Claude Cahun vs Frida Kahlo

Here is some of Kahlo’s work.

Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artefacts of Mexico, she died Died: July 13, 1954, in Mexico. Kahlo was best known for her uncompromising and brilliantly coloured self-portraits that deal with such themes as identity, the human body, and death. Although she denied the connection, she is often identified as a Surrealist as she captures beauty and self love in her images and she can relate and show a lot within her images as she’s reflecting her work with masc and fem.

Frida considered herself an individual. She embraced both her masculine and feminine side and helped break down barriers surrounding gender stereotypes. 

She Focused on the spotlight on raw and honest situations that women undergo, she showcased them through aspects of miscarriage, abortion, breastfeeding, birth etc.

I have chosen Fridha Khalo because she interests me within her type of photograph’s and I payed careful attention to the way she brings out masc and fem in her images.

Claude Cahun

He was a French surrealist photographer, sculptor, and writer. Schwob adopted the pseudonym Claude Cahun in 1914. Cahun is best known as a writer and self-portraitist, who assumed a variety of performative personae, Died: December 8, 1954, Saint Helier.

In 1944, Cahun and Moore were arrested and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out, as the island was liberated from German occupation in 1945. However, Cahun’s health never recovered from her treatment in jail, and she died in 1954. Cahun is buried in St Brelade’s Church with partner Moore.

Despite the social restrictions of her time, Cahun refused to conform to gender norms, adopting a masculine appearance and using gender-neutral pronouns to assert her identity.

What pronouns did Claude Cahun use?

There are convincing arguments to be made for both she/her/hers and they/them/theirs; she/her/hers because that is what was used for Cahun when they were alive and used themself; they/them/theirs because of their oft-discussed detachment from being a woman or a man.

Cahun is best known as a writer and self-portraitist, who assumed a variety of performative personae. In her writing she consistently referred to herself as “elle” (she), and this article follows her practice; but she also said that her actual gender was fluid, which is why Frida Kahlo and Cahun are very similar. they both show senses of exploring identity and a theme of masculinity vs femini which shows so much in our society and shown different yet similar we are to each other.

This is one of Kahlos photos. It shows self of identity and you cant really tell if its masc or fem which is what is great about the photo.

Here is another one which you would think appears female but has some male traits which shows a sense of identity and how open Kahlo was before she passed.

Where as Claud uses more sperate ideas of the photo, such as..

The one on the left shows a bit of both ideas and angles of masc and fem whereas the photograph on the right shows masc traits and is clearly a male from what you can see.

Both artists use many different techinques to get there photo the way they wanted them too. Both showed theory of identity and loads of different themes within our world and society even today.

What is masculinity?

Masculinity is set behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex,^[5][6] as anyone can exhibit masculine traits.^[7] Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods.

Masculinity is seen to be the trait which emphasizes ambition, acquisition of wealth, and differentiated gender roles. Femininity is seen to be the trait which stress caring and nurturing behaviours, sexuality equality, environmental awareness, and more fluid gender roles.

What is the true definition of masculinity?

Masculinity = social expectations of being a man: The term ‘masculinity’ refers to the roles, behaviors and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society. Masculinity is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven.

What is the real definition of femininity?

: the quality or nature of the female sex : the quality, state, or degree of being feminine or womanly. challenging traditional notions about femininity and masculinity.

There is also a thing called binary opposite’s..

Particular aspects of identity derived from places we belong to arise because places have figures and images that have meaning and are significant to us. Places represent personal and social memories because they are positioned in the socio- historical matrix of intergroup relations.

Such as..

Gender socialization occurs through four major agents: family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining normative expectations for gender-specific behaviour.

Social and environmental cues direct individuals to pay attention to external messages—beliefs, values, symbols, and affects—that are deemed self-referent.

What is the difference between masculine and feminine posing?

A closed or clenched hand tends to be more masculine while a relaxed or lightly curved hand has a feminine inference. Unlike feminine poses, masculine poses avoid softening the pose with rounded shoulders or exaggerated shoulders, hips, and legs.

What makes a pose masculine?

Stereotypical male model poses all involve making the man look fierce. Anything that can be done to convey power and dominance should be included in the pose. While females are always looking for ways to emphasize curves, men are looking for hard angles and straight lines.

What is femimity?

Femininity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, To what extent femininity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is conceptually distinct from both the female biological sex and from womanhood, as all humans can exhibit feminine and masculine traits, regardless of sex and gender.

What makes a pose feminine?

Create Curves-They’re what make most women feel feminine. Highlighting a female model’s curves also has the added benefit of making the waist look more defined. In standing poses this can be achieved by having the model put her weight on her back foot. Add in a knee bend away from the camera and boom.

These images show the difference between masc and fem and shows you the ins and outs of both. They are both so different yet so similar which is the good thing about this topic is that you can mic and match the photograph’s and see what fits into masc and fem or neutral within these regions.

My responses:

Multiple exposure

In photography a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other. Its the the repeated exposure of a photographic plate or film to light, often producing ghost like images.

This is a style of photography is a technique that layers two different exposures on a single image, combining two photographs into one. Double exposure creates a surreal feeling for your photos and the two photographs can work together to convey deep meaning or symbolism.

Double or multiple exposures are an illusion created by layering images over the top of each other. Artists have used these techniques to explore  surrealist Ideas and evoke dream-like imagery, or imagery that explores time / time lapse – as if they were a ghost.

This is my response to double/multi exposure.

Photomontage is an artistic practice that has endured almost since the birth of photography itself. At its most basic level, the photomontage is a single image combined of two or more images.
Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that the final image may appear as a seamless physical print. Its a montage constructed from photographic images and uses the technique of constructing a photomontage.

My response:

Why is photomontage important?

It was first used as a technique by the Dadaists in 1915 in their protests against the First World War. It was later adopted by the surrealists who exploited the possibilities photomontage offered by using free association to bring together widely disparate images, to reflect the workings of the unconscious mind.

A head shot or headshot is a modern portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles etc.

A great headshot should include the following:

• Simple background.
• A clear photo of one person.
• Good expression.
• Proper attire.
• Minimal distractions.
• Should reflect how you look currently.
• Proper cropping of the photo.
• Flattering poses.

Flash lighting

Flash photography is using an artificial light source to light a person or a scene whether you want to give that scene a different look or you have to out of necessity.

With your camera set to manual, set the shutter speed around 1/125sec to 1/250sec depending on your camera’s flash sync speed. ISO 320, aperture f/5.6, daylight white balance. For flattering results without much distortion use a short telephone lens or a zoom setting from 70-85mm.

A flash photograph can vary the appearance of a subject by controlling the intensity, position and distribution of light coming from a flash.

Continuous lighting

Camera settings (continuous lighting)
Tripod: recommended to avoid camera shake
Manual exposure mode
White balance: tungsten light (3200K)
ISO: 400-1600 – depending on how many light sources
Exposure: Manual 1/60-1/125 shutter-speed > f/4-f/8 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal length: 50mm portrait lens

The deadpan aesthetic

The origins of the word “Deadpan”  can be traced to 1927 when Vanity Fair Magazine compounded the words dead and pan, a slang word for a face, and used it as a noun. In 1928 the New York Times used it as adjective to describe the work of Buster Keaton.

In summary Deadpan photography is a cool, detached, and unemotional presentation and, when used in a series, usually follows a pre-defined set of compositional and lighting rules.

The deadpan aesthetics is considered a technically perfect photograph which depicts a landscape, still life or a person by a direct centred composition. The photographs usually have a single central theme (a mining tower, face, mound of clay, etc.), the background is usually unimportant (which does not apply for more sociologically oriented concepts), ignored or is neutral and sterile.

Passport Photos

The UK government has a specific list on what passports must include, this can be found on the UK government website.

FACE:

• eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no ‘red eye’
• facial expression must be neutral (neither frowning nor smiling), with the mouth closed
• photos must show both edges of the face clearly
• photos must show a full front view of face and shoulders, squared to the camera 
• the face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; the subject must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting their head to one side or backwards or forwards
• there must be no hair across the eyes
• hats or head coverings are not permitted except when worn for religious reasons and only if the full facial features are clearly visible
• photos with shadows on the face are unacceptable
• photos must reflect/represent natural skin tone

BACKGROUND:

Photos must have a background which:

• has no shadows
• has uniform lighting, with no shadows or flash reflection on the face and head
• shows a plain, uniform, light grey or cream background (5% to 10% grey is recommended)

Typologies

the study and interpretation of types and became associated with photography through the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose photographs taken over the course of 50 years of industrial structures; water towers, grain elevators, blast furnaces etc can be considered conceptual art. The Becher’s were influenced by the work of earlier German photographers linked to the New Objectivity movement of the 1920s such as August Sander, Karl Blossfeldt and Albert-Renger-Patzsch.

Upclose

in 1826/7, Nièpce succeeded in making the earliest surviving camera photograph. It represented a view from a window at Le Gras (his hometown in Burgundy, France), captured on a pewter plate coated in bitumen diluted in lavender oil. The exposure time was probably several days.

Photography was invented by Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce in 1822. Niépce developed a technique called heliography, which he used to create the world’s oldest surviving photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras (1827). Heliography was conceived in response to camera obscura theories dating back to ancient history.

What is photography and its origin?

The word “photography” literally means “drawing with light”.

When did photography first begin?

Photography was invented in 1822 when the first photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (pronounced “nyeps”). Unfortunately, the first examples of Niépce’s work have been lost to history, but he still holds the title for the oldest surviving photograph, taken in 1826.

This is the first photo ever taken.