For my mood board, I decided to incorporate photos where women look strong and powerful, but also where women are showing their emotions, exploring different types of relationships and friendships. I also wanted to include female emotion and how emotion is a cast aside and stereotypical topic around women and how the word ‘Feminist‘ has a particular stigma surrounding it. Creating these moodboards has helped me to generate ideas with what type of work I would like to produce and what message I would like to convey.
I chose images that are all different.
Black and White.
Happy and Sad.
Feminine and Masculine.
Edited and Non Edited.
Staged and Candid.
Group and Single.
Head- Shot and Full Body Shot.
This mood board helped me to decide on the fact I would like to focus on girlhood. Particularly older teenagers at the age of 17-19 and the struggles of moving from adolescence to adulthood and the hardships young women face. I like this topic as it is a current topic which is faced globally and I feel It is a topic which I will enjoy expressing my opinion on and It is an important topic which needs embracing by young people especially.
Feminists.
The stigma around feminism I would like to explore is of negative stereotypes of feminists the idea that feminists are all lesbians, man-hating, antifamily, selfish, radical, unusually angry, assertive, ugly, bra-burning, and humourless.
This moodboard represents some of the types of poses I would like to encorporate in my photoshoots and final work.
Women’s Suffrage
Women’s suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. Finally in 1918, Parliament passed an act granting the vote to women over the age of 30 who were householders, the wives of householders, occupiers of property with an annual rent of £5, and graduates of British universities. About 8.4 million women gained the vote. The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote. This right—known as women’s suffrage—was ratified on August 18, 1920: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of gender.
Reproductive Rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organisation defines reproductive rights as follows:
Rights to reproductive and sexual health include the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.
2. The right to health care and information.
3. The right to non-discrimination in the allocation of resources to health services and in their availability and accessibility.
Being able to make decisions about how to express our sexuality, including our sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as about our bodies, our personal relationships, the form and shape of one’s family and the destination of one’s life path, among other things, is essential to our bodily autonomy and dignity. However, across the world, millions of people, particularly members of marginalized and stigmatized communities and those living in poverty, are prevented from making free and informed decisions about their bodies. In many countries this happens because governments try to dictate how people form intimate relationships, or express desire, as well as whether and when to have children. This affects women, girls and LGBTI people in particular, but it’s not just about individuals, it impacts whole communities.
Today, gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many women. Ongoing struggles include ensuring equal economic opportunities, educational equity, and an end to gender-based violence.
But across the globe many women and girls still face discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Gender inequality underpins many problems which disproportionately affect women and girls, such as domestic and sexual violence, lower pay, lack of access to education, and inadequate HealthCare.
Examples of gender discrimination include but are not limited to: Mis gendering or mispronouncing (purposefully using the wrong gender identity or pronouns to address someone) Having limited access to all-gender restrooms. Disfavouring someone based on gender.
NAME IDEA- THE FEMALE GAZE. – I like the idea of this name for my personal and independent study name as it juxtaposes THE MALE GAZE and shows how actually the power is in the women’s favour and that they are in fact control, and control the gave that is put upon them.
The female ‘gaze’ creates the perspective of being “in” rather than overlooking the character’s experiences, allowing the audience to understand the character’s inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
The idea of the ‘female’ gaze is that the female gaze embraces the spectator, character, and the directors of these works and sets out to represent women as people who are capable of the same things men are.
Todd Hido creates photographs at blue hour of urban locations to create an eerie atmosphere. These photographs could be described as uncanny in their approach to an urban landscape. ‘Liminal spaces’ are transition zones or the space ‘in-between’ of two points associated with uncertainty and discomfort. The phrase liminal space refers to the physical, physiological, and psychological transition zones which has become associated with uncomfortably empty photographs of urban locations. Todd Hido’s photographs embodies these feelings of the space between and the loneliness that comes with it.
Todd Hido creates photographs that are “eerie, mysterious, somewhat disconcerting”1 as “they feel as though they have been directly pulled from the recesses of your own memory2“. He takes these images during “long, solitary drives”3. This uncomfortable atmosphere is created in a number of ways such as the lighting and isolating subjects. In terms of lighting, this photograph was taken outside in the winter during blue hour to create a natural appearance with a blue hue making it seem cold and distant, conveying “loneliness”4 and “isolation”5. This is contrasted with the light emitting from inside the building which is diffused by fog making the light soft and warm in contrast. This makes it seem like the viewer is missing out or left alone outside creating the feeling of “abandonment”6. The use of fog also gives this image a greater sense of depth. The house at the front is in focus while everything further back is much more difficult to make out or see. This draws the attention to the centre of the frame as anything behind is difficult to see. There isn’t much contrast across the image. The whites are blue and the darks are quite light. The brightest part is the windows which make the viewer peer into it like they’re observing strangers from a distance from behind a surface again linking to ideas of isolation. The lack of people in the frame helps to create the sense of a liminal space but also makes the building “an empty shell”7. As the house is a shell it means that the viewer can relate by applying their “own memories8” and “create a narrative9“. Alternatively the use of an upkept house shows evidence of people being there recently and lights on implies people present at the time but being unable to spot the people creates this isolated and uneasy atmosphere, he created “despair”10 in an “otherwise ordinary scene11“.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Architecture (1997 – 2002)
In Praise Of Shadows (1998)
I compiled a few of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs that I thought used similar imagery to the types of outcome I wanted to achieve. These photographs are from 2 different projects, one where candles were captured directly to create strips of white among a black background while the other used natural occurring light he found within architecture and then blurred them.
Hiroshi Sugimoto “dissolves the lines between time, memory, and history12” in his photographs. The way this is achieved is by blurring the image. The large cross is bright white compared to the rest of the image which draws attention instantly and sets the theme of religion. Religion has heavy ties to it’s “history”13 which is a common “recurring14” theme in Hiroshi Sugimoto’s work. It is also centralised and all the lines of the image lead to its centre, leading the eye and the focus. Comparatively, the rest of the image is empty and basic as it is an empty, white, minimalist room. The floor is split into isles which is illuminated by the light and makes the path look walkable and inviting setting the religious themes and “isolating the recognizable forms15“. The image was purposefully made blurred as the artists wanted the architectural feats to shine past small details as a reflection of modernisation of architecture stripping away details from previous ages of architecture. An old cathedral would have a typical gothic appearance with stain glass windows for example and grand interiors. This modern church room however is bare and basic, a trend across all sections of modern architecture with the rise of minimalism. Additionally this image is black and white, again “stripping away”16 another layer of “superfluous decoration”17. By using a minimalist location all the attention can be focused on the light and dark without any distractions. The emptiness also feels unwelcoming and cool which contrasts with the imagery of the cross and its welcoming light.
Raymond Meeks
Halfstory Halflife
Raymond Meeks is an American photographer who creates narratives through his books. These photographs show a few people in the woods as they traverse the wilderness. I like how their identities are obscured and the photographs are overall dark and atmospheric. He uses light and dark to create this moody atmosphere which also can show the danger associated with the woods.
Raymond Meeks takes photographs that are “considerations of sensitive observations18“.These photographs were taken when observing the youth cliff jumping after school. It was put together after a couple of years of observations. This photograph is in black and white and was taken with film meaning each photograph would have had more thought required. The brightest point is obscured by trees and the only white in the image. This is to show where the people are going to make it bright and aspirational, symbolising their futures as young people growing up. This was made with natural lighting where the large rock is dark in the shadow. There is a difference in texture also as the trees are really smooth compared to the rough rock surface. The people create a line leading away from the bright line into the darker rocks showing the path they’re taking which links to underlying themes of religion. Raymond Meeks “was raised Catholic19” and compares the ritual of cliff jumping in the woods to “altars20“. Religion carries many connections such as community as well as fears due to its links with death and consequence. While this image is not of the symbolic jump it is of the lead up following a small community of people on their path to the altars. “He has chosen not to photograph the faces21” which serves two purposes. The first is to make them seem like faceless followers of the culture while the second is so that the focus is purely focused on their actions as their identity is striped away. The image looks candid and totally unmanipulated however the subjects were aware of his presence. By avoiding the faces he is photographing “traces and residue22” of subjects instead of the “thing itself”23. This leads to dreamlike, “whimsy”24 images contrasted with how its leading into “the unknown” 25which creates a haunting sense of tension. One theme present among many of Raymond Meeks projects is “the construct of home”26 and the essence of a landscape. Feelings of home are “centred on memory”27 which makes it personal and therefore creates an emotional connection between the image and the viewer. This image has homely features not defined by its walls but the sense of familial connections between people and familiar backdrop of a generic forest. “the way in which a landscape can shape an individual28” is present in the literal shape these people have had to take to overcome the hill but also how the youth culture of the area has influenced this culture of cliff jumping through the woods.
Rut Blees Luxemburg
Rut Blees Luxemburg photographs London’s streets. Her photographs create an ominous atmosphere which frame the city in an unsettling and mysterious way. Her photographs are abstractions utilising reflections and embody the feeling of liminal spaces.
Rut Blees Luxemburg takes photos around London where she lives. She takes the mundane and turns it into “her city29” by photographing only the calm and still present at night which is a totally unique character to the city during the rush of the day. She also chooses what to avoid and what to include for example “You don’t see the surveillance cameras30” as it doesn’t fit the narrative. Since she lives there her interest would lie less in the bigger picture of cityscapes and instead in the smaller, abstract parts. This photograph uses the natural light of a low sun which casts a yellow hue likely taken at golden hour. This light is used to set up dramatic shadows to emphasise the depth of the stairs and presence of footprints. The yellow makes the image warm and creates a uniform style across every image in the theme. The foreground is made up of shallow stairs which lead down towards the footprints and sea. Its out of focus making use of a shorter depth of field. It has a dark tone which has high contrast and creates an overall grungy aesthetic. There is slight tension and a part of a mystery set up with the question: Who left the footprints and what happened to them. The footprints are left on a wet platform at the bottom of the stairs which lead towards the body of water. When asked “Although taken in public spaces, your work rarely shows their inhabitants. Does the presence of people deter from the poetics of the space?31” Rut Blees Luxemburg simply responded “yes.32” This idea that she doesn’t take photographs of “individual stories33” rather she lets her photographs “becomes a template34” for “the imagination35” and act like a “portal36” into a “reflective space37” creating a void of human presence that is “uncanny38” while also being relaxingly “mundane39“.
Jose Conceptes
Jose Conceptes is a Spanish photographer who creates scenic images through the use of light and shadows. The large majority of his work is made up of architectural imagery however a few experimental projects were made which showcase horror and fears which I would like to experiment with.
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman takes photographs exploring the portrayal of women in film and media. This was expressed in her project ‘Untitled Film Stills.’ These always show at least part of Cindy Sherman as she’s commenting on the objectification of women. Often the background is equally as important for example the washing up sink or a bookshelf. I believe her work challenged stereotypes from films in a creative and unique way. She observed films and their characters and setup her images as an observation of herself as a character.
I want this photoshoot to be of houses like how Todd Hido takes his night time urban photographs. Similar to his approach, there will not be any people in these photographs and the houses will be quiet. The houses will be detached with at least one set of lights on. Ideally I will be taking these photographs through fog too so that the light will look soft and distant. I want to take these at blue hour. Since detached houses will likely be further out from town, they should also be quieter and the buildings are more unique and picturesque. To take these images I will be trying out different shutter speeds but I expect to need a low shutter speed to compensate for the dark.
Photoshoot 2:
This photoshoot will set up like Raymond Meeks by following a person/s however instead of the woods this one will be through a building and how they interact with the bannisters, doors etc. I would like to try 2 approaches to lighting. The first will make use of natural light when its still daytime around windows and the second will use artificial lights through doorways to create a leading path. I will be taking these images in an older house with deep stairs and a basement. These pictures will be used for the narrative as they’re less abstract and much easier to identify. An idea I’ve had was using a really low shutter speed so that the person was more of a trail but this is something I was going to experiment with.
Photoshoot 3/4:
These photoshoots will be abstractions of objects/locations that can be linked to fears such as a spiders web or the nails holding a carpet. While the subject is the focus of these images, the lighting is just as important. I aim to create dramatic shadows over the subjects with varying light sources. I will be taking these images both in focus and out of focus. The out of focus ones will still be enough to see the subject but like Hiroshi Sugimoto’s architecture wont be crisp. I will also take some in focus image incase I need them later for an experiment.
‘Nan one month after being battered’, Nan Goldin, 1984
Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin was born in Washington, D.C. on September 12, 1953, and is a photographer and activist. Goldin began photographing at the age of fifteen, and when she was nineteen she lived in downtown Boston, where she started documenting her life in the subcultural community she made home, ultimately solidifying her interest in photography. In 1978, she moved to New York, where she continued the documentation of people she spent time with, driven by her need to remember her ‘extended/chosen family’.
Goldin’s work documents her life and the lives of these people close to her in a tableaux, uncompromising manner, showcasing stories and intimate details of their lived experiences. Goldin explores the intimate emotions of the individual, in relationships, and in LGBTQ subcultures, where her beginning interest in photography was found in her loved ones who were drag queens, and she admired them for stepping outside of societal and gender norms. These photographs she took during this time and earlier were included in her first book which compromises fifteen years of work, ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency’. This book is a very personal depiction and documentation of her life from 1979 and 1986, and the photos hold a raw intensity which feels spontaneous. She stated about her way of capturing these moments; ‘I don’t select people in order to photograph them; I photograph directly from my life. These pictures come out of relationships, not observation.’ With her photographs, she is able to capture the world without glamorisation or glorification, and preserve the sense of peoples’ lives, to make those in the pictures stare back.
In the afterword from 2012 of this book, Goldin has expressed her view on this time of her life, describing it as distressing to look back on, and almost encapsulated with a sense of paranoia about people denying her experiences. ‘I was going to leave a record of my life and experience that no one could rewrite or deny.’ She then states that; ‘it became a more obsessive kind of documenting’. These photographs also act as a way to remember those who have passed since documenting these events. She closes this afterword with; ‘I look at Ballad and see the dynamics of both love and hate, tenderness and violence, as well as all kinds of ambivalence in relationships.’
‘Nan and Brian in bed’, Nan Goldin, 1983
In Nan Goldin’s work around this time, her photos were dominantly taken inside and by night, they embodied a sort of ‘snapshot aesthetic’, where the subject matter is often presented without an apparent link within the images and instead rely on the juxtapositions and disjunctions of the individual photos. Goldin stated; ‘That series is stark. It’s all flash-lit. I honestly didn’t know about natural light then and how it affected the colour of the skin because I never went out in daylight.’
Within my personal study project I would like to explore two definite themes The first being Anthropocene, which is seen as a period in time. The period of the great acceleration, for example the rapid increase in climate change on our planet. This has a very significant impact, and I want to use anthropocene as a diss at humans. Using imagery to explore how it is our fault, and also as an urge for help, to get people to at least try to slow down its effects. I want to take images that observe how it is already too late and we cannot reverse what we have done but merely try to slow it down. One of my exemplar artists for this is Naomi White1 and her observation and challenging of plastic bags, taking something so ordinary and dramatising it. My other theme will be Masculinity vs Femininity. I really enjoyed exploring this during class, and I think my personal study will be a good way to represent my passion for this theme. Photographers have a lot of things to untangle when attempting to take non-binary images. Your own bias perception of gender can be seen within the imagery you take, and I want to provide my ideology of how men have it easier than women. But I also want to portray some stereotypical views of teenage male anger vs teenage female anger and how they are released in two very different ways. One example artist for this theme is Claude Cahun 2known for her gender fluidity in her art. I have also looked at Danny Evans3 skateboarding images on Instagram when he did an exhibition over here.
The reason that these matter to me is because I think that the hardship of being a teenager is often overlooked. Parents don’t realise how much different it is to be a teenager in a jilted generation compared to their teenage atmosphere. Being a teenager in a generation which is so involved around technology has led to an anxious generation4. Growing up obsessed with looks, how many likes we have online and popularity obsession has led to every teenager now being so extra wary of how they move and what they do. There is no freedom anymore. Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.5 I want to observe how this creates a gang of copies, every teen similar to the next, but I want to challenge how they all have a deeper meaning, they all have their own personality somewhere hidden within them.
I will develop my project to portray this by looking at some inspiration that matchers my ideas. The first artist that I looked at was Jim Goldberg6, he uses street photography and many candid images with signage to portray how everything is so similar nowadays. By using warm tones and portraying things in a documentary style and objective matter he allows the viewer themselves to use nostalgia to connotate feelings, comparing their own teenage-hood and observing whether thier’s was better or not. The key image of his I looked at was one of a skateboard. 7 My reasoning for being so entangled with this image is that it represents teenage culture, I like how the skateboard has clearly been used and battered around, explaining how teenagers have a certain anger within them that they need to unleash. Another key artist I looked into was Tom Wood8. He mainly uses candid and unposed photography, his street photography is marked by the ability to capture raw, authentic expressions of people, often in public settings like streets, markets, or at social gatherings. Wood often captures environmental portraits, where the subject is shown in their natural surroundings, adding context and depth to the photograph. My favorite image of his was a landscape9, I loved how it explained your environment can massively impact how you live your life and what you turn out to be. I will use a documentary style of imagery to further develop my ideas, and also use tableaux, meaning a group of people all in one image, this will portray many different personalities’ and extract how different we all are exempt from the obsession of looks.
I intend to use some old photographs I have already taken to put in my book, and then I want to build on them by creating new images that have a similar sense and style to them. I already have some images that I really like from the Masculinity vs Femininity theme we did in lesson. I want to include a lot of landscape and environmental portraiture, I will do this by going to the edge of the island or places up high in town and just capturing the natural scenery around me. I also want to incorporate some candid photography by just taking photos when out with friends, catching authentic personality’s. One last image I want to create is one of a skateboard on a light box, which I can do at school.
I have also previously explored this topic of women and their role in the world whilst researching Cindy Sherman. Cindy Sherman is an independent photographer who took photographs in the 70’s. Something I find particularly admiring, is how she she took her camera and pointed it at HERSELF, instead of photographing someone else. I find this very unique and actually brings more meaning and creativity to the photos she created. This gesture then became her signature thing and showed her strong views on gender and the construction of identity through key times when opinions and personalities where particularly changing in history. She also mad many different character that she would pretend to being her photos and experiment with makeup, hairstyles and costume to demonstrate these characters.
I really like the idea of femininity and women in todays age as it is a subject that I, myself live through and endure. I can also use other young women enduring this in order to convey my message. I hope to express my theories on gender and identity and how women can be interpreted in different ways and do not need to fit a specific narrative. Analysing Cindy Sherman has aided this idea as she, herself has worked on how women can be interpreted in different ways and all the multiple narratives they can fit. Although, a difference I would like to express Is a positive light on women and how they can in, fact be strong and independent compared to an idealised view of being helpless and dependent on men.
Cindy Sherman originally studied painting and began by painting self portraits of her, in which she was herself, as characters which she would see in magazines and photographs. She then began to work on altering her face with makeup and different costume and first produced 5 images of different personas such as a clown and a young girl and many others. These photos helped to soar her fascination for impersonation and self transformation.
She then began to visit thrift stores to purchase new outfits for specific characters. She quoted “So it just grew and grew until I was buying and collecting more and more of these things, and suddenly the characters came together just because I had so much of the detritus from them. She then began to wear these different characters and at as them whilst attending different gallery openings.
Cindy Sherman’s work which was her most famous, was her Untitled Film Stills which are small black and white photos where Cindy has impersonated different female characters through glamourous and meaningful images. Throughout these film stills Cindy Sherman imitated different lifestyles and character stereotypes which shows how women and women’s bodies are perceived by the mass media and by the male gender. Whilst moving to New York, Cindy Sherman continued to role play in disguises and characters and photographed her imitations as the Untitled Film Stills. Although she took many of her own photographs, some photos were shot by family and friends. The voyeuristic perspective of Cindy’s work creates an imposing feeling on the viewer, as if you are secretly observing the character and she is always the subject of the controlling male gaze instead of the object of masculine desire.
Cindy Sherman’s Inspiration forUntitled Film Stills.
Eleanor Antin is an inspiration to Cindy Sherman’s work and she has said herself hat her Untitled Film Stills are related to the feminist performance work of the 1970s. Eleanor was an early influence to Cindy Sherman as she herself used to dress up and transform herself into multiple characters. s Her works are are considered conceptual, feminist classics such as “CARVING: A Traditional Sculpture”, “100 BOOTS”, where she created her 3 personas: The King, the Ballerina and the Nurse. Which he became particularly known for and helped her to gain fame and acknowledgement to express her message. Her multitude of characters explored the idea of roles and power, including how the artist is a subject in society. Eleanor critiques historical narratives and gendered power structures through fictional personas such as the three characters as they highlight different roles in society and hierarchies. This came in favour to Cindy as she took inspiration and decided to transform herself into different characters also. These two artists work are similar as they both use their bodies and self-representation as tools to critique identity, gender, and the roles women are assigned in society.
Eleanor Antin’s work themes consist of Identity, gender, history, the body, power, social roles, self-representation.
Cindy Sherman’s work themes consist of Gender, identity, representation, the male gaze, stereotypes, popular culture, societal roles.
Although these two artists also differ as Cindy Sherman’s work mainly focuses on deconstructing media representations of women, whereas Eleanor Antin’s work focuses more on exploring historical and social roles. I feel both these artists are essential to have knowledge on throughout this personal study as I have gained knowledge on different peoples interpretations on gender, identity and feminist views throughout history in order to create my own vision and my own message in response to other peoples work from the past.
Film Stills.
Untitled Film Still #10-
Wearing a hairstyle reminiscent of a Dorothy Hamill wedge cut, the heroine might be a working girl at the end of a rough day, caught just moments after her groceries have toppled to the floor. Maybe she’s someone’s girlfriend trying to prepare a nice dinner before her guy walks in the door. Perhaps she’s a struggling actress living on scrambled eggs and Campbell’s soup. None of these scenarios is right or wrong, but the essence is the same: a young woman is caught off guard by someone standing just outside the frame. Regardless of the narrative, the viewer is intrigued and unsettled by what will happen next.
Untitled Film Still #7–
A floozy in a slip dress with garter exposed and martini in hand, Sherman looks up behind sunglasses and feigns surprise at an off-screen presence. She portrays a confused woman trying to grab the attention of someone or trying to communicate with someone. The persons Identity is concealed ad makes the viewer wonder who the woman is trying to gather the attention from and why.
Untitled Film Still #13 –
The woman appears to be reaching for a book, and her attention is directed upwards towards the shelf. She is depicted with a headband in her hair, and her attire suggests a look from a past era, possibly aligning with the late 1970s aesthetic, or perhaps even earlier, evoking the style of the 1960s. The scene mirrors those from mid-20th century films, where a character might be caught in a contemplative or decisive moment. She is not looking directly looking at the camera and she is displaying her vulnerability and role in society.
Sherman appears as a seductress, who is lying with a longing facial expression. She is looking worried and concerned, and is possibly longing for a sense of purpose or companionship during a lonely life without a specific purpose. Possibly speaking of one such image, she said, “To pick a character like that was about my own ambivalence about sexuality- growing up with the women role models that I had, and a lot of them in films, that were like that character, and yet you were supposed to be ‘good’.
I really like Cindy Sherman’s work and I hope to find similar photographers to her to demonstrate my vision. Although In my personal study I would not include pictures of only myself but also of other women. I really like how Cindy Sherman experimented with hair, makeup and costume to portray different characters and I would like to do the same. Researching Cindy Sherman’s work has helped me to understand a historical side to the male gaze and how times have changed, but not really. Society has still created an inaccurate.
I would possibly like to do a ‘Modern Day’ take on this or maybe choose a more ‘Past’ approach, or do a comparison of them both and include different interpretations of past times and modern times and show how different females live different lives according to identity, sexuality, wealth and lifestyle.
Photo Analysis.
Untitled Film Still No. 35- Cindy Sherman.
Technical:
The soft and naturalistic lighting in this photograph demonstrates that it is a photo from the past and is meant to display the time of the late 1970s. Which explains the low quality and slightly pixelated camera settings that are not very focused. I think that high contrast lighting, with a wide difference between highlights and shadows, brings a sense of intensity and depth to an image with dramatic qualities, which is what Cindy Sherman has done with her lots of her work. The aperture is also slightly blurred and has a higher sensitivity ISO which causes a grainier image with a lighter grey monochrome tone rather than cool colours. This black and white tonal structure has a colder impression which displays a sense of loneliness and emptiness in the image. The use of shadow and light in the Untitled Film Stills, heightens mood and tension, which isolates the subject within the frame. This dramatic lighting also helps to portray a specific genre of film such as drama, mystery or even horror. I think that Cindy Sherman’s use black and white photography is significant as it gives the images a sense of timelessness and universality, which provides the aesthetic of classic cinema.
Visual:
Accompanied with the black and white colour, this staged cinematic scene has meaning to it within its 2D format. The image has a woman as the central figure in the middle of the image with a door behind her stood in the corner of a room. There is also coats and clothing hung up to the left of the woman which has a dark black colour which attracts the viewers eyes towards the middle of the photograph, right next to the characters face. The photograph has a portrait angle which has been cropped into a tight famed rectangle shape. This framing of the images creates a cinematic feel to the photo and Her work mimics a multitude of low-budget narratives of different characters from 1950s-1960s television. Having settings such as homes, bedrooms, kitchens or streets conveys the message of domestic housewives living stereotypical lifestyles. The characters Cindy Sherman portrays are also seen as mid motion and candid to give a ‘frozen-in-time’ impression, this adds to the mystery and explains the deliberately vague stories that are without a clear plot. This frozen moment in time makes the viewer question the context, time-period and situation the character may be in whilst the photo is being taken. This image has no clear narrative unless the photo is deeply looked at and questioned. After establishing her outfit and role, the viewer is able to create an assumption on what the woman’s purpose is and it is then established that this is a small section of a much larger story.
Contextual:
Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills includes contextual layers that address essential historical issues of gender, identity, and media representation. She created these photographs throughout 1977-80s, however they are based on the 1950/60s. During this period of the 70s, second-wave feminism was arising and women were beginning to challenge gender roles and opinions on women in media products were being raised as women began to question and challenge their portrayal and how they were being objectified and seen as an object to please the male gender. The “male gaze” refers to the way women are depicted in visual culture for males, Cindy Sherman chose to display her cultural and social concerns about the roles and representations of women in tv, cinema and media products. This work is technically ‘mocking’ the media as the series of images contains a female subject that is both the object and the creator of her image. The roles she portrays are characters which may demonstrate a victim, an innocent woman or a seductress. This creates a way for Cindy Sherman to control the portrayal of female objectification as the turning the camera on herself to expose the true meaning behind these roles. In this image her portrayal of a working class woman can be seen by her outfit and demonstrates the time period this photo is alluding to and women’s’ role during this time.
Conceptual:
This photo explores the male gaze. As number 80 film stills, became iconic. Chose herself for the model. Washerwoman maid in a feminist move way to redirect the male gaze to show she was in charge. Her angry expression by looking over her shoulder at us to show she is ‘done‘ and wants to find an escape from her current position as a housewife or domestic worker and move onto bigger dreams. She is stood slightly hunched and is wearing an apron and a blouse which shows the viewer that she is lower class and is ‘insignificant’. She is mid- movement and has a slightly distracted expression on her face whilst not making direct eye-contact with the camera which demonstrates her vulnerability and distraction. The message from Cindy Sherman portrays the reality of a ‘happy housewife’ who is safe and content at home when in reality, they are lonely and struggling mentally. The lack of context to this images, causes the reader to assume and create their own interpretations on the photo. The vulnerability, beauty and individuality of the character makes the audience feel sorry for the woman and feel a sense of reflection and remorse for women during this period.
Our first visit was Jersey Art centre to see Marc Medland.
We next moved to the CCA Gallery to see Glenn Perotte
Glen Perotte has been photographing Jersey for a decade, mixing commercial work with his creative photographic projects. His ‘2020:A Year in Vision’ portrait exhibition saw him capture us islanders and his 2021 ‘Remnants of Life’ saw him turn his hand to hyper-detailed still life of dream-like plants. Building on that foundation, Glen got in shape both physically and mentally to take his work to a new level this year. His subject this time couldn’t be captured in Jersey, but only at the heady heights of Mount Kenya, where Glen had been captivated by the flora and fauna on a previous visit tow years before. The landscape is hauntingly beautiful.
Glen tells us “I wanted to explore the flora of Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest mountain after Kilimanjaro and a uniquely special place. More than a visually striking landmark, Mount Kenya is steeped in spiritual significance, revered as a sacred site by East African communities and beyond. The mountain is seen as a divine presence, drawing people for prayer, meditation, and reflection”. The focus for him was the astonishing plant life that manages to take root in this volcanic and harsh landscape of thin air and rocky terrain, sometimes by banding together and at other times finding a small niche to settle in alone. “Strange, yet wonderfully captivating, these botanical wonders exhibit adaptations honed over millennia to survive the harsh mountain environment. From bizarrely shaped succulents clinging to rocky crevices to peculiar, other-worldly ferns thriving in mist-shrouded valleys, each species tells a tale of resilience and ingenuity”.
At the Jersey Art Centre we saw a project by Marc Medland who creates absurdist collages with different materials. Many were 3D to create depth. One of his projects were creating crime scenes with floor plans to map out the crime, a visual collage to represent the nature of the crime and a description of the actual crime too.
At the CCA Gallery we saw Glenn Perotte who photographed plant life on his journey up a mountain named: Mount Kenya’s Rooted Resilience. These images used a HDR approach to achieve much richer depth and colour.
At Arthouse Jersey we saw two projects:
Dancing Together: A Ballad by Kaarina Kaikkonen. She arranged tops to create works of art. The exhibition we saw moved the shirts from outside into a small gallery room to create a totally different sculpture.
And the sound of colour which projected a story onto a church ceiling. There were two parts, one being the history which is the one we saw.
James, who has been The North Wall’s Propeller Artist for two years, began exploring the idea of GIRLHOOD during the group show ‘Fourteen’ which she facilitated and took part in for ‘Photo Oxford’ 2021. As a way to understand her journey of grief, she began investigating the vulnerability of adolescence as a metaphor of how she felt straight after her father died. Since then, James has been documenting teenage girls, all born at the start of the smartphone era and in a period of transition; gradually moving away from childhood yet nowhere near adulthood. Every adult was once a teenager, and we can all add to the conversation regarding our own teenage years. James tells us, “I, probably like yourself, was invincible as a teenager, yet now as an adult and as a mother I see how vulnerable teenagers are.” The artist’s ability to capture the essence of teenage girls allows for honest and sensitive imagery. Philippa James meaning behind her photos is that lot of teenage feels like waiting for adulthood, waiting for freedom, waiting to be taken seriously. This brilliant, stirring exhibit captures those feelings as well as the excitement kinship and joy of that time, told through McDonald’s trips and post-school bedroom hangouts.
James’ work here recalls the dreamy female gazes of photographers like Petra Collins and Ashley Armitage, although intentionally more grounded and unposed. In Girlhood, the camera seems to simply bear witness rather than glamourise or caution. Her strategy pays off: the unpoised vulnerability and freedom become the collection’s chief strength.
I’m going to be taking pictures of my friends doing their normal weekend ot day to day activity, such as shopping, doing hair, doing make up etc. Also going to be taking some portraits of different teenage girls styles.
