DEADLINE: Essay Introduction Draft MUST be handed in Thursday 18 Dec 2024

DEADLINE: Final Essay MUST be handed in Fri 31 Jan 2025

ESSAY: In the Spring term will be spending 1 lesson a week, normally Wednesdays on writing and developing your essay. However, you will need to be working on it independently outside of lesson time.

Objective: Criteria from the Syllabus

• Be aware of some of the methods employed by critics and historians within the history of art and photography.
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of your chosen area of study with appropriate use of critical vocabulary. – use for image analysis
• Investigate a wide range of work and sources
• Develop a personal and critical inquiry.

How to start: Copy this essay plan into your own blog post, titled: Essay Draft:

Literary sources: Go to this blog post here: Theory: Literary Sources and copy relevant key texts relating to the subject of your essay and list in alphabetical order in your bibliography. In addition, find your own key texts in relation to artists selected for in-depth analysis in your essay and list these too. These texts could be interviews with the artist, or reviews/ critique’s written by others. See useful online sites/ sources here .

• Research and identify 3-5 literary sources from a variety of media such as books, journal/magazines, internet, Youtube/video that relates to your personal study and artists references .
• Begin to read essay, texts and interviews with your chosen artists as well as commentary from critics, historians and others.
• It’s important that you show evidence of reading and draw upon different points of view – not only your own.
• Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages, page number to be used for in-text referencing etc.

Essay Question

• Think of a hypothesis and list possible essay questions
• Below is a list of possible essay questions that may help you to formulate your own.

Some examples of Personal Study essays from previous students:

possible-essay-questions-to-investigate

Essay Plan
Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph. Further help can be found here essay structure or see link here The Royal Literay Fund

• Essay question:

In what way does Justine Kurland & Michelle Sank explore youth and femininity through their work?

How does Jeff Walls tableaux approach depict a seemingly photo journalistic approach?

How do Justine Kurland and Jim Goldberg portray childhood differently through their work?

To what extend have Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall used narrative as a way to explore female identity in their work?

To what extend has Justine Kurland used narrative as a way to explore female identity in their work?

To what extend have Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall explored narrative in their work?

• Opening quote

‘To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge- and therefore, like power.’ (Sontag 1997:4)

• Introduction (250-500 words): What is your area study? Which artists will you be analysing and why? How will you be responding to their work and essay question?
  
  Female Identity and Narratives

Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall

Creating my own images recreating my own youth, while still borrowing concepts, ideas, compositions from both of them and other historical paintings, including Manet.

Tableaux photography

• Pg 1 (500 words): Historical/ theoretical context within art, photography and visual culture relevant to your area of study. Make links to art movements/ isms and some of the methods employed by critics and historian. 
  
  Tableaux photography and its origin in Pictorialism – explain its influence from Allegorical Painting and how it was a reaction against photography as a scientific experiment
  – select an example from Pictorialism, eh. Julia Margaret Cameron, discuss how she constructed images using friends/ family to model exploring female identities influenced by Pre-Raphalite painters
  
• Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  
• Justine Kurland use of narrative using real people in staged situations and link with style of Tableux Photography
  – select key image that was inspired by Manet breakfast painting
  
• Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.

Jeff Wall use of narrative using real people in staged situations and link with style of Tableux Photography
– select key image that was also inspired by Manet breakfast painting

• Conclusion (250-500 words): Draw parallels, explore differences/ similarities between artists/photographers and that of your own work that you have produced
  
  
• Bibliography: List all relevant sources used

Sontag, S. (1977) ‘In Plato’s Cave’ in On Photography. London: Penquin Boohs.

pictorialism-vs-realism-3Download

How Did Pictorialism Shape Photography and Photographers ?

A short PPT on Tableaux Photography

Bull, S. (2009), ‘The Photograph as Art’ in Photography. London: Routledge.

Bate, D. (2016) ‘Pictorual Turn’ in Art Photography. London: Tate Galleries.
a text about how Tableaux has been influenced by Pictorialism.

Bright, S. (2005). ‘Narrative’ in Art Photography Now. New York: Aperture.

Cotton, C. (2009). ‘Once Upon a Time’ in The Photograph as Contemporary Art. London: Thames & Hudson.

text, interview, articles about Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall

Bengal, R. (2020) ‘The Jeremys’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture
– see book in the classroom

Kurland, J. (July 14 2020). Justine Kurland Reflects on Her Photographs of Teenage Girl Runaways. New York: Aperture

https://www.frieze.com/article/justine-kurland

Kurland, J. (2020) ‘Cherry Bomb’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture.

Bengal, R. (2020) ‘The Jeremys’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Margaret_Cameron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tableau_vivant

https://www.google.com/search?gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzQ1NWowajSoAgCwAgE&ie=UTF-8&oq=Pre-Raphaelite&q=Pre-Raphaelite&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJE1126JE1126&safe=active&sourceid=chrome&surl=1

Narrative and Photography

Use of AI / ChatGPT – go to this blog post here for guidelines.

Key Terminology: Here is a link to a glossary of key words, glossary of photographic processes, glossary of art movements and genres, and linking words and phrases.

Essay writing: Here is a link to another blog post which will provide you with guideline and more details about how to structure each paragraph in your essay.

Draft Introduction (250-500 words). Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study e.g. what and who are you going to investigate. How does this area/ work interest you? What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument? What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within. Include 1 or 2 quotes for or against. What links are there with your previous studies, if any? What have you explored so far, or what are you going to photograph? How will your work develop. What camera skills, techniques or processes have you experimented with, or are you going to experiment with?

Essay Question:

Introduction:

Definitions

Aesthetic- patterns in a photographer’s use of visual elements to create beautiful images. These elements can be frame compositions, subjects, color schemes and lighting techniques.

Formalism- Focusses on the formal elements, such as the design, composition and lighting and it is all about the elements, rather than the subject matter, as there is no emotion or context behind the image. The photographer becomes a visual designer whenever a frame is captured. In camera cropping concentrates on the desired subject while eliminating everything else.

Example: The west coast f/64 group, founded in 1932 consisted of a group of photographers working under the formalism movement eg Ansel Adams.

Indexicality- the way a photograph points (like an index finger) to its referent.

Example: Ideas that photographers are closely related to memory, the past, presence, absence and death.

The indexical sign is based in cause and effect, eg. the footprint in the wet sand indicates or traces of recent presence.

Symbols and metaphors can be indexical too.

Representation- photographs that are made of the real world and that represent a place or things relatively realistically.

Representation refers to the way in which individuals, groups or ideas are depicted. The use of the term usually signals acknowledgement that images are never ‘innocent,’ but always have their own History, cultural contexts and specify, and therefore carry ideological implications.

Narrative- the idea that an image or a series of images can be used to tell a story or create a narrative. A narrative is an account of an event or a moment in time, which makes photography the perfect medium for constructing narratives.

In this photoshoot I went to the beach near kiosk, because this was a beach I used to go to very often when I was younger, and even up until last Summer. I also go to kiosk quite often, so this setting and the activities presented here represent my identity very well. We also visited a shed that we used to go to in Summer, but it has a lot of damage now, so I took photos of the setting and us exploring.

Contact Sheet

The images which are highlighted green are the photos that I have chosen to edit, because they represent my themes of youth and identity the best, and they have the best compositions and lighting.

Edits

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would slightly brighter and more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be slightly more exposed, as the lighting was not the best, as it had started to get darker.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed and slightly more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be slightly less exposed, as I has used the flash, so the lighting was not the best. I also wanted it to be slightly more vibrant, so that the colour of the rocks would pop more.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I have done this, so that the image was less exposed, because the lighting was too harsh, due to me using the flash. I also wanted the colours of the rocks to be more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights, saturation and blacks. I did this, so that the image was less exposed, because of the harsh lighting due to the flash being used.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, because it was very dark, so I needed the image to be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to the image, because there was a lot of blue tones throughout the image.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more exposed and more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the paper was less white and had more of a yellow tone, so that it would appear older.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and whites. I did this, so that the image was more exposed, so that the subjects flash was brighter and more could be seen.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more vibrant and saturated.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that it is more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter and the paint splatters were more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image had slightly warmer tones through it, rather than cool tones.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter and the colours of the paint were more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly brighter.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so the image would be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint, because the image had lots of blue tones through it, so I wanted to cancel them out.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more exposed. I also added a yellow tint, because the image had lots of blue tones through it, so I wanted to cancel them out.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the whites, saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that so the image would be more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to this image, because there were lots of blue tone throughout it.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the whites, saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed. I also added a yellow tint to this image to cancel out the blue tones in it.

Photoshoot Conclusion

Overall, I think this photoshoot went well, because I was able to create and present different narratives of activities I used to do when I was younger. I was also able to experiment with shutter speed in this photoshoot, so I could create movement in my photos.

However, I thought the still image walking down the lane was more visually pleasing, but I am glad I experimented.

I was also able to get detail shots, which would be good to use in my photobook to break up my images a bit.

However, next photoshoot I would need to go out a bit earlier, as it started getting dark very early, meaning I had to use the flash, which didn’t create the best lighting for the images.

To what extend have Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall explored narrative in their work?

Introduction:

‘If you wanted a place in the narrative, you had to imagine yourself inside of it.’ -Justine Kurland, ‘Girl Pictures.’

My intention for this study is to explore the themes of youth and identity by creating narratives personal to my own youth and identity, by capturing activities I did in my youth, or still do. I am also going to focus on specifically female identity and female stereotypes, and how they can be combatted against, as this is personal to me as a women and extremely important to me to present to other women, or young girls that your identity can be whatever you desire and that you do not have to comply with social norms, or expectations. I have also explored this in depth in my previous topics and was able to create visually pleasing images with powerful narratives, so I feel like I am capable of doing this again. I would also like to present my female subjects ‘trying on a version of themselves that the world has thus far shown them was boy,’ so that I can present more masculine stereotypes, so that I can really exaggerate this point of opposing social ‘norms’. This topic of youth and identity interests me, because I think it would be interesting to see how my identity has changed from when I was younger, to now when I’m slightly older. I would also like to look back onto my youth, so that I can see what societal norms I followed and didn’t. I also would like to experiment with different compositional elements, such as the rule of thirds, so that I can improve the presentation of my narratives.

I am analysing Justine Kurland’s work, especially ‘Girl Pictures,’ because the topic of youth and identity really interests me, because I am still exploring my own identity as I am growing, so this topic is also personal to me, especially because I am a female growing up in this society, who is held to certain expectations. This makes it important for me to combat stereotypical norms, so that I can be myself and help other women do the same thing and express their true identity through the narratives I am presenting. I also feel like because this topic is so personal to me it will allow me to create good photographs to display my feelings and opinions.

I am also analysing Jeff Wall’s images and how he creates his narratives and uses different compositional elements, because I feel like taking inspiration from him will improve the presentation of my work, so that the narrative of the image will be displayed more powerfully. Jeff Wall takes inspiration from historical paintings, similarly to Justine Kurland. I am also going to be pulling ideas, concepts and compositions from not only his work, but historical paintings as well, especially Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, Manet, because both Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland have taken inspiration from this painting.

So far in this study I have started recreating activities I used to do in my youth, so that I can present my identity and youth through the narratives of my images. I have created tableaux images, where I have positioned and manipulated my subjects. I have also experimented with compositional elements a little bit, by experimenting with the foreground, middle ground and background. To further develop my work, I would like to improve my compositional elements more, by experimenting with the rule of thirds for example and I would like to take inspiration from historical paintings, similarly to Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall, while also taking inspiration from their work. I would also like to focus on trying to create a different range of activities ranging from more feminine to more masculine. I have also experimented with my camera skills, by adjusting the exposure, depending on the time of day and lighting. I have also experimented with shutter speed, so that I was able to create movement in certain images. I have also used Lightroom to edit my images accordingly, but I would also like to experiment with photoshop.

READ NARRATIVE ON LIERARY SOURCES.

‘This term is the most commonly used for photography, which relies on narrative for it’s readings.’ – refering to tableaux photography.

‘Narrative is crucial to photography.’

(The introduction is too short and needs more details. Follow the instruction below here:

• Think about an opening that will draw your reader in e.g. you can use an opening quote that sets the scene. Or think more philosophically about the nature of photography and its feeble relationship with reality.
• You should include in your introduction an outline of your intention of your study, e.g.
• What are you going to investigate?
• How does this area/ work interest you?
• What are you trying to prove/challenge, argument/ counter-argument?
• Whose work (artists/photographers) are you analysing and why?
• What historical or theoretical context is the work situated within?
• What links are there with your previous studies?
• What have you explored or experimented with so far in your photography project?
• How will your work develop.
• What camera skills, techniques or digital processes have you used, or going to experiment with?

See also my blog post her about Narrative and Photography to gain a better understanding of how photographers can construct narrative using different approaches in documentary and tableaux photography.

Narrative and Photography

Paragraph 1:

Tableaux photography is a staged photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect in a constructed environment, but the photographs appear to be candid photographs, as the characters appear absorbed and completely unaware of the viewer. This conveys a pictorial narrative through a single image. Tableaux photography originated from Pictorialism, which was a union of photographers that fought to separate photography as an art form from photography used towards various scientific and documentary purposes, as they focused on the beauty of subject matter and the perfection of composition rather than the documentation of the world as it is. Photography was viewed as a Scientific experiment by many, because photography originated from Scientists, such as Louis Daguerre and Nicéphore Niépce. The Daguerreotype was created in 1839 from many Scientific experiments made from these two Scientists and it created photographs on silver-plated copper sheets using light and chemicals, such as mercury vapour to create these photographs. From the 1800’s and onwards photographers strived for photography to be art by trying to make images that resembled paintings, especially Allegorical paintings. Allegorical paintings communicate deeper moral, social, religious, political or spiritual meanings, such as life, death, love, virtue, justice, charity, greed, envy and more. Allegorical paintings tend to communicate these messages by using symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation, such as angels, or wings. In order to create images that resembled paintings they had to manipulate images in the darkroom, scratching and marking their prints to imitate the texture of a canvas, using soft focus, blurred and fuzzy imagery based on allegorical and spiritual subject matter, including religious scenes.

Julia Margaret Cameron was a photographer in the Victorian era, who supported the Pictorialism movement and was considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century. She was born on 11th June 1815 and died on 26th January 1879. She is known for her soft-focus close-ups of famous Victorians and for illustrative images depicting characters from mythology, Christianity and literature. She mainly used siblings as her models, including her own sisters, and her daughters, so that they would all look very similar in her photographs. She created allegorical images inspired by tableaux vivants, theatre, 15th-century Italian painters and contemporary artists. In the allegorical works in particular, her artistic influence was clearly Pre-Raphaelite, with far-away looks and limp poses and soft lighting. Pre-Raphaelite would urge artists to “go to nature,” as they believed in an art of serious subjects treated with maximum realism. Their principal themes were initially religious, but they also used subjects from literature and poetry, particularly those dealing with love and death, very similarly to Cameron’s work. Cameron was contentious in her own time and her photographs were unconventional in their intimacy and their particular visual habit of created blur through both long exposures, where the subject moved and by leaving the lens intentionally out of focus.

(Paragraph 1 has enough information about the Tableaux photography and its origin in Pictorialism. However, it would improve if you were including more references to literary sources used from bibliography to gain knowledge and understanding, either as direct quotes, paraphrasing for summaries. With quotes make sure you comment, ie. either agree/ disagree in developing an informed argument.)

READ PICTORIAL TURN AND QUOTE.

Paragraph 2:

Justine Kurland carefully composes all her tableaux images, as she manipulated the narrative to be whatever she desires. She manipulates the position and distance of the girls and herself, to create a good composition.

Justine Kurland borrowed ideas, concepts and compositions from old historical paintings (masters/ famous paintings). An example of her borrowing from a master is ‘Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe’ by Edouard Manet, which was created in 1862-63.

‘The girls were rebelling. The girls were acting out. The girls had run away from home, that much was clear. They were trying on a version of themselves that the world has thus far shown them was boy.’ Floating a raft down the Mississippi. Tucking smokes into the sleeve of a T-shirt. Having a rumble. Living off land. Cowboys, sailors, pirates, hitchhikers, hobos, train hoppers, explorers, catchers in the rye, lords of the flies- you name it, all the dominion of boys. If you wanted a place in the narrative, you had to imagine yourself inside of it. – Justine Kurland.

‘At least my narratives were honest about what they were: fantasies of attachment and belonging that sharply diverged from the hardships experienced by so many actual teenage runaways.’

‘They were trying on a version of themselves that the world has thus far shown them was “boy”.’

‘If you wanted a place in the narrative, you had to imagine yourself inside of it.’

‘They were Pre-Raphaelite…’

(you can probably use the analysis you already done on Kurland’s image compared with Manet’s painting here
https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo25al/2024/12/02/final-study/)

Para 3:

ALL ABOUT NARRATIVE AND JEFF WALL

references

Sontag, S. (1977) ‘In Plato’s Cave’ in On Photography. London: Penquin Boohs.

pictorialism-vs-realism-3Download

How Did Pictorialism Shape Photography and Photographers ?

A short PPT on Tableaux Photography

Bull, S. (2009), ‘The Photograph as Art’ in Photography. London: Routledge.

Bate, D. (2016) ‘Pictorual Turn’ in Art Photography. London: Tate Galleries.
a text about how Tableaux has been influenced by Pictorialism.

Bright, S. (2005). ‘Narrative’ in Art Photography Now. New York: Aperture.

Cotton, C. (2009). ‘Once Upon a Time’ in The Photograph as Contemporary Art. London: Thames & Hudson.

text, interview, articles about Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall

Bengal, R. (2020) ‘The Jeremys’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture
– see book in the classroom

Kurland, J. (July 14 2020). Justine Kurland Reflects on Her Photographs of Teenage Girl Runaways. New York: Aperture

https://www.frieze.com/article/justine-kurland

Kurland, J. (2020) ‘Cherry Bomb’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture.

Bengal, R. (2020) ‘The Jeremys’ in Girl Pictures. New York: Aperture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Margaret_Cameron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tableau_vivant

https://www.google.com/search?gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBBzQ1NWowajSoAgCwAgE&ie=UTF-8&oq=Pre-Raphaelite&q=Pre-Raphaelite&rlz=1C1GCEA_enJE1126JE1126&safe=active&sourceid=chrome&surl=1

Final Images

In comparison to Justine Kurland

For this photoshoot, I borrowed different ideas, concepts and compositions from Justine Kurland’s book ‘Girl Pictures.’ As seen below:

I took inspiration from the activity in this image, because I also used to climb trees with my friends during my youth. However, I had less models in my image and didn’t want to copy her image exactly, so I changed the layout in the image, by standing on the opposite side of the tree and arranging my models differently.

This is not an activity that I usually do, but I wanted to include this activity, as I feel like it is a more masculine activity. I included this, so I could use it to present a range of identities ranging from more masculine to feminine.

I took inspiration from this image, because I have done this quite often, especially in Photography in the past, so it was an easier photo to take and showed a more feminine identity.

I took inspiration from the activity in this image, because I also used to play at the park and play on the swings with my friends during my youth. However, I had less models in my image and the I chose to use the swings at St Ounes on the trees, because I thought it fit the setting of the urban woodslike areas. However, the lighting of this image wasn’t the best, as it was more of a sunny day, instead of a cloudy one.

I took inspiration from this image, as I also had two models run down a long road. However, my setting is more of a modern road, compared to the dirt road.

I took inspiration from this image, because I also used to climb trees in my youth, so these images display my identity.

I took inspiration from this image, because the setting suited the theme well and was a very similar setting to the setting Justine Kurland uses in her book ‘Girl Picture’ and the setting I want to achieve for my images.

How does this relate to my theme of youth and identity?

These images relate to the theme of youth and identity, in particular, my youth and identity. I have explored my youth in these images, because I had my models do the activities I used to do when I was younger, such as playing on the 100ft hill at the sandunes, playing on the swings at St Ounes and climbing trees. I used to do all these activities during my youth, so I wanted to explore that and present it through my work. In doing this, I also explored my identity during my youth, by reminiscing on what I enjoyed doing, what I didn’t enjoy doing and who I did these activities with. I was also then able to compare my identity now to my identity during my youth, because I was able to see if I still enjoyed doing these activities, and see if I still had these hobbies to this day, or not.

I also took inspiration from Justine Kurland’s work and borrowed ideas, concepts and compositions from her to create a wider range of activities to show case. These images relate to the theme if youth, because I have borrowed other activities that Justine Kurland presents as youth to her. I have also used my friends as models in these images, and they are still in their youth, so they present this theme of youth. These images also explore identity, because they portray more feminine and more masculine activities, so this presents to the viewer that they can be whatever they wish to be, no matter if it doesn’t follow social norms. I also presented a range of activities, so that I could present a range of different identities, even though I have used the same models. I have also only used female models in these photos, similarly to Justine Kurland, so that I could explore this concepts of girlhood just how she has in her book, because I relate to this theme of girlhood, because I am living my girlhood right now so I want to present this through my work.

Photoshoot Conclusion

I think this photoshoot went quite well, as I was able to explore my youth by presenting different activities I used to do, or still do. I also explored a range of other activities, some similar to the ones Justine Kurland presented in ‘Girl Pictures.’ I was also able to explore the theme of identity, while doing this, because I was able to present my identity during this work, as I displayed the activities I enjoy and what makes me myself.

However, it was the wrong time of day when these photos were taken as it was about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, so the lighting was not how I wanted it to be. Next time, I will aim the take photos at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon instead, so that I can attain a less exposed lighting where the sun is not shining so bright. I want to achieve this lighting, because I think it will best suit my images, but also because this is the lighting Justine Kurland used in her ‘Girl Pictures,’ and it worked extremely well.

I would also like to display more masculine activities in my next photoshoot, so that I can strongly portray that female stereotypes aren’t the only identity choice and that during girlhood my models are ‘trying on boy,’ like in Justine Kurland’s work where she explores a range of different identities. However, I would also like to display more feminine activities just as much, so that I can present a range of identities through my work, so that I can spread the message to the viewers that they can chose whatever identity they wish.

I also experimented with my composition during this photoshoot, by using things such as being in the centre or to the side, or being in the foreground, middle ground and background. However, I do think I could improve my composition for my next photoshoot, by taking inspiration from other photographers and artists, as well as using other compositional tools, such as the rule of thirds, or just using the same compositional tools but better. I also want to experiment more with visual elements, such as texture, colour, tone, light, shape, form, line, pattern and space.

For this photoshoot, I visited the sandunes. I recreated some of the activities presented in Justine Kurland’s book ‘Girl Pictures,’ as well as creating images doing some activities that I used to do in my own youth. The plan was to sledge down the 100 foot sand hill, because that is what I used to do in my youth quite a lot, but now there are signs up saying it is not allowed, so we couldn’t do that. Instead, we decided to climb up it and run down it, not only so that the trip here was not wasted, but because this is something I also used to do while I was at the sandunes when I was younger.

Contact Sheet

The images that are highlighted green are the images I have decided to edit, because they are my best images, with the best composition and explore the theme of youth and identity the best.

Edits

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, texture and vibrancy, while decreasing the exposure, highlights, blacks and vibrancy. I did this, so that I could add more warm tones and vibrancy to the grass. I also wanted to add more texture to the grass to make it more of an interesting photo, by using the visual elements.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, texture, clarity, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, whites, blacks and highlights. I did this, so that the image has less of a white overcast on it, due to the lighting and time of day these images were taken. I also wanted to make the grass and sky more vibrant, to add more colour to the image.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights, whites and blacks. I did this, so that the image was more vibrant, and so that there was contrast between the dark tree branches and the bright white like sky.

I edited this image, by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks, highlights and whites. I did this for a similar reason as the image above. I wanted to increase the vibrancy, so the grass around would be more bright. I also wanted to create a contrast between the darker coloured tree branches and the bright white like sky.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, texture, clarity, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would be brighter and more exposed, because it was quite dark due to the shade from the tree. I also wanted to add contrast and texture to the photo.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, white, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was less exposed, because of the time of day the images were shot and the lighting there was a white cast on the image. I also wanted to make the image more vibrant, so the colours stood out more.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I also added a yellow tint to the image, so that the sand was more yellow, rather than more pale, so that the angel was more visible.

I editing this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, white, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks and highlights. I also added a yellow tint to the image, for the same reason above.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, white and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights, blacks and saturation. I also added a yellow tint. I edited this image in this way, so that the image was more exposed and was more warm.

I edited this by increasing the contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the exposure, highlights, blacks, whites and saturation. I also added a yellow tint to this image. I did this, so that the image would be more warm and so the contrast between the shadows and highlights were more visible.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, texture, clarity, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I also added a yellow tint to this image. I did this, so that the image was more warm, so it almost looked like it was taken at sunset instead of midday. I also wanted to make the sand a darker yellow colour and add texture to it.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, white, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks and highlights. I also added a yellow tint to this image. I did this so the image would be more exposed and so the sand would be brighter.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, blacks and highlights. I also added a yellow tint to the image. I did this, so that the sand would be darker, so the texture of the footprint were more prominent.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, white, texture, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the blacks and highlights. I also added a yellow tint to this image. I did this, so that the image would be more exposed and more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows and vibrancy, while decreasing the exposure, highlights, blacks, saturation and whites. I did this, so that the colours in the image are more vibrant and there’s less of a white cast on the left.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, white, shadows, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image is more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy, texture and saturation, while decreasing the exposure, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly less exposed, so that the lighting was better.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, texture, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing highlights, whites and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly more exposed, so it was a bit brighter.

I edited these images by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the images would be more vibrant.

Intention

My intention with this photoshoot is to explore the female identity and my own identity through this photoshoot as well, just how Justine Kurland found her own identity through her work. I am going to explore the female identity and present all different female identities through my work. I want to present that the female identity isn’t just what is stereotyped, but it can be whatever you want it to be. In ‘Girl Pictures,’ Justine Kurland states that, ‘Cowboys, sailors, pirates, hitchhikers, hobos, train hoppers, explorers, catchers in the rye, lords of the flies- you name it…’ She is stating that the girls in her book were all these things. She has done this, so that she can present to the viewers that they too can be whatever identity they wish to be, no matter how different or not socially acceptable it may be. I also want to present this in my work, so that I can portray to my viewers that identity is just what you make it, instead of it being what makes you.

Through this work I also want to investigate into different stereotypes and present images that oppose these stereotypical ‘norms.’ Justine Kurland presented these girls ‘in the dominion of boys’ and ‘they were trying on a version of themselves that the world has thus far shown them was boy.’ She did this, so that she could combat against female stereotypes, so that she could present to the viewers that these stereotypical ‘norms’ aren’t just what we should be allowed to be and do, but instead girls should also be able to do anything a boy can do and act in a way that a boy would. I think this is a really important message and I want to display this message well in my work, by presenting the young girls in a more rambunctious, ‘boy like’ manor, combating these stereotypical ‘norms.’

However, I want to make a twist on Justine Kurland’s work, for my own work, and I intend on doing this, by showing a larger spectrum of stereotypes, and showing stereotypes, that are not being combated. For example, I want to display these young girls following these female stereotypical norms, because I want to display to the viewers, and to all other young girls that may see these images, that your identity can be anything you make it, and you don’t have to feel like you have to oppose these stereotypical ‘norms’, if that is who you truly are and what your identity truly is.

I also want to explore youth through my work, just like Justine Kurland did in her ‘Girl Pictures.’ As I said I also wanted to explore my identity through this project, so to explore these two things I am going to be looking back into my youth, or my ‘Girlhood’ and replicating some of the activities I used to do in my teenage years. This will help me explore youth, especially my youth and it will help me explore my identity, to see what stereotypical ‘norms’ I followed, or didn’t when I was younger. This will also help me compare my identity back then, to it now. I think youth is also a really important aspect to explore, because Justine Kurland’s whole book was based off this idea of youth and ‘girlhood,’ so to also put a twist on her work, I am making my work more internal to me, by making it relative to my youth, ‘girlhood’ and my life. I also think that youth is a very important development stage, which helps to build your identity, so I also think it would be interesting to compare my youth, to the youth shown in Justine Kurland’s book, ‘Girl Pictures.’

I also want to explore and experiment with different compositions during this topic, because both Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall borrowed compositions, ideas and concepts from famous painting, such as Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, which they both took inspiration from. I also would like to take inspiration from this painting, so I can create similar images to both Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall, but with my own spin on it. I also want to borrow compositions, ideas and concepts from both Justine Kurland’s and Jeff Wall’s images, as well as other famous historical paintings. The reason I would like to do this, is so I can pull ideas from other great pieces of art, so that I can improve my work. I also want to focus on improving my compositions on my photos and I feel this will really help me do that, as I will be able to grasp a better understanding of composition, and the features that make a good composition.

Ideas

During my review and reflect of all my previous blog posts and topics, I discovered that I much preferred taking pictures of people rather than landscapes, whether that was portraits, tableaux images, or street photography. However, I think portraiture is my biggest strength and what I enjoy the most.

I also found the topic femininity and masculinity a really interesting topic that I found I could write a lot about. I find researching and creating different stereotypes in my photographs the most interesting part, and I really enjoyed making my images fight against these different gender stereotypes. I really enjoyed this topic, because as a women stereotypes is something I hear and see a lot of and I feel like I could do a lot for this topic and write a lot about it, because it is so internal to me and my identity. I also enjoyed how in this topic Claude Cahun for example explored her identity, by becoming a more masculine version of herself and I feel like if I were to do something related to this topic I would also be able to explore my identity.

Artist Research Thoughts

I enjoy how Justine Kurland’s images are of young girls, because I am myself a young girl, so this is something I really relate to and is internal to me, so I feel like it would be easier for me to gather my friends to create similar images. I also feel like I could produce better images, as the topic of ‘girlhood’ is so much more internal to me, as I am experiencing my girlhood right now. I also like how she also fights against stereotypes, b getting the girls to ‘try on boy,’ which I feel like I would be able to do and create up to standard images. I am also going to explore female stereotypes, as well as opposing female stereotypes, because this is how I am going to put a twist on my photos, compared to Justine Kurland’s.

I am also going to be using the same photographic technique as Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall, which is producing tableaux images, that look like candid images. I am going to create these tableaux images in scenic outdoor environments and capture normal social interactions, that I would do in my youth. I am also going to pull ideas from the activities and the settings used in Justine Kurland’s ‘Girl Pictures.’

For my photoshoot, I am going to use Justine Kurland for my main inspiration, but I am also going to pull ideas, concepts and compositions from Jeff Wall and other Historical paintings. I am doing this, because both Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland pulled compositions, ideas and concepts from famous paintings.

I am going to pull composition ideas, such as the fore ground, middle ground and background, as well as using the rule of thirds and other compositional ideas, because Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland have used these compositional ideas, and I think they have worked very well. I am also going to use similar visual elements, such as tone, shape, patterns etc. that they have both used.

Photoshoot Plan

Justine Kurland- Girl Pictures

Examples of my youth:

During my teenage years, I went out with my friends a lot. Some of the outdoor places we would go, would include:

• Harve Des Pas Beach
• FB Fields
• Fort Regent
• St Brelades Bay
• Frigate
• People’s Park
• St Ouens Beach
• La Marrais
• Town
• In my car
• Georgia’s shed
• Campfire

The reason I am only choosing places which are outdoors, is because during my youth, I had more fun and did more things, while I was outdoors, instead of inside. I also wanted to keep the setting of my images still quite similar to Justine Kurland, because I think the images will relate to ‘Girl Pictures’ more, and will come out of a better standard visually.

During my youth I did many different activities including:

• Jumping off the Lido at Harve Des Pas
• Swimming in the sea
• Wave surfing at St Ouens
• Playing hide and seek at La Marrais
• Camping at St Ouens
• Have BBQ at the beach, or in gardens
• Picnic
• Get a snack/ meal
• Tan/ chill with a book
• Make a campfire

Other place ideas:

I also wanted to include settings that were used in ‘Girl Pictures,’ because I think they are visually pleasing settings, and they really help display the combat against stereotypical norms, because a dirty woods is not usually associated with femininity. Some places I have decided to include are:

• Street
• Public Bathroom
• Field
• Woods
• Barn/ shed
• Lakes/ rivers/ pond
• Mountains/ cliffs
• Walkway path
• Sandunes
• Roadside
• Under a Bridge
• Reservoir
• Rocky coast

Similar Places in Jersey:

• Cycling path along the avenue
• Snow hill, St Ounes etc.
• Field- nans garden
• St Catherines woods
• Georgia’s shed
• Sandunes
• Underground bit at harbour
• Resoviour
• Cliff paths St Brelade
• Beach
• Fort Regent park
• St Brelades campfire

Stereotype Ideas:

Female Stereotypes-

• Use of makeup in my images
• Doing hair
• Emotional shots eg. crying
• Using colours such as pink

Male Stereotypes-

• Strong eg. use of weights
• colours such as blue
• Emotional shots eg. anger and violence
• Messing around

To fight against these stereotypes, I will have girls do these male stereotypes, so that I can present girls acting like boys, as well as girls presenting as more feminine, because these were some activities I did in my youth and they just happen to be more feminine.

Narrative of different Image Ideas:

• Playing on swings in a park
• Running down the street
• Getting ready/ washing in a public bathroom
• camping
• smoking
• eating ice cream/ other snacks
• Making fires
• Shooting glass bottles
• swimming
• playing catch
• Fighting/ boxing
• Hula hooping
• Playing an instrument eg. Guitar
• Blowing bubbles
• Catching sweets in mouth
• Reading books
• Walking a dog
• Climbing trees
• Washing feet in a river
• Picking flowers
• Fixing a car
• Roadtrip
• Sand castles/ lying at the beach
• Roasting marshemellows
• Climbing fences
• Sledging down the sandunes

Tools/ props needed:

• Make up
• Perfume
• Hair brush
• Soap
• Cigerettes
• Snacks
• BBQ
• Glass bottle
• Toy gun
• Balls
• Hula Hoop
• Instrument
• Bubbles
• Books
• Car
• Bucket and spade
• Marshmellows
• Sledges

Composition

Different compositions that Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall used included compositions from famous paintings, so I am also going to pull ideas from famous historical paintings to create some of my photos. I am also going to pull ideas, concepts and compositions from Justine Kurland’s work and Jeff Wall’s work.

Some example of historical paintings that I am going to pull ideas, concepts and compositions from are below:

Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s world 1948.

I want to take inspiration from these paintings, not only because they have a good composition, but because they also tell a story, which I could tell through my photographs, but make it applicable to modern times, and to the subject of identity and youth, because that is what I’m exploring.

Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, The Burial of Manon Lescaut.

For this historical painting, I am going to take a picture of the same composition and actions. I am going to have one of my friends lying down being buried, like the women in this image, and have another friend burring her, but the concept behind my photograph is going to be different to the concept of the painting. In the painting the man is burring the women after she has died, but in my photograph I am going to make a modern version of this painting, and I am going to relate this photograph to my theme of youth. I am going to do this, by having the concept of my image being too young girls playing at the beach instead, because this is something I used to do when I was younger.

Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s world 1948.

For this historical painting I am going to use the same composition and setting as this historical painting and I am going to position my model in the same way. However, I am going to try and find a daisy field, so that she could be picking daisies in my photograph, instead of the concept of the painting. In the painting, she is looking into the distance at a faraway farmstead and a cluster of structures, and she is portrays the artist’s neighbor, who was unable to walk due to polio, so she would drag herself around.

For another photograph, I am going to take inspiration from Edouard Manet’s painting above, as well as the photographs Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland have made by pulling concepts, ideas, and compositions from Edouard Manet. I am going to do this, by creating a similar setting and composition as they all have. I am going to do this, by going to a scenic outdoor area that is similar to the settings they have used, such as a woods, and I am going to use the same compositional method that they have all used, with a person in the foreground, middle ground and background.

To take inspiration from these images in the best and easiest way, I am going to print off these historical paintings and my chosen artists photos, so that I can visualise what I am trying to create while I am out on my photoshoot, and so I can see them side by side.

I am also going to be focusing on my composition quite a lot throughout all my photoshoots, as I am taking inspiration from Jeff Wall, Justine Kurland and famous historical paintings. Some examples of compositional tools I use are the foreground, middle ground, background, rule of thirds etc..

I am also going to be focusing on the visual elements that I can present in my photographs, and the visual elements that are being used in the historical painting, as well as Jeff Wall’s work and Justine Kurland’s work.

List of Visual Elements:

• Colour
• Tone (light & dark)
• Texture (surface)
• Shape (2D, flat)
• Form (3D)
• Pattern (repetition)
• Line
• Space (3D concept)

Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall is a Canadian photographer, who was born the 29th September 1946. He is artist best known for his large-scale back lit photographs and art history writing. He began drawing and painting at an early age and in the mid-1960s, and he studied art history at the University of British Columbia while continuing to make art, until 1970. Since the 1970’s he has problematized the relationship between photography, documentary and art in his dramatizations of apparently ordinary street scenes and social encounters. He pulled ideas, concepts and compositions from famous historical paintings (masters). He takes historical paintings and also puts a twist on them with his work, as he creates photographs with similar concepts, compositions and ideas to the paintings, but he creates a modern day version of the paintings. However, he is best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing.

His Work

Jeff Wall’s carefully composed tableaux depicts everyday social relations which are based on his knowledge of Classical paintings. For example here he has depicted what a scene of a picnic looks like in the 21^st century compared to Seurat’s depiction of the bourgeoisie by a lake in the 19^th century France.

He borrowed the idea and concept of a picnic, however he made a modern day version of this picnic in the 1800. He slightly changed the concept of his photograph, compared to the painting in order to do this, as in modern times families do not usually go out to a park with lots of other families to have a picnic, but this is what is was like in the 1800, as the painting presents. Instead, he has had this modern day family go out into their garden and he has staged this image by manipulating the composition, positioning etc. as his images are tableaux images. Although he has changed the concept slightly he has kept the composition quite similar, with the trees in the background, just like in the painting, and he has had the father sit slightly more in the foreground, mother in the middle ground and daughter in the background to present a similar composition to the painting. However, the composition is not the exact same, as he has much less people in his photograph, compared to the painting.

Jeff Wall recreated historical paintings such as this and made modern day photograph version, because by recreating episodes that he has witnessed from his own memory, he gives himself room to add his own narrative and aesthetic elements. Rather than accepting reality as it is, he distorts it and enhances it to his preferences.

Jeff Wall also pulled ideas from quite a few of Edouard Manet’s paintings, similarly to Justine Kurland, as seen above, because Wall’s earliest photographs of the late 1970s and 1980s, clear references are made to some of the most famous paintings in the history of art since the Renaissance. He admits that in nodding toward the titans of early modern painting, such as Delacroix and Manet, he was ‘trying to continue an idea of historically and theoretically informed production.‘ At the time, many contemporary artists were rejecting the presumed grandeur of fine art painting in materials, style, and subject matter. 

In this image above he has borrowed the composition of the women being in the foreground and the man being in the background, in the same way the women in he painting is in the foreground and her reflection is in the background. He has also used the rule of thirds in his photograph, just how the rule of thirds was used in the painting as well. I his photograph he has the women in the left hand third, the man in the the right hand third, and in the centre third is a camera, which is supposed to be the viewer. He has also used a mirror in his photograph, just like in the painting. However, Jeff Wall has positioned the women in the left side of the frame, whereas in the painting there is a centre balance, with the women in the centre of the frame and the line of the the bar going horizontally through the image, creating a sort of cross.

Examples of his compositions

Similarly to Justine Kurland he has taken inspiration from Edouard Manet, Le Dejeuner sur L’herbe 1863. He has created a tableaux image, where he has manipulated the positioning and location of the models and himself. He has also borrowed the composition in the same way that Justine Kurland has, by having the three people in the foreground on the left, the person on the right in the middle ground and the far people in the background. He has also pulled from the setting a little bit, as the setting is in field like area with trees on the left. However, he has made a more modern day version of this painting by including the bridge, which is a modern day structure in his photograph.

Similarities with Justine Kurland

Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland both take photographs, which they have pulled ideas, concepts and compositions from famous historical paintings. They both also take images of ordinary street scenes and social encounters.

When pulling ideas, concepts and compositions to create tableaux images, both Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland have created a photograph similar to the paintings they have taken inspiration from, but have made the concept of the photo applicable to modern day times.

How I am taking Inspiration from him

For my personal study I am going to take inspiration from Jeff Wall, as I am going to be pulling concepts, ideas and compositions from his work, just like he does with Historical paintings. I also want to pull ideas, concepts and compositions from historical paintings that he has taken inspiration from, like Edouard Manet, as well as other historical paintings. Some examples of historical paintings I want to take inspiration from are:

I want to take inspiration from Edouard Manet’s painting, because both Jeff Wall and Justine Kurland have taken inspiration from this photograph. I also want to take inspiration from Jeff Wall’s photograph, that he has pulled ideas, concepts and compositions from.

Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s world 1948.

I want to take inspiration from these paintings, not only because they have a good composition, but because they also tell a story, which I could tell through my photographs, but make it applicable to modern times, and to the subject of identity and youth, because that is what I’m exploring.

I am also going to be taking photos of ordinary street scenes and social encounters, as I am going to be taking pictures of my friends and I doing activities in outdoor areas that I used to do in my youth.

Justine Kurland

Justine Kurland was born in 1969 and is an American fine art photographer, based in New York City. She first gained public notice with her work in the group show, called Another Girl, Another Planet (1999), at New York’s Van Doren Waxter gallery.  The show included her large c-print staged tableaux pictures of landscapes inhabited by young adolescent girls, half-sprites, half juvenile delinquents. This was her first exhibition of a photographic interest that lasted from 1997, when she began taking pictures of her mentor Laurie Simmons’s babysitter and her friends, to 2002. Altogether, Kurland published 69 pictures of girls in a series called “Girl Pictures.” The staged photos take place in urban and wilderness settings, with girls depicted as though to imply they are runaways, hopeful and independent. As landscapes she chose the ‘secret places’ of late childhood; wasteland on the edges of suburbia, ‘owned’ only by a feral nature and unsupervised children. Her book Spirit West (2000) featured similar work on a more ambitious scale. In early 2001 Kurland spent several months in New Zealand, where she created similar work with school girls there.

About ‘Girl Pictures’

‘The girls were rebelling. The girls were acting out. The girls had run away from home, that much was clear. They were trying on a version of themselves that the world has thus far shown them was boy.’ Floating a raft down the Mississippi. Tucking smokes into the sleeve of a T-shirt. Having a rumble. Living off land. Cowboys, sailors, pirates, hitchhikers, hobos, train hoppers, explorers, catchers in the rye, lords of the flies- you name it, all the dominion of boys. If you wanted a place in the narrative, you had to imagine yourself inside of it. – Justine Kurland.

This is the first paragraph in Justine Kurland’s book, where she sets the narrative of her ‘Girl Pictures’ for the viewers. The narrative of this story is that these girls have ran away from home, so that they can explore and have fun and be whoever they wish to be. She sets this narrative in these tableaux images, by having the girls pose doing all these different activities, such as swimming in rivers, or camping in forests.

She also explains what she wants the viewers to take in from this book and from her images, which is that you too can be anything you dream of in your imagination. She states that they are pirates, cowboys etc, because in ‘Girl Pictures’ these girls aren’t just girls, they are whoever they want to be, as they are finding their true identity during their youth. She also states that they are trying on ‘boy,’ because in society standards it is more socially acceptable for boys to act in this rambunctious manor, rather than girls. This is due to gender stereotypes, which have been seen through many centuries. I feel like in this book ‘Girl Pictures’ she is trying to fight against these stereotypes of young girls, and this is an important matter to her and all other girls, because they have grown up being told what they should be or how they should behave a certain way due to their gender. She is fighting against these stereotypes, by having these young girls act in a way that is seen as more masculine and not socially acceptable for these girls.

Kurland also began dating women shortly after completing her ‘Girls’ series, working with an undercurrent of sex and female sexuality. As of 2018 she had been dating her current female partner for three years. I think that, because of her work fighting against stereotypes and researching identity, it has impacted her and also allowed her to fight stereotypes and socials norms in her own personal life and help her find her true identity.

‘Girl Pictures’ is also about finding your identity and exploring youth as ‘girls’, because during youth you do not know who you fully are yet and being able to explore every aspect of your youth, even if it does not comply with social ‘norms’ allows you get the truest sense of your identity possible. Justine Kurland presents the girls finding their identity throughout the the book, because she states and presents, ‘Cowboys, sailors, pirates, hitchhikers, hobos, train hoppers, explorers, catchers in the rye, lords of the flies- you name it, all the dominion of boys. If you wanted a place in the narrative, you had to imagine yourself inside of it.’ This quote states that the girls could be anything they wanted to be even if it was the boys ‘dominion.’

Importance of the Topic

This topic of girlhood is really important to me and all other girls, because it explores our identity and youth. The way Justine Kurland opposed social norms in this book is important for girls all over the world, especially young girls that are exploring their identity, because this may influence people to decide their own identity, instead of following social standards.

Justine Kurland also explores opposing female stereotypes, which is really important to women and girls all around the world, because this will allow and influence other women and girls to oppose these stereotypes as well, so that they can be anything they want to be, instead of just confined to a certain range of lifestyles and careers.

The importance of this topic for me during my personal study, is that I can relate to Justine Kurland’s work, as well as adding my own experience, as I have experienced girlhood and youth. This will allow to me explore my youth and see how my identity has changed through the course of my life. I really want to explore this, so that I can figure out my own identity.

Girl Pictures

Composition

Justine Kurland carefully composes all her tableaux images, as she manipulated the narrative to be whatever she desires. She manipulates the position and distance of the girls and herself, to create a good composition.

Justine Kurland borrowed ideas, concepts and compositions from old historical paintings (masters/ famous paintings). An example of her borrowing from a master is ‘Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe’ by Edouard Manet, which was created in 1862-63.

This painting includes a nude women in the foreground of the painting, who is lunching with two fully dressed men, who are in the middle ground of the painting. They also seem to be having a picnic in a woods, which is presented by the setting of the painting and the picnic basket containing fruit. This suggests they are lunching, as the title of the painting states. ‘Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe’ is French and states ‘Lunch on the grass.’ There is also a half dressed women in the background of this painting, who is washing herself/ swimming in the lake. This painting was a very scandalous back in the 1800, as public nudity was seen as vulgar and frowned upon by society. This was because nudity was a very private concept back in that time, so the models for this painting would have most likely been prostitutes, as a respectable women would not have done this, or been allowed to in this time period.

Justine Kurland borrowed the concept and the composition from this famous painting. As seen in the painting and the photograph, the settings are quite similar, as they are both scenic landscapes, which are wooded, with trees in the distance, as well as the lake in the background. She has also borrowed the nudity concept from the painting, as she has a young girl life her top in the photograph, as if she is undressing to get in the lake. She has also borrowed the composition from the this photo, as well as other visual elements. Justine Kurland has used the same layout of having the ‘nude’ girl in the foreground, with people in the middle ground, as well as more people in the background down near the lake.

Analysis of one image

The lighting used in this image is artificial lighting, because the image is taken inside. The image also has a high level of control, because it is a staged tableaux image, where the girls position, distance and location was manipulated the way Justine Kurland thought best fitted. This image is a colour image and has quite warm tones throughout out, because of the warmness of the light (not a harsh florescent light). The layout of these girls was manipulated, so that there was a foreground, middle ground, and background, which leads the viewers eye around the page from front to back. This make the girls the main viewpoint of this image.

This photograph displays ‘run away’ girls living out of public restrooms, as they are exploring their sexuality and ‘trying on boy.’ This photo is largely about fighting against stereotypes, as they are acting in a way that is seen as more masculine. These images are also about exploring identity, because in these images the girls can be anything they want and desire, from princesses to cowboys and more.

What I am taking Inspiration from

I am taking inspiration from the way Justine Kurland takes her images. She takes tableaux staged images, that look like candid shots, which is what I am going to replicate for my own personal study. She also takes pictures of young girls doing a range of activities, ranging from camping to shooting. I am also going to be taking pictures of a group of young girls (my friends) doing a range of similar activities, but I am also going to include a few different activities that are feminine according to society, because Justine Kurland only explored the girls ‘trying on boy,‘ so she only explored opposing female stereotypes. In my study I am also going to explore opposing female stereotypes, but I am also going to present female stereotypes, so I can present a larger range of identity in my study. Justine Kurland also has a distinctive outdoor settings in her images, including places such as the woods, rivers or roads, which I am also going to use for the setting of my images. However, I may take a few images inside, as a few of my youth memories were inside and I also want to explore these.

I also want to take inspiration from her carefully thought out compositions, that she took inspiration from old historical paintings. Not only do I want to replicate some of her compositions, as well as creating my own compositions to suit the setting an activities that are being done. I may also try and take inspiration from old famous historical paintings, just like she has, so that I can really stretch myself further and challenge myself. Some ideas of masters that I could recreate the composition of are below:

I want to take inspiration from this painting by Edouard Manet, because both Justine Kurland and Jeff Wall have taken inspiration from this painting. I also want to take inspiration from Justine Kurland’s photograph, which has taken inspiration from this painting.

Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s world 1948.

I have chosen to recreate these famous historical paintings, because not only do they have good composition, but they also tell a story, which I feel like I would be able to present with my photographs, but make it applicable to modern day and to the theme of youth and identity, because that is what I am exploring.