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.
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
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.
1920
Identity Politics
Gender, age, ethnicity, culture, social groups, are all examples of identity.
Henry Mullins moved to Jersey in 1848, where he set up his studio in the Royal Square known as the Royal Saloon. His photography was represented in Societe Jersiase Photo-Archive, producing over 9000 portraits of islanders from 1852 to 1873.
His work was placed in various albums during the 19th century, showing individual faces and bodies of the first generation of islanders, in which he would place his clients in order of social hierachery. He would photograph Jersey Political elite, mercantile families, military officers and professional classes.
He used carte de visite to print his portraits, which was a small print called albumen print that was then sealed by egg whites, bind together with the photographic chemicals on the paper. These prints were affordable and common to many islanders, which were traded among friends and visitors, while albums and cards were also featured in Victorian parlours, during the 1860s. The portraits became very popular, which lead to the publication of portraits featuring famous people.
The four headshots Mullins captured are put together and presented in a Dimond Cameo which is a process where four separate portraits of the same subject are printed on a carte de visite.
Chiaroscuro is a high contrast lighting technique, creating contrast between the subject and a dark background. Chiaroscuro portraits first came about during the 15th century, then continued to develop during the 16th century. The dark subjects were lighted by a small source of light, that illuminated parts of the subject, which overall achieved the contrast between light and dark. To create this effect a single light is used to create the brighter effect on the subject, but also stands out from the contrasting dark background.
Chiaroscuro is traditionally used in the film industry, typically to describe Hollywood crime dramas. It was used because it created this interesting and dramatic effect in the photo, which would help engage the viewer creating this meaningful story behind the photo.
Rembrandt lighting, named after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, is a type of lighting used in photography that lights up the face creating an upside-down light triangle under the eyes of the subject. The light triangle will draw the viewers attention in, this is because of the contrast between the light and dark.
Rembrandt lighting is effective because it creates interesting and attractive depth in the photo. The leading lines created by the upside-down triangle under the eye, helps emphasise and create a dramatic effect in the portrait, making your attention draw closely in on the subject.
To create this effect you can use either flash or continuous light, that is placed slightly above the subject. This illuminates the subjects face, creating a triangle underneath the eyes, and shadow.
My Photos:
The last two photos are my best because they both show a really clear triangle under the eye, that is emphasised on darker side of the face, by the light shining from the opposite side.
Butterfly lighting is a technique where the light source is placed directly above at an angle and slightly in front of the subjects face, this then creates a butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. Also called paramount lighting, it is often used to photograph some of the famous Hollywood stars as well as in fashion photography, making it commonly well known for defining the subjects cheek bones making the subject look thinner and eyes look bigger.
Butterfly lighting can be achieved by either using flash lights or continuous light, if continuous is can be natural or artificial, meaning using LEDs or strobe lights. To create the butterfly effect you use can use reflectors which reflect the light back, which creates the butterfly shadow.
For this photoshoot I am going to visit the florists in the market, I want capture them with a bouquet or organising one because I think this will overall give a really engaging photo because the viewer can see what they are doing as well as creating an engaging and attractive effect, with various focal points for the viewer.
I am going to experiment capturing the subject from different positions such as at an angle, straight on, and below eye level, as this will create different effects that will engage the viewer in different ways.
I want them to hold the bouquet or have the flowers laid in front, because I want the flowers to be part of the photo creating different focal points.
Contact Sheet:
The flowers themself create really eye catching shapes and tones, but I also thought capturing the florist organising bouquets of flowers whilst preparing them would overall create a really interesting and aesthetic photo that would draw your focus towards. I have put an ‘x’ next to the photos, which were my least favourite and my favourites are show below:
My Photos:
Favourite images:
This photo has a shallow depth of field, as I wanted the florist to be the main focus and stand out. I like how the florist is the central focus as you notice it straight away, then leading lines are created directing your eyes down towards the flowers, creating this visual story of what she is doing. I captured this photo in the natural light, then using Lightroom to experiment with different exposure levels and tones.
For this photo, I captured the florist at an angle, and looking up towards her. This allowed me to include more of the flowers which I thought would be a really interesting and engaging part of the photo. I wanted to capture the florist with the flowers laid out in front of her because this makes it very eye catching and engaging for the viewer. This angle, creates leading lines upwards towards the centre giving the main focal point. You firstly notice the subject then your eyes are moved down towards the flowers, creating another focal point.
