For my personal study, my inspirations come from the work of Carolle Benitah and Philip Toledano, two artists who utilise the theme of nostalgia, family, memory and loss in order to challenge events that have occurred in their lives, specifically in childhood. This is something I want to reinterpret in my own way and apply it to my own circumstances, that being growing up with a sibling who develops Bipolar disorder.

First Idea:

My first photoshoot idea solely comes from the work of Carolle Benitah. Benitah takes images from her own family archives, such as photo albums, and uses different mediums to symbolise different events that happened which are linked to the image itself, or the people within it.

She also uses the same consistent shade of red within each image to make them all link and be cohesive in the story that she’s trying to tell – this is something I have thought about doing but with a consistent shade of blue as this is my brothers favourite colour, however I need to think about this a bit more as I am unsure at the moment. But, if I do use this inspiration, I may be able to apply this into each photoshoot so that all my images link and show a clearer reference to Benitah.

As my inspiration, I am going to go through the images that my parents have involving my brother, whether that be just him, me and him or all of us, and photograph them. I am going to do this either by using the studio or creating my own small studio at home using black card as the background so that I can crop any spaces after. If this is unsuccessful, I will photocopy the physical image itself. This is because I don’t want to tarnish the actual picture, so by creating a copy this then allows me to be experimental with different mediums – such as paint, ink, thread, glitter – multiple times. I also do have digital images from my mum, meaning that I can print multiple copies off to also be able to experiment and not be worried about it being ineffective.

Second Idea:

My second idea stems more from the work of Philip Toledano, looking at the still-life’s he took of his sisters belongings from before she died as a nine year old child. Toledano took an assortment of Claudia’s belongings and keepsakes from her childhood and photographed them using a birds-eye view technique.

This is going to inspire me in my second photoshoot, beginning with me asking my parents for everything and anything they kept from mine and my brothers childhood, with the objects ranging from birthday cards to baby toys. Anything I can find I am going to photograph in order to have a wider variety of images to choose from as this will enable me to be more selective in choosing which images are the best, link the story well enough, and carry the most meaning. If I do this well, I think this will make my photobook more emotive, and encapsulate the heaviness of this topic behind it. I am going to try to achieve the lighting technique that Toledano uses, being that he uses geometric shapes in order to add that ‘out of place’ tone within the images. However, if this doesn’t work I will be able to find a way to do it on Photoshop by merging the two images and making one in black and white and the other in colour, then cutting out my desired shape in the black and white image, finally layering the two over each other so that the shape I have created is the only part of the image that is in colour.

Third Idea:

My third category of images that I am going to use is going to be of different locations that resonate with my brother and relate to his childhood. For example:

• My house
• Football fields
• My estate
• My garden
• The hospital that he goes to

These are only just a few I can think of at the moment, however I will ask my parents where the best places to go would be as they will know from taking me and my brother.

However, I don’t want my images to just be plain landscapes that don’t really fit in with my other two photoshoots so I am going to hone in on form for these images. My second zine that I did for Jersey’s maritime museum was very focused on the form of the landscape instead of the aesthetics of it, which is why I want to use this knowledge in my own personal study, as this is a good representation of seeking out the environment around me as well as portraying the context of my brothers story better. When I go to these places, I am going to take multi-shots to be able to distinguish the best images and be able to experiment better.

Overall, a key aspect of my work is going to revolve around form and shape, specifically in my third photoshoot, however this is also going to be demonstrated in my second photoshoot in a more discreet way. My photoshoots may change as I begin to work on them next week, however I need to remember to be experimental and explore different ideas by taking risks.

Yury LI-Toroptsov is a certified professional life coach, author and visual artist within Paris, France. Born in 1974 to a rural community in Vladivostok, a city within Russia, Toroptsov gained a prestigious scholarship in 1998 to the New School for Social Research in New York.

The core of Toroptsov’s work incorporates a multitude of culture – from his Far-Eastern origins, travels of America and his residence of France – in order to detail a story of identity, people and the permanence of myths. Nostalgic tones are rife through Toroptsov’s work too, through his recurring themes of memories and the secular(no religious connection or affiliation). Whilst living in Berlin, he explored the notion of fairy tales for adults, however the work that I am most interested in is entitled ‘Deleted Scene’.

HIS WORK:

In ‘Deleted Scene’, Toroptsov transports the viewer back to his home town within Russia to explore the echoes of his father’s memories who passed away before he turned two. With little to no memories of him alongside all reminders of him disappearing too, beside his camera, Toroptsov aims to unravel the neglected recollection of him. With his father being an amateur photographer, Toroptsov discovered his camera at age 9 with a strong curiosity due to it being the last personal thing connected to his father in his possession.

From the images that his father took, family archives of letters, keepsakes, group images paired with landscape images that seek out the distinct patterns within rural areas of nature instead of perspective images, Toroptsov highlights how the told and retold stories of his father were shared like folklore, the detail alternating on who was reciting the story. He also demonstrates the frustration of not being able to recall the early and limited time he shared with his father before his untimely death, for example one of the pictures show Toroptsov as a five-month-old baby lying on his belly on his parents’ bed fixated on the photographer – his father, who has thirteen months left to live. This dedication to someone who is so close yet still a stranger allows Toroptsov to begin trying to get to know his father even through death, and allows him to express the complete and happy family that he was part of, even if it is difficult for him to recall from such a young age. Knowing that this time was shared with his father, yet unable to relish in the memories to recollect and rewind, is represented through the mysterious tones that he depicts in this photobook.

Toroptsov includes archived images and letters in this photobook, however that is not the images that I am interested in as I have already explored the work of Phillip Toledano alongside Carolle Benitah, where they both already include this format of images in their work. Instead, I would like to look at the landscape images that he takes. Usually, I find that landscape images are very external and more documental rather than a personal, expressive image however, Yury Toroptsov seeks out the formal elements of:

• Line
• Form
• Shape
• Pattern
• Texture

As he travels through his home town of Vladivostok, a rustic community that borders with China and North Korea, Toroptsov focuses on the smaller aspects of the environment around him instead of taking a vague, wide-shot image of the whole area around him. Alternatively, he seeks out the smaller fragments that build up the community in greater detail, as if he is zooming in with a magnifying glass and picking apart his childhood without a father figure at home.

Some examples which I could find online:

This is just a small fraction of the locational images within Deleted Scene, however within the physical book there are a variety of images that are detailing what builds up this location, and becomes depicted in the book as something that gives Toroptsov nostalgia from his childhood.

I find that by picking apart his home town and employing the visual elements of form, shape and line specifically, creates ambiguity within the composition and adds directional factors into the images that make the viewer explore themselves. Looking at the personal connection that his father shared with this location in a minimalistic way makes the images carry a melancholic tone, although some of the images have bursts of colour such as the yellow body of water, each image carries a large juxtaposition within its tonality. What I mean by this is that the changes between the tones of the image are drastic and bold, showing that they carry a lot of emotion and sentimentality.

I am going to use the work of Yury Toroptsov in my personal study by following his naturalistic images specifically focusing on tone, line, shape and form. In my own work, I am going to go to locations that are linked with mine and my brothers childhood to represent the experiences that we have shared growing up, and highlighting these nostalgic places that I share memories with him as a child. As well as this, I may take images of locations that symbolise loneliness or appear to have a melancholic tone because this is a key aspect of the meaning behind my personal study that I want to share. For example, I am going to go to FB football fields as this is where my brother spent a lot of his time when he was younger as he played football frequently as one of his hobbies, or possibly going to Fort Regent to add information about the other sports he began to do as he started to grow up, such as boxing. I may or may not incorporate objects in these images, but the main focal point within each of these images is going to be the formal elements as this will provide a more interesting perspective on the landscape in a more subjective way, rather than being objective and documental in my landscape images.

Being that it is winter, I think that this will provide a more morose tone in my work due to the gloomy atmosphere it will bring into the background, similar to Toroptsov. In order to achieve the same effect as Toroptsov I am going to have to account for both the foreground and the background in order to make the composition consistent with its patterns, so I need to really seek out these spaces and be thoughtful about my images before I shoot them so that I can get this same effect of mystery and obscurity in my work. I think this will be really successful if I can execute it well, and I am aware of what to look for as a result of the topic on Jersey’s Maritime History as in my second zine I used this technique.

ANALYSIS OF HIS WORK:

This specific image from Yury Toroptsov’s ‘Deleted Scene’ was one of my favourites because of the sharp contrast between the saturated yellow tinge to what appears to be a lake, compared with a deep black colour from the natural landscape poking through underneath, such as sticks or leaves. Being the first aspect of the composition that grabs the viewers attention from its vibrancy, the sticks from underneath break this block-colour seal, disturbing its smooth blanket that it has engulfed the water in. This adds the initial layer on texture in the image, scattered throughout the lake in an erratic and unstructured way. This saturation of yellow adds a cautionary aspect to the image when paired with the chaotic sprinkling of these sticks and leaves due to their dark colour, creating a tone that already makes the viewer feel as if something has gone wrong here, not everything is the way it should be. The strangeness of the water being this colour is already warning enough, however this colour is commonly associated with warning signs of danger, meaning that this is conveyed to the viewer as unsettling. As the image is inspected more, this vibrancy isn’t actually the focal point of the image, just merely the out of focus background. Reflections of the surrounding trees are echoed into the yellow swamp below, adding an intricate pattern of lines in a variety of lengths and sizes to layer over one another. This creates a textural perspective to layer over this blanket of yellow that was initially thought to be flat, adding greater depth to the image and makes it come to life in a 3D manner. This layering of reaching arms off the branches of the trees can be interpreted as resembling his fathers connection to Vladivostok, being Toroptsov’s home town, and depicting that his heritage is all around him here. This is an obscure metaphor through the delicate pattern that the branches create which look like the veins within the human anatomy, being an accurate representation of how the blood vessels spread out in a randomised order, intertwine and vary in sizing. This could be Toroptsov’s attempt at trying to show that even if he doesn’t recall his father, he has the ability to honour his memory even if he is ultimately a stranger to him.

Links:

https://www.toroptsov.com/photographer/deleted-scene

Yury Toroptsov

Born in 1968 to a French Moroccan mother and an American father, Philip Toleando is a London-born conceptual visual artist, as well as growing up in Casablanca, who lives and works from within New York City, utilising his passion from photography after a decade of working as an advertising art director. Targeting primarily socio-political themes, Toleando believes that a photograph should act as an unfinished sentence, exploring and executing this through a variation of mediums; photography, installation, sculpture, painting and video. Toledano uses photography as a form of internal storytelling through typically using staged sets, for example in his project ‘The Many Sad Fates Of Mr Toledano’, he uses different models to represent different life events and lifestyles in a uncanny and unsettling way. Alternatively, Philip Toledano in his project of ‘Another America’ he uses an Ai generative tool in order to depict worldwide events, such as devastation from 9/11 or the Influenza outbreak in order to challenge the notion of truth in photography and in the media.

Growing up in London, the British photojournalist recognised for his photography concerning war and urban strife, Don McCullin, motivated Toleando in his early pieces, causing him to aspire to be a ‘combat photographer’. However, Toledano’s work is contrasted from this, using abstract metaphors in order to deeply explore his own personal views and experiences of the world.

The selection of images that I am most interested is from one of his photobooks entitled ‘When I Was Six’:

HIS WORK:

The six images above are just a small example of the solemn story that Toledano sought to represent in this narrated photobook, an anecdote of how the death of his sister, Claudia, at age nine, left an unknown and empty presence in his life. His exploration of this event resonates with the human psyche, with it occurring 40 years prior due to a fire. Toledano mixes still-life images, text and atmospheric, ‘heaven-like’ images to not only see this section of his life from a clearer perspective, but also put the viewer into the shoes of his six year old self in order to make them almost relive the experience for him.

These two types of images within this photobook; ethereal-looking patterns juxtaposed by Claudia’s childhood keepsakes such as hair, her school pencil, the box of which her belongings were preserved in and her baby tag detailing her birth. The way that the photo-book has been pieced together has been done very thoughtfully, thinking about the dream-like images first comes across as some sort of escape from the reality of Claudia’s death for Toledano, imagining these landscapes that connote emotions of peace, vulnerability and freedom from demons in his mind, even as a six year old who wouldn’t be able to process such a devastating concept. How well would a six year old be able to understand death, such a traumatic and disruptive event?

‘I have no memories of my life after my sister’s death for a few years, other than an obsession with space, planets, and distant universes. ‘

The quote above suggests to me that the inclusion of images surrounding space, planets, astronomy and universes is Toledano expressing his inner child. Such a trauma to a six year old would be psychologically altering as Philip Toledano wouldn’t of been cognitively ‘ready’ to acknowledge the passing of his sister. As he states here that he has no memories of life after Claudia’s passing, this determines the conclusion that these memories of such a difficult time in his life have been suppressed and blocked out so that he doesn’t have to face such a painful truth. However, this photo-book can be interpreted as a final release of this ordeal and ultimately preparing and trying to grieve someone who has already been gone for 40 years. This gives Toleando the capability to heal and come to terms with Claudia’s passing, however this also means that he can relive the memories that he shared with her, whether he is consciously aware that they exist. However, this movement and changing of direction adds form and depth into his work, making these images show the fluidity of emotion, possibly suggesting the loss of control he had over his own when he lost Claudia.

On the other side of the spectrum, Toledano presents objects linked the Claudia’s life in a randomised order, beginning with her baby tag. This could be purposeful for the start of the photo-book being associated with the start of life, with a baby being a new beginning. Toledano stated that:

‘After my parents died, I found boxes of her things, things I’d never seen before, neatly packed away, a museum of sorts, created by my mother. ‘

Being almost never spoken about again in the family due to the heartache, this enabled Philip to finally get to know his sister from a more ‘outsider’ perspective, getting an explanation as to who she was, how she loved her parents and what happened after she passed. Toledano compiles many images of Claudia’s belongings, as well as key pieces of information to tell her story, this being:

• Sympathy cards for Toledano’s parents,
• A large cardboard box (the box of which her belongings were in),
• Claudia’s birthday cards,
• A shoebox,
• A piggy bank,
• Claudia’s school photo,
• Small, singular images of Claudia at home or at school,
• Her school uniform,
• Notes and cards with Claudia’s handwriting,
• A book of hers,
• A handheld fan,
• Her school pencil, engraved with her name,
• Postcards,
• A giraffe ornament,
• Her hair,
• A photo album,

Towards the end of the photobook is when the images begin to get dark, painful and depressing. The last two images of objects capture the blueprint of which Toledano’s father had to draw his daughter’s own tombstone alongside the folder containing her certificate of death. I feel that, similarly to the beginning, this makes the photobook become more cohesive, being that the end of Claudia’s life is represented through the ending of Toledano’s storyline. Within the still-life images, Toledano moves his lighting to create shadows over the different objects involved over black card, angling the camera from different viewpoints to create dynamic lines over each object in a different way. The shadows are either solely parallel, going from one corner of the image to the opposed, however many of the images hide shapes within them, made out of shadows. Because these shadows aren’t directly centred around the objects themselves, this could be used for creating an ‘out of place’ tone in the work.

ANALYSIS OF HIS WORK:

This image from Philip Toledano’s ‘When I Was Six’ project really resonated with me and is one of my favourites from the photobook. This still-life captures Claudia’s school summer dress from when she was nine, placed neatly and cautiously into what seems to be an adult shoe box with the lid off, accustomed by tissue paper underneath. When the image is initially viewed, the first thing that I notice is the tension between the blocked black background with the checkered pattern on the dress. This juxtaposition creates a type of optical illusion as this is such a dramatic contrast, making this burst of colour and the textural aspect of the dress look out of place and adds an aspect of solemnity for the viewer to begin to pick apart the images to come. The way that the box is placed just out of centre, pushed to the side every so slightly, gives the image the theme of the uncanny, something that isn’t just quite right. I also find this where the box isn’t placed exactly straight, appearing to have been just pushed into the lens with no real thought behind it. I consider this to be a purposeful action, possibly to symbolise how this box containing all of the objects that are associated with Claudia, including her school uniform, were pushed aside for 40 years unbeknownst to Toledo, only to be discovered once his parents had passed away. The tissue paper behind the dress is crinkled, showing its age as its been discarded for so long. However, I find that this may resemble the memory of Claudia withering away from within the box over the years, specifically due to Toledo stating that ‘I have no memories of my life after my sister’s death for a few years’. What I find is the most motivating factor within Toledano’s image is the lighting technique he has used. This image has been taken from a bird’s eye view using artificial light, however this lighting is in a squared shape, possibly done by using a specific head on the light above or, if he didn’t have the equipment for this, perhaps using different material to create this square outline as it is not entirely perfect. As the lighting has been pushed to the left side to oppose the dress slightly to the right, I feel that this may be reflective of how young Claudia died, explaining why only a partial selection of the dress has been highlighted by this glow. I also feel that this may be representative of that feeling of emptiness and loneliness that we find after a loved one has passed away, as I said before, showing that the beginning stages of grief may lure someone to begin to question their place in the world, what their purpose is. This could be reflective of the shift in Toledano’s family dynamic when he was younger, demonstrating how Claudia wasn’t mentioned much again due to the heartache, making her life slowly disappear into the darkness.

Links:

https://mrtoledano.com/info/: Artist reference: Philip Toledano https://mrtoledano.com/slideshow/when-i-was-six/: Artist reference: Philip Toledano

https://www.lensculture.com/phillip-toledano https://time.com/3737833/phil-toledano-when-i-was-six-photobook

Originally being a fashion designer for a period of ten years, in 2001 Carolle Bénitah began to make herself known as a French Moroccan photographer whose work was largely concerned with themes of memory, nostalgia, family and the passage of time. Her work was a form of reinterpreting herself and her own history as a daughter, wife and mother; defining her own identity. Bénitah tends to incorporate embroidery, beads, ink and collaging into her work through pairing these different art mediums with old family snapshots, or images taken during her childhood.

HER WORK:

These selection of images are taken from her three-part series entitled ‘Photos-Souvenirs‘, created between 2009 and 2014, intending to explores the memories within her Moroccan family and adolescence by reworking these images into a new form, creating heavy contrast, texture and depth into her work. Her work focuses on Freud’s concept of the uncanny; representing the suppression of emotions and perceptions alongside incoherent experiences during her life. While the images that she used were taken from approximately 40 years ago at the time, it meant that she could turn her attention to her own history and decipher what occurred at the time to allow her to express the emotions she may have not been able to portray at the time due to her being a child with a good perception of the world, as children do. Through this series, it enabled her to unravel the fears and secrets of her inner child that have constructed her into who she was as an adult, using those experiences who formulate her identity and differing perceptions of the world that would become more realistic and conscious. The concept of nostalgia is evident throughout this series where her images of her as a young girl would convey the sense of relativity whilst seeming so distant and unknown, creating tones of strangeness and comfort, juxtaposing each other.

Embroidering is perceived as a majorly feminine activity due to the fine work and precision it requires because of its delicacy, leading on to symbolise the way that traditionally, this is linked to the mother and daughters of the family taking up sewing and embroidery whilst waiting for the ‘man of the home’ to return. As Bénitah was born in 1965, she stated that:

‘Embroidery is intimately linked to the milieu in which I grew up. Girls in a “good family” used to learn how to sew and embroider — essential activities for “perfect women”. My mother embroidered her trousseau.’

Through utilising the expressions and insights practiced within her childhood, this gives her the ability to symbolise these developing opinions by pairing embroidery with old family archives. I like the concept behind this because whilst the image and the embroidery is supposed to represent these traditional roles at the time, it makes the snapshot have movement within it, adding direction and form into something that is old in order to formulate a new fresh piece. This could be representative of all of the ever-developing perceptions of life within society.

This reflection back onto childhood experiences confronts Bénitah to face her own inner conflicts and past repressions, whether they she may be consciously aware of them or able to use this as an aid to overtly face unpleasant memories in her subconscious. This would enable her to understand her current identity through being able to come to terms with what has occurred in her life as these experiences would have shaped her outlook on life, regardless of the emotions they convey. As well as this, the consistent use of the same shade of red in the images ensures that they all collaboratively link up to guarantee that the viewer can identify the story here and be capable of forming their own personal narrative through interpreting Bénitah’s story in their own perspective. This allows the viewers of her work to make a more personal and intense adaptation to draw their own conclusions and ideas based off of factors in their own lives. This can be a very powerful technique because it leads people to resonate with her work, for example if a parent of a young child sees this they may recognise a similar story from their own childhood, and begin to attempt to make sure similar things don’t occur for their child.

I would like to incorporate the methods of Carolle Bénitah into my own personal study about my experience of growing up with a brother who has Bipolar disorder because I feel that the concepts of our work, while not the same, correlate clearly. I think this use of an obscure metaphor in order to portray a story of loss is very effective through the ambiguous format that the lines move in. It is a way of visually expressing a story that the picture alone wouldn’t be relevant to or able to reveal. Because my intention behind my personal study is tapping into the human psyche as it concerns topics of psychological change, behavioural differences and the impact this has on a family dynamic, I feel that this will be a good starting point for me to experiment with and develop upon in order to make my work very metaphorical and symbolising. This idea of “performing a kind of exorcism of inner demons and past repressions” connotes a tone of liberation which could be very compelling in my work, and allow me to freely express myself, the concept and message that I am trying to send.

ANALYSIS OF HER WORK:

This specific image from Carolle Benitah’s series of Photos Souvenirs, engaging with her childhood constraints and anguish, particularly caught my eye. Upon initial sight, it is evident that this image was taken from around the 1970s to the 1980s from the overall tone of the archived image of Benitah’s family being a more yellowed tone due to age; instead of it just being black and white, the film has gained a cast of discolouration as well as a large crease in the top left corner from being folded. This connotation also stems from the aesthetics of the individuals in the image, wearing respectable and modest apparel that was very common in the 70s, whereas in the 21st century, children may be wearing more casual clothing such as a tracksuit, instead of such a humble appearance. As well as this, the different hairstyles portrayed in the image highlight the large contrast in generational trends to successfully demonstrate how old this image is. For example, the woman on the right holding the baby has had curlers in her hair in order to create a feathered look, which was the general choice for women in the 70s. As the embroidery string used is red, this immediately makes the image become eye-catching and more visible due to it juxtaposing the original image’s more vintage, recessed tone. Benitah has embroidered an empty silhouette around each person within this family image at an angle that is slightly off – the silhouette isn’t accurately outlining each individual. As this series is Benitah’s form of establishing her identity, this could be representative of looking outward herself, picking apart each family member and therefore, making her have an almost ‘out of body’ experience by revising over her past life events. This metaphor stems from the distance that the silhouette has with each person. Because this uses ambiguous shapes, this creates dynamic lines within Benitah’s work that add a sense of direction, causing the viewer to scan the image for a reasonable response. I feel that Benitah’s concept behind this can be perceived as forcing the viewer to become familiar with her family and really have to look at each individuals face and demeanor in the image. This would assist her in trying to portray a story of her childhood as it allows the viewer to gain an initial impression of what that person is/was like. Leading on from this, Benitah has formulated a randomised pattern of plus signs or crosses over four of the individuals faces. I feel that this may be a obscure metaphor for absenteeism and loss, hiding the faces of the people behind these markings. It adds a sense of anonymity, creating questions as to why these people have been concealed within their own family image. Because family snapshots kept as memories and keepsakes, this may be symbolising that the four people within the image have became part of an unpleasant memory that Bénitah desperately wants to forget and ignore instead of coming to terms with it. This evokes tones of mourning, deconstructing the myth of an ideal family and altering an image to hint at a personal secret behind it. Due to the needle piercing the image during the embroidery, this has left small holes and tears in the image that are only visible if the image is truly explored in detail. The violent nature of the needle stabbing the image, almost looking explosive, may suggest conflict, drama and/or pain because of the aggressive nature behind it – in this case, pricking the archived outlines of family members to erase their identities from being in the saturated image. Because of this image imitating the ‘snapshot aesthetic’, when the archived image has been photographed, there are slight patches of the light bouncing back off the image. This reflection, possibly from the cold artificial lighting from photographing this image again at a ‘birds eye’ angle, could be interpreted as a sort of ‘calm after the storm’. What I mean by this is that this reflection of like may act as a symbol for her own person growth by creating this study, healing some sort of unresolved trauma from her childhood that was gained from events that occurred relating to this image, due to brightness tending to correlate with cleanliness or holism.

Links:

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/artists/carolle-benitah

https://www.souslesetoilesgallery.net/exhibitions/the-farther-i-remember

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/carolle-benitah-photos-souvenirs

For my personal study, it’s important that I choose to focus on something that I can explore in a vast way and come up with multiple different concepts for whilst also making it meaningful. I want to make this a study of internal reflection, with my own views and perceptions of life/ the world so that my work can be interpretive to others and subjective. I would like to shy away from more documentary photography showing realism and look for more abstract scenes or ideas as I want to be able to tell a true story that is manipulated so that the viewer of my work can perceive it in their own way and apply it into a different context that I hadn’t intended.

As this is the first time I have had to come up with a personal study entirely on my own, I want to make this body of work different from my other photoshoots that I have done as this is now going to include an element of privacy and a sense of vulnerability in my work. Now that we have done a short-term study on Mirrors and Windows, I can use my knowledge of this to determine what kind of concepts I want within my work to define the story, allowing me to choose a more subjective internal tone in my personal study. However, my work doesn’t particularly have a staged or fictional aspect to it in the form of tableaux photography as what I am demonstrating is a truthful, raw and real story.

INTENTION:

The intent within my personal study is going to be about the difficulties and struggles of growing up with a family member who, over time, deteriorates from gaining a mental illness. Specifically, the illness that I would like to represent is Bipolar disorder, something that can occur over time for a multitude of reasons, for example a neurological change within the brain. I think this concept will be very powerful within my work as it will be able to curate a narrative that develops throughout my final piece, as well as convey many emotions to the viewer through obscure metaphors and symbolism. As well as this, I find that creating an outlet where issues concerning mental health issues, such as photography, can be extremely progressive in removing stigma, shame or even helping to develop an understand about these kinds of things in society because they represent the reality behind the labels that people are given, as well as visually exhibiting every factor that comes along with this socially sensitive topic. Sometimes, the best way to educate about things, such as mental health is through visual art forms as it is easier to show the harsh reality behind it, as well as enabling people to communicate their own inner struggles through photography.

Bodies of work like this can begin to strike conversation about inner conflicts and battles in a form that allows the individual or people involved to express themselves in a way that words can’t describe. Mental health in men and boys, whilst slowly becoming more progressive and seen, is still stigmatised against due to phrases such as ‘Be a man’ for example. My work will be able to show that males do also suffer and the hands of these different illnesses and can be used as a form of awareness to show that this is reality, and that it truly is okay. Regardless, it also proves that things like this can happen to anyone, with them actively going through it or experiencing the second-hand repercussions of it every single day, proving that you never do know exactly what people are going through and that you must always be mindful of that.

My plan for this photoshoot is going to begin with going through old images of me and my brother and selecting ones that I think are the most appropriate for my final piece. I am going to photocopy these so that I can physically create something with them, whether that be burning selective pieces, using pen or painting over it. I think this will be very effective as it adds an element of art and graphic design into my work where I can then really get creative and use dynamic lines to tell a better story than the image could alone by itself. I will then photograph these images again so that I can put them onto the computer.

I am also going to go through many things that my parents have kept from me and my brother when we were younger, for example drawings or notes from childhood, so that I can also use these I my work because I would like to be able to highlight the way that mental health issues can completely take over and transform a person, being able to indicate that life wasn’t always like this and that these issues can develop, grow and fester so quickly out of nowhere that it occurs before your eyes before you realise. As this is something that has been occurring within my family life for a while now, being around 6-7 years, I think its not only incredibly important but that I owe it to myself to actively and clearly represent a difficult story that I have been part of that many people wouldn’t expect if I didn’t tell them, however this is something that affects millions of people on an day-to-day basis that makes it hard for them to cope with the demands of the world around them. This project is something I have thought about for a long time, knowing that this would be the topic I would like to focus on, because it is a part of me, and its a part of my family.

I gained the inspiration of using archived images such as family albums and distorting them from ‘Is that my blue butterfly?’ by Matthew Knapman, where he tears, scribbles, burns, bleeds, splatters ink, digitises and collages different images of his mother at a variety of ages and personal keepsakes of hers, in order to display the story of his mothers struggle with breast cancer, resulting in the loss of her life. I came across his personal study in the classroom when we began looking at what makes a personal study and deciding what grade boundaries we would give the one that we picked based off of their essay and their final piece. When I came across it, I instantly knew that I wanted to explore this theme of loss through different destructive methods as it will allow me to detail even further, the story that I intend to tell. Matthew Knapman gained inspiration from Jessa Fairbrother and Carolle Benitah, two artists who I plan to explore whilst also investigating the similar artists I can find and choosing whose work best correlates with my aim for my personal study, choosing who influences me the most.

I think one of the most important themes within my personal study is going to be nostalgia. The sentimental aspect behind my work, using old keepsakes from my childhood or archived images, is going to drive the story about the events that have occurred within my life that may have been unpleasant, but have shaped me as the person I am today, making it extremely important to tell this story in a clear yet respectful and truthful way. Alongside the theme of nostalgia comes a tone of grief, however, I want to convey the difficulty of grieving someone who is still here yet not the same person they one were or not who they are recalled to be. This sense of absence within my work is something I think will be very moving and striking, especially through the use of different art mediums, because not only will it make my work memorable and abstract, but it will be able to convey the multitude of emotions that I feel about the topic of mental health in regards to my brothers situation.

For the topic of ‘Observe, Seek, Challenge’, I started by creating a mind map of the different definitions and synonyms of these three words to explain what they meant together. After this, I began compiling just a few of the various themes that are explored within photography through observation, seeking and challenging the world around us.

By creating this mind map, this will begin to help me come up with ideas, stemming from the different themes that I have explored, for my personal study. By looking at what inspires other artists and photographers and doing a brief research on their work, for example Liz Barber, as this may give me an initial idea to expand on or interpret in my own way.

Now, I can begin to explore these various concepts and come up with motives of my own for my personal study.

Doug Aitken is an American multidisciplinary artist who explores every medium from photography, sculpture, print media, to creating narrative films, sound, single and multi-channel video works, installations, and live performance. He currently lives in California, Venice and New York City. With his work blurring the boundaries between the various genres and expressions of art, Aitken is most widely recognised as immersive, collaborative and engaged with both the art world and the wider world.

What I am most intrigued by is his project named:

‘New Opposition’:

Aitken shoots landscape images of various locations around the world at horizontal angles, then editing and cropping them into a dynamic format. He uses these multi-textured landscape images that involve various colours in order to create the illusion of an angled cube in the centre on the image. He creates these images by combining four different images that include similar tonal scales and forming an alternative viewpoint for landscape photography that is a more abstract way of representing these natural spaces whilst keeping it documentary. The alternating orientations of different materials, typically natural, add directional lines to the image, either being parallel to the opposing image or being reflective. This causes the viewers eyes to move around the ridges off each of the images and explore it more, attracting the eye from a distance. Each image highlights individualism, being unique within the composition whilst simultaneously flow with all of the other images in the set.

I think this is a perfect example of windows photography as this provides an external exploration around the world and the materials that the Earth provides for us, as well as the multitude of textures, tones, colours and strange shapes created too. Landscape photography can sometimes blend in more, however by arranging the images in these cropped patterns, this attracts the eye more due to the bold lines that the composition comes to have and is more attracting to the eye due to it standing out.

In my photoshoot, I am going to achieve this by taking a compilation of landscape images and then importing them into Lightroom and editing them using the cropping tool. I will then import the images into Photoshop and combine four of them into a single document.

Edgar Martins is a Portuguese photographer and author who resides in the UK, best known for his documentary work on conflict, war and testimony. However, many of Edgar Martins work also represents personal, internal conflicts within himself and stories told from his life through using staged fictional depictions.

Edgar Martins work is represented internationally at numerous renowned museums as well as many other collections such as:

• PS1 MoMA,
• MOPA,
• MACRO,
• MAAT, 
• CIAJG,
• The Gallery of Photography Dublin,
• The National Media Museum,

Martins has also become the recipient of many awards such as:

• RCA Society Book Art Prize (2002),
• The Jerwood Photography Award (2003), 
• The New York Photography Award (2008),
• The BES Photo Prize (2008),
• The IPA (Fine Art— Abstract category, 2010), 
• The SONY World Photography Awards (2018),

Some of Edgar Martins work:

Martins work has a lot of abstract concepts within it, for example the first image that I have displayed shows two sides to the same photo, with the image on the left initially making the viewer believe that some sort of mirror is being held over a persons face, however when this shape is removed it reveals a man holding a chain into his mouth as if he is swallowing it. This consists of a lot of deception towards the viewer and tends to make them ‘think about the bigger picture’, really getting them to question it conceptually rather than just seeing the composition alone face on for what is within the frame. I really like this idea especially through the topic of ‘mirrors of the world’ because it portrays this subjectivity and storytelling nature, full of fictional components that transform an image into a visual piece of art.

In this image, the first thing that draws my eye is the leading lines down the centre of the image leading to the two subjects in the centre. With their identities concealed, I think that this image makes the viewer question who they are and what their backstories are – the fact that they are holding hands connoting themes of community, relationships and togetherness. However, the desolate streets they are standing on looks off-putting and almost wrong, as if it shouldn’t be occurring in this way as it is so odd and uncanny. This weird composition is very obscure and intends to make the viewer feel uncomfortable so that they really acknowledge the personal reflection that is being shown here. Once again, the draining off of colour from the image makes it appear more sincere and serious as that level of vibrancy is gone, making the image speak for itself without any colour to try to evoke or support the emotion being portrayed. The boarded-up windows placed on each house gives the image a sense of danger and a need to be cautious because we don’t know what is being hidden here or what has occured in order for the past events to be covered up. The plainness of the image, for example the sky only having few electric lines spanned across or the one street light stemmed in the far background, ensures that the two people in the foreground are the focal point of the image and highlights to the viewer that there is a story here that needs to be heard as it is so unusual.

Similarly, the leading lines that oppose the practically blank sky makes the image appear uncanny and abnormal, leading off into a darkness concealed by trees to highlight that area of mystery and suspense. On the left is a elongated wall of purely bricks, opposing an entire block of vegetation. This gives a visual version of a binary opposite, man-made versus natural, bordered by a pathway. I think this works really well as this could be used as a concept for the way that humans are consistently wanting to use these harsh man-made techniques in order to develop society instead of sustainable sources. The subject leaning against the wall creating dynamic shapes with his leg, connotes emotions of anger and distress. Because he is turned away from the greenery that is appearing to reach out towards him, suggests that he may feel shame due to his conscious or unconscious contribution to polluting and ultimately destroying the world.

In this image, the figure looks almost translucent which suggests that this is the result of a double exposure edit on photoshop, for example. The emptiness of the room emphasises the dirt and decay that’s spread around the room, adding emotions of loneliness and isolation. The parallel lines placed in the centre of the room lead the viewers eyes to opposing ends of the room so that they focus on the entire image instead of just the brightened area. The exposure of the room is quite low, however its bright enough to ensure that the viewer can see the stains arranged on both the ceiling and the floor in-between the patterns of leaves. The ghostly aura this image inhabits stems from the project Anton’s Hand is Made of Guilt, tributing to his late friend Anton Hammerl. The way that he figure in the room is the only thing that is brightened gives them a sense of purity and cleanliness especially due to the gown that they are wearing. Aesthetica Magazine interviewed Martins on the backgrounding concepts behind this image:

“In 2011 my close friend, South-African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, travelled to Libya with three colleagues to cover the conflict between pro-regime and anti-Gaddafi forces. On 5 April 2011, a few days after arriving in the country, they were forcefully abducted by government backed militia on the front line, around the city of Brega. When Anton’s 3 colleagues were finally set free two months later, we discovered that he had been shot dead on the day of their capture and his body left in the desert. He’s mortal remains are missing to this day. Over the past 10 years Anton’s family and friends have lobbied the UK, Austrian, South African and Libyan governments, as well as the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions to launch an inquiry into his disappearance. Frustrated by the lack of progress, I decided to travel to Libya in 2019.“

Because of the many similar tones in this image, the model almost goes undetected when the viewer initially looks at the image but as it is further inspected, the subject begins to appear. While the patterns are similar, the small contrasting differences add depth and dimension to the image making the composition visually appealing.

For my images reflecting ‘mirrors of the world’, I like the way that Edgar Martins uses the concealment of identity as well as graphic design because this turns the image into a question on who the person is in the image and what their backstory is. Some of his work is incredibly moving and documentary for activism purposes, such as war in poor countries, however some of his images are also taken in an interpretive way as his own reflection of the world which intrigues me.

Edgar Martins uses a lot of form in his work, for example the leading lines down a path or different kinds of shapes placed in sudden places which is something I would like to incorporate into my own photoshoot as this adds a sense of direction and structure into my work so that the composition settles positively. I would like to recreate the graphic design that Martins has used on his piece entitled “Disrupted Identity”. To do this, I will be getting models to dress up as different identities to resemble these old drama stills, then putting them in black and white with a warm tone to give the appearance of archived images. Then, I will be using Photoshop to create graphic shapes to place over certain parts of the models face in order to conceal their identity a little bit as I think this will be very effective due to the contrast in vibrancy – going from bold, neon colours to then layer over a monotone image. I think this idea of deception and mystery will be something that I can portray in my work in a bold and powerful way. As my final selection will only be 3 images, it is important that I guarantee each image is as striking as the other so that they can individually tell a story.

For my photoshoot in response to documentary and tableaux photography, I think it would be really beneficial for me to research many different artists, both images with windows and mirrors, in order to get a broad spectrum to choose from that I feel most drawn to and also ensure that I completely understand the concepts and motives behind the images I am going to shoot.

Mood Board:

Many of these photographers have really deep intentional meaning behind them whilst others explore the world in both abstract and documentary ways. If I do decide to use a photographer with images that have controversial or deep personal meaning behind them, I need to ensure that I carry out my own photoshoots in a respectful and considerate way in order to be aware of the concepts, purposes and symbolisation behind what the photographer intended with their own images.

Introduction

With Photography originating through the use of the camera obscura, a tool believed to have been used since 400BC, this brought about this instantaneous form of ‘drawing with light’. As this optical phenomenon filled rooms of light with images, many pioneers of photography attempted to find more practical ways to invent processes that could fix the image on a surface.

One of these pioneers was Louis Daguerre in 1839, creating the visual experience now known as the Daguerreotype, creating ‘people on the edge of being present’. This would be done initially by polishing a metal plate and laying silver grains upon the surface of it due to them being light-sensitive. Then, this would be placed inside a large format camera and exposed to light from hours to days in order for the light to be reflected back through. After this, the plate would be heated, then cooled with water with extreme caution. This was because if the daguerreotype was touched in the slightest, the image would melt away and be destroyed, wasting the many tools that had to be used. These had high monetary value too, meaning that if the Daguerreotype had been melted away, the artist would have missed out greatly. Due to the fragile element of this photographic process, these would typically be placed into special housing such as wooden boxes, an open model or a folding case which included red velvet too for protection and luxury.

Then came the salted paper and Calotype production of Henry William Fox-Talbot. Talbot first began by applying “silver salts” onto salted paper, creating silver nitrate reactions from the light-sensitivity. This was then exposed to light for many days and then darkened producing negative images. These appeared like shoebox sized cameras and were named mousetraps and were very difficult to use because if it was disturbed it may just get darker and darker so that its only experienced momentarily. Overall, calotypes were better than Daguerreotypes due to it being easily distributed, reproduced and were much cheaper. Whilst they both used light sensitive silver salts, the Daguerreotypes required a lot more tools and metal plates which would have been extremely difficult to find and afford back in the 19th century.

In my opinion, I believe that Daguerreotypes should be categorised as mirrors, due to the fact that they are fictional and staged, with the subjects within the image sat posed in a tableaux-style. I feel that from a certain perspective, however, this can be perceived as a window due to it looking objectively and as if it is documenting someone of importance, yet I think that the loss of candidness makes the Daguerreotypes more of a mirror. I also think that the formal tone of these images pushes the Daguerreotypes to be categorised as a mirror because they can be interpreted in a subjective way, for example the people in the images pretending to be someone of importance and wealth when that’s not what actually defines them.

On the other hand, Calotypes can be majorly categorised as windows, due to these paper negatives documenting the landscape, for example, in an objective and truthful manner. These images identify with realism because their entire concept is external to the photographer with no personality behind it.

In accordance to John Szarkowski’s thesis, he states that ‘The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is.‘, which stood out to me as it looks at what photography actually is from a different perspective, being that photography isn’t defined by how original your images are or what is within the image, but focuses on the different perceptions of photography and the different associations made. I think this quote is really important because it shifts the narrative of photography from being technical and critical, and instead towards a more conceptual, intentional and meaningful form of expression.

Mirrors

For my example of photographs as mirrors, I chose this image by Gregory Crewdson named ‘Untitled’. Crewdson’s image of a girl in a unclean room followed by a trail of scattered, picked apart roses portrays themes of suburban anxiety, disorientation, fear, loss, and longing. Using a wide-shot angle, Crewdson paints this storyline of vulnerability and abnormality, with the image looking slightly disorientated. A woman sitting in her nightgown on the edge of the bed, emulating a child with her slumped demeanour, followed by piles of roses and thorns. This image is a mirror due to his use of teams of riggers, grips, lighting specialists, and actors in order to create a scene that looks like a film still or a tableaux vivant. The subjectivity in the image is immense making it open to interpretation, for example the roses and thorns being a symbol for the hard journeys that Crewdson has had to go through in his life to get to where he is now. The ambient lighting placed strategically around the room gives the walls a tone of grey and navy in order to emphasize the woman’s distress and lonesome, however this is also tactical in making the viewer feel the same emotion as her. With the final story of this woman remaining elusive and concealed, this image has its roots in Romanticism because of the fairy-tale like aesthetic it has and how it becomes affiliated with the classic horror aesthetic; something terrible has happened, is happening, and will likely happen again. The use of artificial lighting makes it evident that this is shot in a studio, with the lighting being dramatically centred around her like a spotlight, drawing the viewers eyes to her initially.

Szarkowski idealises that his thesis is not a rigid pattern, but a ‘continuous axis, the two poles of which might be described by the terms proposed above’ whilst on the other hand, Pearl’s review criticises this, arguing that ‘its very nature, presupposes a “generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure,” and that the selection among these facts is the romantic, personal opposite built into any photograph of merit.’. To an overall extent, I agree with Szarkowski’s viewpoint of mirrors and windows being a continual categorisation method because not all photographs can be defined by subjectivity or objectivity, and may sometimes be both. This is because some images can vary, being personal and idealising a romantic expression of the photographs own perspective on the world whilst still being documentary.

Windows

Henri-Cartier Bresson’s photojournalism is a key example of realism photographs, especially this one entitled ‘Baghdad1950’. This image stems from how, in 1950, Iraq was undergoing significant changes, transitioning from a monarchy to a more modern state. The emotional resonance that this image gives the viewer through documenting the great poverty among the people of Baghdad at the time evokes nostalgia, curiosity and contemplation on the privilege that we hold within our own lives in comparison to the overpopulation that this image reveals. Bresson’s success in showing the exterior world that goes unbeknowst to us is incredibly moving because it captures a truthful story in a raw and real way. The monochromatic palette that Bresson has included has emphasised the contrast and texture, the dry and cracked walls from the hundreds to thousands of people passing by everyday, in order to draw attention to the subject matter and the emotions of the people.

The importance of photographs categorised as windows is evident here, forcing their viewers to resonate with themes of community, connection and existence of these underfunded places. Additionally, this enables us as the viewers to learn visually about the cultures, architectures, attires and customs in places that would go unseen otherwise, embodying a tension between modernisation and tradition to show a distinct civilisation. This realist viewpoint archives a pivotal moment in a city’s history that would have been missed or forgotten without this reflection of unique culture and universal aspects of human life. Without images such as these, activism and awareness would not exist, whereas with window photographs, we can get rich insights into the reality of others lives. Through Szarkowski’s thesis of ‘a window, through which one might better know the world?’ and Jed Pearl’s review stating ‘It is the realist view that the world exists independent of human attention’, I feel that these both can define not only Bresson’s image above, but define the meaning being the category of windows on a whole. They outline how the form of photography within windows can spread messages of crisis, hardship and difficulty better than words can describe, and provide evidence to richly detail this.

Conclusion

To conclude, photographs construed as windows, such as Cartier-Bresson’s objective approach into the lives of the people of Baghdad in 1950, reveals the innermost complexities of the varying cultures around the world and ensures that the opportunities of activism are given. Without images such as these, the world would be unaware of not only the difficulties other face in order to appreciate their own, but also enables people with less to gain higher opportunities and gives them the chance for their stories to be told through a lens. Alternatively, these images classified as mirrors allow photographs to envision a story and produce it in order to share private things in their lives of which they may have not been able to find the words to explain. Additionally, due to the subjective nature of these images, viewers can interpret the photographs into their own lives and apply it in realistic situations as a form of comfort. Along the lines of fictional storytelling, this allows exploration of intimate and personal experience and allows us to connect with one another through fictional stories that may resonate with our own personal beliefs and matters.

These opposing concepts of photography; the subjective and objective; the public and private; the fact and the fiction; realism and romanticism, provide alternative perspectives of not only what a photograph is but concurrently reflect the personal experiences that we all uniquely inhabit within our lives and contextualise the wider social issues and conditions. Crewdson’s image resonates with Szarkowski’s explanations of mirrors being that they ‘largely reflected the subjectivity of the artist’ and Pearl’s review of ‘Romantic is used here … as a term that suggests the central and indispensable presence in the picture of its maker, whose sensibility is the photograph’s ultimate subject, and the standard against which its success is measured.’. Additionally, Crewdson’s representation of fictional tableau in a personal format can also be defined by Szarkowski’s thesis of ‘work largely sought to seek outside themselves’ and Pearl’s review disclosing ‘ a generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure, and the process of logic and system.’ because they highlight the dynamic and potentially controversial aspects of externally documenting the alternating experiences of everyday life. By establishing the connection between photographs and the views of windows and mirrors, this allows people around the world to connect and enhance understandings of different realities.

Szarkowski, J. (1978), Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960. Museum of Modern Art: New York