Observe, Seek and Challenge- Photo Comparison

Firstly, the composition of both photos is quite similar, the place meant of the mirror against the wall creating a similar effect. Both mine and Woodman’s faces are turned away from the camera, only the reflection revealing our faces. Both photos utilise a similar shutter speed, applying a slight blur to capture the movement in the photo- in this case it being the face. Despite Woodman coming round from a dark corner and me simply kneeling in front of the mirror, I think both photos have an unnerving feeling to them. I do think her photo is much more interesting, the textured wall indicating age or abandonment and the questions surrounding the dark corner she is emerging from causing her image to be much more effective. This highlights why her photos are so unique and effective, her personal touch being abstract poses and places. Moreover, she is nude in her photograph, an aspect of her work I couldn’t recreate. The nudity in her work holds a lot of significance, perhaps indicating her confidence when in front of the camera and her ability in making her photos extremely personal. I do think my simple outfit was effective, not taking away from the picture as well as being quite timeless, a big factor I considered in my photoshoots, since I didn’t want my clothes to be a flashing indication of when my photos were taken. In terms of editing, making my image black and white allowed me to enhance the tones in my image, deepening the contrast and therefore make my work match the style of Woodman.

In terms of my exploration of hysteria, the disturbing look of both photos acts as an indication of the unnerving nature surrounding hysteria, especially when it was believed to be a result of a woman’s ’empty womb’. The slow shutter speed helped me obtain the look of being ‘hysterical’ since the blurriness is a portrayal of this abstract feeling.

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