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.
Can the recreation of family portraits show how relationships have developed and changed over time?
How connection can be represented in the medium of photography?
How can photography change the way we remember and connect people and events?
Some examples of Personal Study essays from previous students:
Essay Plan Make a plan that lists what you are going to write about in each paragraph – essay structure
Essay question:
Opening quote
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.
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
In terms of the second shoot I think that the images look good and I definitively will produce more in this section of the photoshoots as I believe the images/ final result will look good layered on top of one another as the writing has historical context behind it especially down to my Polish roots and generations before my parents and my parents parents as the book I photographed goes back to the 1800s and 1900s presenting Poland before and after the War and the poorness of the country at times as well as the impact of Catholism in the country which my family still resonates with to this day keeping traditions alive and Christian symbols around the family home.
I think it was also important for me to bring this part of historical context into my photos as it provides a visual element of background into the composition but also can enhance the understanding of the photograph is it written in paper and in real life the result which are both my parents and my parent backgrounds as through human connection every little bit can connect and have an impact on people especially living in that country of the provided information of the eastern European land.
Poland’s history before and after the war is remembered by hardship yet there is a strength within the culture, hope that survives through even the darkest times. It is in this resilience that I see the echoes of my family’s journey how, despite the hardships faced by previous generations, they managed to hold on to their faith, their roots, and ultimately, their identity.
As I plan to layer the images over one another, I not only revisit the past but also reflect on how those generations still resonate in my life today. The traditions, the prayers, and even the simple acts of care around the home are all echoes of the perseverance that has been passed down. The rich cultural heritage and strong Catholic foundation that once shaped the lives of my forebears continue to influence my family’s worldview, shaping our values, actions, and identity in subtle yet profound ways.
Their history is my history, as well as their resilience too. Through my personal project I will try to capture not just their faces but the essence of what they endured, they believed in and what they cherished including the sacred connection between family, faith, and heritage that continues to develop and change across time.
Interpreting the exam themes; OBSERVE, SEEK, CHALLENGE the topic which I wish to explore is Human and Family Connections, the main artists references which I chose to take inspiration from is Astrid Reischwitz which storytells from a personal perspective, Joanna Piotrowska which focus on psychological narratives which explore human relations and Alicja Brodowicz which combines elements of the human body with elements of nature a well. In terms of my final outcome I would like to produce a photobook that presents all my different ideas and photoshoots that relate to one another in a sequence. I want each page to feel like a story and for the viewer to understand as it progresses.
For my personal project I want to explore themes of nostalgia, family, ageing and changes throughout life when it constantly changes. These topics matter to me as having a multicultural background the topics follow me as it grow and become older, especially dividing both my Polish and English culture into daily life with speaking the languages at home vs in education/the workplace. For me family consists of mostly older generational European members growing up in Poland, living in The Netherlands as well as South England with conflicts over family, relationships, life, world war etc. I wish to develop my project by taking photos of different peoples skin and how it ages as part of formulating the topic of Human and Family Connections. As well as taking photographs of nostalgic archival images from my parents family album including photos of them when younger and other family relatives. For my first couple of photoshoots I want to include photos of my parents, my family and separate photos of elements that are sentimental to a specific time in the moment of the past e.g. the type of flowers my mum held on her wedding day, the type of car my dad used to drive, the jewellery she would wear when I was younger , the type of embroidered table cloth that would be laid out for breakfast with Polish folk art decorated etc/ things that remind her of home, belonging and both their lives.
(Architect and photographer) Kerényi Zoltán has a continuous interest with the past and all things antique. Kerenyi being based in Budapest, the artist would usually walk along the city streets, wondering what people used to do then when they hang around long-standing landmarks, structures, and buildings. So, he decided to reimagine by superimposing old shots and portraits of people against his own contemporary photographs. Taken from the public archive of Fortepan, Kerényi lets us time travel with his series Ablak a múltra / Windows to the past.
He quotes that motivation was he reason he’s interested in the past, it’s nice to think about those people who were walking the same streets as we do, just a hundred years ago. And showing it the way he did in this project is, he thinks, the best way. It’s also related to Zoltan’s original profession, architecture, as the connection between the past and present pictures are the buildings, the streets. There are a lot of war-time archive photos out there, but he intentionally avoided those (have just a few out of the 500 he created in 5 years) and concentrated on the happy moments of those bygone people.
Zoltan quotes that “Budapest was a perfect location for this project, as most of the inner city was built a century ago, and those buildings are still standing despite two world wars, revolutions… If I could time-travel, I’d go back to around 1900, to see all those constructions and the vivid life of the city, which was among the foremost metropolitan centres of the world”.
I believe similarly to the photographer himself , that the biggest challenge is always to find the exact same position as the old photographer, to fit the perspective perfectly and that you have to examine every little detail. Zoltan quotes that finding the place was not that big of a deal, as he knows Budapest quite well. As well as in the beginning, he made easy location pictures, and as time went by, a lot of people helped Fortepan to add locations to a lot of pictures, making it searchable by city, street, even house number. So whenever Zoltan had a trip to a new location, he could search for archive photos in advance. But of course, there were photos without location tags and was only my genius to find the place.
Her whole series works on similarities in a artistic/poetic but realistic way. The veins are related to the topographical maps, lightning, or crackling of a dry earth, the fingerprints resemble the circles of a tree trunk, the moles to the stars of our skies, and the the legs to two trunks stuck by their roots. A simple and emotional work that wants to remind us how close our link with nature can be.
Agnieszka is based in Krakow, Poland, the young photographer made the breakthrough in 2015 when she was participating in the contest TIFF Festival in the ‘DEBUTS’ section, as well as the Sputnik Photos workshop in collaboration with Filip Springer. The same year, the photographer opened her first exhibition titled ‘Emotional Landscapes’ in a small gallery in Krakow. Lepka’s analog pictures show various subjects including close-up shots of human body parts, landscapes, and everyday objects. In her ongoing series titled ‘Human vs. Nature’, Lepka works with the similarities between human beings and Mother Nature. Veins are put into relation with topographic maps, fingerprints resemble a tree trunk, and cacti are compared to scrubby beards.
A series of “emotional landscapes” brings together several stories that have one thing in common – portraying human emotion in a difficult moment of life. It is a psychological study, consisting of expressing the internal state through the body, or external conditions. Agnieszka set the silhouette within the rocky space. This space is consistent for the whole composition, and arrangement of bodies thoughtful and conceptual. Deliberately avoid repetition. The figure in her photographs mostly shows her back to the audience, and shuns eye contact with the viewer, also leaving a dose of understatement. Agnieszka discovers she likes a dirty and raw space in which she explores. The photographer tries to keep her view and characteristic colour tone for me. This cycle was present at her first author’s exhibition entitled “Emotional Landscapes” in the gallery Kraków café named “Stolica” in September 2015. Agnieszka quotes that it was a very personal moment and also this series is very important for her, it gives her much more confidence. Agnieszka prefers analogue photography as well as traditional picture because it’s learning conscious and adult framing images, but all awards contributed to the deepening of working with digital photography, which she trying every day.
In 2011 Agnieszka achieved a diploma in Photography in General School of Fine Arts in Zielona Góra. Now she still is developing her skills and knowledge, looking and getting closer to getting to know herself and trying to find her style in photography. Agnieszka quotes that in the future, she would like to study the direction associated with photography.
Joanna was born in Poland and is based in London, Piotrowska has an interest in domestic spaces and man-made environments. For one series of works she asked people in Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Warsaw and London to build makeshift shelters in their homes and gardens, subverting childhood play. Other works present gestures and movements from self-defence manuals, implying violence against women as well as their empowerment. Her photographs and films relate to self-protection, psychophysical relationships and the power dynamics underlying how we relate to each other.
Joanna’s psychologically charged work explores human relations and its gestures of care, self-protection and control. Although her photographs feature everyday motifs, they do not show ordinary or candid situations. As the curator George Vasey points out: “Each image resists easy assimilation, like reading a book with the pages torn out, the images are enigmas.”
Her photographs investigate human behaviour and the dynamics of familial relations, exploring intimacy, violence, control, and self-protection. The artist reveals moments of care as well as hierarchies of power, anxieties, and imposed conventions that play out in the domestic sphere. In the Franticseries (2016–2019), Piotrowska invites her subjects to construct makeshift shelters in their own homes out of readily available domestic objects. While reminiscent of the innocent children’s activity of fort-building, the proposed activity also exposes the home as a space loaded with complex emotions and embodied memory. The black-and-white photographs in Piotrowska’s Self-Defence series (2014–15) depict young women, most often in their bedrooms, performing gestures and actions from self-defence manuals, implying the structural violence against women in a patriarchal society as well as the possibility of rebellion against such a culture. Through these unsettling images, Piotrowska challenges conventional narratives of the family and the home and their tension with the reality of the wider socio-political realm.
The performative aspect plays a fundamental role in the construction of the artist’s work. Piotrowska asks her subjects to perform certain actions and they respond actively in order to let psychological structures and conditionings emerge. The resulting images may look awkward or potentially disturbing, the psychoanalyst and writer Anouchka Grose suggests: “While Piotrowska’s photos might initially look sinister, it’s also easy to imagine the subjects suddenly bursting into laughter.” Piotrowska’s work investigates the interaction between the human body and the environment, which is charged with social, political and anthropological issues. Through exaggeration the artist challenges seemingly obvious settings and assumptions, such as the common equation of home=family=safety. Her work thus invites viewers to reconsider certainties that were taken for granted.
Image Analysis- Untitled 2022
In terms of this image I think it captures connection really well, as simple as the image is in terms of the elements and editing it’s very neutral. Looking at the image it portrays that their is a larger message behind it despite the very obvious outlook and composition. The gesture is staged and this can focus on the suspended moment of an encounter between two realities that are condense into image with multiple meanings and that can be interpreted in one way or another.
The images created by her. whether captured in photographs, on film or which come to life in front of the viewer in the form of performances/ installations are wrapped in a sense of ambiguity despite the fact that everything is in plain sight.
An encounter between two people, between those who perform and those who undergo an action, with an invisible enemy, between human beings and objects, and even when the upholder is a single person, the gestures or the pose call up a doubling, showing the essence of Joanna ’s work to be found in the inner investigation that operates in different contexts.
In the series of photographs Enclosures, started in 2018, the human figure is absent, even if the project is in continuity with the reflection developed in the previous production in which the body is the upholder.
Alicja Brodowicz, a Polish photographer, has spent the last couple of months working on a project combining parts of the human body with elements of nature in order to emphasise our unique relationship with the natural environment as well as the beauty of the human body
She photographs the human body – the microcosm. Its’ fragments: hair, scars, the texture of the skin, wrinkles. She is also interested in individual particularities; she looks for distinguishing features and irregularities. Imperfections are my favourites.
Alicja also photographs nature – the macrocosm. The surface of water, grass, tree bark, dry leaves. She combines the two images, looking for converging lines, textures, similarities in layout, and analogies in composition between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Looking for unity between the human body and nature.
Alicja is a great fan of classic black and white photography. When she started taking photos and photographed my daughter a lot, my greatest inspiration was Sally Mann. Later also discovered Anders Petersen – she loves all of his works. She is also a big fan of Josef Koudelka, especially the photos of Gypsies. She also greatly admire Jacob Aue Sobol and Pentti Sammallahti – the simplicity and elegance of his work.
This series was different than my other projects because it was conceptual. I usually just take the camera and wander about and take photos without thinking too much about the process. In the case of this project, I usually had the idea in my head in advance, before I started photographing and even though it changed a number of times in the course of my work, the initial concept had to be there first.
She states that “The series of photos is the visual re-enactment of my ever-increasing desire of being close to nature. The older I grow, the more intense this desire is. It is also the expression of my growing concern for the environment and the human impact on it. By combining images of the human body and elements of nature I am trying to show that we are inter-connected and that our separate existence is impossible.”
Image Analysis-
In terms of this image I think it really conveys the similarities between skin and natural being vs nature discussing the notions of belonging as well, this is especially prominent in Alicja’s work and what kind of elements she presents throughout it. Looking at her work I can questions that the sequences of image and composition can have many meaning s an symbols as though the similarities in detail. Her work explores themes of identity and human emotions and I can clearly see this. In this specific image the themes of femininity isn’t really explored as for the viewer it’s unclear whether the hand and veins are of a male or female body. Words that I could describe her work is: Unsettling, Unusual, Interesting, Detailed, Specific and Personal.
I think im gonna interpret and take inspiration from her work as it relates to my project of relating skin/natural elements of the human body and how it relates to family, identity and home.
Astrid Reischwitz, a Boston-based photographer, whose work explores the possibilities of storytelling from a personal perspective. Her projects include intimate views of private spaces and reflections on her own history and values. Using keepsakes from family life, old nostalgic photographs and storytelling strategies, she builds a visual world in her work of memory, identity, place, and home.
Her project “Spin Club Tapestry” explores cultural memory by embroidering photographs, inspired by the tradition of spin clubs in Northern Germany. Astrid grew up in a small farming village, a village that is bound to its history and that stands out through its traditions even today. Long ago, village women met regularly in “Spinneklumps” (Spin Clubs) to spin wool, embroider, and stitch fabrics for their homes. She imagines their conversations as they worked, the beautiful stories that lifted their spirits, as well as the stories of sadness, sorrow, and loss. In modern times, village women continued to meet in this tradition, but shared stories over coffee and cake instead of needlework. These close-knit groups of women often stayed together until their death.
In this series, her composite images take the form of tapestries, combining images of embroidered Spin Club fabrics with new and old photographs from the village. Astrid also connects the present and the past by re-creating and re-imagining pieces of the embroidery. Spin Club tablecloths, napkins and wall hangings (some dating back to 1799) have been passed down from generation to generation. By following the stitches in these fabrics, she follows a path through the lives of her ancestors (their layout of a perfect pattern and the mistakes they made). Along the way, Astrid added her own mistakes. The fabrics also reveal the passage of time, stained and distorted after sometimes decades of use. The patterns she has stitched myself into the paper are only abstractions of the original Spin Club designs, fragments of memory. After all, memory is fleeting, and changed forever in the act of recollection. Sometimes the stitching is incomplete, creating an invitation for future generations.
“Every decision we make is influenced by our history, our environment, and the society we live in. The tapestry of my life belongs to me but is stitched through with the beauty and heartache of past generations.”-Astrid Reischwitz
She began her study of photography at the International Center of Photography in New York soon after moving to the United States. She continued her education at the New England School of Photography, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Lesley University, and the Griffin Museum of Photography. She holds a Certificate in Arts Administration from New York University. Reischwitz is a graduate of the Technical University Braunschweig, Germany, with a PhD in Chemistry.
Image Analysis-The Fall of the Double-Headed Eagle
The title itself can reference the double-headed eagle, a symbol of imperial power that can suggest a narrative of decline, loss or transformation. In this analysis, the formal elements of the image, its symbolic content, and the potential meanings embedded within the work are examined.
Astrid’s composition is characterized by an interplay of contrasting colours, forms, and textures. The double-headed eagle, often a symbol of dual authority or all power governance (most famously associated with the Byzantine Empire, Russian Empire, and Austria-Hungary), likely occupies a central position in the piece. The positioning of the eagle, whether upright or falling, becomes a powerful visual cue for the narrative of decline.
If the eagle is depicted in a state of disintegration or descent, this visual may be reinforced by fragmented or distorted shapes, which emphasis the theme of downfall. The double-headed eagle is a symbol. Here the eagle is on the ground and deconstructed .Astrid may use diagonal lines or shattered patterns, suggesting motion or instability to convey a sense of collapse. Alternatively, if the eagle is shown at the moment of impact, Astrid may focus on creating a striking tension between the eagle’s once-majestic form and the surrounding chaos/ destruction. Themes and ideas could reflect the subject in the image such as the young child, in ways liking groeing up and childhood how it may have impacted them as a person and throughout their family especially as Astrid project looks at ancestors and nostalgia.
For this project im thinking of familiarising myself with the themes of family, ageing, home and love/relationships. Some photoshoots may include resemblance looking at archival images and reflecting my my family and what feels like “home” and sentimental connections which can link to the questions of Where is home? Why is this important to me? How can I sum this up?
Other questions I could ask myself could be:
What does this photograph say about the relationships within the family?
How does this photograph reflect the atmosphere or feeling of the home?
What objects in the photo represent home and family?
How have the spaces in the photo evolved or changed over time?
Who is missing from this photo?
What do the backgrounds or settings of these photos tell us about the family’s history and identity?
How does aging manifest in the subjects of these photographs?
What emotions are evoked by looking at old, worn, or faded photographs?
How do family members interact with old photographs?
What stories or memories are attached to this photograph?
How do old photos influence a sense of family continuity?
What role do old photos play in memorializing loved ones or preserving family traditions?
What types of photos are considered most valuable or meaningful to preserve in a family’s archive?
How does the format of the photograph (e.g., digital vs. print) affect its emotional value or the way it is viewed?
