Clare Rae is an artist from Melbourne, Australia (b. 1981) who produces photographs and moving images work which explore the representations of the female body using exploration of the physical environment. Rae visited jersey as part of the Arch isle international artist-in-residence programme in 2017. She was interested in the Claude Cahun archive and was researching into it as well shooting new photographs and film in jersey as well as even running workshops. From the research she produced she formed a new body of work called Entre Nous (Between us). The work was produced after being heavily inspired by Claude Cahun and it was even exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne Australia, 22 March – 6 May 2018.
In these series of photos she produced named “Never standing on two feet” she explains that she took Cahuns engagement with the physical and Cultural landscapes of jersey and was inspired to take similar photos. She commented on her work saying that like Cahuns, her photographs depict her body in relation to place with this instance being jerseys costal geography and Jerseys Neolithic ritual monuments. The photographs also include a moving body to contrast and unsettle the traditional representations of the female figure in the landscape.
Clare Rae has always discussed and expressed her interests in artists such as Claude Cahun, Francesca Woodman and Jill Orr. She also talks about how she researches on areas that she’s interested in and takes inspiration from as well how she produces her image and the analysis behind them. With these methods it makes her photography that she takes very interesting to get into.
Visual
In this image we are able to see a self-portrait of Clare Rae where she appears to be gripping on to the rocks for support. She is looking away from the camera but towards the sea to indicate that she is becoming aware of her surroundings. She is posed in a way where most of her torso is hidden and appears to blend in with the rocks. We can also see that she’s wearing a dark coloured skirt and a light coloured top to maybe create some type of contrast. She also appears to be on a rocky hill near the sea to create some connection between her body and the place the photograph is taken at. She also appears to be holding herself up on the rocks and not sitting on them to show that she may be continuing to go further down or across.
Technical
The lighting used in this photo is natural light as it was taken outside. It was most likely taken with the sunlight being projected onto the rocks so the subject would be well illuminated. It also looks like a wide aperture was used due to the amount of detail we are able to see in the image from the ripples of the sea to the shape of the rocks in the hill. The photo may of been taken at a low angle to capture the rocks underneath the subject and show how far down the hill goes. The photo also appears to be a full body shot as her whole body can be see in the image with the exception of her right arm.
Contextual
Clare Rae has great interests in artists such as Claude Cahun, Francesca Woodman and Jill Orr. When coming to jersey and discovering the work of Claude Cahun she decided that she wanted to take inspiration and create her own series of photos inspired from Claude Cahun. Following the same ideas as Claude Cahun where she took her photos to criticise the gender roles of women in the 20s/30s, Clare Rae has taken images with a moving body which unsettles the traditional representations of the female body.
Conceptual
These series of photos that Clare Rae created were to show the public that her work is more invested into the feminist act of self representation compared to Cahuns who used self-portraiture to subvert the dominance of the male gaze in photographic depiction of the female body in landscape photographs. She uses the performing body and gesture in order to disturb the traditional representations of the female figure in landscapes. She used Jerseys costal sites and monuments in order to create a visual dialogue between her body and the environments around her.
Chosen Artist Reference
I have chosen Clare Rae to be my inspiration for my series of photos as I find that the photos that she has taken are intriguing and unique and its something I would like to replicate in my own photos and add on furthermore.