Photography and Identity

Elina Brotherus

In her series of images ‘Le Miroir’, Brotherus has given us the chance to witness the emergence of her own identity.  She stands like a statue in front of a steamed up mirror, waiting patiently for her reflection to reappear.  Not only does her stance not change, nor the material things around her, but her emotionless expression also remains still, almost clinical in appearance. 

In much of her work, Brotherus turns the camera on herself during her most traumatic experiences so as to capture the raw emotion that I’m sure we can all identify with in one way or another.  This makes her stoic expression all the more unsettling.  However, this scientific approach to a self portrait makes it all the more clear that she is not photographing herself through vanity or self indulgence, rather she is trying to capture images which describe the human condition.  For me, this work reads as a journey through self-discovery and acceptance.

Still Life and Play – Web

Martin Parr

At first glance it is hard to believe that Parr is a Magnum Photographer.  A far cry from Magnum’s classical photojournalism style, Parr’s work is often brash and confrontational. In his series “British Food”, Parr does not only capture highly coloured images of various food stuffs, but in the process he pokes fun at modern British culture. The foods he photographs are quintessentially British, but behind them is an underlying statement about our society.

This image for example, cupcakes in the traditional red white and blue, with little Union Jacks on, just in case the British theme was not apparent enough, are all about celebration. Celebration of what though? Perhaps just a celebration of being British! What is ironic to me is that celebration is marked with high sugar/high fat/high calorie treats. An indication maybe of the state of the country? The cupcakes themselves may be about celebration, but for me, the way Parr has framed the image makes the photograph about pure over-indulgence.

ArtSlant - Implications are Customary. 2012. ArtSlant - Implications are Customary. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.artslant.com/chi/articles/show/14710. [Accessed 23 April 2012].

Family Subcultures

Nan Goldin

Is her work a deeply personal insight into relationships or just glorification of drug use and violence?

Her series, ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency”, used 700-800 images, displayed as a slide show with music, to show an evolving narrative of sex, drugs and abuse.  She has been heavily criticised by the media over this work for merely making heroin use and domestic abuse fashionable and glamorous. My opinion of the work is that she has used the camera as an extension of herself rather than as a piece of equipment. The camera experiences the intimate relationships between herself and her subjects, and as such it is merely a truthful reflection of her experiences. In my opinion, the images do not glorify drug use and domestic violence, they only document it.

Peres, Michael. 2007., Concise Focal Encyclopedia of Photography, The: From the First Photo on Paper to the Digital Revolution. [online]. Elsevier Science & Technology. Available from:<http://lib.myilibrary.com?ID=178986> 23 April 2012

Landscape; Meditation and Contemplation - Book Stock

Andy Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy does not merely work in the environment.  Instead he takes the environment as his muse, his canvas and his tools.  His work is very much 3-dimensional and usually begins with some kind of natural physical object, whether it be a stone, stick or leaves.  The process of photographing what he creates is almost like a documentation of the 3d work. He does not employ any special effects or special lenses or filters. Instead he waits until a piece of work is at the peak of its existence and simply marks the moment with a photograph. 

Hazel Stick Throws

After looking at much of Goldsworthy’s work, I happened upon this image, which was quite different to most of his other images in that instead of building something to photograph, he has photographed himself throwing hazel sticks into the air.  For me, this image represents contemplation on the interactions of nature, and of fate.  He has thrown the sticks in the air along with his control over the situation. From the moment the sticks left his hand, the future of the piece was depending solely on the reaction of nature.

“When I’m working with materials its not just the leaf or the stone, it’s the processes that are behind them that are important. That’s what I’m trying to understand, not a single isolated object but nature as a whole”  - Andy Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy, A., 1991. Hand to Earth. 3rd ed. Leeds: W. S. Maney & Son Ltd

The Mugshot - E-resources

Bettina Von Zwehl

The process of sitting in front of a camera while someone waits to capture a moment of your life is incredibly invasive, especially when one is required to behave in a certain manner. Von Zwehl has built up an international reputation for creating unsettling photographic portraits, in which the subjects are restricted within certain criteria. In the series “An Anatomy of Control”, she has focused her documentary style on the portraits of children. Usually, photo's of children are taken by parents or relatives and hence contain a certain warmth.  Von Zwehl contradicted this convention by giving the control back to the children, who were allowed to activate the shutter themselves, while posing however they may choose. Von Zwehl then paired images together according to similarities in the children's height, postures or expressions.

In my opinion, the resulting images are a far cry from that which we expect to see when looking at photo's of children.  Firstly the images being black and white, and each child being given the same black outfit to wear gives the images a sense of clinical coldness that strongly resembles a traditional mugshot.  This association makes it difficult to see the subjects as children at all, rather as the adults they will become.  This is uncomfortable in itself.  What I find even more uncomfortable however is that even though these children have been given charge of the shutter and the destiny of their own image, the process of portraiture is no less invasive.

TITLE: Bettina von Zwehl: Lombard-Freid Fine Arts

SOURCE: New Art Examiner 28 no5 F 2001

The Digital Compostie - Journals

John Goto

The work of John Goto is nothing more than a digital illusion. We move through our world completely oblivious to the fact that much of our surroundings are subtly influenced by post-renaissance western paintings. Goto however is not oblivious to this fact, and his work shows a clear manipulation of this knowledge.  He uses basic compositional principles to reconstruct a digital version of traditional landscapes. After creating such an idyllic fantasy world he places various figures throughout, each of them from a different social group and acting out various social conventions, exhibiting their own relationship to the natural world.  

“Goto takes one social faction after another, transports them into a historical perspective of neo-classical grandeur and lets them show themselves up.”

On the surface of things it may seem that this illusion of a world is calm and serene but the dark and moody sky that Goto has employed in each of his images tells a different story, one of an approaching storm and impending doom. But for who? For the people depicted in the images or for the world at large? Perhaps this work of illusion is more to do with reality than it first appeared. Perhaps in the hands of a photographer such as Goto, the two are eternally interchangeable.

“Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.” - Arnold Newman

Clark, R, 2001. John Goto; High Summer. Portfolio, #33, 4-11

James Turrell - Book Stock

Skyspaces

James Turrell is a contemporary artist, who works mainly with light, both natural and artificial. A Skyspace is based on the principle of cutting or modelling an opening through the ceiling of an enclosed structure. 

Skyspaces present an interesting juxtaposition between indoors and outdoors, in that they bring the sky down to “replace” the ceiling, creating a space that seems enclosed but is completely open to the sky and the elements. These elements have the ability to change the mood of the space and the experience of the viewer.

The Deer Shelter

During 1993, Turrell had been commissioned to do some work for Robert Hopper, in Halifax. During this period he spent much of his time in the grounds of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, exploring the many buildings and architectural features. It was here that he found a 19^th century deer shelter, a brick structure that was built on to the face of an old quarry. 

The shelter was in considerable disrepair, But Turrell set about not only restoring it, but also expanding upon it, so that it may become a refuge once again, albeit for humans rather than deer.  After 13 years of work, the Deer Shelter has gone through many changes. The side arches have been opened up and holes have been puched through the walls behind them to create a tunnel into a square chamber, excavated from within a hill, which contains heated concrete benches around the edges of the room, and a rectangular space missing from the ceiling so that the sky may be seen. It has become a place for people to relax and commune with nature – the nature in this case being the sky.

“Deer Shelter Skyspace is a work of art that acts as an invitation to look upwards. Turrell cannot control what is seen there, any more than he can control the elements.” – Gerrit Willems, The Sensuous Lushness of Light, 1996

The Body as a Political Site - Web Sources

Body politics, or issues to do with the body are a strong theme in today’s society. This is shown through almost every medium we come across.  Oliviero Toscani, an Italian photographer has been known to create controversy by exploiting a wide range of body politics.  For example, when working for the company “United Colours of Benneton” in the 80’s and 90’s, he designed many different Ad campaigns, some of which contained racial undertones.  He used racism and the taboo’s associated with the subject to create images that one would certainly not associate with buying a jumper. This tactic, although shocking, turned the clothing company into a household name.

Toscani delved into body politcs once again in 2007 when he creating the following image of Isabelle Caro.

This image sparked outrage and was part of a global campaign entitled: “No Anorexia”. The fashion industry had been in the spotlight over anorexia since the 2006 death of a 21 year old Brazilian model who had died from the eating disorder. Contrary to what one might expect, the fashion industry largely praised the work. The outrage however came from groups who were working with anorexic women. They claimed that the image did a disservice to those afflicted with the disorder. ABA, the Italian association against anorexia, bulimia and obesity, said the "devastating" image risked making women want to emulate Caro to get publicity and visibility.  Subsequently, the Ad was banned in Italy.

"There isn't such a thing as a shocking picture," he continues, "there is shocking reality that is being reproduced through photography to the people who aren't there.”    -Oliviero Toscani