Nancy Honey created a photobook demonstrating what makes her feminine and what it means to be feminine, constructed in her own eyes and perspective.
Nancy Honey is a British photographer known for her documentary-style portraiture and her exploration of themes related to women’s lives, identity, and social issues. One of her notable projects is indeed titled “Woman to Woman.”
“Woman to Woman” is a photography project by Nancy Honey that captures the lives and experiences of women from various backgrounds, cultures, and ages. Through her lens, Honey aims to celebrate the diversity and richness of women’s experiences, highlighting their strength, resilience, and unique stories. The project often features intimate and candid portraits of women in their everyday environments, allowing viewers to connect with the subjects on a personal level and gain insight into their lives. “Woman to Woman” seeks to empower women by giving them a platform to share their voices and experiences while challenging stereotypes and societal norms. Nancy Honey’s work is characterized by its sensitivity, authenticity, and ability to capture the essence of her subjects. Through projects like “Woman to Woman,” she contributes to the ongoing dialogue about gender, identity, and equality, inviting viewers to reflect on their own perceptions and attitudes towards women in society. Honey’s photography has been exhibited internationally and has received critical acclaim for its humanistic approach and compelling storytelling. Her work continues to inspire and provoke thought on issues related to gender, diversity, and representation in contemporary society.
‘In this body of work I set out to define and separate the various strands that make up my sense of my own femininity. How does sexuality manifest itself in me and what is the difference between what I feel and the ubiquitous stereotypical mass cultural images that surround me? How conditioned are my responses?’
In her work she set out to define and separate the various strands that make up a sense of her own femininity. How does sexuality manifest itself in her and what is the difference between the images of feminine sexuality and gender that have become stereotypic in our culture and how does she feel about herself? How does her reality relate to the cultural ideal? How conditioned are her responses?
Nancy’s work inspires me as its personal to her and her own ideas on femininity. I like the way she has presented her work and the range of colours she has in her project. The range of portraits shows how much she has experimented.
The front cover of her book being a standard representation of feminity, this gives the book a good basis and introduction to the theme. However gives off the impression that there will be more ideas.
Honey presents each page with three pictures next to each other, the common theme being specific clothing and colours and then one more creative picture that id say pulls it all together.
Several key forms of gaze can be identified in photographic, filmic or televisual texts, or in figurative graphic art. The most obvious typology is based on who is doing the looking, of which the following are the most commonly cited:
the spectator’s gaze: the gaze of the viewer at an image of a person (or animal, or object) in the text;
the intra-diegetic gaze: a gaze of one depicted person at another (or at an animal or an object) within the world of the text (typically depicted in filmic and televisual media by a subjective ‘point-of-view shot’);
the direct [or extra-diegetic] address to the viewer: the gaze of a person (or quasi-human being) depicted in the text looking ‘out of the frame’ as if at the viewer, with associated gestures and postures (in some genres, direct address is studiously avoided);
the look of the camera– the way that the camera itself appears to look at the people (or animals or objects) depicted; less metaphorically, the gaze of the film-maker or photographer.
In addition to the major forms of gaze listed above, we should also note several other types of gaze which are less often mentioned:
the gaze of a bystander – outside the world of the text, the gaze of another individual in the viewer’s social world catching the latter in the act of viewing – this can be highly charged, e.g. where the text is erotic (Willemen 1992);
the averted gaze– a depicted person’s noticeable avoidance of the gaze of another, or of the camera lens or artist (and thus of the viewer) – this may involve looking up, looking down or looking away (Dyer 1982);
the gaze of an audience within the text – certain kinds of popular televisual texts (such as game shows) often include shots of an audience watching those performing in the ‘text within a text’;
the editorial gaze – ‘the whole institutional process by which some portion of the photographer’s gaze is chosen for use and emphasis’ (Lutz & Collins 1994, 368)
MALE GAZE
The male gaze can be thought of as the process of depicting women from the perspective of a presumed heterosexual male viewpoint. This reduces female characters to simply being a female body that is depicted for the visual pleasure of male characters and a male audience.
What is ‘gaze’ in photography?
In portraits, the ‘gaze’ describes the way the artist and sitter look at each other, and the way we as viewers look at the person portrayed. In exploring the gaze, we analyse: The sitter’s gaze: where the sitter is looking and what their expression is.
Good example of male gaze:
Examples of the male gaze are ubiquitous in film and include scenes where women are approached unsuspectedly by a man, slow camera pans, and tropes involving male heroes.
As Laura Mulvey, a feminist theorist, described in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, this conceptualisation of femininity has little to do with a female perspective. Instead, it is a product of the “male gaze” . Mulvey argued that when visualised, women tend to be portrayed as passive, fragile, and sexualised objects meant to be looked at and, consequently, used by the male spectator, who can be either present or implied . Using Freudian terminology, Mulvey explained that this “fetishistic scopophilia [i.e. drawing pleasure from just looking] builds up the physical beauty of the object [i.e. the woman], transforming it into something satisfying in itself ” . Accordingly, rather than an independent individual, a woman and her identity are constructed in the (audio) visual media as a consumable product designated to please the male spectator.
cindy sherman – artist reference
nancy honey – artist reference
laura mulvey, judith butler – blog post
MY INTENDED RESPONSE TO THIS:
experiment with camera angles and how it can reflect the gaze/ perspective.
female gaze
focusing on the body and dance, specifically ballet
Rinko Kawauchi and William Eggleston are both renowned photographers known for their distinct styles and perspectives. They can be compared in terms of colour, East or West hemisphere perspectives/contexts, and other differences.
COLOUR
Rinko Kawauchi’s work is often characterised by a soft and delicate colour palette. Her photographs often feature pastel tones and muted hues, creating a dreamlike and introspective atmosphere. Kawauchi’s use of colour is subtle and nuanced, evoking emotions and capturing fleeting moments of beauty in everyday life.
On the other hand, William Eggleston is known for his bold and vibrant use of colour. His photographs often feature saturated colours and strong contrasts, creating visually striking images. Eggleston’s use of colour is expressive and intense, capturing the essence of the American landscape and culture.
EAST VS WEST
Rinko Kawauchi is a Japanese photographer, and her work is deeply influenced by her cultural background and the aesthetics of Japanese art and philosophy. Her photographs often reflect a contemplative and introspective view of the world, emphasizing the beauty of the ordinary and the transient nature of life.
William Eggleston, on the other hand, is an American photographer. His work is rooted in the context of American culture and society. Eggleston’s photographs often capture the mundane and the banal, elevating them to a level of significance through his unique perspective. His images provide a glimpse into the American experience, showcasing both the beauty and the complexities of everyday life.
OTHER DIFFERENCES
In addition to the differences in colour and cultural perspectives, there are other distinctions between Kawauchi and Eggleston’s work. Kawauchi often works in series, exploring themes and narratives through a collection of images. Her photographs often have a poetic and introspective quality, inviting viewers to contemplate the deeper meaning behind the captured moments.
Eggleston, on the other hand, is known for his individual images, each holding its own significance. His photographs often possess a sense of spontaneity and capture a moment in time with a documentary-like approach. Eggleston’s images can be provocative and challenge traditional notions of what is considered worthy of being photographed. While both photographers have their unique styles and perspectives, they share a common ability to capture the essence of everyday life through their lens. Their work invites viewers to see the beauty in the ordinary and appreciate the nuances of the world around us, albeit through different colour palettes and cultural lenses.
I decided to take some photos of my boyfriend in the studio and explore different depths of field and lighting to see if I could create some interesting portraits. I didn’t really have an artist in mind but I like the way some of them turned out.
I think some of them could correspond to the more portrait based work of Rinko Kawauchi but generally they vary in style so this is not consistent.
I want to explore the idea behind “liminal Space”, which is the transition between where you have been and where you’re going physically, emotionally, or metaphorically. A couple examples of this would be a waiting room, or a hallway, which shows the space between the beginning and the end. Liminal spaces mostly present emotional distress, like anxiety, or uncertainty, because of how it is an un-owned area which can create a sensation of a loss of place which disorientates and worries people in an uncertain but familiar way. This idea alone is very intriguing, because of the conceptual ideas that liminal spaces present, like ominous hallways, or empty and foggy car parks, but also because it explores the sensation of fear, which I want to challenge through photographing these areas, but also being able to find these places and editing the image and environment to present these sensations to the viewer, whilst capturing a a well made disorientated image.
Liminal space is an important thing to capture because it gives a heightened awareness towards the spaces which we choose to ignore, either because of its insignificants or because of its unsettling perception it presents to people. But because it also creates the connection between the beginning and the end, and how there are a lot of photographs in the world which are specifically at an event, or at a specific area where something is happening, but not somewhere where something did happen, or the place to get to that place. Liminal space is photographing the unknown, and presents exploration for these areas, which is what makes photography itself important, through exploring areas and how to create an image into something unknown or new in its own way. I personally like the idea of liminal space because of the fact that it is unsettling and specific in what you photograph and how you photograph it. This creates a challenge in itself, through camera settings, like grainy fuzzy images, and specific lighting which comes from a specific direction, and the challenge to find and access these areas to image in the first place interests me, because I believe better images will be produced because of this.
I wish to develop my work through digitally editing, by including more aspects in an image that aren’t already there or just tweaking the image to feel more eerie. I will present this through mainly a photobook because of how the accessibility of the images, but also how the book will be presented will create an effect as if what I was photographing was a “report” for liminal space and, “this is what I found” will be shown, and how in each section of the book will have small topic like areas. For example the beginning of the book will be the beginning of a hallway which doesn’t end and will transition into other areas of that hallway, which might be in a hotel or wherever. This will then progress into other environments and areas throughout the book, but never really be muddled up in a form of just one whole jumble of images. I will also include one or two prints for each of these sections in the book, to set the scene for each section, so when the viewer looks into the book they have a small idea of what they will expect.
The concept and idea of liminal space links to the subject of observe, seek, challenge because of how in every day life you observe liminal spaces but don’t often know that or recognise it. And for me it is the ability to seek these places that influences me to create a project out of this concept, and the aesthetic, But in a weird way people like to seek these places which create this sensation of uncertainty and unknowing, because it is in our nature to seek the unknowing, and try to figure it out. Furthermore I’m challenging the concept of liminal spaces because liminal space in itself challenges reality, because of how it creates a sense of uncanniness and unknowingness because of its unnatural look and feel, but also its sense of familiarity, and how I’m the one attempting to make images into this type of format and finding the right environments for them to work.
I will begin to peruse the concept of liminal space during the week and weekends, when ever I find the opportunity, where that might be dependant on the time of day or what type of natural lighting I want to use. The areas I’m going to be imaging will include places like office buildings with no people in the image, but will portray the essence of people in the image, for example paper, computers, and chairs. Other areas might include areas like alleyways, which create a sense of familiarity, and will be set at night for a more grainy effect. And places which include hallways, like hotels, small waiting rooms, or disorientating places like caves. I might include areas like playgrounds at night, or cemeteries , which in itself isn’t somewhere anyone would go during the night, but using my own artificial lighting I can create a sense of presence.
Overall my work will be done during afternoons which has a lack of natural light, rather my own artificial lighting, this is so the image has more of an uncomfortable feeling to it, and coldness, but also might be familiar because of its setting. I am going to take inspirations from areas which are commonly filled with people and are used frequently, however will be presented with emptiness and loneliness in my images. The way I am going to edit my images will be using a vintage, cold, and fuzzy look to them, as if the images where taken in the past like early 2000s.
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer who is considered to be one of the fathers of photojournalism and masters of candid photography. He sought to capture the ‘everyday’ in his photographs and took great interest in recording human activity. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment, which he later wrote a book about. He was influenced by Surrealism and began his career in film working with renowned French director, Jean Renoir as second assistant director. He was born on the 22nd of August, 1908 In Chanteloup-en-Brie, France and passed away on the 3rd of August, 2004 in Céreste, France.
He came from quite a wealthy family and since his parents were providing financial support, Henri pursued photography quite freely. His father assumed that his son would take up the family business, but Henri was strong-willed and also feared the idea. In 1929, Cartier-Bresson’s air squadron commandant placed him under house arrest for hunting without a licence. Cartier-Bresson met American expatriate Harry Crosby, who persuaded the commandant to release Cartier-Bresson into his custody for a few days. The two men both had an interest in photography, and Crosby presented him with his first camera.
Cartier-Bresson ended up falling into an intense sexual relationship with Caresse Crosby (Harry Crosby’s wife) however, two years after Harry Crosby died by suicide, Cartier-Bresson’s affair with Caresse Crosby ended in 1931. After reading the book, Heart of Darkness, which gave him the idea to try and find adventure in Côte d’Ivoire, Africa. He survived by shooting game and selling it to local villagers. From hunting, he learned methods which he later used in photography.
He acquired the Leica camera with a 50 mm lens in Marseilles that would accompany him for many years. The anonymity that the small camera gave him in a crowd or during an intimate moment was essential in overcoming the formal and unnatural behaviour of those who were aware of being photographed. He enhanced his anonymity by painting all shiny parts of the Leica with black paint. In the beginning, he did not photograph much in his native France. It would be years before he photographed there extensively. Cartier-Bresson’s first photojournalist photos to be published came in 1937 when he covered the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, The coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, 1937
“For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to ‘give a meaning’ to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frames through the viewfinder. This attitude requires concentration, discipline of mind, sensitivity, and a sense of geometry. It is by economy of means that one arrives at simplicity of expression.”
The Decisive Moment
Size – 27.4 x 37 cm
Pages – 160 + 48 booklet pages
Binding – Clothbound in slipcase
The Decisive Moment is a book by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer who is credited with pioneering modern photojournalism. The book is a collection of his best-known photographs, accompanied by his thoughts on photography and the creative process. The title refers to the idea that photography captures a single moment in time, and that the photographer’s job is to be in the right place at the right time to capture that moment.
In Henri Cartier-Bresson’s seminal book, in English called “The Decisive Moment” and in French “Images à la Sauvette” (1952), Henri Cartier-Bresson assembled a selection of his photographs of various subjects, in a novel style that was made possible by a small, nimble hand-held camera, in the hands of a master, who had a great eye and a classical background in composition. The book has come to be, perhaps, the most important book ever published in the field of photography.
Photojournalism/Candid Photography
Photojournalism is a form of visual storytelling and reporting. There is no one right way to tell a story through images: a handful of pictures can complement a text, but a single dramatic image can also furnish stand-alone commentary on an individual, world events or culture. No matter how the story is told, photojournalists seek to enlighten audiences by capturing a crystallizing image. Photojournalism entered a Golden Age and became more important beginning in the 1920s, with the arrival of smaller cameras like the 35 mm Leica, which was invented in Germany in 1925. These cameras were seen as revolutionary by photographers everywhere, as much less equipment was required for them to set up and take their pictures. Candid Photography is a genre of photography that spontaneously captures the organic, genuine, and unposed moments of a subject. Bresson is one of the earliest users of 35mm film and is widely acknowledged as the master of candid photography.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare St. Lazare, 1932
Image Analysis
Technically – Cartier-Bresson’s use of a small Leica camera allowed him to be discreet and capture candid moments. In this photograph, he employed a slow shutter speed to allow for a sense of motion, resulting in a blurred figure.
Visually – Cartier-Bresson positioned himself opposite station, capturing the reflection of the surrounding buildings and the figure. The presence of the lines and the converging perspective draw our attention towards the central figure, creating a strong focal point.
Contextually – “Gare Saint Lazare” is a significant location in Paris, known for its bustling train station. Cartier-Bresson’s photograph captures the essence of urban life, the movement, and the energy of people rushing to catch their trains. It reflects the rapid pace of the human experience within the urban environment.
Conceptually – The photograph embodies Cartier-Bresson’s philosophy of the decisive moment. The split-second timing of capturing the people and the reflection in perfect harmony creates a sense of chance and captures a fleeting moment that tells a story.
TheDecisive Moment in relation to My Ideas
The Decisive Moment in Surf/Sea photography is all about capturing the peak action, the energy, and the fluidity of the waves and surfers. It’s about freezing that split-second when everything comes together in a visually captivating way. To apply this concept, I will need to anticipate the perfect moment when the wave is at its most dynamic, the surfer is in the ideal position, and the composition is just right. A photo series by Matt Porteous has inspired me to produce a similar outcome.
Below the Breaking Wave
”Photographer Matt Porteous of M Studio takes us along to the Maldives, beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean, in his powerful photo series Below the Breaking Wave. Porteous has always held a fascination for water, having grown up along the rugged Jersey coastline of the Channel Islands. It was this close proximity to the water that encouraged surfing, swimming and diving, cementing a special place in his heart for the ocean.
The series features surfers underneath a breaking wave, preparing themselves to swim toward a cloud-like mass of bubbles and froth. What we see and feel during that split second we find ourselves underneath a passing wave, he notes, is symbolic of the world we live in today: beauty, clarity and chaos. Staunchly passionate about the preservation and guardianship of the ocean, Porteous’ photography carries a distinct message: ”We live in an incredible time surrounded by a beautiful world, but we must search further to find, and work harder to protect”
Born in America in 1948, Nancy Honey began her career in England in a male dominated industry. Regardless of this, she manages to achieve success and started to build a name for herself as a photographer. Nancy Honey’s ‘woman to woman’ series was made nearly over 40 years ago, her images are based on her own experiences of being a woman which were driven by curiosity and focuses on topics such as motherhood, sexuality, power, and ageing in which she uses juxtapositions to depict schoolgirls to businesswomen and children to the elderly, and many more. By doing this, Honey creates a consistent flow throughout her work.
Nancy Honey’s work mainly includes the observation of the typical female stereotypes through her own view on femininity. She presents this by trying to capture “what it feels like, to me, to be a woman today”. Her photo-book is laid out in a triptych format which tend to have some abstract image beside portraits which have similar connotations with one another.
Daisy-
Nancy Honey’s Biography On The Project ‘Daisy’
This is a large collection of pictures I made with my daughter, Daisy over many years. I became fascinated with photographing her as I emerged as a photographic artist. She and I did it together and it was something I greatly enjoyed. It started when she was a year old and I was just beginning to then use my little black and white camera to document events, more or less as a diary. I was finally beginning to learn about the technical side of photography, which I’d always loved, but had been intimidated by the science.
I had always been an artist, but mostly used painting and drawing, having initially studied Fine Art in the USA. After having children I was desperate to complete my education and finished with a degree in Visual Communication at Bath Academy of Art in Wiltshire. I learned about photography there as well as typography and printmaking. I continued to make pictures of Daisy over many years and included her in every project I could. My son, Jesse, declared that making pictures together was boring early on and therefore I made far less which included him.
The project, which was never a formal one, just kept evolving. She was very good natured and patient and rarely refused.The Independent on Saturday Magazine, published an article in 2002, which covers these photographs and our time together. When she left home the arrangement, by then mostly for commercial work, had to be more formal. The project more or less finished after Billy, her first child was born and she was very busy and lived out of town. I still photograph her and her children often, but the pictures are not made in the same manner.
Originally named Images à la Sauvette and later translated to English, The Decisive Momentis Henri Cartier-Bresson’s most famous publication. It is a collection of his images alongside his exploration of his theory that an image requires a ‘moment’ in order to be interesting to the viewer. This is a key publication in the study of Cartier-Bresson’s work because it clarifies his practices and the way in which he felt photography was important to the world. Robert Capa described it as “a Bible for photographers”, and it has certainly been viewed by many as an important source of both inspiration and teaching.
“Things-As-They-Are offer such an abundance of material that a photographer must guard against the temptation of trying to do everything… it is essential to cut from the raw material of life – to cut and cut, but to cut with discrimination.”
– Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment, 1952.
This quote demonstrates the key message of the book because it alludes to the significance of making judicious choices when creating images. He states that ‘discrimination’ of work is precisely what makes a collection worth viewing. He is purported to have attended the 1968 Paris student revolt, where, despite the explosive action on show, he would apparently take images at a rate of about four per hour. This exemplifies his theory and shows that he is always careful to take the image that will tell the best story, and not to just photograph ‘everything’.
For my project, I want to explore femininity and mental health, through a mix of portraits and landscapes. Photography has often been an exploration of ones mental health, and many artists have linked the two important aspects of the life resulting in powerful photographs. Many use photography as a coping mechanism, helping them face their everyday issues. Femininity is something every individual explores during their life, sometimes without noticing it. I think femininity and mental health has a big link since women are stereotyped as being weak and vulnerable by society. For instance, hysteria was attributed to women for thousands of years: even being derived from the Greek word ‘hystera’ which means uterus. Even major psychologists such as Freud considered hysteria as an exclusively female disease, despite it already being proven incorrect. It was originally believed that men could not suffer from hysteria because of their lack of uterus. This belief was discarded in the 17th century when discourse identified the brain or mind, and not reproductive organs, as the root cause of hysteria. I think hysteria would be interesting to explore through self- portraits and landscapes (for example of St. Saviour’s hospital; the abandoned Jersey Lunatic Asylum and other abandoned buildings) as it incorporates mental health and femininity well. I think it links in well with the exam theme’s OBSERVE, SEEK, CHALLENGE since it will be an exploration of a significant historical aspect of femininity, I could observe how hysteria is portrayed and seek to find out how to portray it myself. I want to challenge the stereotypes of mental illness and femininity, as well as the historical relevance of hysteria, and challenge ‘typical’ feminine photography.
True femininity is about emotions and feelings, not just the appearance of an individual. For me, these themes are an opportunity to discover and research femininity, feminism and mental health, and create my own response to it, questioning different point of views and other artists’ work. Moreover, mental health is a big aspect of every woman’s life, and I think it is important to explore this, whether through photography or another medium. The most significant and important (in my opinion) female photographer who explored femininity and mental health is Francesca Woodman, who captured black and white self portraits, expressing her emotions which she couldn’t put into words. She was very young when she passed, and I believe this makes her work even more powerful and personal. She is my main inspiration for this project, and I find her use of abandoned- looking backdrops, slow shutter speed, uncoloured images very effective in portraying her emotions.
I want this project to end in the creation of a photobook- since I think it would tie my project in well together, creating a sequence of abstract portraits which focus more on emotion and the metaphors of femininity instead of striking feminine photos. After her death in 1981, Woodman’s photos weren’t disclosed to the public for many years after. I think the lack of uniformity in her work adds to the overall theme of mental health, but I believe my work will look most successful as a photobook. I will begin my study by researching hysteria and using Woodman as a inspiration for my photoshoots, looking for places around Jersey that would be suitable for my project. I like how Woodman also uses props (whether it is the space around her or specific objects) in ways that adds a even deeper mood to each photograph, as well as making each image unique.
For this project I want to explore my sisters passion and relationship with surfing as she prepares for the European Champions. This idea matters to me because me and my sister have a close bond and supported each other throughout our different sporting careers. We have also shared many memories throughout our childhood, spending time at the beach in the sea and surfing together which gives this project a sense of nostalgia.
I will begin my project by taking images of the surf related objects in my sisters room such as surf books, magazines and her trophies and medals. I will then try and take as many shoots as possible of my sister surfing which ay be a challenge as I will have to reply on the weather and the surf conditions.
My first thought is to produce a photobook as I can experiment with different layouts and compositions. A photobook is also a good way to present documentary style photography as it can tell a story. I will also print and mount up my images.
I am interpreting the theme of observe, seek and challenge though this as I am following and observing my sisters surfing preparation and training for one of her biggest competitions yet which. I am an insider in this study as I am very close to my sister and spend most of our time together. By seeking into this journey I am also learning more about how much preparation and work my sister and her teammate will have to do in order to get fit and ready for the Euros. This study is going to be a challenge as there are many factors out of my control such as the surf conditions. It is also links to the theme of challenge as my sister will have to overcome many challenges through all her taring sessions leading up to the competition. I will be looking at artists such as; W. Eugene Smith, Alec Soth, Thomas Lodin and Tom Wood.
Most of my shoots will take place at the beach as I will mainly taking action shot s of my sister and images that fit in with the surf aesthetic.
For photographing object, I am going to capture them as they are in my sister room. I may also try and do a shoot which will involve taking close up images of the surfboards, hopefully creating abstract images.
For editing I will use Lightroom classic for the basic edits. I will then use Photoshop to carry out more of the experimentational edits.
