nacht der funkelnden Sterne,
Der goldne Mond spielt mit der Flut;
Komm, greif mich einsame Ferne,
Der Menschen Welt rings um mich ruht.
Leise erzählen die Wasser von Heimat,
Führen mich zu der Eltern Haus,
Bilder der Kindheit ziehn ans Gestad,
Steigen aus dunkeln tiefen heraus…
Stille Nacht, nun bist du gegangen,
Hab Dank für deine himmlische Macht.
All mein Gedanken hielst du umfangen
Und hast mach Jersey die Heimat Gebracht.”
– Im Juni/Juli 1944.
Translated to English –
To The Night –
“Eternal silence all around me,
Like in a dream I hear the waters rush.
Sitting by the ocean.
I listen to the waves.
Clear is this night of sparking stars,
The Golden moon is playing with the rising tide;
Come get me, distant loneliness,
The world of men around me is at rest.
The water murmurs of my homeland,
Leads me to my parents’ house,
Images of childhood come to shore,
Rising from the darkest depths…
Silent night, now you have gone,
I thank you for your divine power.
You engulfed my thoughts
And brought a piece of home to Jersey.”
In June/ July 1944.
CIOS Review NO.49
Horst Hermann –
Born, 8th March, 1925 In Berlin, Horst lived through a post-war capital, infested with hyper-inflation and political instability. Serving some time working for the state labour service, he built railways. At the age of 19 he was drafted in 1943. Being issued his uniform and an old helmet from the first world war, Horst saw this as a good Insurance policy however as due to its thicker steel it offered more protection. With 9 other Berliners, Horst spent some time fighting on the Eastern front. Due to his young age, he was not fit for fighting in such an active role so what ordered by a higher up that he would be sent to “some god-forsaken island off the French coast”. Travelling across Europe in Goods’ wagons he arrived at St Malo and was shipped off to Jersey in September of 1943. Alongside his fellow Berliners, they where all posted to 2nd Company of MG Battalion 16.
Stationed within various positions he mainly resided in the K2,Jagerstand. A Bunker within strongpoint Corbiere that housed a First World War, French canon. Living amongst ‘Country Bumpkins’ as he called them, him and his friends from Berlin found it difficult to converse due to their accents, these men were seasoned members of MG Battalion 16 as they where from the place in Germany where it was established. Whilst in the K2, Horst almost face court martial twice: With the first instance, Horst was given the chance to fire the gun, how it functioned was through the pulling of a lanyard, when instructed to fire, Horsts nerves got the better of him and it slipped through his fingers. The bunker commander, Feldwebel Werner Hentrich, assumed it was a misfire, to assure the safety of the men he ordered them to evacuate the room, after confessing his mistake he was not well liked and was threatened with a potential court martial. His second run-in with potentially getting a court martial, was due to accidently setting of a line of trip-flares. Putting everyone on alert, more specifically, the naval personal in the MP2 tower nearby who lodged a complaint about the “fireworks display”. On another occasion he kept quiet, whilst aiming the gun, he flinched prematurely at the firing of the gun, instead of hitting a designated rock close to La Rocco Tower it ricocheted and hit one of the southern machicolations of the tower, as smoke rose above it, he kept this a secret until revisiting the island in the island. If the shell had been a high explosive, the damage caused to the tower would be too severe, which they where ordered not destroy due to its historical significance.
Serving as Static Infantry, Horst was also trained as a machine gunner on the MG34. Training in the dunes, his lanky figure helped reduce the weight of the 12kg machine gun. The downside however, came with cleaning it after. Due to its complex German engineering removing sand from the working parts consumed a lot of Horsts free time. 2 pets lived in the bunker, a cat and dog which they adopted as mascots, as the war progressed however food supplies dwindled and the cat was unfortunately eaten, on recalling this story Horst would always have a tear in his eye.
After the war, Horst revisited the Island many times, in the years 1980, 1985, 1991 and 2005, until in March of 2007 the news was sadly given that he had passed away, aged 82.
“The human desire to seek and explore the unknown has driven artists to look for fresh inspiration throughout the centuries” – The idea that people are looking out for something more than what they know has driven them to become very curious, they search for deeper meanings and never stick to the original meanings. This helps photographers to capture the best image possible. The aim for this personal study is to have a deeper understanding of my chosen topic, be able to compare its positives and negatives and produce my own set of images. Looking through my previous work that I have produced I have come to conclusion that a form of street photography has caught me in interest, the ideas of doing urban photography or fashion photography has made me wonder which one is best suited for me. Fashion street photography could be slightly harder than urban photography as you need to get the right people to wear the right clothing and capture the best image possible, whereas urban photography is more like taking pictures of the streets. The term street photography refers to Street photography being a type of photography that is conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places, usually with the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by careful framing and timing. Although fashion photography may be harder to accomplish it would be a good idea to try to organize the right way to complete it in easier ways, for example making the photos staged could be an idea as it’s not always obvious that certain photos are staged. Having a model by your side is a good advantage as you are in control of what actions they may do in each photograph, and you could change the way they are dressed to make the image seem less staged or precisely just a perfect moment captured.
Other previous work like ‘windows and mirrors’ could help influence my decision on this personal project to get a better understanding on where my strengths and weaknesses are, as I do prefer to look at windows more than mirrors as the windows theory of identifying a photo is context based. I would rather not make the images too personal to myself but more personal to other people around me in general. The photos that will be produced will show a sense of reality or even fiction but not a personal story of myself. The windows and mirrors concept will guide me to understand what photos need to be taken. I like the idea of taking anonymous photos where people aren’t aware that there photo is taken meaning they aren’t posed, although when creating my own photos I do think making my images staged could help me get an overall understanding on what type of photography I like whether it is staged or taken at a ‘decisive moment’, a good artist I could look at would be Henri Cartier Bresson, he came up with the decisive moment being a method in photography where the thrill of waiting for the next person to walk by will make the perfect image.
William Klein:
“William Klein was an American-born French photographer and filmmaker noted for his ironic approach to both media and his extensive use of unusual photographic techniques in the context of photojournalism and fashion photography”. William Klein has quite a good range of images that I could look at and work on, his work is quite inspiring although a lot of them look staged as the model is over dressed in some of the images, certain models are posing and doing different things that seem quite unusual, things you wouldn’t see on a daily basis. I do like the mixture of the photos being black and white as it makes them different but doesn’t necessarily make each photo more important than other photos. I do like how each photo is focused on one person in specific almost as if it’s trying to tell a story about the model, but the viewers must work it out.
Martin Elkort:
“Martin Edward Elkort was an American photographer, illustrator and writer known primarily for his street photography. Prints of his work are held and displayed by several prominent art museums in the United States. His photographs have regularly appeared in galleries and major publications”. All these photos are in black and white which makes the images quite modern and sophisticated, these images captured are taken out of the blue, the people didn’t stop to pose for the camera, they kept normal as they were aware and sometimes it how’s everyone how the world I today and how it has changed throughout the generations and the way people dress has changed massive due to different ages which is good to capture and acknowledge. One thing that would be more difficult for me is that these images seem to be old fashioned and a lot of things have changed since this photographer has taken these images, which helps to make the images more personal to me and also make me experiment how things have changed throughout the years and what has changed, e.g. clothes, props (prams), transport and even buildings have changed.
Overall, this is a topic I have a great interest in and feel as though it would be quite entertaining and challenging to do but will help me understand why each photo looks and feels different due to it being staged or just a good, timed image also referred as a ‘decisive moment’. The idea that the images I want to recreate are mainly based on the streets whether they are urban photography or fashion photography which could be more difficult if the image aren’t quite staged. I do like the idea of taking images of a big city and a crowded place but I would have to do the opposite due to living on a small island, though that will make images feel more personal to me as this island is my home and a place I feel safe in and I have experienced most of my childhood in.
My plan is to go out and try to capture images of people who have quite an unusual and unique style that is different to the rest. Or I could get a few of my friends to dress up in their own styles to show how different people are and the effects of the world, how other people influence us to dress the same, why we feel to dress a certain way and why aren’t comfortable to wear certain clothes. Another thing that I could try and do would be trying to get my models to dress like a certain individual, a specific character from a tv show or possible a significant influencer to recreate their image and try and get a perspective of their life through what the images they put online. I would also like to get landscape photos of town/ somewhere busy to get the model to stand in, so that the background of the image is quite noisy. The slight problem I could have with that would be that the image might have too many details and make the photo look tacky and not as elegant as I would aim for. The best texture I’m looking for in the image would be a smooth texture but not too much to the point that it looks too boring and there is no details, I do like the idea of having a rough texture somewhere in the image, possibly the main event happing in the image as it will draw the eyes towards the main focus point.
Photography is a way of seeking out what normally goes unnoticed, that can be seen as seeking for a photograph. Another way to look at photography is as a challenge, as usually they create the most interesting photos. Observing things, e.g. the ‘male gaze’ is another important feature to create be a good photographer.
Observe – “To notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.”
Seek – “Seek is the attempt or desire to obtain or achieve something.”
Challenge – “A challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination.”
I will be using these 3 definitions to form my ideas. Here is a little mind map to collect my ideas on what these definitions could me for photography.
I then created a mood board to gather my ideas together, allowing me to pick the best general ideas:
I like the idea of landscape photography, showing the beauty of nature. I also think I could do something with basketball as its been my biggest passion for many years, allowing me to get more creative with it.
Another Idea I have had is to show manhood and the hidden difficulties of it. I might, later on, find a way to relate this to basketball, giving it a more personal response. Here is a article about masculinity that I enjoyed reading and will likely use to help me with this project here. I might also be able to bring some old photos of my dad to show how manhood has changed.
Throughout my time looking at photography and trying to recreate images I have learnt many things. I have don’t photography for quite a while now and realise how creative you have to be to come up wit your own set of images. While learning all about certain rules like, depth of field, rule of thirds, composition, leading lines and many more, it has helped me to understand how to capture a proper image and I can do next time to make the image better. when studying photography I started to think that images had to be planned to be captured at the right time and be a good image, but when studying Henri Cartier Bresson I learnt that he came up with the decisive moment and that your images don’t have to be perfect to everyone else but yourself. Your the creator of the images therefore you decide what you want to take and where it should be taken. I also learnt that there were different view points to look at, for example. birds eye view, women’s eye view, high view and the Dutch angle that are all very different and help to make each image different and unique from the rest.
What is photography? The actual definition of photography is known as drawing with light, but if I were to define photography I would day its a way of capturing precious moments and keeping memories. it is the communication and the recording of ephemeral moments in time, meaning it captures images in that moment and once that moment is gone there is no going back.
REFLECT
Sublime:
Overall, looking through all my blog posts, I discovered that I had forgotten that I had done. These blog posts could help me find an inspiration to see what my independent project will be. Through my first year of photography, I learnt some key skills that will help me when taking photos, I was able to take pictures and add different colours and shades to the lens of the camera to make the image look colourful. The photoshoot I did was to investigate the idea of an image being good or evil. The images that are darker based tend to be evil due to the lack of lighting, the fact that most of the models facial features aren’t visible makes the image look mysterious and dangerous and the ‘good’ images would have lighter lighting on the models face to see their facial feature to make the image look less unexpected and more comforting . One topic I am quite interested in would be romanticism and the sublime effect, the picture being a disaster but still showing some kind of beauty. The idea of sublime is ‘a self-forgetfulness where personal fear is replaced by a sense of well-being and security when confronted with an object exhibiting superior might’. I feel that a photoshoot to do with sublime could be quite successful and interesting to investigate. Especially if I already have loads of notes based on it to help direct me to the right places to take the images. Another effective experiment that we looked at was technical headshots that helped me understand the different lighting techniques, for example soft and hard lighting. Soft lighting is known to be a portrait lit with soft light and is generally lit with a large light source whereas hard lighting has the characteristics of showing edgy features like a sharp jawline or muscular definition. I feel like I was able to recreate that quite well as my final outcomes look quite successful. I’ve noticed that using a dark background will make the light on the models face look brighter and define the models features with a sharper tone, whilst using a lighter/ baby pink background the lighting doesn’t necessarily make the models face brighten up, it adds the perfect amount of light to snatch the models features without making them look sharp. We also experimented with butterfly lighting, basic lighting and Rembrandt Lighting which could be useful to use in future photoshoots. These techniques will help especially if I do a photoshoot of people’s portraits as I can perfect my skills. One thing that i have noticed throughout my work was that i have used many of Henri Cartier Bresson’s images in my work, which gives me the idea that I would like to explore his work in more depth.
Cindy Sherman- Femininity
I quite enjoyed exploring femininity inspired by Cindy Sherman, her images are meant to portray ‘women’s lives’ and how women are treated or seen to be treated, her main idea was that women were objectified and she wanted to recreate images to show how women would be objectified, the idea that women were in charge of cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children, she would create images of her cleaning her house, she also had images of her in the mirror trying to put make up on as its considered to make women more “beautiful”. I really enjoyed this topic as I was able to get a good set of images and explore what it is like to be a women, another reason I quite like this topic was because I was able to link it with good vs evil and boy vs girl photoshoots, this lead to me expanding my research from femininity to masculinity as well and explore the differences between them. While exploring femininity and masculinity I found out how different the two genders are, the idea that men are seen as strong and dominant, they hold all the power and sometimes it shows in photos, the way they stand to show their strength. Women tend to try and look good in images and pose for the camera which shows that they are more ambitious, asserting and caring. However, when photographs of women are taken, they tend to be objectified, they tend have the male gaze on them and most of the time women feel as though they need to objectify themselves to get men’s attention.
Environmental portraits:
This photoshoot was quite limiting as I captured all these images in school, going round all the different departments, the first 3 photos were captured in the science department, where we asked the staff to show us around and capture some images of them at work, this helped me understand how everyone’s jobs are different. I also went to the canteen to get pictures of some of the staff there, in the canteen the mixture of students and staff made me realise that we all have different lives and different things going on. These images were put in black and white, which tends to help with distracting the eye from any unusual colours but more from what is in the surroundings of the image. This wouldn’t be my favourite photoshoot I’ve done as it’s quite boring to take pictures of people without any context but with some of the images you can tell a story and try and put meanings together and understand what is going on in the image. Another reason I wasn’t big fan of this photoshoot was because I didn’t manage to get man y good quality photos and struggled a little bit finding areas to take pictures.
Photoshoot in the studio:
This photoshoot was to help me edit on photoshop and get an idea on how to edit each photo and what worked best for each image. I was given a few props to work with and placed them down on the table, I captured a few different shots and n photoshop I was able to control the tones of the images, I changed the tones to warm and cold, which gave a different effect to each photo, I prefer the warmer tones in the image as I feel as it fits best. This photoshoot was only an experiment, but I feel as though it helped me understand the composition of the image. This photoshoot was just a small one and was quite useful and fun to do and helped me decide that landscape photography is more for me.
St Malo:
This would be my favourite photoshoot as I prefer taking pictures of buildings and street photography, I feel as though street photography is a theme that is so broad that it’s good to focus on every little detail at a time to understand how this image was put together. Street photography can also be based on the “decisive moment” by Henri Cartier Bresson, the whole idea that there is a perfect moment to capture an image. I really enjoyed taking images in St Malo as it’s so different from jersey and a lot bigger. The people seem to be out a lot longer in France which sets out a different mood to the picture, the way the French dress very different too, so it helps me get a different perspective to street photography, one thing I would have liked to have done better is focus on a certain amount of people and sort of follow their journey round the town. Street photography is quite different to the previous photoshoots I’ve done as most of the photoshoots done were in the studio. That’s what makes these images different, also the people in the photos don’t have a personal relationship with me, they are just strangers on the streets, this makes the images look more mysterious as we don’t know what each person may be feeling, whether it’s shown on their face or not.
Write a Statement of Intent of 250-500 words that clearly contextualise; What you want to explore? Why it matters to you? How you wish to develop your project? Which form you wish to present your study (photobook, film, prints etc) When and where you intend to begin your study?
What I want to explore:
My intent with this project is to explore the female identity and how social media has had an impact on girls growing up. I am going to present all different aspects of female identities throughout my work. I would like to focus on how social media has impacted girls’ lives through showing the development in my photoshoots, for example, photos of girls “before” social media, how it has had an impact on girls and the present.
Why it matters to me:
This topic matters to me as I believe that social media has had the biggest impact on females and society as a whole. I feel deeply around the changes of femininity throughout the years and the evolution of the media within the changes of beauty standards nowadays.
How I wish to develop my project:
I would like to develop my project by analysing the artists Justine Kurland and Francesca Miller-Hard as they explore contrasting ideas around feminism. In my opinion, I feel like Kurland explores
Which form I wish to present my study (photobook, film, prints etc):
I wish to present my study in a photobook, as I feel that will present a clear understanding of the development of females through the impact of social media, which I would like to produce.
When and where I intend to begin your study:
I intend to begin my study through a photoshoot with the inspiration of Justine Kurland, as I would like to present ideas around femininity before social media. For this photoshoot, I will be using a forest as the setting, with a few girls as my subjects. As I continue working on my photoshoots, I will develop ideas around how social media has impacted girls in this society, and present this through photos.
Kurland was born in Warsaw, New York. At 15, Kurland ran away to Manhattan and concentrated on becoming an artist. Her photos are representations of both childhood adventures and current experiences., She now spends much of her time on the road, scouting locations for photographs and recruiting models. most of her work can be considered a ‘mirror’ as they tend to reflect personal experiences and also societal constructs such as identity. the images she takes of friends and strangers could be an exploration of her own identity through others and how she wants to portray herself.
She is heavily influenced by her Yale instructors Gregory Crewdson and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and is known for her elaborate staging of photographs. Kurland has used staged tableaux to explore the social landscape of girlhood, life on communes, and life in the wilderness.
Kurland’s main project was called ‘Girl Pictures’. Kurland started this project in 1997 when she was a graduate student at Yale. She first photographed a fifteen year old girl called Alyssum who was the daughter of Kurland’s partner at the time. The two bonded overtime and put their imaginations together to plot a narrative teenage runaway story. Girl Pictures includes candid portraits of younger women in rural areas and outdoor environments to show the opposite of the past societal views on how women should act. So many of the images in Girl Pictures were taken outside in locations that feel desolate or easy to overlook. They are often staged under bridges or beyond fences or on the sides of highways; places that feel synonymous with warnings.
The lighting in this image is natural and seems to be at either sunrise or sunset. The lighting sets a feeling of calmness to the viewer as it looks tranquil and relaxing. The warming tone also contributes to the idea of tranquillity. In this image, Kurland is photographing Alyssum. This image shows Alyssum in the centre of the image holding onto a tree.
The way she is holding onto he tree creates a sense of fear as she seems to be clinging onto it and not wanting to let go. Her being in the centre of the image I think works really well to create a deeper meaning of the image. the water next to her seems to be travelling one way on the left of the image whereas the direction of the headlights of the cars suggest the road travel the opposite way. as well as that, there’s a pathway on the grass which is also creating a direction. Alyssum’s body faces the road whereas she’s looking over her shoulder at the water which creates the idea that she doesn’t know what direction to go in or what path to take and seems to be lost.
