Essay Question: Looking at Justine Kurland and Mary Ellen Mark; how do females connect with each other through interaction and how do they overcome the stereotypes of gender roles?

My area of study is about femininity and how females interact with each other. I look into the female gaze and how woman overcome the gender roles and stereotypes of society. In my personal study I will be focusing on how woman overcome gender stereotypes through rebelling during their teenage life and to also show the emotions girls experience through my images. The artists I have chosen to look at are Justine Kurland and Mary Ellen Mark. I have chose Justine Kurland because she looks at how females support each other and how girls feel empowered when they are together. In Justine Kurland’s photoshoots, she expresses through the experiences she did not get to do as a teenager. Justine Kurland uses tableaux photography; this name comes from the words “Living Picture” in French. Tableaux photography is an image or array of images staged in a set environment to convey a narrative. Justine Kurland stages her photoshoots to make the images look like real life and to create a meaning behind each image. I am going to create my own tableaux photography like Justine Kurland to neglect the gender roles of young females. I have chosen to look at Mary Ellen Mark, because contrasting to Kurland she photographs girls to show the vulnerability they experience and the emotions that females go through alone. In my project, I wanted to show the two differences of girlhood and how they navigate themselves in a world full of stereotypes and gender roles. I am also going to pay attention to the outfits that the girls are wearing in my photoshoots as I believe this plays a big part when creating a sense of freedom and also a sense of isolation in my images.

Throughout the years there have been many various waves of feminism to encourage equality. “Feminist movements in the United States have called for greater political, economic and cultural freedom and equality for women.” https://www.history.com/news/feminism-four-waves. There have currently been four waves of feminism, the first one being to argue for the woman to have the right to vote which took place in the years of 1848 to 1920. This started because females were denied basic rights which led to movements taking place for woman to stand up for themselves. Woman felt that they had the right to have a say in the political decisions that were being made. Woman also wanted the right to own properties and to be able to have an education and employment which lead to more waves of feminism occurring. This led to feminism in photography in the 1970’s when feminist groups started creating their own visual documentation of what it was like to be a female. Over the years this has become more popular in photography because feminist artists are producing images to convey the idea of woman’s rights through emotion and narratives. Justine Kurland is one of these photographers, she uses her art to express her feelings towards feminism. Kurland also uses tableaux photography to create her projects. “Tableaux photography is a technique used in many photographers’ works to convey a narrative through an image or a series of images”. Tableaux Photography. The term “tableaux” was first used in an art context in the 18^th century by a philosopher, Denis Diderot to describe a painting and it comes from the French term “Living Picture”. In Victorian times tableaux Vivint’s were a popular form of entertainment, this consisted of recreating artworks on stage based on a painting.

Therefore, tableaux photography involves a performance before the camera takes the shot, which is usually instructed by the photographer who tells the models what to do and how to pose. In the 1880’s, photographers strived for photography to be artwork, and this led to them using tableaux to mirror the paintings and other artworks.  

Justine Kurland is a contemporary fine art photographer from New York born in 1969. At the age of 15 Justine Kurland left her home to live with her aunt in Manhattan and this was where she found her interest in art. I am inspired by Kurland’s photoshoot titles “Live Dangerously” which is a series of images presented as part of her exhibition in 2004. This project is about revealing bold and dynamic ways that females inhabit nature. The images in her project include teenage girls setting off smoke bombs, skinny dipping, climbing trees and other activities similar to these. Kurland created these images to “reveal the bold and dynamic ways in which female bodies inhabit and activate the natural world.” https://nmwa.org/art/artists/justine-kurland/, and to express the things she didn’t get to experience as a teenager. She wanted to reveal the things that she wished she had done. She wanted to portray the idea of a coming world where girls were not categorized and where they could find protection and empowerment together and within themselves. She used teenagers in these staged images because she wanted to portray the sense of freedom for females and how they express themselves in the Suburban settings where she chose to take her images. Kurland would travel up and down the country looking for locations to set her photographs in and finding girls on her way because she wanted to create a society of females and how they would react with freedom contrasting from their bedrooms where they are isolated. The locations were chosen carefully to create their own sense of danger and risk and to portray the exploration of identity. She wanted to show how females connected with each other through the female gaze therefore she wanted the girls to care for each other and this turned into a reality of the girls helping each other, feeding each other and resembling protection. Justine Kurland uses tableaux photography when creating her images to convey a narrative for the viewers. In relation to my project, I am inspired by Justine Kurland’s artwork as it shows the empowerment of woman as a collective. I am going to set up my photoshoot in woods and fields and use the tableaux photography technique to stage my images to portray a feeling of girlhood. I am going to ensure that in my images, the relationship between the models is a sense of comfort within themselves and as a society. I will use woods and fields for my photoshoot in relation to Justine Kurland because I want my images to have the perception of freedom and to have a sense of carelessness. I will edit my images in colour because I want my images to be bright to add a sense of happiness and to convey the feelings that girls have when they are together. I will also ensure that when constructing my images that the girls are connected in a way that they are helping each other and being happy to resemble the idea of freedom that Justine Kurland wanted to portray.

These images are from Justine Kurland’s exhibition named “Girl Pictures”. These were the images that inspired me to take my own. These images show the connection that girls have to overcome the stereotypes that people have which was her aim. The images are all set in woodland areas and fields which portray the freedom of the girls in the image and show the bond that females have in nature when they aren’t isolated and stuck in their bedrooms. In this project all the girls are dressed in basic outfit which has inspired me to do the same when taking my images to show the simplicity of females lives and how they connect with the world around them.

Mary Ellen Mark is an American photographer who was known for her photojournalism and documentary photography. Her work is displayed in museums and published worldwide. She was born in Pennsylvania and started photographing things with a box brownie which is a carboard box camera. She discovered a passion for art when she was at school and later attended the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art. Soon after Mary Ellen Mark got a scholarship to go and take pictures in turkey for a year which is where she produced her first book; Passport. She also visited England, Greece, Germany, Italy and Spain to take photographs whilst on her travels. When she was in her mid 20’s she moved to New York and started taking pictures of the war, specifically the woman’s role during the war where she was able to capture the vulnerability and resilience of the woman. One of mark’s most famous projects was called “Streetwise” which was published in 1988. Mark took pictures of the lives of children and teenagers who lived on the street to spread awareness of their struggles to survive, and the stereotypes others have. Mary Ellen Mark tended to photograph things that not many people were aware of like poverty, illnesses and prostitutes, to spread awareness of the poor circumstances in people’s lives. Mark’s images are mostly portrait, which shows the emotions of girls and how female viewers can relate and connect deeply with the images. Mary Ellen Mark would also take images of girls to show the concept of girlhood, however when producing her images, Mark didn’t intend to connect with the idea of girlhood, but it became apparent that she was connected to her own images when taking them. She discovered that “Her portraits capture individual lives with a familiarity that makes them universally relatable” https://nmwa.org/whats-on/exhibitions/online/mary-ellen-mark-girlhood/. When taking these images Mary Ellen Mark wanted to create a story within the images to show the vulnerability of females in the world and how they perceived through the ideas of gender roles and stereotypes. Her images also convey the fact of navigation and how young girls must find themselves within a patriarchal society which may seem threatening and scary for girls in their youth. When producing my images that are inspired by Mark’s work, I am going to manipulate the images to have a solemn tone to convey a feeling of sadness and worry through the camera lens. This way, I will try and make the images connect with females and young girls that feel threatened by the world. I will also attempt to make the background black to portray the feelings of loneliness and worry that girls in this world feel every day. I want to create a contrast of images in my project between a mix of Justine Kurland inspired images and Mary Ellen Mark’s. I want to show the difference in emotions of girls when they have freedom and when they overcome stereotypes or gender roles in comparison to when they feel isolated or controlled by the patriarchal society that is still apparent today.  

These are the images I am inspired by. The black and white in the images show the sadness within these girls and show that they are simply unhappy. I like how the background of these images are filled with empty space and this could portray the loneliness that the girls feel in the image.

Both artists I have looked at have taken the same approach to overcoming stereotypes and gender roles, however they have explored this subject differently. Mark and Kurland’s work both look at the idea of girlhood and they both portray emotion through their images to convey girls’ experiences through life, however in different circumstances. Mark looks at the complexity of woman’s life and the vulnerability that girls experience in times where life isn’t so easy like the war or woman in poverty to portray to viewers the situations that girls go through that could be scary or even more so traumatic. Whether Kurland looks at the simplicity of woman’s lives because of their freedom in the suburban areas where they are photographed, where they have a sense of freedom and how they have the power to do what they want with their lives. Mary Ellen Mark’s images are all in black and white which correlates to the idea of the complexity of the girls’ lives in her images. She has no colour in her images which show the emotion of sadness through the dark colours in her images. Kurland’s images have lots of colour more so in the background this could be Kurland trying to portray that these girls grew up with a good background which is contrasting to Mark’s images where the background looked derelict and run down. Another difference between Mark’s images and Kurland’s images is the amount of people in the images. In Kurland’s images there are multiple girls which show the bond they have with each other and the connection of friendships, however Mark’s images that I am inspired by are girls on their own. This shows that the experiences they face are lonely and they’ve must navigate themselves through the patriarchal life alone. In my images, which are inspired by Mary Ellen Mark, I have manipulated a dark background surrounding the girl.

This is because I wanted to convey the darkness in girls’ lives and the struggles that they go through. For my images inspired by Justine Kurland, I have taken the images in a meaningful place where I grew up which is in a woods behind my house.

This is contrasting to Kurland’s images as the areas they were taken in don’t have any meaning to her, they were just in the visions she had growing up that she couldn’t experience because of her lack of freedom caused by the gender roles. 

• Tableaux Photography
• https://nmwa.org/art/artists/justine-kurland/
• https://www.maryellenmark.com/
• https://www.history.com/news/feminism-four-waves

For my photobook, I chose these images as my front and back cover. I really like the contrast of the images from colour to black and white. I used my final images that I had edited on Lightroom to choose out of. On most of the pages there is an image of the girls playing in the woods, inspired by my first artist Justine Kurland, paired with a black and white portrait picture inspired by my second artist Mary Ellen Clark

The sequencing of my photobook is one in colour and one in black and white on most of the pages. One being girls having fun playing in a woodland type of area and the other being a portrait image of a girl. I have done this because I think it makes the book look more intriguing and interesting with the contrast of the two images. When putting the images onto the page, I ensured that the image was covering the whole page for each one. This was to eliminate all the white around the photograph. I think this looks good because it means that the whole page is covered with my images and it draws the viewers attention to the images. To cover the whole page, I used the “Zoom” tool to zoom in and out to make the image as big or as small as I needed. I made sure that the image was zoomed in enough so that none of the white on the page was showing.

When choosing my images, I ensured to choose ones that correlate with girlhood the most. I picked the images that were inspired by Justine Kurland to show the protection and care that girls have for each other and I wanted to show that through the images. I also chose to make the portrait pictures in black and white to make them dramatic and to add a sense of sadness to them which is inspired by Mary Ellen Marks photos.

The title of my image is called “Devine Feminine”, I like this title because it doesn’t give the viewer too much information as to what is in the book. However it may give the viewer an idea that it is about the empowerment that females have and the protection they have together as a society.

These images are inspired by Justine Kurland. I went to a woodland area where there were loads of trees and bushes and also a pond. I used the tableaux photography technique to create these images. This meant that all of these images were staged to look like real life. The people in these images were staged to look like they were having fun in the woods and I wanted to portray a sense of freedom through the photographs. I was inspired by Justine Kurland’s images in her project “Girl Pictures” :

In “Girl Pictures” they are all taken in suburban areas where the girls in the pictures were rebelling in nature. In most of my images, there are 2 or more girls, this is because I wanted to shoe the interaction between girls and the female gaze. The images were staged to create a sense of protection between them and how they interact with each other in nature instead of isolated in a bedroom. For these images, I ensured that the sun was behind the camera so that the natural lighting was on the models instead of in the back of the images. Once I got all of my images, I transferred them onto Lightroom where I started editing them. I really like how these images turned out because of the way that the sun reflects onto the models to create a natural lighting. I also like how the models in the pictures are wearing white, this could show a sense of purity and how the girls are innocently playing together and instinctively protecting each other as a society of females.

These images are inspired by Mary Ellen Mark. I chose to take portrait photos to show emotion through facial expressions. In these images the girls look solemn. My aim in these photographs was for female viewers to relate to the images just like Mark did with her photos. I chose to put these images into black and white to add to the emotions of sadness and loneliness that some females experience through life and to connect with the idea of girlhood. In Mary Ellen Marks photos, she aimed to create a narrative of vulnerability within females and also how the females view the world that they live in. Therefore, this inspired me to create my own images to show the emotions of sadness that females go through in their lives. I was inspired by these images taken by Mark :

I used both of these photoshoots in my photobook because I like the contrast between the two emotions shown in the images. For the images inspired by Justine Kurland the girls are having fun in the woods and protecting each other through the connection of their friendship. It also shows the empowerment that the girls have on their on to make their own lives in a world full of stereotypes and and gender roles. It shows the girls rebelling against these two misconceptions of how girls are perceived. I really like how the images show that the girls look out for each other, especially in the image where the girl is leading the other girl through the woods as it shows trust within each other. In contrast to this, my images in which were inspired by Mary Ellen Mark are taken to show the vulnerability of girls. I chose to take these images with the girls on their own to show the loneliness that some girls experience through their lives. The images also have a black background which could foreshadow that females often feel like they’re in the dark or that they feel empty.

My First Virtual Gallery

For my first virtual gallery, I used my images inspired by Justine Kurland. I transferred all my images from my documents onto the gallery and positioned them in a way that was clear to see them all from one position. I used the best photos out of my photoshoot, the ones that I thought best portrayed the connection of the girls with each other and nature. I put a brown border on my images to match with the brown colour of the woodland and I like how it turned out.

My Second Virtual Gallery

For my second virtual gallery, I used only my images inspired by Mary Ellen Mark. I displayed them in a way that all images could be seen fully. I didn’t add any border because I didn’t want the focus to be drawn away from the image.

• 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 pints 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.

possible-essay-questions-to-investigate

Some examples of Personal Study essays from previous students:

Essay Question : In society, how do females connect with each other through interaction and how do they overcome the stereotypes of gender roles?

Essay Question : Looking at Justine Kurland and Ramona Wang; how do females connect with each other through interaction and how do they overcome the stereotypes of gender roles?

Essay Plan
Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure

• Essay question:
• Opening quote
• 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?
  
• 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. 
• 
  provide an historical overview of origin of tableaux photography and its links to Pictorialism and Tablaux Vivants – include an example as illustrations. – see text about Tableaux in BIB
  Provide theoretical context of the male gaze on the female with referenced to examples within history of painting – see texts Girlhood and photographic gaze in BIB
• Pg 2 (500 words): Analyse first artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
  
• Pg 3 (500 words): Analyse second artist/photographer in relation to your essay question. Present and evaluate your own images and responses.
• 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

1. A short PPT on Tableaux Photography

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.

2. Healy, C. M. (2023) Girlhood, London: Tate Enterprises Ltd.

part 1:

part 2:

Jansen, C. (2017). Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Wells L. (1998). ‘The Photographic Gaze’ in Photography: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge.

3. Mulvey, L. (1973) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ in Screen (1975)

Judith Butler is an academic and writer who is an authority on feminism and gender studies, incl queer theory. Her seminal book is: Gender Trouble which we do have a copy of in the Library LRC and in Media. Here is a good overview of her work – make sure you read it all and watch video as well.

Butler, J. (2019). ‘Gender as Performance: Judith Butler’ in Dixon, M. Media Theory for A-Level Students. London: Routledge.

van Zoomen, L. (2019). ‘Feminist Theory’ in Dixon, M. Media Theory for A-Level Students. London: Routledge.

Sontag. S. (1977) ‘In Plato’s Cave’ in On Photography. London: Penguin Books = ” 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.”

Essay Draft

My area of study is about femininity and how females interact with each other. I look into the female gaze and how woman overcome the gender roles and stereotypes of society. In my personal study I will be focusing on how woman overcome gender stereotypes through rebelling during their teenage life. The artists I have chosen to look at is Justine Kurland and Ramona Wang. I have chosen these artists because they look at how females support each other and how girls feel empowered when they are together. In Justine Kurland’s photoshoots, she expresses through the experiences she did not get to do as a teenager. Justine Kurland uses tableaux photography; this name comes from the words “Living Picture” in French. Tableaux photography is an image or array of images staged in a set environment to convey a narrative. Justine Kurland stages her photoshoots to make the images look like real life and to create a meaning behind each image. Ramona Wang looks at the female gaze and how woman’s empowerment makes them feel comfortable together. I feel as though both artists correlate to my area of study because I am inspired by the way they create their images and how they create a meaning behind each one to portray girlhood. I am going to create my own tableaux photography like Justine Kurland to neglect the gender roles of young females.  

Throughout the years there have been many various waves of feminism to encourage equality. There have currently been four waves of feminism, the first one being for woman to have the right to vote which took place in the 19^th century and the early 20^th century. This all started because females were denied basic rights which led to these movements taking place. Tableaux photography is a technique used by many photographers to convey a narrative through an image or a series of images. The term “tableaux” was first used in an art context in the 18^th century by a philosopher, Denis Diderot to describe painting and it comes from the French word “Living Picture”. In Victorian times Tableaux Vivint’s were a popular form of entertainment, this consisted of recreating artworks on stage based on a painting. Therefore, tableaux photography involves a performance before the camera takes the shot, which is usually instructed by the photographer who tells the models what to do and how to pose. In the 1880’s, photographers wanted photography to be artwork, and this led to them using tableaux to mirror paintings and other artwork. – Not finished 

Justine Kurland is a contemporary fine art photographer from New York born in 1969. At the age of 15 Justine Kurland left her home to live with her aunt in Manhattan and this was where she found her interest in art. I am inspired by Kurland’s photoshoot titles “Live Dangerously” which is a series of images presented as part of her exhibition in 2004. This project is about revealing bold and dynamic ways that females inhabit nature. The images in her project include teenage girls setting off smoke bombs, skinny dipping, climbing trees and other activities similar to these. Kurland created these images to express the things she didn’t get to experience as a teenager, and she wanted to reveal the things that she wished she had done. She wanted to portray the idea of a coming world where girls were not categorized and where they could find protection and empowerment together and within themselves. She used teenagers in these staged images because she wanted to portray the sense of freedom for females and how they express themselves in the Suburban settings where she chose to take her images. Kurland would travel up and down the country looking for locations to set her photographs in and finding girls on her way because she wanted to create a society of females and how they would react with freedom contrasting from their bedrooms where they are isolated. The locations were chosen carefully to create their own sense of danger and risk and to portray the exploration of identity. She wanted to show how females connected with each other through the female gaze therefore she wanted the girls to care for each other and this turned into a reality of the girls helping each other, feeding each other and resembling protection. Justine Kurland uses tableaux photography when creating her images to convey a narrative for the viewers. In relation to my project, I am inspired by Justine Kurland’s artwork as it shows the empowerment of woman as a collective. I am going to set up my photoshoot in woods and fields and use the tableaux photography technique to stage my images to portray a feeling of girlhood. I am going to ensure that in my images, the relationship between the models is a sense of comfort within themselves and as a society. I will use woods and fields for my photoshoot in relation to Justine Kurland because I want my images to have the perception of freedom where the images show the viewers the things girls are stereotyped into not doing instead of having a sense of carelessness.  

Mary Ellen Mark is an American photographer who was known for her photojournalism and documentary photography. Her work is displayed in museums and published worldwide. She was born in Pennsylvania and started photographing things with a box brownie which is a carboard box camera. She discovered a passion for art when she was at school and later attended the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art. Soon after Mary Ellen Mark got a scholarship to go and take pictures in turkey for a year which is where she produced her first book; Passport. She also visited England, Greece, Germany, Italy and Spain to take photographs. When she was in her mid 20’s she moved to New York and started taking pictures of the war, specifically the woman’s role during the war where she was able to capture the raw vulnerability and resilience. One of mark’s most famous projects was called “Streetwise” which was published in 1988. Mark took pictures of the lives of children and teenagers who lived on the street to spread awareness of their struggles to survive, and the stereotypes others have. Mary Ellen Mark tended to photograph things that not many people were aware of like poverty, illnesses and prostitutes, to spread awareness of the poor circumstances in people’s lives. 

These images are from the artists Justine Kurland, Mary Ellen Mark. In the images taken by Justine Kurland show how girls interact with each other, the “female gaze”. I really like these images because it shows the different interactions with different woman. These images show the connection of feminine energy between all ages of girls. The nature of girls in these images stay the same throughout the ages. I really like how in most of these images the girls feel comfortable together and they have a connection of friendship in which they allow each other to feel happy together. In the images taken by Mary Ellen Mark, I like how the images are all black and white to show the negative emotions through the camera and it makes the viewer feel sorry for the girls.

When I create photoshoots for my own personal study, I am going to ensure the girls in the images feel a connection of feminine energy. I am going to take an approach similar to Justine Kurland in the way that she sets up her tableaux photoshoot. I will go to settings where I feel like I have spent my life over the years and I will set up the images in a way that makes female teenagers contradict the stereotype of female roles. I will also take images similar to Mary Ellen Mark in the sense that I will show the other side of females lives in the sense that the gender roles and stereotypes can affect females of all ages.

I am also going to be inspired by Ramona Wang.

I like her images because it shows the true connections between female friends and how the girls feel empowered together. Her photographs show the detail behind girlhood and the experiences girls go through together. For example the images with the girls in the toilet putting makeup on together, I like how this shows that the girls feel comfortable in their underwear together and they feel as though they are safe around they’re female friends.

These images are inspired by this image taken by Ramona Wang. I like this image taken by Ramona Wang because it shows the stereotype of girls getting ready to go out. This image shows the gender roles that woman feel obliged to put on makeup to look acceptable for other people. For my images I decided to sit in front of the mirror doing my makeup and took an approach similar to Cindy Sherman. These images show that woman are stereotyped to take a while to put makeup on, to choose and outfit and do their hair to look good. However in my images, you can see the mascara running down the eyes and the hair is messy. This portrays a contrasting idea that some girls don’t care about their appearance and are comfortable in their own skin without having to cover up using makeup.

Justine Kurland

I am inspired by Justine Kurland’s artwork. Justine Kurland is a contemporary fine art photographer from New York born in 1969. When Kurland was 15 she left New York to live in Manhattan with her aunt and this is where she found her interest in art. Kurland has produced many projects throughout her life in which she has been inspired by her own past experiences and her present experiences of her adult life. However the one I have taken an interest in is her artwork called “Live Dangerously” in which she produced in 2020. Although she uses her past experiences to inspire her work, this project was based off things she did not get to experience growing up. This included rebelling as a teenager and having freedom to live however she wanted. She created this project to explore the lives of teenagers against the stereotypes and gender roles of society. These images include teenagers climbing trees, setting of smoke bombs, skinny dipping and other activities that she didn’t get to do. In this project she also looks into the female gaze and the connections that females have with each other. She looks at the protection and empowerment of woman that they can find within themselves and not males. Most of her images only include females which allow female viewers to connect with her work through the bond shown through the camera.

Justine Kurland is a contemporary fine art photographer from New York born in 1969. When Justine Kurland was 15 she ran away from home to Manhattan to live with her aunt, this is where she took an interest in art. Justine Kurland is inspired by both her past experiences of being a child and a teenager and also her current experiences of adult life. These experiences inspire her to recreate the memories she has. She spends a lot of her time searching for models and areas to set up her tableaux photoshoot.

Justine Kurland’s photoshoot called “live dangerously” is about revealing bold and dynamic ways that females inhabit nature. Justine Kurland’s photoshoots are of young females setting off smoke bombs, skinny dipping and climbing trees. This is a way to show how females are rebel against the patriarchal institutions.

I created a zine with my photos I had taken at the harbour. I started by transferring my images from Lightroom onto InDesign. I made sure to pair images that had some correlation to ensure the images made sense with each other. I edited all the images in black and white and I really liked how it turned out because it creates a dramatic look. The title of my zine is “Life at the Harbour”. I chose this title because all my images are at the harbour and it shows what the people that work at the harbour see everyday all day during their job.

These are the images that are in my zine. Some pages on my zine are 1 image and take up the entirety of the page, I did this because some of the images didn’t match others and therefore I figured they would look better on their own. I like the page of the workers at the harbour and the images of what they do for work. I think these images are really interesting because not many people know what goes on at the harbour, and these images show what the workers do.

I enjoyed creating my zine because I liked experimenting with the different photos and seeing which photos went well together. If I were to create another zine at the harbour, I would take more up close pictures. This is because most of my images from the harbour are from a distance and think it would be more enticing to the viewers if there were more close ups of the boats and the harbour.

Studio Portraits

I really liked doing studio portraits. The studio portraits include, butterfly lighting, chiaroscuro lighting and Rembrandt lighting. Butterfly lighting is when the key lighting is above the photographers camera, to ensure that the lighting is pointing down on the subjects face. The aim of this lighting is to achieve a butterfly-like shadow under the subjects nose. Chiaroscuro lighting is when there is a split of light and shadow on the subjects face to create a high contrast photograph. The last lighting technique is Rembrandt lighting, this uses a reflector and two lightings. The aim of this lighting technique is to gain an upside down triangle under the subjects eye.

I really enjoyed doing all of these lighting techniques because it was interesting to see the different images being made. I really liked the Rembrandt lighting technique in particular, because I liked how the images turned out dramatic however had a natural look to it. This is an image from one of my Rembrandt photoshoots:

I really like how this turned out because the upside down triangle is very noticeable. I also like this image because the foreground is dark which creates a high contrast with the face that is lit up. This helps the viewer focus on the subjects face and it makes it the main focus point of the image. The photograph is very dramatic because of the high contrast, however I feel as though the triangle under the subjects eye makes the contrast less harsh and the light and dark blend in with each other.

I also really liked creating the butterfly photographs. This lighting technique was quite difficult because the shadow under the subjects nose was hard to achieve because it had to be defined and look similar to a butterfly. However, I tried my best to achieve this lighting technique and this is how it turned out:

If I were to do this lighting technique again, I would try and get the shadow under the nose more defined like a butterfly. I would ask the subject to turn her head to the side and put the main lighting higher at an angle to achieve this technique. Overall, I think it turned out well and I really enjoyed doing this photoshoot. I liked playing around with the lighting to see which angle worked out the best.

The last one I did was Chiaroscuro lighting. I like this lighting technique because the images turned out extremely dramatic and the images are high contrast. This was another lighting that was quite difficult, however once I had played around with the lighting the images turned out really good. This is one of my images:

If I were to do this lighting technique again, I would make the image darker and have the subjects face slightly lighter. This way, the image would be more dramatic. This image also has a triangle under the eye which could be used as Rembrandt lighting and therefore next time I would make sure the image was distinctive to one lighting technique and not two.

Masculinity and Femininity

I really enjoyed doing this project because I enjoyed creating ideas of the photoshoots I could do and I enjoyed creating them. For this project, I went into the studio and took photos of the female subject being masculine and feminine. This was to create the idea that females can be masculine and feminine and just because a female doesn’t wear makeup, or dress like a girl doesn’t mean that she is less than any woman. This was also to portray how men see woman and how woman are seen to be pretty and to put makeup on. These are how the images turned out:

In the early development of the Jersey harbour, it was protected from winds and rough seas which made it easy for small boots to sail. It was also a great place to trade with France and the British Isles. Therefore, this enabled Jersey to start their trading with other countries which helped them bring in money for the island. By the 14th century, the Jersey harbour became a fishing and trading port and as the capital of Jersey, St Helier grew, it helped to make the harbour more important and become more popular. By the 1700s, St Helier became the primary port of the island. However, this meant they needed to upgrade the harbour as more, bigger ships were made. New docks and jetties were made for ships to load and unload the goods that were being traded.

In 1840, Victoria Pier was built to accommodate much bigger ships, it also improved access for vessels carrying cargo which had difficulty docking. In 1845, Albert Pier was built which further enhanced docking capabilities and allowed ferries to arrive with passengers which allowed Jersey to connect with the mainland.

During both of the World Wars, the harbour was significantly important. During World War 2, the Germans occupied the harbour and made changes to support them during the war. After the war, the harbour was modernized. Facilities for the ships and the harbour improved and container shipping was introduced which improved the trading operations.

Today, Jerseys harbours are still significantly important. It allows the handling of goods like agricultural products, fish and building materials.