I am creating a soft cover A4 booklet with 20 pages, relating to girlhood.

The front and back cover is going to be one image in the middle of a pink boarder with a black bold title “Girlhood”, the pink will go round the back too, with my name in the top left corner.

The first page is going to have a poem on it about girlhood.

You can also see the lay out in the top left corner.

Page 2 and 3 is a whole spread page is one image of two girls posing and leaning in front of a car.

Page 4 and 5 is going to be a side by side comparison of a normal photo and then a black and white image.

Page 6 and 7 is going to be one image on the right hand side.

Page 8 and 9 is going to be two images on the right hand side then one full spread on the left.

Page 10 and 11 is a full spread of just one image.

Page 12 to 13, another wide spread image on both pages.

Page 14 to 15, two images on the left an done image on the right.

Page 16 to 17, just one image on the right hand side.

Page 18 to 19, two images on the right hand side with one image on the left, full bleed.

On page 20-23 goes my essay.

Here is the final look on lightroom.

I really like the way the images are set out, I focused on capturing cute girly moments. I used to colour pink colour to show the ‘stereotypical’ girl type. There are different tones and settings, like the beach and a car where the girls are singing and eating food which I think captures the scene of girlhood, the girls are giggling and enjoying spending time together with no boys there. The images are set out in a certain way to try and capture this element of girlhood which adds value to the images.

The lighting is natural with a warm colour temperature and the arrangement of the images is specific to try and capture each image by itself so nothing blends in. There is a sense of repetition within the images as they are all interlinked and are very similar. The idea behind this work is that Gen-Z have a very different lifestyle when growing up, therefore I’m trying to capture this within my images. The essay provides a detalied text of what my project is really about and its very important for my photograph’s and photobook.

To what extent does Cindy Sherman and Justine Kurland explore female stereotypes.

‘To collect photographs is to collect the world’
Susan Sontag, On Photography 1977

To explore stereotypes means to focus on something that is a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong. They are able to shape our perceptions of groups of individuals which can lead to misunderstanding and sometimes discrimination. I am going to be looking at the area of female and teenage stereotypes. The artists I want to explore are Cindy Sherman and Justine Kurland. I have chosen Cindy Sherman as she focuses on female stereotypes within her work, her photography is important because of the way it depicts how women are viewed in society. I have also chosen Justine Kurland as her focus in photography is on girlhood. Her images are representations of both childhood adventures and current experiences. Both artists explore the issues with stereotypes and draw attention to it. Both photographers stage their photo shoots instead of them being documentary photographs. Cindy Sherman regularly alters her appearance beyond recognition through make-up, prosthetics, and costumes. To create her images, she assumes the multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, and stylist. She becomes the character in the story she is attempting to portray through her images. Justine Kurland also sets up her images but not with herself, instead using real people she approach in her elaborate staging of photographs. Kurland has used staged tableaux to explore the social landscape of girlhood, life on communes, and life in the wilderness. Both photographers’ images represent mirrors. Mirror images are usually called this when the photographer is trying to demonstrate or reflect something that they feel about themselves. John Szarkowski in his text, said a mirror is ‘reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it’ and ‘a mirror- a romantic expression of the photographer’s sensibility as it projects itself on the things and sights of the world (Szarkowski 1978). These two artists are mirrors as Cindy Sherman is a women herself and is trying to reflect her feelings and opinions on it to the viewers, and Kurland mirrors her own childhood through the use of other girls a representation.

Historical context: Feminism

Both of he artists I am focussing on have images published between 1977-2002. Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills composes of over seventy black and white photographs made between 1977 and 1980. By 1970, feminists had inspired women and men across the United States. Whether in politics, the media, or private households, the topic of feminism was everywhere. The representation of women in art in the past shared the idea that women were good enough to be painted, but not to paint. They were usually represented for their physical appearance and not as the ones who would do the paintings. Theorist L van Zoomen said, ‘a core element of western patriarchal culture is the display of woman’s spectacle to be looked at, [and] subjected to the gaze of the (male) audience.’ (van Zoomen 2019). I agree with this quote as it was usual for women to be in the paintings and not be the painter, usually posing in certain ways that would be more appealing for a male audience. Historical female photographers include artists such as Julia Margaret-Cameron and Claude Cahun. Cameron (1815-79) revolutionised photography and immortalised the age of the eminent Victorian through her monumental photographs with their muzzy focus and dramatic use of light. Cahun presents herself in a variety of guises, adopting different personas and exploring the fluidity of identity. She dresses as both men and women when exploring the theme of identity and gender roles. A quote she said was: ‘Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.’ (Cahun, Claude (2008). Disavowals: or cancelled confessions. The MIT Press. p. 151.) This shows her link with the theme of masculinity and femininity as she does not care which identity she takes and in a few of her photographs you can see her looking more feminine than others. Cindy Sherman’s work is one of the most direct link with the male gaze in art history. her images show woman in roles hat seem disempowered. she makes the image appealing but also leaves the viewer to interpret certain things which can often be unsettling as they wonder what the real meaning is behind the image.

Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman makes her photos come to life by using herself as the main aspect. She doesn’t merely represent stereotypes, she embodies them in different ways which then draws attention to the roles she plays which captivate the viewers. Sherman is known for creating fictional characters in her photographs, often using props, makeup and clothing to transform her appearance which is seen as an exploration of identity. Sherman uses elaborate makeup and costumes to create transformations in her appearances and characters. This allows her to explore issues of identity, subjectivity and gender, while challenging the conventions of visual representation. Cindy Sherman said, ‘I never thought I was acting. When I became involved with close-ups I needed more information in the expression. I couldn’t depend on background or atmosphere. I wanted the story to come from the face. Somehow the acting just happened.’ Being a woman, she is able to share her ideas possibly from her own experience which could make the images more personal to her and important to her. Sherman satirizes the audience’s gaze on the female body and solidifies female aesthetic standards. Cindy Sherman’s work has had a major impact on contemporary photography. Many artists were influenced by her work, and her technique of deconstructing stereotypes and conventional representations is still an important reference for many artists today. Sherman’s work is often credited as a major influence for contemporary portrait photographers. One such photographer is Ryan Trecartin, who manipulates themes of identity in his videos and photography. Now 30, he began taking pictures of himself and his friends role playing and cross-dressing while still in junior high school, when he was also introduced to Sherman’s work. Sherman’s influence on other artists work was known as “The Cindy Sherman Effect”. She focusses on stereotypes to the extent where it has an impact on the community where she considers social and political issues surrounding stereotypes and woman in general such as female representation in popular culture and the performative nature of identity. In the image below, It could be interpreted by the viewer that Sherman is impersonating a stereotypical house wife from the late 1950s or early 1960s. This can be clear by the objects she adds to the image to subtly create this thought. The use of the sauce pan and soap bottle suggest to the viewer that she could be pictured in a kitchen. As well as this, she is also wearing an apron. The construction of the picture hints at a number of possible narratives and is open to a range of analyses. One analysis a viewer could make is a negative event occurring. The black and white can cause an ominous feeling or sense of tension and the tone of the image makes it feels like a dark and scary moment for the woman. she can be seen to be looking over her shoulder and the viewer can interpret that to what they like but it was usually be a negative thing she may be looking at as her eyes look concentrated on something that could be making her scared. Sherman is also seen holding her stomach which could be a usual comfort for a woman so this could further suggest something to make her uncomfortable is going on and further shows how she depicts the theme of vulnerability in her photos.

Justine Kurland
Justine Kurland focusses on themes of freedom, rebellion, and the defiance of gender expectations. Kurland’s main project was called Girl Pictures. Kurland started this project in 1997 when she was a graduate student at Yale. Kurland decided to reverse certain stereotypical representations by rather than showing girls as passive or vulnerable, she represented them as strong, confident and free-spirited. The main environment of her images are usually in wild settings like rural or urban places which would be the opposite of a typical environment where girlhood would be imagined to be placed. She first photographed a fifteen year old girl called Alyssum who was the daughter of Kurland’s partner at the time. As well as this she also photographed groups of friends who were teenage girls and she staged the images where she depicted life on communes and life in the wilderness. In her project Girl Pictures. writer Rebecca Bengal says, ‘one in six of us will never figure it out. One in six of us will never leave here. One in six of us is bound to disappear. One in six of us, she’ll surprise you’. (Bengal 2020) This quote important as its showing how every teenagers life is different and the decisions they make now will impact where they end up. She represents the stereotype of a teenager who is figuring things out at the same time as going through things. The lighting in the image below is natural and seems to be at either sunrise or sunset. The lighting sets a feeling of calmness to the viewer as it looks tranquil and relaxing. The warming tone also contributes to the idea of tranquillity. In this image, Kurland is photographing her partners daughter, Alyssum. This image shows Alyssum in the centre of the image holding onto a tree. The way she is holding onto he tree creates a sense of fear as she seems to be clinging onto it and not wanting to let go. Her being in the centre of the image I think works really well to create a deeper meaning of the image. the water next to her seems to be travelling one way on the left of the image whereas the direction of the headlights of the cars suggest the road travel the opposite way. as well as that, there’s a pathway on the grass which is also creating a direction. Alyssum’s body faces the road whereas she’s looking over her shoulder at the water which creates the idea that she doesn’t know what direction to go in or what path to take and seems to be lost. This links to stereotypes of young people as its showing the confusion of the mind and having the ability to make decisions for yourself but still not knowing which direction to go. Teenagers could relate to this image as they may also not know what to do or where to go as they enter the part of their life where their decisions have a major impact on their futures.

Conclusion

Both Cindy Sherman ands Justine Kurland are two of the most important photographers when it comes to themes such as identity, gender and roles in society. They have different techniques such as Sherman taking her images as self portraits which have been constructed an staged way. Whereas Kurland takes her images of other individuals and not herself in open naturalistic aesthetics where the environment is a rural wide-space. Though they have differences, their main themes are femininity, gender roles and identity. Both photographers attempt to present themselves in their images when focussing on the theme of identity however they do this in slightly different ways. Sherman uses her identity to show her opinions on the stereotypical female roles through using herself. She embodies them in different ways which then draws attention to the roles she plays and ultimately captivates the viewers. She is able to transform her appearance which is seen as an exploration of identity. Kurland shows her opinions and thoughts by using other people to reflect herself onto them. In her work Girl Pictures she depicts young women in wilderness settings and shows the ongoing theme of freedom and rebellion where she often places the individuals (herself) in natural environments in the wild. Another difference is how they explore identity in different ways. Sherman shows the stereotypical female societal roles in her images where she sticks to showing how woman are viewed where they are presented as disempowered and link largely with the male gaze. Whereas Kurland shows the female identity in opposite ways by depicting girls rebelling and being out in fields and rural areas where hey seem to be empowered rather than disempowered which would usually not be the typical image of a female. Both artists don’t just use their images to represent themselves, they represent everyone who can relate. Sherman represents every woman and Kurland represents most teenage girls. Though the artists approaches to this theme differ, they both manage to challenge the reality of being a woman. With the work I have produced, I would say it is more similar to Kurland’s work than Sherman’s. In one of my photoshoots, it focussed on group of my friends who were all girls. This is already a similarity between Kurland’s work and she also takes images of groups of girls. The settings of hers and my work could be seen as fairly similar as I also used places such as fields to take my photographs and got the subjects of the images to engage in activities such as tree climbing. In terms of Cindy Sherman, as a large majority of my images surround females I am able to compare mine to hers as a similarity. My photographs are images of others which links with Kurland’s work rather than Sherman’s as she tends to do self-portraits instead. I also believe that, like Kurland, my images would be seen as mirrors as I am reflecting my life through the use of my friends. in comparison to this idea, some of my other photoshoots could be seen as windows as I photograph the subject engaging in activities that is normalised for them (for example dancing) and so this would be a window as its taking a look into someone else’s normal activity that I don’t relate to. One of the photoshoots that focuses on one of my friends dancing links to Cindy Sherman and the idea of female stereotypes as dancing could be considered a female stereotypical sport (especially in the past).

Bibliography

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

Justine Kurland

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

Historical paragraph Claude Cahun

Cahun, Claude (2008). Disavowals: or cancelled confessions.

For my second photoshoot I decided to focus on photographing my mum in the same style as older images of her.

Selecting images:

I selected 4 images that I was going to restage. I chose a variety of images with various different angles and poses. When doing my photoshoot I aimed to use similar props to the original images such as the cap.

Photoshoot:

I went through my images and selected my best images as white flags and the ones which aren’t as successful as black flags.

Best images:

I then went through and chose my favourite image for each category (each photo I recreated). These are the images which I will focus on editing.

Editing my images

I created a total of 8 edits from the 4 selected images, these are basic edits I have created where I have just adjusted basic settings. I also made a black and white copy of each of my edits so I can decide which one I will prefer to use within my photobook.

Edit 1:

Edit 2:

Edit 3:

Edit 4:

Experimental edits:

Edit 1:

I set up my screen like this so I was able to adjust the tones of my image to match the original one. I experimented with adjusting the tone to make it more pink/ purple like the original image.

To make further editing easier I chose to create my own preset so I am able to apply it to my other edits.

Other edits with this preset:

Evaluation:

Overall I think this shoot went well as I managed to recreate multiple old images in a similar way. I was also able to edit them in similar ways to the original images.

• 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. 

To what extend is autobiography explored in the work of Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence?

‘Since 1970, I’ve been using text and ephemera as well as photographs in order to tell stories of one kind or another. There’s a thread that runs through all the work that is to do with bearing witness. The photographs are about asking questions, though, not answering them.’ – Jim Goldberg. [Jim Goldberg Online] [accessed 29 January 2025]

An autobiography is the story of oneself told by themselves. Autobiographical works can take many forms, from letters, to diaries to self publishing books about yourself. They are not always intended to be published, but sometimes they can answer history, or tell stories of ones who once lived, who did incredible things that went unnoticed. When it comes to autobiography in the forms of art, some artists tend to use their work as an autobiography, This to bring reality what actually goes on in their lives or make themselves more relatable to the one who looks at their work, they humanize themselves in their own creative way. In my area of study I will be focusing on identity, and teenage life, and what it is really like and how it can be seen by everyone else. In a way it is almost like an autobiography but also a biography for all other teenagers who can relate to my photobook. I will be analysing Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence in this essay, they are both photographers that I have looked at for inspiration. They both have an autographical sense to them in their work, Jim Goldberg focuses on others lives but represents his relationship to them through his text, which gives the autobiographical aspect, when Jo Spence uses her photography as a self-representation and self-exploration, which is very autobiographical. I want to analyse both these artists because I find their work not only incredibly touching and amazing, but they also relate to what I am doing and and fit well into autobiography. I will be responding to Jim Goldberg’s and Jo Spence’s work by not only using their images as an inspiration and creative guideline but also writing about the historical, theoretical, and visual cultural relevance to my area of study.

The historical concept of art, is a product of materials, cultural movements, and outcomes. The theoretical concept of art, shows within the philosophies of it that explains what art is, yet like philosophy it also opens even more questions. Art and photography also has lots of cultural relevance. Cultural relevance is taking account of the different cultural backgrounds. Art does this very well. Photography shows cutural relevance with its artists, they go out of their way to make images that can change the view of the world, just by showing all the different cultures. Two artists who show historical concept, theorerical, and cultural relevance, are the ones that I plan to study and write about in this essay, Jim Goldberg, and Jo spence. Jim Goldberg has a historical concept to is work. For example, his work Raised by Wolves is about teenagers who runaway and live on the streets of San Francisco. This has a historical concept as it about what teenagers have gone through, their past, their history and their story, which Goldberg’s gets to explore through photography. Goldberg not only tells history of child welfare and homelessness, but also makes history by talking about it, he shows the world what it is like for some children who dont have an easy life growing up. Jim Goldberg has a theoretical concept in his artwork as well, as he shows documentary work, and storytelling, this makes it theoretical as it plays around with illusions and it’s not meant to be concerned with hypothesis and theories. Now his cultural relevance is again within his book ‘Raised by Wolves’ he shows homelessness and neglect in a different light, as a subject that is overlooked and mistreated by mainstream media. Most people do not want to come to the reality of what it is really like for some children, some people and some cultures. This all relates to my area of study because I will have a historical, theoretical and cultural concepts in my project similarly to how Goldberg presents it his photobook. Jo Spence is the second artist I am studying and analysing in this essay. She also demonstrates historical, theoretical and cultural relevance. Spence shows historical concepts too and presents it through her illness and social class. This is all theoretical, because of the representation of identity she using throughout her work, especially in The Picture of Health. The cultural aspect comes into this as Spence lays out class, gender, and health. Her photography fights against social class “norms.” This also relates to my area of study as I focus on identity, with a touch of gender roles, mainly on women and slightly focusing on social class as a teenager. Just because we are in different classes does not mean that sometimes things going on in our lives cant be similar.

Jim Goldberg is an american photographer, he creates documentary-style photos that explore identity, homelessness, child welfare, and society. He demonstrates this in his photobook Raised by Wolves.’ This is a very impressive and powerful piece of work and I find his work incredibly moving because not only does he tell a relevant story, which took him over eleven years to create, but he adds in his own creative aspect of using written words over his images, explaining children’s stories and using the power of only one little sentence which can tell us everything about an individual in such a moving way. For example, ‘In the transcript Dave admits that he is “making things up” because “It doesn’t hurt as much” (36). Already we know that Tweeky Dave is who he says he is, who the other street children think he is, and not his “real” history.’

Jim Goldberg’s work, looks into autobiography by showing peoples personal narratives, using juxtaposition between photographs with his own handwritten text next to them. The texts represents conversations Goldberg had with his subject when he was photographing them. The combination of images and text tell their stories more in-depth, which makes it more biographical. Goldberg does this by collaborating with his subjects, i.e. the young people he meets on the streets, and this represent the individuals own autobiographies. He explores others autobiography but also his own in the position as the narrator. Goldberg’s work is a complex examination into autobiography, which meandering past the dainty ridges into a casual wind, thus creating a ceaseless discourse between self and society.

Jo Spence is a British photographer, who also explores identity, and her illness and social class. Spence explores autobiography through photographing her own body and life experiences. Her photography is moving and graphic to document her fight against cancer. she takes images of her body at its natural. It’s influential and inspiring as she shows herself in a genuine and vulnerable place. She turns her personal suffering into an journey of self exploration for not only herself but all the other women who look at her work, and are influenced by it, especially in her series of work The Picture of Health. She uses autobiography as the basis from which to consider the complexities of identity, vulnerability, and agency, employing her life truly as the site for challenging larger societal views on health, beauty, and the body, thus rendering her work a deeply personal yet universally relevant investigation of self.

In conclusion, A clear parallel between Jim Goldberg and Jo Spence, is that both the artists engage with autobiography through documentary photography and self-portraiture. Jim Goldberg emphasises others lives, showing marginalised communities whereas Spence used her own body to express the narratives of illness and identity. Her struggle with cancer becomes her own autobiographical experience to contest social expectations of the body and health.

Goldberg and Spence both use photography as a means to confront concepts of identity, self-representations and social norms. Goldberg, for instance allows the stories of his subjects he photographs through texts alongside the images, creating an autobiography of sorts involving their life experiences and his own as the narrator. Spence, centers her own body but also life experience like Goldberg, and creates a personal autobiography. The two artists have worked allowing their own narratives to outline greater social issues.

However, Goldberg uses his photographers voice to tell stories of others. Autobiography becomes a slight biography as Goldberg holds the position of power with his camera that attempts to narrate a visual story, and links this story to his own productive engagement with others. In contrast, Spence is a more direct and stereotypical form of autobiography. She explores her illness and societal expectations by making self portraits of her body and her life. The difference lies in that Spence uses her own body as the central site of storytelling

In summary, Both artists explore autobiography, they demonstrate it in different ways but both very powerful, I plan to have a similar aspect to my final photobook, as I use both these artist as inspiration. I plan on creating an autobiography similar to Jim Goldberg as I will have photos or teenagers an teenage life, and what some teenagers resort to or what we usually do, using ideas from Goldberg, but it will also be similar to Jo Spence because it will be an autobiography on myself as well, because I am also a teenager and I live the same life I am just demonstrating it through other people, yes I don’t do all the same things but as they are my friends and their lives I feel I also relate being part of their lives. Here are some image example to show my similarities.

Bibliography

Jim Goldberg’s ‘Raised By Wolves’ as a Non-Fictional Multi-Media Narrative

Jim Goldberg – ‘Raised by Wolves’

https://www.britannica.com/art/autobiography-literature

https://www.nabdb.design.iastate.edu/about/thinkingskills/historic_context/historic.html#:~:text=Historic%20Context%20Definition%3A&text=Every%20art%20object%20is%20a,discover%20its%20various%20interwoven%20histories.

Goldberg, J. [online] https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/jim_goldberg_585733 [accessed 29 January 2025]

1. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design with reference to the same elements of bookmaking as above.

Narrative: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words

friendship, life, enjoyment

• A sentence

This photobook explores the lives of teenagers

• A paragraph

This photobook shows the moments of happiness in the lives of the people shown in the images. The images capture moments of someone doing what they love to do whether its being with a group of people close to them or engaging in an activity they find important to them. The book brings across a sense of comfort where all the images capture happy moments where the subject is living their normal life in ways they love.

Design: Consider the following

• How you want your book to look and feel
• Paper and ink
• Format, size and orientation
• Binding and cover
• Title 
• Structure and architecture
• Design and layout
• Editing and sequencing
• Images and text

I want my book to look engaging to the viewer by keeping the front cover coloured with warm tones and an inviting image on the front. The format and size of the book is a Standard Portrait 8 x 10 in (20 x 25cm) with 46 pages . For the design and layout of my photobook, I tried to match certain photographs together that worked well when put alongside each other. My photograph consists of 3 separate photoshoots, with the first being the biggest, so I’ve made sure to keep each photoshoot together and not mixed with the others. I edited the images by making sure that they matched with the tones of the images alongside them. I did this by editing the exposure levels, temperatures and contrast of the images. I kept the sequence of my book at a variation of layouts making sure not to repeat the same layout after each other by adding ones such a two page spreads in between pages with two images

The title of my book is…

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF DOCUMENTARY VERSUS TABLEAUX PHOTOGRAPHY IN TELLING A STORY?

‘To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.’ (Sontag S. 1977)

The meaning of this quote is to explain the difference between the real thing itself and an image of the real thing. The photograph of the real thing is only an appropriation, or rather a representation of that thing which the camera recorded, or the photographer chose to frame in a picture. However, the photograph itself as a print, is a real object that exists in the world.

Introduction

This essay explores two aspects of photography; documentary and tableaux, in their unique ability to entice and seduce the viewer to comprehend the story that is being told. Both photographic methods attempt to convey a story in a historical timeframe; documentary photography is often used in reportage (Tate.org) by comparison a photograph that uses tableaux can feel pre-planned and hence staged. Although, the two approaches maintain a common purpose in communicating a narrative, the method behind how each photograph has been produced is completely different.

The origin of tableaux photography emerges from Pictorialism in the late 19^th century. The word documentary was first coined by British filmmaker John Grierson in 1930s. The line between a tableaux photograph being staged and posed and a documentary photograph showing ‘reality’ isn’t as black and white as the definitions say. For example, some photographers such as Tyler Mitchell and Justine Kurland fuse together both the real with the imaginary. (Gelder 2010). This means that to keep this essay on track, I will be explicitly focusing on obvious documentary or tableaux style photography.

This essay primarily analyses one historical and two contemporary image-makers; Dorethea Lange’s Migrant Mother, Paul M Smith’s tableaux photography focusing on masculinity and recreating scenes of war, and Neil Leifer’s documentary photos of sports. These artists were previously explored as part of my personal study, including them in this essay permits me to take a deeper dive into their images and make comparisons between tableaux and documentary styles.

Storytelling in photography is of particular personal interest, because my previous studies explored creating visual narratives of St Malo and St Helier Harbour, producing two different outcomes, magazine double spread and a photo-zine. My approach taken in both cases were documentary based.  A similar approach will be taken to my current project, however this time the subject being explored will be basketball and the commitment and determination that a sports person needs.

Documentary – Contemporary Example

Documentary photography is the recording of people, events and places to create an accurate record or story. Documentaries are traditionally supposed to show ‘reality’ as well as highlighting issues and for promoting change (Tate.org). However, it can also be used as an art form. It is similar to, though not the same as reportage photography.

In its infancy photography was originally used for scientific purposes. This meant that a camera was only used for documentary purposes; nothing more than a simple record of reality. “This is one of the founding arguments about photography right from the moment of its original invention, that is, its capacity to store and reproduce other objects as a visual image” (Bate 2010).

Photographs only started moving towards a true art form in the late 19^th century, gaining a similar artistic status to paintings and sculptures.  This is known as the pictorialism movement, starting in the late 19^th century and continued growing after. This meant photography can be a ‘naked’ and unaltered image that shows truth, or an artistic image, that the photographer planned to make it unique and impossible to replicate. This is where photographs start drifting away from a true depiction of history and to a depiction of the thoughts that a photographer has. The idea of a ‘Naked Image’ when referring to documentary photography is used represent history to fact and reality, as its often accepted to not tolerate any other form of presentation when it comes to a documentary photo. However, it’s impossible to take a photograph without aesthetics being added. And often, the most basic and obvious examples of a ‘document’ in a photograph end up being a formation of art photography.  

Above Dorothea Lange ‘Migrant Mother’ – example of documentary photograph taken during the Great Depression in USA during the 1930s.

The composition draws your eye to her face, which is tired and shows she is worn out, and hopeless. The image was used to raise awareness to the many Americans, especially farmers, that faced this kind of poverty (Eschner 2017). According to Lange, she approached the woman – as if drawn by a magnet – and snapped five pictures. Lange didn’t ask her name, but did hear of how the woman had sold the tires of her car just to buy food. Years after the photograph was published the subject of the photograph came forward to given her account. She said that she had not been paid and was told that the photograph would not be published. There are another five photographs of the same scene taken by Lange. In each photograph the furniture and the children are in different locations (Davis 2020). This has led to accusations that the final, iconic, picture was posed, staged. If this was the case does this take away the value of the image? As Bate (2010) said “in terms of history and memory, photographs demand analysis rather than hypnotic reverie” (Bate 2010).

Documentary – Neil Leifer

A more recent photographer, and someone who is an inspiration for my own personal studies, is Neil Leifer. Leifer has been documenting key sporting events in America for 60 years and is responsible for many classic sporting images (nielleifer.com). His style is primarily documentary and portraiture. He has taken many posed photographs of famous sports personalities however it is his documentary photographs that this essay will focus on.

Neil Leifer puts his success down to luck and being in the right place at the right time, however he also emphases the need to recognise that a great shot is there and grab it, even when it may be fleeting: “what separates the top photographers from the run-of-the-mill photographers is that when you get lucky a good photographer doesn’t miss.” (NPR 2016).

One of Leifer’s successes has been getting the camera in the right spot. He says this takes time and planning. For his famous shot of Ali v Williams boxing match at the Houston Astrodome in November 1966 he arrived four days before the match to set up and test his remote camera mounted in the rafters. He then took the film to the developers and waited for it to be processed “most photographers don’t hang around the magazine’s photo labs, but I would go to make sure they didn’t mess up my film” (Jonze, 2020). So, for sports documentary, it is important to be think ahead and plan and to control what you can, however it is equally important to be constantly on the lookout for ‘the shot’ and ensure you do not miss it.

Above Philadelphia 76ers center Wilt Chamberlain shoots over Walt Bellamy of the New York Knicks during a game at Convention Hall. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 1966 (neilleifer.com)

Above Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal goes up against Antonio McDyess and Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons during Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at American Airlines Arena. Miami, Florida. June 2, 2005. (neilleifer.com)

Above are some of my favourite basketball photographs taken by Leifer many years apart. With the first image, you can see a bright light shining on the players from the left, casting long and ominous shadows. Both players reaching for the ball are fully in the frame, making these players seem even larger than they are, this and the dynamism of the players is exaggerated by the wide angle lens and by having the camera low to the ground. This image is a good documentation of what basketball looked like back in the sixties, especially when compared to the second image with Shaquille O’Neal forty years later. You can see how the clothing has changed to being baggier, as well as the players being larger on average. The photograph captures the split-second pause as O’Neil eyes onto the basket before he shoots. O’Niel, in white, is framed on both sides by McDyess and Wallace, in blue. McDyess’s and Wallace’s eyes are both on O’Neil, drawing the viewer to the central figure. O’Neil’s eye’s are focused hard on the basket, which being out of shot sends the viewers gaze off to the top left of the image. This is a perfect example of what Leifer means when he says that good photographers do not miss the shot.   

Above is one example from my photoshoot that I took during a D1 game in Jersey. I tried to replicate Neil Leifer’s Images by sitting close to the basketball hoop as well as using a wide-angle Lense to capture a wider field of view.

Tableaux

Tableaux photography is staged and often posed. The people in the photographs may be wearing costumes and props may be used along with artificial lighting to create a scene. Tableaux photography is an evolution from art, for example Renaissance paintings depicting scenes from the bible or mythology. People in tableaux photographs are staged such that they appear to be absorbed in their actions or surroundings and unaware of the photographer. (Tate and Pilgrim 2023). Tableaux photography operates in the space between reality and fiction, drawing the viewer into a scene that feels both familiar and uncanny. (David Bate). This tension between reality and fiction allows tableaux photography to be so powerful when it comes to telling a story.

Below is a modern (amateur) example of a tableaux photograph below The Last Supper by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. The image, clearly posed by medical staff trying to have some light relief during the Covid Pandemic, is an example of a classic tableaux photograph, depicting a scene from the bible. (Smith 2020).

Above – The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci and tableaux by doctors at a hospital in Paris during the Covid pandemic (Smith 2020).

I’ve already talked a little bit about pictorialism in this essay, however, almost all tableaux photographs contain ideas from pictorialism and adds an aesthetic that’s pleasing to the viewer. Many contemporary photographers didn’t agree with this new movement at the time saying it marks a shift from an emphasis on ‘truthful’ representation to a recognition of its constructed nature. However, photographers that followed pictorialism believed it allowed viewers to pause and analyse them, allowing them to find there own meaning and symbolism. This can increase a story’s impact on the viewer as they are able to relate the photo to other moments in their own life, instead of taking the photo at face value which is often the case for documentary photography.

Tableaux – Paul M Smith

At first sight the images of Paul M Smith would not appear to be part of the tableaux genre. Smith is a British photographer who has produced several sets of images on the theme of masculinity. While his photographs appear to have the theme of documentary they are actually posed, and a large amount of effort has gone into capturing and editing the images in which, he, is often the only person in the photographs. These photographs do not record real events and are completely staged, they are tableaux.

In ‘Artist Rifles’ Paul M Smith takes self portraits of himself dressed as different soldiers and uses photomontage to create fictional military scenes (some of which are relatively graphic, such as execution and burials).

Above Paul M Smith photograph taken as part of his Artist Rifles series. In this photograph each of the soldiers is posed by Paul M Smith himself and the image put together as a photomontage. While having the appearance of a documentary image, it is entirely posed and fictional.

This image and the rest of the ‘Artist Rifle’ series contradicts the ideal view of courageous and well-known superheroes against that of a soldier, since he previously produced a series called ‘Action’ which mocks the masculine ideas of a superhero. Solders are unfortunately often seen as faces among the masses. This makes them heroes, not through their individuality or charisma, and instead by the difficulties of being a soldier. The use of tableaux allows Smith to recreate images with a high level of emotion, as he can control every aspect of the image, including the subjects himself since he is the subjects. When he took these photos back in the 1990s, it was much harder to replicate himself without the current technology, making these images more visually striking to the viewer. The multiple self-portraits also emphasise the idea of ‘brothers in arms’ in war, where they all work as one unit. This image above is particularly realistic as well, not just with the subjects’ actions, clothing and placement, but the baren and war-like background, allowing a strong effect on the viewer. The cigarette in the left soldier’s mouth and the rifle in the right soldier’s arms is almost over exaggerating the stereotypes of masculinity since the viewer knows its staged, giving an amusing effect allowing the viewer to participate in the fantasy. Looking past the depiction of masculinity, the details in this image that Smith planned makes it seem like a real event.

Above is my attempt at replicating photomontage in the style of Paul M Smith. I used photoshop to replicate the subject multiple times performing different things that are ‘basketball’ related.

Conclusion

It is clear from the examples given that both documentary and tableaux have the ability to tell a story.

Lange has potentially manipulated her image by having the mother and her children pose for the final and most famous image. Does this detract from Lange’s purpose of documenting the impact of the Great Depression and spreading the news of the suffering to the rest of America and the world? Does it remove the title ‘documentary’ from the image? Is it ‘fake? The truth is that the mother in the photograph was homeless and the children were starving. Perhaps all Lange is guilty of is using her skill as a photographer to marginally manipulate the story to make a greater impact on the reader, and by doing so raise the plight of the mother and others in her difficult situation?

It is interesting to compare the images of Lange with the sports photographs of Leifer. Both are well known documentary photographers, working at different times with very different subjects. However while the documentary images of Lange have a shadow of doubt over their ‘authenticity’ it is clear that the images taken during sports events by Leifer are true representations of what actually happened, the story of the match. It is very unlikely that these would be staged in anyway, and instead they are the product of a photographer who has the ability to foresee and capture a great image in the instant it happens during a fast-paced sports event.

The purpose of tableaux photography is to tell a story, whether that be the bible story of the last supper, the trials of working in a hospital during the Covid Pandemic, or the modern representation of masculinity and warfare.

Smith’s photographs are deliberately fabricated to mimic documentary wartime photographs. Only by looking closely is it apparent that all the people are posed by Smith himself. This creates a contrast between documentary photos and tableaux photos.  Does a documentary photo carry more emotion because there are no lies? Or a tableaux photo, which can be endlessly modified to maximise the emotion the photographer is trying to create? It is my view that impact is not from whether the photograph fits the ‘tableaux’ or ‘documentary’ genre. Rather it more the ability of the photographer to convey the message they wish to tell. A documentary photographer who asks (implicitly or explicitly) the subject to change their pose, position etc, and in doing so is able to make a more powerful image while the most important elements of the truth remain is equally valid as the obviously posed tableaux that examines the meaning of its subject.

Bibliography

Bate, D. (2010) ‘The Memory of Photography’, photographies, 3(2), pp. 243–257. doi: 10.1080/17540763.2010.499609.

Davis L. J. (2020) ‘Migrant Mother: Dorothea Lange and the Truth of Photography’ https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/migrant-mother-dorothea-lange-truth-photography/

David_Bate ‘The Art Of The Document’

David_Bate ‘The_Pictorial_Turn’ 

Gelder, H. V. (2008), ‘Photography Today: Between Tableau and Document’, Photographie Volume 28, numéro 1-2, URL : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/044589ar

Pilgrim, F. (2023) ‘Dreaming in Real Time’: How staged tableaux disrupt notions of authenticity in documentary photography’ https://www.felixpilgrim.com/blog-1/staged-tableaux-and-documentary-photography

https://neilleifer.com

Eschner (K), (2017) ‘Meet 10 Depression-Era Photographers Who Captured the Struggle of Rural America’, Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-photographers-charged-documenting-depression-era-america-farm-security-administration-180964123/

Smith W. S. (2020) ‘Tableaux Vivants Are Giving Us Life During the Pandemic’ Art News https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/columns/ableaux-vivants-replicate-art-masterpieces-during-covid-19-quarantine-1202686492/

Jonze, T. (2020) ‘Muhammad Ali flattens Cleveland Williams: Neil Leifer’s best photograph’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/dec/02/muhammad-ali-cleveland-williams-neil-leifers-best-photograph

NPR (2016), ‘A ‘Relentless’ Sports Photographer Explains How He Got His Shots’ NPR. https://www.npr.org/2016/05/06/476893044/a-relentless-sports-photographer-explains-how-he-got-his-shots

Sontag S. (1977) ‘On Photography’ Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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

How do feminist artists use art and photography to display messages to society?

“I wanted to foreground girls’ lives, centring them by creating an all-female society.” – Justine Kurland – 25th January 2023

The works of Justine Kurland express the heritage of youth, girlhood and a search for identity, capturing the lives of young teenage runaways specifically through her book, Girl Pictures. Girl Pictures is a photo book, presenting an enduring symbol of romance, rebellion, escape, and freedom through the representation of teenage runaways, which ultimately challenges traditional narratives of femininity. Created between 1997 and 2002, Kurland focused on the roads in the American wilderness, and her subjects are presented as companies to one another, promoting a strong sense of intimacy throughout her series. My personal study will take inspiration from her photo book, as I feel it resonates deeply with my ideas and what I want to portray. Her work evokes a strong sense of nostalgia and longing for freedom, and her images blend the innocence of girlhood with the strength and independence young women find during adolescence. The contrast of the two allow Kurland to construct a powerful narrative about the importance of connection and community during this time, which encourages girls like myself to delve into our own experiences including vulnerability and strength. Kurland’s work stands out to me because her subjects experiment with intimacy and protection, along with the experimentation of nostalgia to evoke a sense of freedom, rebellion and escape. These ideas successfully link to my project as I am aiming to reflect these themes through my own personal experiences as growing up as a girl in the island of Jersey. Family Album by Ramona Jingru Wang carefully investigates themes of identity and relationships, similar to Kurland. Wang shed light on the exploitations of models, and her work is a quiet refusal of specific representations of them. Wang’s images in this series depict her family, where she delves into the themes of identity and the connections between humans and the space around us, through capturing simple everyday moments that highlight femininity and nurture. I took inspiration from Wang due to her ability to shift certain stereotypes and present young women in a way that feels empowering to viewers like myself. I admire her unique approaches to photographing young girls, and this allows me to consider how I can use these ideas to portray my own experiences as growing up as a girl. Both Kurland and Wang stand out to me through their ability to challenge traditional female stereotypes and capture femininity and youth from a female perspective, making it easier for me to feel inspired by their work, understand their values and successfully incorporate them into my personal project.

The Male Gaze

I am basing my personal study project on the themes of youth and femininity as I feel passionately towards both topics. Femininity is significant to me as I am a young female who feels the need to carry out certain feminine qualities in order to display my place in social circles, as well as society as a whole. The male gaze is a term formulated by feminist theorist Laura Mullvey in 19th and 20th century. She introduced the concept in 1975, where she argued that the mainstream media constructs women into objects of male desire. The link below shows the psychoanalytic and feminist theory by Jacques Lacan and Luce Irigaray, in Mullvey’s Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema essay. I have read through the pages and deepened my understanding of the voyeuristic values that society have shaped around women and how long these values have been around, as well as where they have stemmed from.

https://www.columbia.edu/itc/architecture/ockman/pdfs/feminism/mulvey.pdf.

After reading through the pages of Lacan’s and Irigaray’s views, I found myself most drawn to page 21, specifically the quote:

“Ultimately, the meaning of women is sexual difference, the visually ascertainable absence of the penis, the material evidence on which is based the castration complex essential for the organisation of entrance to the symbolic order and the law of the father”.

This quote tells me that power is determined by gender, ie. males with a penis holds more power, whereas castrated women are immediately frowned upon as it is assumed that they lack intelligence. It also exhibits the idea that females are judged by what they lack rather than the qualities they do have, which follows the traditional stereotypes. Therefore, this plays a key part in the development of gender identity and is perhaps the reason many women struggle with becoming at ease with their identity. Most art and photography projects that include women also follow the idea that women exist primarily to be looked at, and are only framed in a way that emphasizes their beauty or vulnerability, reinforcing male control. I believe that my artist Ramona Wang has included aspects of the male gaze into her work and perhaps taken inspiration from it to challenge stereotypes of women. For example, Wang uses the ‘camera’s gaze’ approach in a lot of her images, in which her subjects are looking seductively at the camera or posed in submissive ways. I believe that this approach to her photographs is to challenge traditional stereotypes of depicting women for male pleasure, as she has used her subjects to mimic the poses from photography and film, therefore exposing how women are forced to perform femininity. Contrastingly, Justine Kurland does not use the male gaze in her photography. Rather, her work rejects the idea, particularly in her Girl Pictures series that I am focusing on. Her work challenges traditional depictions of females in photography, as she has her subjects appear more free and powerful instead of weak and vulnerable, which is how women are often portrayed in art, photography and media. Femininity is a mixture of qualities and characteristics that exhibit narratives that only women can do, which therefore ultimately separates us from men. Despite this, feminism in general is seen as a movement to end sexism, which I also think plays a vital role in my project as women have faced many battles with sexism, and fought for values to be modernised in a way that allows an equal balance between genders. The girls in Girl Pictures are often presented as dirty, tough and portraying a tomboyish look, which goes against the idea that youth and femininity must be delicate. I aim to touch on these conventions in my project due to the natural ingrained stereotypes of females, and therefore shine light on the inequalities. These values of mine have guided me to focus my project on femininity, as I feel it allows people to find their personal identity and can help us explore how femininity is expressed through different generations and cultures. Youth is equally as important to me as I aim to successfully highlight the impact youth has on an individual, through being able to develop their skills and also finding their own personality that they feel they can express to the world. I think my two themes link effectively to one another because they are both mainly shaped by societal factors. In my opinion, society idolises youth and associates it with beauty which then creates pressure for young females to adopt these elements into their identity.

I will be responding to these two artists by taking in all of my inspiration from them and capturing several photoshoots that portray similar ideas to them both. For example, my first photoshoot will take place outdoors in a natural and rural landscape, similar to Justine Kurland. This is because she focused on photographing a fantasy and utopian world that teenage girls ran away from home to live in. I will recreate this idea using my friends as subjects, and the location of my shoot will be St Catherine’s woods where my subjects can explore the nature surrounding them. My second photoshoot will primarily take inspiration from Ramona Wang, located indoors. This is due to the fact Wang mainly captured her subjects indoors with minimal clothing and expressing a traditional exploitation of females, specifically her loved ones. My photoshoot will include aspects of the male gaze, as this is another significant factor that contributes to my project and the themes of youth and femininity. My third photoshoot will be another inspired by Kurland, where I will take my subjects into more scenes of nature where they can display the ‘runaway’ narrative and build relationships with one another in the wild. My fourth photoshoot will be one with no particular artist inspiration, an opportunity for me to incorporate my own ideas and imagination tied into youth and femininity. It will be shot outdoors similar to my first photoshoot to stay related to my main artist Justine Kurland, yet I aim to include exploitations of females to stick to my themes. My last photoshoot will be mainly inspired by Wang again, where I will be the main subject presenting female stereotypes. This is because I feel strongly about the topic, and by including myself I am able to present my values and beliefs in my project to add a more realistic effect. I will include images of me doing things that typical young women do, for example putting on makeup and dressing up to go out.

Justine Kurland

Justine Kurland uses her photography to challenge the traditional stereotypes shaped around women. She uses her platform to reinforce the idea that women do not have to perform in certain ways and exhibit specific behaviours in order to be feminine. In Girl Pictures, Kurland reimagines her models as independent, free and brave, which are characteristics that women are not usually seen to have. Due to mainstream media, male-dominated traditions have formed gender inequalities, leading to an uneven balance between men and women. I feel drawn to the idea that Kurland has focused her work mainly around young women, and has placed them in the centre rather than outside objects of desire for men to view. I believe that she has successfully criticised the expectations imposed on young women in most mainstream narratives, and suggested an alternative vision of female dominance which is very important for young girls to see. My overall aim is to break down these norms in my own work, following Kurland’s message to society in order for many young viewers to disengage with traditional stereotypes and expectations. Kurland stated: ‘There’s something political about creating a world that you want to exist.’ (Reference source using Harvard system…) This quote confidently reflects Kurland’s attempt to create a world where women exist outside following a patriarchal society, where we can live freely and not need to exhibit personas that men believe are important. The political side to it is displayed through Kurland’s work, as she is actively challenging the dominant ideologies and attempts to propose a new world which would be ideal for women.

In an interview with Aperture magazine, Kurland also stated: ‘The usually male protagonist doesn’t belong to the world as he has inherited it. He fights alienation by striking out to find a world of his own.’ (Kurland 14 July 2020) I was drawn to this quote by Kurland in the interview as it is suggesting that in mainstream media, it is common for men to be born into a world where they feel they don’t belong, and that most of them have the confidence to run away from it and begin a new life due to being unsatisfied. However, Kurland challenges this by adapting these ideas into her work about females where they escape the domesticity.

Comparison of my images to Justine Kurland:

Within my response to Justine Kurland, I attempted to include similar aspects within this specific image inspired by her; such as the slight hint of red clothing, the background of nature and the physical close bond between the subjects, resembling strong relationships and intimacy.

Evaluation of my images compared to Justine Kurland:

The setting of nature is used in both mine and Kurland’s images, as they both take place in a natural, overgrown outdoor environment. I carried this out effectively as it allows my outcome to link to Kurland’s style of depicting her subjects in an untamed space. I also think I exhibited the composition of the image well, due to the subjects performing in an intimate manor which shows a clear connection between them. The main factor that differs my image from Kurland’s would be the overall tones within it. My image has been edited so that it has cooler tones being emphasised rather than warmer tones. This makes my image appear colder than Kurland’s, which I think overall changes the mood of the image and gives a slightly more melancholy effect. This is a drawback for me because I wanted this outcome to appear vibrant and reflect a happier mood, as the aim of this image is to allow the viewer to focus on the clear friendship between the subjects.

Ramona Wang

Ramona Jingru Wang uses her position in photography to reflect the themes of identity and community through her family and loved ones. Wang’s ethnicity plays a crucial role in her photographs, to create a strong narrative around the exploitations of Asian women in photography. Her heritage is a significant factor of the story behind her photographs, making her main aim through her work to delve into the connections between humans and the space around us, and also the impact that images can have on our perception of reality. She proposes her ideas into her work by photographing her loved ones building relationships with one another, and investigating how we as humans care for each other. Wang believes in discarding flat narratives of Asian models, as she is a model in art and photography herself. Therefore, her Family Album series was proposed in a way that implies blurring boundaries between private family life and public photography, where she captures intimate scenes at home focusing on the relationships of the people around her. I believe Ramona Wang’s approach to her work is important because it is a quiet refusal of the typical narratives shaped around women of her ethnicity. This ideology links to Kurland as the aim of both of their work is to challenge traditional stereotypes and ideologies surrounding categories of people, which relates to my work because I aiming to disregard typical expectations of young females and link it to my personal experiences with being a girl.

Ramona Magazinehttps://ramonamag.com › 2018/09 › artist-feature-ramo…

In an interview with ARTIST FEATURE, Wang stated:

‘I’ve always wondered why naked female bodies are always presented and seen in a sexual way, so I decided to see if I could create photos of my body that are honest and not for pleasing anyone.’

This statement by Wang reflects feminist opinions on the male gaze and the rights of women. It challenges the conventional portrayal of the female body in art and photography, as she questions why it is only looked at in a way of sexualisation to be consumed by men, and not in a way where it can be understood that female bodies can be photographed within personal expression through a camera. From the quote ‘honest and not for pleasing anyone’, I can gather that she is attempting to gain reclaim control over the male gaze, and wanting to shift perspectives on women as she emphasises honesty, which overall implies that she wants to be free from the idea of objectification.

Comparison of my images to Ramona Wang:

For my image comparison, I believe these two images share similarities within the subject matter, but differences within the overall tone and lighting. One thing that I think I executed well is the connection between my two subjects, as this links to what Wang produced and they both suggest a strong sense of togetherness, which is the aim I am trying to reflect. In both images, the subjects are also lying down, which implies a sense of realism as it gives the outcome a more casual effect, which allows it to look less staged. The frame and angle of my image is also very similar to the artists, as I have reinforced the focus on the facial expressions through the angle of the camera which is only focused on the subject expression. However, there are some clear differences between the two. My image was taken in the evening, meaning I had to use artificial lighting, whereas Wang’s image has been taken near a window in clear daylight as there is sunshine rays beaming on the subjects face. Another difference is the clothing on both of our subjects, Wang’s subjects are wearing softer clothing which gives her image a more relaxed and realistic effect, whereas my models are wearing minimal and harsh clothing, making it appear more dramatic.

Evaluation of my images compared to Ramona Wang:

To evaluate, I believe I executed similar outcomes to my artist inspiration by closely analysing the connection between models which I interpreted well as this was a main focus of mine to reflect on, as it links to my themes. I recreated this successfully in my image by using the same posing approach, where both my subjects are laying down with one lying on the other, and getting my subjects to perform in a way that presents a close relationship between them. However, I think Wang’s image evokes a deeper connection between her two subjects due to the model in the foreground looking up at the model behind her, which shows that Wang has carefully explored the theme of love and care, which I didn’t. Another drawback would be the difference in lighting as mine is artificial, which I think slightly shifts the perception of intimacy as it emphasises that the image is staged, whereas Wang’s image feels more natural.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, there are multiple parallels between both of my artist inspirations – Justine Kurland and Ramona Wang. They both explore themes of female representation and intimacy, linking to my themes on femininity and youth. Through carefully interpreting both of their photographic styles, in this project I was able to gain a strong sense of the conventional narratives on femininity and the way females are expressed through art and photography, through both landscapes and self-perceptions. The significant difference between my two artists is Kurland focuses on groups of young females in a wild and natural environment in which they explore a sense of freedom and escape, whereas Wang explores self representation with a more personal approach, challenging the traditional sexualisation of the female body. One of Wang’s main ideologies included throughout her work is the male gaze, as she questions how women are presented as well as perceived by men. Kurland does not explore the male gaze in her photographs, she explores a more crafted and opposing aesthetic through using nature and soft lighting to create a utopian world for young females. These two contrast heavily to one another, as Kurland’s approaches and compositions create a balance between innocence and real life documentary, yet Wang uses a more raw approach through self-representation which create a more unfiltered effect. Kurland executes her images in a way that highlights an idealised version of the world, through trying to challenge traditional domestic roles of women by depicting them as brave and free. On the other hand, Ramona Wang emphasises the reality of the female form, showing that she prioritises honesty.

I aimed to execute both of these ideologies throughout my five photoshoots for this project, tieing in both traditional stereotypes of young females as well as intimacy and resembling the close bonds that we share with one another. My overall objective is to create a seamless blend within my photo book, between the importance of personal identity through youth and the strong community between females. Drawing from Kurland’s depictions of her subjects, my photoshoots obtain a clear portrayal of freedom and female bonds as I focused on natural settings that evoke escape from traditional expectations. As Wang challenges the male gaze, I also incorporated aspects of this in my second and fourth photoshoot. I did this by using a more intimate approach within my subjects, to reinforce the idea of female objectification. By merging these two artists and their themes together, my project reflects a narrative where young females exist both collectively and personally, which overall challenges the way femininity is portrayed in art and photography.

Bibliography

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

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

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

https://aperture.org/featured/justine-kurland-girl-pictures/

ARTIST FEATURE: Ramona Jingru Wang

ARTS & CULTURE, Featureshttps://ramonamag.com/2018/09/artist-feature-ramona-jingru-wang/

The first set of images I began to experiment with were digital archived images that my parents found of me and my brother, as well as singular images of my brother or with his friends from childhood. I imported these onto the computer from my phone and began to experiment with them in Photoshop using different techniques.

My initial idea going into this was to create adaptations to the images and convey a message of concealing his identity to protect him as these images are of me and him at vulnerable ages, susceptible to different kinds of traumas and the risks within the world that parents try to protect their children from. These images reflect a time of innocence and naivety to connote feelings of nostalgia. A very affluent theme within my personal study is looking at memories, so by making adaptations to these archived images that are associated with core memories from childhood, it changes the meaning behind the images to think back to how my brother used to be before this illness completely changed his identity. This also is representative of how these core memories with my brother are something I think back to all the time and reflect on the person who he used to be in comparison to now where the entire family dynamic has been altered.

However, although I am using family albums in my personal study, I still need to ensure that the image isn’t too under-exposed or over-exposed as I need to ensure I am using effective images.

My first few experiments are inspired by the aesthetic of the ‘unknown user’ profile pictures that people typically use when trying to be anonymous. This is because I think that this is an effective way to show how my brother is not the person who he once was, and demonstrates how he may feel out of touch with himself or like another person because of how much the illness has deteriorated him. This anonymity also contributes to my idea of showing the stigma surrounding men’s mental health in a subtle and muted way as it could be interpreted as hiding away due to a diagnosis due to the perception that men shouldn’t be emotional or speak out about their mental health.

What I began looking at was empty silhouettes of my brothers face, using the Lasso tool in Photoshop to create my selection and delete it to reveal a plain white background. I then added the gradient tool to the white page so that this would be shown through the selection, instead of being this cut out as a block colour as this looked too strange and was very plain.

Whilst I did like this idea of total concealment, I found that the image still looked quite plain and didn’t really convey the message in a clear way. Even though there was a gradient in the image, it still looked very flat and not very interesting, even if I changed the colour it looked quite odd.

I then attempted this again with another image, however this time I included the strands off hair that were laying on his face as this would not only add more texture to the image, but make it look more detailed and intricate rather than being a flat and simplified cut out. I also repeated this method with the same image I used before so that I could see if the images would link together and work cohesively.

I preferred the way this looked more, however the cut out still looks very exaggerated and dramatic and I feel like this has the possibility of taking away from the ‘memory’ aspect of the image as it doesn’t have that soft touch to it. However, I may still use these as I feel like it looks like an anonymous user profile picture which I could use to link to the present. However, I am going to have to think about this after I begin taking my other photoshoots to see it aligns correctly with my other ideas.

I didn’t really like these experiments that I created so I decided to try a different approach with this method where his entire body was surrounded instead.

I repeated this process again with another image as I felt that it would work very well with this technique:

I think that this was successful as it balances the aesthetic of the image instead of looking out of place.

I began thinking about the other ways I could represent anonymity and concealing identity in a way that I thought would be not only more accurate to the techniques that people usually use to remain anonymous, but would also have a softer touch to them to keep the same tone of nostalgia and protection as well as the aspect of remembrance. I did this because it means that I can include a variation of these methods in my final photobook.

I began playing around with the idea of pixilation. There wasn’t a tool for this in Photoshop so I began by using the rectangle tool to make reasonably sized squares to begin covering my brothers face. I also used the eyedropper tool to select the different tones of my brothers skin and hair so that the pixels looked accurate. I had to make sure that both the fill (the box) and the stroke (the outline) were the exact same colour so that this wouldn’t look strange and actually looked as if his face had been really pixelated.

I started duplicating them and then changing the colour to make sure that each of them were the same size.

Whilst I was beginning to experiment with this, I realised that the resolution of the image was quite poor, and whilst I am using the snapshot aesthetic, the image was still quite blurry and out of focus. I decided to go back to the image that I used before as I wasn’t too fond of the initial outcome anyway, and the composition of the image was nicer too, for example I’m wearing pink whilst my brother is wearing blue.

I repeated this process continually over my brothers face until I thought that the shape and size of the cluster worked proportionally. This resulted in a large amount of layers:

Similarly…

I didn’t really like the edits I made on this experiment as I felt that the pixels were too large so I attempted this again using smaller cubes:

I pixelated this image of my dad and brother playing pool on holiday when he was younger. Whilst the resolution isn’t as great as I would’ve liked, I am still going to use this image in my photo-book because it acts as a contextual cue for my images containing the keyring of a pool ball. This way, I can imply how my brother’s mental health restricted him from continuing with his hobbies, and I feel that this will be a very reflective way of what my brothers personality used to be like and his different interests.

I repeated these two methods in several different images to have an element of consistency in my photobook. I also experimented with cutting out just my brothers face and also his body to still keep them differentiated.

I found a few images of my brother in his football kit so I can enforce the same contextual cues.

I am also going to use these two images to pair them with my second photoshoot that took place at the same beach to show context:

Final and best images:

To what extent is Henri Cartier Bresson’s theory of the ‘decisive moment’ a true representation of reality?

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression
– Henri Cartier-Bresson, “Foreword”, The Decisive Moment (1952)

What does photography really capture? Is it the essence of a moment? Is it the emotions of a scene? Or is it simply just an image? Photography as an art is such a subjective genre. Within photography, there is a multitude of different styles of how images are presented, for example, portraits, landscapes, documentary etc. Even these categories have different approaches that can be taken. My project focuses on the documentary style photography. But what actually is it? Documentary photography is a way to tell stories through only an image, it portrays the contrasting lives of the ordinary people around us. Documentary photography can be seen in many different forms such as street photography, photojournalism, reporting and others. A subgenre of photography known as the ‘snapshot aesthetic’ focuses on the everyday traits of life and capturing that moment in time, the images can often be said to appear like both staged and candid, which is similar to the aesthetics of my images. My investigation will consist of exploring and documenting the same people/ groups of people, my friends and family – socially and isolated, but in different environments and situations. Although my images will use the same subjects, the photographs will be portraying the different parts of their lives, and in some way reflecting who they are, which is the narrative of my project. I have decided to take my images in the documentary style because I find that these images are the most authentic, however the reason I will be photographing only those close to me, rather than outsiders like street photography does, is to add a personal touch to my project. This way, my images will have consistency as well as being captivating, with each photo you will discover and learn more. This project discusses street photography, photographers whose work is based on street photography, as well as my own interpretations and my own photographs produced. To take good documentary style photographs, you need to be able to observe the environment you are in and decide what would be the shot that will capture people’s attention. This means ensuring the composition, the light, the atmosphere of the scene are all what would make the most aesthetic, perfect image. This process of image making is known as the ‘decisive moment’ by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Henri Cartier Bresson was a well-known, French artist and photographer, best known for his candid photographs and street photos. It was in 1937 that his first photojournalist photos were published, and this time period where his career peaked. Cartier-Bresson was born in and grew up in France in 1908 with a wealthy family and from an early age, was introduced to the arts. This led to his first interest in painting until he discovered photography. Then his passion was solely photography, he saw it as an extension of drawing and an extension of the eye as he could capture exactly what he was seeing. He also used the description, “like hunting but without the killing”, to describe the art of photo taking. He then went on to travel around Europe and Africa to dive into other culture. Which then inspired his view of life which became ‘photography isn’t just about images; it’s about capturing the essence of existence’. This helped him to form his philosophy of the ‘decisive moment’. The decisive moment is the point in time where an image builds itself, where all elements and components come together, the scene is the exact right shot, so you shoot. Cartier-Bresson is considered a humanist photographer, meaning he incorporates human experiences within the images he makes. Due to his photographs being candid, he is portraying the lives of the people his images capture, truthfully. His documentary street photography falls under the category of ‘windows’, when discussing mirrors vs windows in photography. A ‘window’ image is one that is more objective, real and truthful, they show the external world which is what Cartier-Bresson’s images are.

Henri Cartier-Bresson Behind the Gare St. Lazare1932

This photo, by Henri Cartier-Bresson, was taken behind the Gare St. Lazare, train station. The image miraculously captures the moment that this man jumped over a puddle of water. Because the man is mid leap, in the air, it is as if the photograph was planned, it almost seems too perfect. However, as we know from Bresson’s line of work, it was not planned which makes the image all the more intriguing. The background and foreground of this shot are also part of the reason that the image is as good as it is. Things such as leading lines, balance, framing and rule of thirds also make this image what it is. The leading lines in this photo can be seen going horizontally, along the gate and the reflection of the gate in the water. The positions of the leading lines guide you your attention, subconsciously to the leaping man as he is in between. Another aspect of the image which leads you to look at the focal point of the image, is the amount of negative space at the top and bottom of the image, this shows that there isn’t too much going on in the image, overbearing the viewers. Also, due to the puddle anything in the background of the image, is reflected causing a symmetrical middle ground to the image. The rule of thirds also adds to this image, this is because the man is in the right side of the frame separating him from other things going on in the shot but also, he is travelling in the same direction adding to the total composition.

I think that the theory of the decisive moment is a clever way of image making, this is because the images that are being produced from it, capture people in moments of ignorance, they are unaware they are being documented, or they are but they are caught off guard keeping their behaviours unchanged. Because of their unsuspecting state, this means the snapshots of them are all natural with no manipulation, making the images seem so genuine causing them to be intriguing. Since you don’t learn anything about what is really happening, you are left with questions that you ponder on or even make up the answers to in your head, making your own storyline to the image. Because of these reasons, I believe that the decisive moment is a true representation of reality as the photographs produced are candid shots, no staging, no manipulation, just the scene and the camera, adding a sense of vulnerability.

Tom Wood has a variety of projects around street photography, photographing people on the street, in pubs, clubs, markets, buses, essentially, anywhere, and everywhere. Wood has photographed since 1978 up until 2013, his photographs portray moments which have not been interfered with or staged, they are all naturally occurring images, meaning they are an authentic representation of the people in the images. Tom Wood spent a lot of his times taking the bus, which is what prompted him to take some of his best-known images. He would sit on the bus and shoot images of the strangers sharing the bus with him or of strangers out of the windows shooting pedestrians, buildings, traffic etc. When describing how he would take his images, Wood said, “I don’t think about it. The whole point is not to think – but more to feel, to be open”. This was his way of having the confidence to photograph these people he never knew, and to get his images pristine.

Tom Wood differs from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s style, the decisive moment, as he described his image making style by saying “I would just put up the tripod, open the lens and then wander around with a flash gun, not knowing how the photographs would turn out”. Whereas the decisive moment is about choosing when to shoot, paying attention to the details and shooting when the scene in front of you is the perfect image. Rather than looking through the lens, observing the details, Tom Wood would shoot quickly and whether or not the shot was good, would depend on chance. Similarly to Cartier-Bresson however, Tom Wood’s images are also ‘windows’, documenting the lives of the locals, in a genuine manner.

For this project, my photographs are being captured using a mix of both Tom Wood and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s strategies of photography. In most cases, I follow the theory of the decisive moment, I observe my scenery and shoot the image when I think all components have come together. Although, in some environments, I will take a photograph of what is in front of me without looking through the lens for long, I will watch what is happening and take images and decide after the shoot if the photographs turned out how I had hoped.

The second artist I have taken inspiration from is Andrew Kung, a modern photographer whose work is centred around portraying the lives of Asian American people. His specific project that has inspired me is ‘Dreaming on the Hudson’. The photographs from this project are documentary style, capturing the activities of young Asian men. The photographs produced in this project are staged situations of the men, plastered around in different settings of the Hudson River. Although the images were taken in the same location, Kung explored all of the different areas around the Hudson, allowing each individual photograph to be unique in its own way. For example, there are images in a field, the water’s edge, grassland etc. Even though the images are staged, they are taken in a documentary approach as the subjects don’t engage with the camera directly, they let themselves be documented.

Kung’s work and manner of shooting images differs from Henri Cartier-Bresson’s theory of the decisive moment, while sharing little similarities. Unlike the decisive moment, where the images produced are about the unpredictability of the moment, Kung’s image making is the opposite. The photographs are of arranged scenes, creating a cinematic feel to them. Although Cartier-Bresson’s images can have the same feel, his images can also be described as more chaotic, as they are captured in a moment of time that may not be captured again. Also, whereas Cartier-Bresson’s, as well as Tom Wood’s, images are ‘windows’, Kung’s images are ‘mirrors’. A ‘mirror’ photograph is one which reflects the photographer, they tend to be more subjective, staged etc., since Kung’s images are staged photographs portraying Asian American’s, they are ‘mirror’ images. Another difference between their photography style, is that Andrew Kung’s work is reflecting a message and meaning – “Through my images, my aim is to normalize Asian American beauty, belonging, and individuality.  I often investigate themes of masculinity, family, intimacy, and what it means to be American“.

In my own project, I have taken inspiration from the aesthetics of Kung’s images, rather than his message, and have my own meaning behind the images. My aim is to highlight the idea that every individual has their own unique life, and to show a snippet of the lives of those close to me. The photographs taken of my friends are the ones that most reflect Andrew Kung’s images. This is because of the locations used and also due to how I have presented them in the images. In contrast to Andrew Kung, the majority of my images are not staged, I observed my friends socialising as normal, and shot images of them, apart from a few times where I directed them to perform a certain action to capture a better shot.

To conclude, I think that Henri Cartier-Bresson’s theory of ‘the decisive moment’, can be considered as a true representation of reality to a large extent. This is because, what the camera captures in the moment, is the exact scene in front of you. In terms of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs, it is a true representation of reality as he is not manipulating the images, they are authentic. Similarly, Tom Wood’s photographs, even though he didn’t shoot his images with the decisive moment in mind, both techniques share similarities, causing Wood’s work to also be a true representation of reality. However, Andrew Kung’s project consists of staged images, creating a false reality on the surface, but the true reality of the image is the meaning behind it. When taking my own images, during the photoshoots I would take multiple images while a scene unfolded in front of me, the final images produced are the ones where all of the components came together in place. As discussed previously, my images and procedure of image making have similarities and differences with Henri Cartier-Bresson’s as well as Tom Wood and Andrew Kung. In summary, I followed Cartier-Bresson’s theory of ‘the decisive moment’ to a certain extent, as I ensured all elements of the image were at their prime when taking the image. With Tom Wood’s photographs, my images share similarities in the sense that they were all documentary images, even though Wood didn’t prioritise that the style of his images were documentary, “I’m only interested in good pictures, if it’s a document then it’s a bonus”. I recorded the lives of those close to me and he reordered the lives of strangers in his town. Finally, my work is similar to Andrew Kung’s as a big part of my work is focussed on my friends who are youthful, like the people he photographed in ‘Dreaming on the Hudson’, also I find that the appearance of my images are similar to his. Oppositely to both Tom Wood and Andrew Kung, my final images are presented in black and white, whereas their photographs are bold and bright in colour. Each of these artists have a different approach to photography, and a different reason behind their work. In spite of this, in some sense, they all portray reality through their image, which is what my own photographs are intended to do.

Bibliography: 

Documentary photography

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

Bate, David (2016) ‘The Art of the Document’ in Art Photography. London: Tate Galleries.

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/women-photographers-and-snapshot-aesthetic

Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Decisive Moment

 overview of Henri Cartier-Bresson and his theory of the decisive moment at ICP (International Centre for Photography) in NYC.

https://www.fractionmagazine.com/the-decisive-moment

Tom Wood

https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/tom-wood-i-started-doing-portraits-of-these-kids-hanging-around-on-drugs-photie-man-walker-art-gallery-liverpool

https://www.lensculture.com/books/8975-tom-wood-bus-odyssey

https://www.lensculture.com/tom-wood#:~:text=Although%20Wood%20photographed%20working%20class,extensive%20viewing%20of%20experimental%20films.

Andrew Kung

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/andrew-kung-dreaming-on-the-hudson

https://www.apkung.com/dreaming-on-the-hudson

https://lenscratch.com/2021/05/andrew-kung