A movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasising inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. It began and started to spread quickly throughout Europe and America.

Romanticism came about in the late 18th century. During this time political and economic atmosphere was influenced as many found inspiration from the French revolution. At this period in time there was a lot of social change in society, as it was also the beginning of the industrial revolution. The French revolution also had an impact on romanticism creating new ideas such as freedom and social change as it inspired themes of liberty, equality and individuality.

Many found that romanticism was a form of escapism, as people would use this to escape from their modern realities, into nature, where they could express there emotions and feelings through there expressive mark making and dramatic movements. Movements that came out of the French revolution was romanticism and enlightenment (age of reason).

Romantic landscapes featured dramatic lighting

Characteristics:

• Freedom of form
• Individualism
• Deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature
• Identity
• Celebration of individualism

The sublime describes; of very great excellence or beauty. For example looking out into a stormy sea, with the dark heavy clouds above making you feel a sense of awe, creating this dramatic but inspiring scene, but also creating a unique relationship between human and nature. A good example of the sublime is storms, and seeing all the destruction and damage caused as this creates quite a statement, and dramatic scene. The aftermath of the storm is an interesting concept, as there is quite dramatic scenes created

What did Edmund Burk think was the ruling principal of the sublime?

Edmund Burk best describes the sublime as being the cause of the strongest emotions which the individual is capable of feeling. It is this dramatic illusion, creating different emotions that you feel.

Edmund found that the terror was the overall ruling principal as he found ideas of pain much more satisfied and interesting, than the ideas of pleasure. For example this idea of you standing, with clouds, mountains, or the sea overlooking you creates much more of an intimidating and emotional piece as it creates a very dramatic and daring look.

Landscape photography or art is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees or forests. This can either mean it’s been man made or naturally made. The word Landscape appeared in the late 16th century where it was first introduced by Dutch painters who used it to refer to paintings of inland natural or rural scenery.

16th century

European art of the 16th century was marked by the spread of renaissance. Renaissance is a period in history and cultural movement marking the transitions from the middle ages to modernity. This took place between the 14th and 17th century, promoting the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

17th century

During the 17th century the birth of classical landscapes was born, these scenes were set in the mythic and idyllic Arcadia of Ancient Greece.

Baroque style was was very popular art in Europe during the 17th century. It first originated in Italy then spread throughout Europe adapting and changing in style as it spread through different countries and regions. Many would say the baroque style is dramatic, has energetic movement and has an expressive use of light and shadow.

18th century

Landscape painting eventually became more famous during the late 18th century along with the rise of romanticism. This quickly became a very expressive style of painting, as painters would communicate their feelings and thoughts through their brush strokes and in there style of painting. We can also see this through their emotions and how they connected to nature. they often had a religious significance.

Photoshoot 1

For this photoshoot I explored the theme of femininity, experimenting with different feminine poses and expressions. I took pictures of my sister while she was getting ready to go out, as this overall created some really interesting and unique sets of images. I wanted to get images of the subject looking into the mirror as I thought this was a really interesting concept to experiment with as I could capture from different angles, as she was applying her lipstick or styling her hair. It creates this unique feminine look which is what I wanted to achieve. I didn’t use a main source of lighting, as I preferred the room to be slightly lit up, which overall helped to achieve the dark effect with the subject lit up.

I wanted to make the portraits engaging and interesting, so posing in particular feminine ways and holding lipstick or perfume, makes the portrait a lot more interesting.

Contact Sheet:

Final Images:

These photos are my final outcomes as they

Photoshoot 1

For this photoshoot I am going to experiment the theme of femininity through generations over a period of time. To do this I am going to use my mum as my main inspiration, and take inspiration from photos of her when she was similar to my age now. I would like to do a series of photoshoots by looking at different photos of my mum, for example looking closely at what she was wearing, doing and also the environment she was in when the photo was taken. From this I think it will be an interesting concept to see as the viewer, because we will be able to see the change in generations, showing and explaining a story just by looking at the photo, which is what Cindy Sherman did in her own way by looking at performance artists. – This is something I want to experiment with in my own portraits, so you can see the story in the photo, but also creates this performance over the generations.

Photos of my mum that I am going to recreate:

Photoshoot 2

Cindy Sherman recreated stereotypical feminine activities of what she saw from her generation. So for my second photoshoot, I am going to experiment with different feminine activities. As Cindy Sherman experiments with different personalities and identities, it would be interesting to experiment with that idea too. One idea is having the subject pose whilst applying makeup or while getting ready, so for this photoshoot I am going to take pictures I think this would be interesting creating unique and different images.

Inspiration from Cindy Sherman’s photos:

Claude Cahun was an artist, photographer, and writer, but she was best known for her self portraits, where she dressed up as different characters. She was a surrealist photographer, and explored the themes of gender identity and subconscious mind as most of her art work and photography focuses on gender and identity, while also including aspects of theatre, as she dresses up as characters in front of the camera.

Her name was Lucy Schwob, born in 1984, Nantes France to wealthy Jewish Parents. She has a close connection to Jersey as she would regularly visit there during her holidays. Cahun then moved to Jersey in 1937, and found her passion for art as she began to experiment with radical styles and ideas. For example she refused to conform to gender normality, so she adopted a masculine appearance and used gender neutral pronouns to assert her own identity. This was also explored throughout her artwork and photography.

Her work she produced first, started to show an interest in surrealism, as she quickly became a part of an artistic community in Jersey. She started to produce a series of photomontages and photographs that challenges traditional ideas of gender, sexuality and identity.

Others would describe Claude Cahuns work as daring and provocative as it was greatly attracted by the Surrealist movement in Paris. This was thought as she explored a variety of guises, exploring a variety of different personas and identity. This provoked the viewers in ways which it challenges their assumptions on gender and identity, as it is not clear whether she is dressed man or woman.

Cahun’s most iconic work was produced in 1920s-1930s where she created a series of self portraits using herself. She presented herself in a variety of poses, exploring themes of gender fluidity and identity. She dresses as both male and female, bus also a genderless figure – this was done to challenge the viewers assumptions about gender identity.

“Under this mask, another Mask.”

I think what makes this photo interesting and engaging for the viewer is how Claude Cahun is posing into the mirror but looking away. It makes us as the viewer intrigued, as it draws you in creating the main focus points. We first see her in the portrait but then our attention is shifted to the portrait created in the mirror which gives this other very interesting and engaging focus point – this makes us look closer into the portrait. I think the choice of clothes and style Claude Cahun uses in this photo and in general gives the viewer this interesting perception of the photo making us think differently about her identity.

This self portrait from 1928 of Claude Cahun explains her attitude and style, as she stares directly into the camera, and dresses up as a neither masculine or feminine characters. I think Claude Cahun creates a really interesting concept about the portrait, because she engages the viewer in ways that challenges our own judgement of the gender identity.

It is interesting because when we see a portrait of something we can’t identify straight away, it makes us look closer. The way she dresses and poses, and also how we see the character, such as how we see her reflection in the mirror, makes the portrait very engaging, as we create our own judgement on the portrait.

I think this portrait of Claude Cahun is very interesting. Cluade Cahun experiments with identity expressing this with what she wears for example, the chequered jacket creates an interesting focal point. We get this impression that it is neither masculine or feminine as not only what she is dressed in gives us different assumptions but normally we would depict light and softer tones such as white or light grey to be more feminine, and the darker tones to be more masculine. This portrait makes the viewer question the identity of the subject, as Cahun doesn’t make it obvious whether it’s male or female, this is a way of her making engaged with the portrait as she wants you to work it out yourself. The quote ‘under this mask, another mask,’ is what Cahun uses to describe her photography. Claude Cahun communicates this as she creates two portraits of her. The first shows the mask, and the portrait in the mirror shows what’s beneath the mask.

“I wish I could treat everyday as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”

Cindy Sherman

Over four decades Cindy Sherman experimented with identity as she explained in the quote above. She explores the theme of ‘femininity’ in an interesting and engaging way, as she alters her appearance experimenting with costumes, makeup, and prosthetics. She then started to produce untitled film stills, where she photographed herself in various settings, selecting props and creating scenes that resemble those in the mid-20th-century B movies, which are movies showing the unknown future.

Her portraits show very stereotypical feminine activities, where she dresses up as people from different ages. Her work is about surrealism as we can see from her self-portraits.

Cindy Sherman was influenced by performance artists, which is a kind of artwork or exhibition that is shown through actions which then lead to her fascination of disguising herself, dressing up as characters which are then photographed by herself.

Cindy Sherman started taking photos in her apartment, using her own interiors as inspiration. Then she began to take her photos in more rural, and urban environments, so she moved her camera and props outside, while also having a second person to assist her, while she takes the photos.

Untitled Film Stills 1977-1980

During 1977, Cindy Sherman moved to New York City where she created a series of imaginary film stills inspired by an actress’s career. This started off as an experiment, created this narrative

https://www.hauserwirth.com/hauser-wirth-exhibitions/44432-cindy-sherman-1977-1982-los-angeles/

This photo really interests me as I like how the photo is captured in the moment as it sets this interesting and engaging mood. Cindy Sherman experiments and communicates her work using very stereotypical poses from the 1950s/ 1960s which is what I think makes the portrait very interesting and unique. In her work she dresses up as different characters, as we can see from this portrait. I think Cindy Sherman does this as she wants to connect you to the portrait. There is a darker lighting used in this portrait, creating an overall cooler tone, while enhancing the shadows and the subject itself. This creates depth to the photo, dramatising the shadows and tones that is created by using a darker light. Cindy Sherman’s work depicts how women were and still are viewed in society.

Both Masculinity and femininity are how you identify and how people recognise you to be. This is shown in your attitude, behaviours, and characteristics, but also in your gender identity. The terms ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ are binary opposite, this means the related terms have opposite in meaning. Some examples of this which I think are interesting concepts are: young vs old, man vs woman, ignorance vs wisdom, and action vs inaction.

Femininity

Femininity is typically associated with girls and women. We perceive them to dress in feminine ways and have typical characteristics, behaviours, and attitudes generally associated with girls and women, such as being nurturing and polite.

Femininity now & then

Femininity today is called modern feminism, and we would associate it with these qualities: independent, strong, confident. Traditional feminism is more focused on women fighting for their rights against men. We would associate them to be a stay at home wife or mother where they would do the cooking, laundry, and looking after children.

Masculinity

Masculinity is attitudes and behaviours that signify maleness, but can also be what we recognise masculine is. Toxic Masculinity is where men have cultural pressures where they think they have to behave in certain ways and show behaviours and traits that are controlling and entitled.

Identity

Identity can be associated by with gender, culture, social, geographical, political, stereotypes and prejudices.

Culture identity is what we recognise to be shared characteristics between a group of people whether that is religion, language, cuisine or social behaviours.

Identity Politics

Gender, age, ethnicity, culture, social groups, are all examples of identity.