Hannah Altman is an American photographer from New Jersey whose work mainly explores the themes of lineage, memory, ritual and storytelling, known for her use of natural light and intertwining of her Jewish culture. Altman has practiced photography since she was a 19-year-old student at Point Park University, practicing as an amateur on her Tumblr page.

As a 29-year-old, Altman has been involved in numerous solo exhibitions throughout America:

• We Will Return to You – 2023, Akabus Projects, Boston
• With Rifts and Collapses – 2022, Gallery 263, Cambridge
• A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun – 2021, Filter Space, Chicago
• A Permanent Home in the Mouth of the Sun – 2021, AAP Exhibition Space, Pittsburgh
• Kavana – 2020, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland
• Construct of Viewpoint – 2018, Union All Gallery, Pittsburgh
• Construct of Viewpoint – 2017, Junior High Gallery, Los Angeles
• Humanism – 2017, The Temple Judea Museum, Elkins Park
• Luminous / Weightless – 2016, Lantern Gallery, Pittsburgh
• Intimate Threat – 2016, Trust Arts Education Center, Pittsburgh

She has delivered many lectures on her images and research across the US in venues such as Yale University and the Society for Photographic Education Natural Conference, with her first monograph in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Thomas J Watson Library.

Her Work:

The body of work which I find most relevant to my exploration of Feminism in photography is ‘And Everything Nice’, curated by Altman at just 19 years old as a student posting on Tumblr. Altman did this in the absence of the expectation that this would have global reach, beginning in her dorm room as a personal photo project at Point Park University.

“‘And Everything Nice’ is an unflinching analysis of the standard for female beauty. The ongoing series consists of women in states of affliction; the body fluid of the models have been replaced with glitter to visualize the concept of girls invariably needing to seem attractive regardless of the actual situation” – Altman via her Tumblr post

And Everything Nice:

In these eight images within the series, Altman shoots images with bodily fluids such as blood, tears and vomit replaced by glitter in an act to challenge and visually represent the female beauty standard.

This minimalistic viewpoint of breaking down the standard of female beauty in a detached way allows the viewer to objectively infer how there is a consistent pressure to present themselves as attractive, without thought to the situation at hand. This alternative criticism to the societal expectation of what a woman should be like dives deeper into this concept than others because it pays attention to how even processes of the anatomy are accounted for in the beauty standard, instead of just exploring the stereotypes of ‘what a woman should be like’ at face value.

Altman also uses glitter in replacement of vomit as a young girl lays over the toilet which could be used to target the teenage culture, being going out and drinking with friends (underage or legally) to the point of sickness – something that is normalised when reaching teenage years and wanting to try new things.

Using this as a replacement of blood too could be seen as symbolic of domestic abuse and male violence, where Altman uses nosebleeds and cuts on knees with plasters on them, and this ‘blood’ smeared. This could be representative of the risk of young girls getting into toxic relationships or situations due to being so vulnerable and impressionable. However, this is also applied in the form of period blood and blood on a razor, crucial in reinforcing Altman’s idea on the pressures, both internal and external, in applying this beauty standard in all situations regardless of what they are down to an anatomical scale.

I feel that this is such a unique viewpoint on the perceived beauty standard because it leads into the extremities that young girls go to in order to feel beautiful. For example, the blood on the razor points towards over-shaving continually in order to be completely hairless to feel desirable, setting an unrealistic expectation as hair is an entirely normal thing that everyone has, however there is a double standard for men and women. This is challenged as it shows the severity of what these ideas can do, and how the normalisation for one gender but not the other can be extremely damaging for women, specifically young girls who grow into their teenage years and begin to see air-brushed fashion magazines that aren’t actually achievable in real life, they are actually just extremely edited.

I also find that the replacement of period blood with red glitter is such a core image within this selection due to the ‘disgust’ portrayed in the media against women’s menstrual cycle even though this is a regular bodily function that is out of an individual’s control. This autonomic process is something that allows a woman to carry a child, however it is suggested that it should not be spoken about in society due to judgement. I feel that this is very relevant to the beauty standard in teens because thousands of young girls don’t even understand the actual biological process behind this due to this stigmatised perception against periods. This also combats the saying of ‘someone’s on their period’ that is commonly used when a woman is expressing feelings of anger or sadness, a way of demeaning the female sex for reacting to situations that they do not feel comfortable with. By curating a scene like this, it leans towards the normalisation of the menstrual cycle, instead of women being judged for a process that is completely out of their control and allows them to carry a child into the world.

For example, when these images were released, there was a large swarm of men (and even some women) with uninformed criticism towards Altman’s work, calling the images ‘gross’. It is evident through this that society has been conditioned to think within a certain frame of stereotypical views, here being that the period cycle should be kept almost like a secret, leaving many young girls uncertain of how their bodies work and what it actually is. Images like these create large reactions out of people because they consist of things so unnormalised in society when knowledge and information on these things is incredibly important.

These images convey messages of violence, teen girl culture and emotionality which overall contributes to the challenging of the beauty standard set against women. They reach out to the younger generation through social media, here being a Tumblr page, to actively represent issues through a different medium rather than simply words. This visual aspect can be empowering and ensures that, specifically young girls getting their period for the first time, shouldn’t be afraid of the reactions of those around them or to be judged for being ‘gross’ when this is a regular thing.

Analysis:

The image uses a short depth of field to force the viewer to be drawn in by the smudge of red glitter across a young girls face. Altman uses natural lighting to create shadows that have not been manipulated, making the composition without the glitter look as realistic as possible. The subject sits with her face turned towards the source of the lighting as the shadows stem from the left side of the image which reinforces the focal point into being the subjects face. This use of natural lighting also contributes to Altman’s intention of targeting the beauty standard against women as it makes the image look more organic and raw, instead of leaning towards the aesthetics of fashion magazines for example. Skin texture is also more visible by using this lighting which contributes again to the truthful portrayal of actual women’s beauty. The subject turns to the side with a facial expression of what seems to be discomfort as her mouth hangs open as if she is in pain, going hand in hand with the use of glitter to replicate a nosebleed. This leaves the symbolic aspect of the image open to interpretation to the viewer due to the subjectivity of it. I feel that this image could be an excellent metaphor for male violence, specifically in teenage girls, as the idea of being in a ‘toxic and controlling relationship’ is more romanticised now in the younger generation rather than being perceived as something unwanted. The girl in the image grits her teeth shut slightly which could be symbolic of feeling as if she cannot speak up about what has just occurred and even feelings of shock due to the diagonal angle Altman has used which opposes the direction of the subjects face. As Altman produced this set of images at the age of just 19-years-old, this could be used to reach out to her age group at the time to show a darker side of this idea of controlling and jealous relationships that may be desired by young girls as they may believe this would make them feel wanted more like they are the only person that matters to their significant other. However, this image is displaying the progression of these kinds of relationships, and how they can quickly grow from something that may be perceived danger less. The ‘blood’ being in the form of glitter can resemble that romanticised idea that young girls have, having relation to the phrase of ‘all that glitters is gold’, suggesting that whilst the concept behind jealousy may be exciting at the time, relationships like this are extremely unstable and can easily turn violent due to the high control over impressionable young girls who may not have a predetermined perception of love.

With the theme for the final exam being Union, I initially began thinking of ideas by reading through all pages of the exam paper, including features of fine art for example, because this would enable me to fully explore and utilise the information given to me so that I could easily find different movements and artists who inhabit this theme in their own work.

From here, I was able to use search engines to research what I had learnt, beginning with different artistic movements such as Cubism to gain visual examples of what I could gain inspiration from and actually see if I liked the aesthetic components of these images. What helped me here was annotating the exam paper with my own ideas that I had began to formulate because this would let me fully evaluate them all at the end of my research to the concept which I felt most suitable for Union.

I didn’t want this personal study to be similar to any of my other photographic responses because I wanted to ensure my portfolio would have versatility, a range of different methods from objectivity to subjectivity. The specific idea which really drew me in was looking at different societal movements which we have as this is an excellent depiction how the minimal representation of people and important constructs brings people together to have their voices heard in fighting against repression, here being the Feminist movement. Whilst this is greatly a global and universal political movement that has been present for decades, I wanted to use this movement as inspiration as it is important to me, being the fact that I am an 18 year old girl who is actively affected by actions fought against by this movement in partner with billions of young girls and women across the world. I feel almost as if it is my duty to interpret this in my work as it is incredibly relevant to me and something I do feel passionate about which will in turn allow me to create effective images. I wanted to include aspects of tableaux photography by curating staged scenes to represent truthful and real events that happen more frequently than society realise due to the normalisation of objectifying the female sex. So, in terms of my previous research on Mirrors and Windows, I find this body of work will be categorised as both due to its documentation of real and truthful stories captured by millions of women every year, however I will be using staged scenes in order to create this whilst also having a personal connection to my images due to this being extremely relevant in my day to day life due to my preconceived perceptions of the world in relation to feminism as well as having first-hand experiences being female regardless of my young age. I would also still like to create subjective images in accordance to my objective ones to visually display inner thoughts and feelings surrounding the issues that Feminism attempts to tackle.

Statement of Intent:

My main subject within the Feminist movement is going to be shooting people, specifically women and young girls as this is the focal point of the movement making this the best way to represent the hundreds of issues addressed here. I want to use dynamic angles to do this, being low or diagonal with a strong contrast in my lighting as this will create solemnity, seriousness and drama to encapsulate the importance of this topic. This will take place in domestic environments as well as external scenes:

1. Domestic Scenes:

I will be shooting inside my house and my friends house, creating staged scenes, in order to represent domestic abuse, misogyny and male violence that happens behind closed doors in domestic relationships. With domestic abuse being rarely reported due to fear and the entrapment of women, whether this could be due to family connections, separation from close friends and immediate family or financial assets being tied together, 1.5 million cases of reported domestic abuse-related incidents were gathered in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022 (1). I also want to portray this because it could happen to anyone, and not be realised until the person is too far into the relationship to leave, as this abuse tends to begin emotionally and psychologically before it grows into something much bigger and more controlling, meaning this could be something that has occurred to the woman sat next to you on the bus on a Monday morning, or simply the person serving you as a cashier in a shop. The point is that this topic is universal and kept behind closed doors, so this representation creates the hope that it can influence others to come forward and break out of these toxic situations, forcing realisation that it is entirely unacceptable to be treated in such a demeaning manner and it is not ‘love‘ to fear the person who should make you feel the most safe.

Before artist references and inspirations, I began to create photoshoot ideas to represent domestic abuse:

• How domestic abuse rates rise 26% when the England football team wins or draws, and increases a 38% when his team loses. I wanted to utilise this by using different depths of field with a female crying or looking distressed next to the tv with a football game on. In the background I could vary my depths of field and experiment, putting a can of beer in the background for the viewer to infer that they are afraid of the results of the match.
• The uniting of women in their trauma, for example the support received once telling friends and family what they have endured or even getting a friend to document the actions of their abuser by using phones to photograph bruises and fingerprint marks.
• The fears of spiking, this being an issue that is rife in nightlife by women having things put into their drinks to be taken advantage of and objectified. To do this, I will be staging a party scene in the background and using Photoshop to experiment with different colours to create strobe lights. Of course this would be more realistic in an actual club or party because I would have true lighting, however this would be incredibly difficult because there would be very poor lighting conditions and I could risk damaging the camera depending on how busy the location is. Here, I am going to use still-life images of a glass of wine and putting a small piece of a Vitamin C tablet inside as these fizz when wet, to give off the perception of a foreign body being placed in someones drink without their awareness. As well as this, I would like to create images of a ‘feminine’ hand over the top of the glass as when I go out, my parents automatically remind me to watch my drink and be protective of it to minimise the risk of this happening to me.

2. External Scenes:

My main idea behind using the external environment to create images in this topic is to show the political side of the feminist movement. Within this, I will be creating signs similar to the ones I have seen in the media, and putting them into the sky to photograph them as this is a simple way to show the activism and advocation that has been going on within the feminist movement for hundreds of years beginning with the Suffragettes. I will also be shooting images of fists in the air as this is commonly associated for standing up for what is right and is the forefront symbol of empowerment.

By using outdoor environments, it makes sure that my images are still in touch with the wider applications and impacts that this movement has instead of just looking into the internal pressures that women have from misogyny and sexism. I don’t think I will be shooting images within the studio because I would like to keep the aspect of realism in my work, ensuring that the images produced are raw and relative to real-life. If I do shoot images in the studio, this runs the risk of them not looking as realistic and truthful even though I am using staged environments which won’t allow my images to be as effective.

The other photographic responses I have began to formulate on my own are:

• The idea of sonder– being the realisation that every individual a person sees has a life as full and as real as their own. This is in relation to the domestic abuse many women face in silence and alone behind closed doors, and how this could happen to anyone at all. My idea to represent this concept is to have one girl or women staring into the lens of the camera out of a crowd of people moving around her, symbolising a cry for help, in town for example. For this, I can use a slow shutter speed to create a motion blur around the subject to symbolise almost being ‘forgotten’ about in their private fight. This can also be experimented with to be inverse of the male gaze in the public eye, being due to women purposely keep aware of their surroundings as an instinctual response due to past experiences and the knowledge of the high levels of attacks in public areas on women.
• The concerns of pregnancy at the hands of abortion bans in many countries, such as Donal Trump’s beginning of his Project 2025 plans which could lead to the deaths of many young women and girls for numerous reasons is a more modernised problem that the feminist movement is striving to battle against. For this, I am going to purchase pregnancy tests and drop them onto the floor of public toilets or place them onto the basin on the sinks and shoot from high, overhead angles, such as standing over the adjacent cubicle, to connote emotions of fear and worry. I will use high contrasts and a lower exposure to make the image have a heavier feeling.
• I want to use this ‘birds eye view’ in public toilets again using a high angle, with a girl inside the toilet looking distressed and concerned as if they are hiding or having fears about their current situation. There are typically notices on these toilet doors of JAAR – standing for Jersey Action Against Rape which I think would be very effective as I can utilise this to make the concept of the image more explicit. I will also shoot images of these notices in a more dead-pan aesthetic, being straight on, as this are very relevant to the movement in giving women support systems.

My final piece will consist of a photobook as in my previous personal study exploring the hardships of growing up with a family member suffering with extreme symptoms of a mental illness, I found that this was incredibly moving because I have entire control over the aesthetics and colour palette which are important in connoting different emotions. I feel that this will be the best way to represent such a heavy topic again with the Feminist movement. However, I don’t think this time I will use accompanying text as I want the images to speak for themselves and I don’t want them to be overpowered by textual information, all of the images should speak for themselves.

My biggest motivator in using this for my study in the theme of Union is the relevancy to my everyday life, these are vital and key concerns that I have to be aware of in order to be safe in society, especially when getting into relationships and going out during nightlife as there are so many incidents that happen to millions of women everyday. Having this knowledge and education is important to me because it means that I will be able to prepare myself in the case of something occurring and know where to access this support in a time of need, as well as having an instinct to prepare to defend myself in these cases.

My second reason for this is that I myself perceive myself as a feminist because I’m extremely passionate about being an activist for this inequality. This impacts my family, friends and millions of young girls and women across the world and without having a voice and standing up, nothing will change at all. All of these sub-categories within the feminist movement must be addressed because the ignorance of this could even lead to millions of deaths, and already does. Without preserving women’s rights, history will revert. My hopes in doing this is to display how important it is to be educated and aware of these things, and that they well and truly can happen to anyone even if you think it might not be you. These issues are closer to home than they are perceived and I hope to bring them to light to show that this is the reality of the world, and its important to use your voice to project what is wrong to make a difference.

References:

(1)https://www.ncdv.org.uk/domestic-abuse-statistics-uk/#:~:text=1.5%20million,compared%20to%20the%20previous%20year.

Chosen final prints and layouts-

A4:

I decided to put these images for my final prints to be mounted on a board together as I felt that they sequenced together seamlessly. I wanted a variety of page sizes, and decided I wanted these images to be A4. These photos sequenced seamlessly to me as they present the same theme of feminism stereotypes ‘traditional housewife’ however obtain different elements in each image. This is because of the variation of angles. The first image represents the motherhood and nurturing element through the subjects hand over her slower stomach and is looking down obtaining the ‘female gaze’. Although, this does not include the symbol of heels. The second image I wanted in the middle as it is the most different to the others, and gives the illusion of the subject looking over at the left image. The bending over with the high heels with the props such as the apron and dishes, signifies more of a submissive woman in the household. Finally, the right image expresses all of these elements at once in one image, as it emphasises the jewellery, high heels and the ‘female gaze’ looking over the shoulder from a behind angle. All of which symbolise different elements within femininity and stereotypes within the 1st wave movement.

A5:

For these combination of images, I chose for these A5 images to be mounted together as I felt as if they fitted each other perfectly. I liked how the 2 on the edges worked well with each other as they are the same, but obtain different feminine poses. I wanted my middle image to break up the similarities, but at the same time to obtain relevancy. Therefore, I added this image which is one of my favorites as it is taken from above, signifying that she is submissive, and the man in the household is mostly likely dominant. Whereas the other two have a sense of independency. The middle one, the subject has hair rollers in which expresses her effort to appeal to her husband. Another reason why I decided to mount these images together is because the two images on the side, are expressing reflection (Reflections of Repression), whereas my middle image is executing the ‘female gaze’ and looking up, to emphasize this stereotype of being submissive and dominance, portraying the gender roles and power dynamics. Therefore, I really admired how all 3 images had a different meaning to interpret.

A3:

Virtual Gallery

I chose these images for my virtual gallery as they are my preferred images from my 4 photo shoots. This is why I chose these images for my final prints. Overall, I think the black and white for all of my images fit into my theme I decided to focus on. Not only this, but I believe it looks smarter and more organised when sequencing my images together. I personally like how each image has meaningful interpretations of being a woman which was my objective within this project. Although each image is layed out thoughtfully so two photos do not clash together, I liked how the first image on the left is the beginning of the feminism waves, contrasting to the last image on the right which is representing the last wave of feminism. Ultimately, expressing the change of women throughout the years and how stereotypes are ultimately formed.

Final Images

Windows-

How do these images relate to windows?

In comparison to Doug Aitken

Evaluation

Mirrors-

How do these images relate to mirrors?

In comparison to Justine Kurland

Evaluation

Windows- Contact Sheet

The images which are highlighted green are the images I have chosen to edit, because they are my best images with the best composition and layout. I also chose images with different colours in them, so I could create an image in photoshop with different colours and similar colours.

Edits

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

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

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

I edited this image by increasing the contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the exposure, saturation, highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image was slightly less exposed, so the lighting was less harsh, and so different shades and tones of the grass could be more visible.

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

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights, blacks and saturation. I did this, so the image would have better lighting and be more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights, blacks and saturation. I did this, so the image would have better lighting and be more vibrant.

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites and vibrancy, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so the image would have better lighting and be more vibrant.

Mirrors- Contact Sheet

The images which are highlighted green are the images I have chosen to edit, because they have the best composition and layout and display the mirrors theme the best.

Edits

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

I edited this image by increasing the exposure, contrast, shadows, whites, vibrancy and saturation, while decreasing the highlights and blacks. I did this, so that the image would have better lighting.

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

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

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

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

Photoshop

To create my virtual gallery I used ArtSteps.

How?

First, I chose which studio I wanted to use for my virtual gallery.

Next, I dragged my images into Artsteps from my documents.

Then, I placed my images where I wanted them in my studio.

Finally, I chose which frames I wanted on my images. I chose the dark brown frame, because I thought it best suited my images.

Final Virtual Gallery

Evaluation

Overall, I think my photoshoots went well, as they displayed the themes youth and identity well, by presenting different activities, which abided by or opposed stereotypical norms. I also presented my youth and identity in particular, as I displayed activities I enjoyed doing in my youth and activities I still do and enjoy now.

I also think my virtual gallery is aesthetically pleasing, because my images go well together and have been displayed well together, similarly to my photobook. I have also used my best images, which I have used in my photobook in my virtual gallery as well.

Here is an online link to my photobook: Remember When

Evaluation

Overall I’m happy with my photobook and the layout of it and I have specifically designed the book so that it tells a narrative of memories that were important to my Grandad. The front cover of the book is also important because it shows how the book is about happy memories and nice places but it is also quite sombre as he’s no longer here which contrasts with the narrative really well.

Hyperlink to Blurb Photobook

https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/10535818/3cda4659068a24e77696fc603135b2535454bcbe