I have photographed some of the archived photos I might want to use for my photobook. I made sure to use the ones that I will present a change in, and am able to recreate or link with my new images.
Black and Whites
Coloured
France
More coloured (early 2000s)
I want to focus my photobook on the change in my grandmother and grandfathers relationship over time, and how time affects it. These images are around the time my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, passing away in 2005. Showing the different time periods in the archives presents the change, and how death and time affects people and their image.
Overall, I am not going to use all of these images, however a few of them will work with the images I take, and link.
An English photographer of German birth, Bill Brandt travelled to Vienna in 1927 to see a lung specialist and then decided to stay and find work in a photography studio. There, in 1928, he met and made a successful portrait of the poet Ezra Pound, who subsequently introduced Brandt to the American-born, Paris-based photographer Man Ray. Brandt arrived in Paris to begin three months of study as an apprentice at the Man Ray Studio in 1929, at the height of the era’s enthusiasm for photographic exhibitions and publications; his work from this time shows the influence of André Kertész and Eugène Atget, as well as Man Ray and the Surrealists.
“I believe this power of seeing the world as fresh and strange lies hidden in every human being.”
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger has produced a proactive body of work, cracking open her appropriated images with her invented texts, hoisting the everyday assumptions of contemporary society on its own petards. She has done this creatively critical work at every scale, from matchbook covers to giant billboards, and across many media, from simple photomontages to complex screen and audio installations. Always alert to questions of audience and address, Kruger forever seeks new ways to push her practice into the public realm, drawing political debate into art and vice versa.
From her work in trying to present different messages of the everyday assumptions of contemporary society to the population, I will take inspiration from this and create a modern day version of her work. By focusing on the female gaze and interpreting her work into it at the same time it will create a strong message. In the modern day females still have struggles and standards we are expected to meet, which is similar to when Kruger was creating her work. Many girls my age struggle with body image and feeling they are not the stereotypical perfect image.
“The presence of woman is an indispensable element of spectacle in normative narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line.” -Mulvey, 809
Laura Mulvey is a prominent feminist film theorist known for her groundbreaking essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” published in 1975. In this essay, she introduced the concept of the “male gaze” and discussed its implications for feminism and the portrayal of women in cinema.
Mulvey argues that traditional Hollywood cinema is structured around the voyeuristic gaze of the heterosexual male viewer. She suggests that the camera in mainstream films often adopts the perspective of a male protagonist, objectifying female characters as passive objects of desire. Women are typically depicted as beautiful, passive, and lacking agency, existing primarily to be looked at and desired by male characters and viewers. The concept of the male gaze extends beyond cinema and applies to broader cultural representations of women, where women are often positioned as objects to be observed and desired by men. Mulvey contends that this objectification of women reinforces patriarchal power structures and perpetuates gender inequality.
Mulvey’s analysis of the male gaze has had a significant impact on feminist film theory and has inspired critical examinations of gender representation in various media forms. Her work encourages filmmakers and audiences to question the ways in which women are portrayed and to strive for more diverse and empowering representations of femininity. For example Cindy Sherman who challenges these ideas, and also Nancy Honey. In terms of what it means to be feminine, Mulvey’s work challenges traditional notions of femininity that are constructed and perpetuated by patriarchal society. She critiques the portrayal of women as passive, submissive, and defined solely by their relationships with men. Instead, Mulvey advocates for a more complex and multifaceted understanding of femininity that allows women to assert their agency, challenge gender norms, and define their identities on their own terms.
Overall, Laura Mulvey’s ideas around feminism and femininity have been instrumental in highlighting the ways in which gender is constructed and represented in popular culture. Her work continues to be influential in feminist discourse and serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for gender equality and representation.
Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, outlined in her influential book “Gender Trouble” (1990), has significantly influenced contemporary discussions on gender, identity, and social construction. Here’s an analysis of her theory:
Social Construction of Gender: Butler argues that gender is not an inherent trait but rather a socially constructed performance. Instead of being determined by biology or nature, gender is created and reinforced through repeated acts, behaviors, and expressions that conform to societal norms and expectations.
Performativity: Butler introduces the concept of performativity to explain how gender identity is produced and maintained. She suggests that gender is not something one inherently is, but rather something one does. Gender identity is performed through everyday actions, gestures, speech, and other forms of expression.
Repetition and Regulation: According to Butler, gender identity is not fixed or stable but is produced through repeated performances that are regulated and enforced by social institutions, cultural norms, and power structures. Individuals are compelled to conform to normative gender roles through mechanisms of discipline and punishment.
Subversion and Resistance: While Butler acknowledges the pervasive influence of societal norms on gender performativity, she also suggests that these norms are not immutable. Individuals have the capacity to subvert or resist normative gender expectations through acts of defiance, non-conformity, and subversive performances. By disrupting conventional gender scripts, individuals can challenge existing power dynamics and create space for alternative forms of identity and expression.
Critique of Essentialism: Butler’s theory challenges essentialist notions of gender that posit fixed and innate characteristics associated with biological sex. Instead, she emphasizes the fluidity, contingency, and variability of gender identity, which is shaped by historical, cultural, and discursive factors.
Intersectionality: While Butler primarily focuses on the performative aspect of gender, her theory intersects with broader discussions of intersectionality, which highlight how gender intersects with other dimensions of identity such as race, class, sexuality, and disability. Intersectional perspectives enrich our understanding of how power operates within social structures and shapes individuals’ experiences of gender performativity.
Overall, Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity has been highly influential in feminist, queer, and gender studies, challenging conventional understandings of gender and opening up new avenues for critical inquiry and social transformation. However, her work has also generated debates and critiques, particularly regarding its accessibility, applicability across diverse cultural contexts, and implications for political activism.
Why is it important in relation to my personal study?
This theory links heavily with Cindy Sherman’s ‘Passive Pictures’ as the artists are performing/ look a certain way to exaggerate the male gaze. Its important to understand this theory as some pictures I create will be staged/ set up a certain way to create a parodic representation. The theory can also link with Observe, Seek and challenge as it observes the way gender is presented and challenges the dominant ideologies around femininity in a parodic way.
“I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”
The photographs of Cindy Sherman often capture iconic representations of women while offering a critical approach. They can be interpreted as questioning gender norms through the lens of feminist art. Her work usually features photographs that depict herself dressed and made up as different female characters. Sherman’s photos are often interpreted as feminist art since her works raise questions regarding the objectification of women by the male gaze and the construction of the female gender. To better understand how Cindy Sherman’s photographs challenge the representation of women, it is important to know about the thoughts of feminist theorists such as Laura Mulvey and Judith Butler – which in a separate blog post I have explored in more depth as its important to deeply understand the theories and ideas surrounding femininity and specifically around the male gaze.
Many pictures of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills show situations that come across as uncomfortable, creepy, or even terrifying since we see the depicted woman in a vulnerable position. The viewer becomes an inappropriate spectator. We find ourselves in the role of a voyeur who preys on vulnerable women. We become confronted with the negative implications of the way the media – especially movies – depicts women. The male gaze is often present in Cindy Sherman’s artworks but she subtly changes the perspectives, expressions, and circumstances. Those changes expose this gaze that wants to stay hidden during the act of observing and objectifying the female body. In this particular image above it shows a woman waiting alone on the roadside with her luggage standing with her back facing the camera which indicates that she is not aware of being watched. The ominous scenery is enhanced by the cloudy sky and emphasis on the seemingly endless road. The picture makes the audience part of a threatening situation they do not necessarily want to be a part of. It even indicates that the viewer who is only able to see the woman’s back is the one who poses a threat.
CINDY SHERMAN – PASSIVE PICTURES
Laura Mulvey characterizes the depiction of women in her essay as passive, erotic, and accordingly made up to match male fantasies and desires. Cindy Sherman uses clothes, make-up, wigs, and different poses to imitate this portrayal of passive, sexualized women that comply with those fantasies. While Sherman still operates within the methods of the male gaze by portraying women in their underwear, heavy make-up, or typically female costumes, her artworks still criticize this way of representation.
This photograph shows a woman posing in underwear on a bed. Her face, though, seems to parody the whole situation. The woman’s expression looks overly dreamy and even a little silly. It seems as if Sherman is making fun of the passive and typically feminine representations of women since she did not only pose for the picture but is also the artist that orchestrated the photo.
Gender as a Performative Act in Cindy Sherman’s Artworks – Links to Judith butler (separate blog post)
Cindy Sherman’s artworks seem to demonstrate this performance of gender by depicting stereotypical images of women that can also be seen in movies. The pictures illustrate the performative act of “being female” through Sherman’s changing use of wigs, make-up, and clothing. Even though every artwork of Sherman shows the same person, the artist’s masquerade makes it possible to portray various types of women that are all subject to the male gaze. By performing the different ways of how women are supposed to look to be considered typically female, Sherman’s feminist art exposes the artificially and culturally constructed idea of gender The altering costumes, hair, and poses produce a multitude of individuals even though Sherman is the only person who is visible in her works. The hair colour, attire, make-up, environment, expression, and posing changes in every picture to match a particular stereotype of womanhood.
The characters in Sherman’s photos are often an exaggeration of widely represented female identities. Since this exaggeration and masquerade is visible through heavy make-up or distinctive clothing, the works appear to reveal the artificial construction of what is supposed to make a person female, such as wearing clothes typical for a housewife or the extensive use of eyeliner.
How Cindy Sherman’s work has inspired me:
The way Sherman changes the small things in her images to deflect the male gaze however still give the sense that its to do with the male gaze. The critical way she changes the perspectives, expressions, and circumstances. Her pictures create an intruding feeling forcing the viewer to think about the image and due to stereotypes people are quick to realise that its representing the male gaze. I also like how whilst also carefully portraying images which somewhat make women look vulnerable she also uses ‘passive pictures’ and dapples into Judith Butlers theory of Gender Performativity which creates this parodic feeling towards the male gaze, she exemplifies this using makeup, costumes, wigs and poses.
Saul Leiter was an American photographer and painter who’s work in the early 1940’s and 1950’s was recognised tremendously by the New York school of photography which further intensified his photography career. At just 23 years of age Leiter left Pittsburgh, his home town, and more to New York in 1946 to follow his dreams as being a painter. It was whilst he was there that the Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart introduced Saul to photography. He began with black and white photography, and n the 1950’s he started to explore colour photography in the streets of New York. He began with using slide film such as Kodak Chrome and in 2006 he released his first monography called ‘Early Color’ which contained ground breaking image which contained colour. This monography permanently changed the history of colour photography. Leiter once said ‘its not where it is or what it is that matters, but how you see it’ which was represented throughout his work. Many of his images were often taken shooting through window and using other objects opposed to the focused object to frame his images. They also include shadows and blurred objects which many said gave his images a daydreaming effect.
“Rather than the camera projecting the outside world onto film, I am using it to project outward the world that exists inside me.”
Hiroshi Sugimoto was born in 1948 in Japan, and divides his time between Tokyo and New York City. Working in photography since the 1970s, his multidisciplinary practice includes sculpture, performing arts production, and architecture. His work explores history and temporal existence by investigating themes of time, empiricism, and metaphysics. Grounded in technical mastery of the classical photographic tradition, he examines the ways photography can record traces of invisible but elemental forces.
Sugimoto’s artistic career has been marked by philosophical curiosity and a serial, analytical approach. For his earliest photographic series, Dioramas, which he began 1974, Sugimoto photographed displays in the American Museum of Natural History and elsewhere. Through the lens of his large-format camera, the museums’ painted backdrops and taxidermied animals are transformed by photography into enigmatically life-like scenes. Theaters, perhaps his most iconic series, comprises long exposure photographs made in classic movie houses around the world. Each exposure is made during the projection of a film, producing a glowing white screen in the center of a darkened theater and compressing time into a single image. His Seascapes, which span more than four decades, record the most elemental scene—sky and water bisected by the constant line of the horizon, a view that Sugimoto associates with the dawn of consciousness.
Seascapes
For more than four decades, Hiroshi Sugimoto has been photographing seascapes around the world. “A sharp horizon line and a cloudless sky- here began my consciousness.” writes Sugimoto, “From there my thoughts race to the origins of human consciousness itself. The sea reminds me that within my blood remain traces of human evolution over hundreds of thousands of years.”
His Seascapes series began in 1999. Photographed with cartographic precision, each image shows sea and sky bisected by a seemingly infinite horizon. Rather than taming the subject through repeated documentation, the series grows more awesome and sublime, until the images reveal only the transient atmospherics—the thickness of fog or stillness of the water.
Water and air. These primordial substances, which make possible all life on earth, are the subject of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes series. Sugimoto has called photography the “fossilization of time,” and the ‘Seascapes’ photographs simultaneously capture a discrete moment in time but also evoke a feeling of timelessness.
This volume, the second in a series of books on Sugimoto’s art, presents the complete series of over 200 ‘Seascapes’, some of which have never before been reproduced. All are identical in format, with the horizon line precisely bifurcating each image, though at times the sea and sky almost merge into one seamless unit. Each photograph captures a moment when the sea is placid, almost flat. Within this strict format, however, he has created a limitless array of portraits of his subjects.
Minimalist photography is a form of photography that is distinguished by extreme simplicity. Sometimes in the world of photography, less is more. Minimalist photographers know that sometimes it’s important to focus solely on one particular subject, rather than overwhelm the viewer with tons of color and pattern and information. While there are plenty of successful photographers who take “busy” photographs, photographers on the other end of the spectrum – including Hiroshi Sugimoto and Hans Hiltermann – are successful for completely different reasons. When dealing with minimalism, it’s important to understand the relationship between subject and viewer, texture and pattern, and light and shadow.
Key Elements of Minimalist Photography
Minimalism can be applied to pretty much every genre of photography, including portrait, landscape, still life, architecture, and even street shooting. But minimalist photos do have a few key characteristics:
Negative space. Minimalist photos tend to feature lots of empty, or negative, space. Negative space is composed of expanses of pure color or texture, such as a broad stretch of ocean or a grassy lawn. (And featureless white skies are a minimalist staple!)
A small main subject. Minimalist compositions keep the subject small in the frame so that they’re dwarfed by negative space. As I discuss below, this can be done with a wide-angle lens or by shooting from a distance. In cases where the main subject isn’t small in the frame, it should be exceptionally simple (e.g., a few streaks of paint on a wall).
Limited clutter. Minimalism emphasizes simplicity, and minimalist photos tend to feature a main subject, lots of empty space, and nothing else. Minimalist photographers carefully refine their compositions until no extra elements – such as poles or telephone lines in the background – exist. The more clutter you can eliminate from your shots, the more minimalist they’ll be.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ligurian Sea, Saviore, 1993
Image Analysis
Technically – The long exposure used in this photograph creates a smooth and serene effect on the water, giving it a dreamlike quality. The soft lighting and subtle colour palette add to the overall eleagant atmosphere.
Visually – Sugimoto’s decision to place the horizon line in the lower third of the frame emphasizes the vastness of the sea and sky. The minimalistic approach, with the absence of any visible land or human presence, creates a sense of solitude and tranquillity.
Contextually – the Ligurian Sea is located along the Italian coast, known for its picturesque views and beautiful seascapes. Sugimoto’s photograph captures the essence of the Ligurian Sea, evoking a sense of calmness and introspection. It invites the viewer to contemplate the vastness of the ocean and our place within it.
Conceptually – Sugimoto’s “Seascapes” series explores the timeless and universal nature of the sea. By photographing various seascapes, he invites us to reflect on the flow of life, the passage of time, and our connection to the natural world. In “Ligurian Sea, Saviore, 1993,” the photograph embodies a sense of stillness and contemplation, inviting us to pause and appreciate the beauty of the sea.
Inspiration
By exploring the concept of minimalism. Just like Sugimoto’s minimalist approach in his seascapes, I can experiment with simplifying my compositions, focusing on the essential elements of the waves, surfers, and the ocean itself. Sugimoto’s use of long exposures. In his work, the long exposure technique creates a smooth and ethereal effect on the water. Sugimoto’s emphasis on the relationship between the sea and the sky. By paying attention to the colours, tones, and textures of the sky and how they interact with the waves, I can produce a similar response to Sugimoto’s work.
Alec Soth, born in 1969, is known to be a rather shy individual, who finds it awkward asking people to be in his shoots. This may be the reason why he is led to photograph loners and dreamers. He has collaborated with his seven year old daughter, whilst additionally photographing innovative images of strangers and even landscapes in America.
He chose to predominantly photograph people after planning to study staged photography. Diane Arbus had been a big inspiration for Soth, who captures unique black and white portraits.
Diane Arbus
He became wider known when he won worldwide artist recognition in 2004, for the publication of Sleeping By The Mississippi. This was a self printed book, comprising amazing portrays of landscapes/ interiors whilst he was on road trips along the river in Mississippi. He wanted to present feelings of isolation and neglect.
Photo from Sleeping By The Mississippi
I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating
This is one of Soth’s most recent photobooks that he took the name from a line in the Wallace Stevens’ poem “The Gray Room,”. These images were taken all over the world, and are quite varied due to the fact they are based on a certain place or population.
‘Soth’s portraits and images of his subject’s surroundings involve an enquiry into the extent to which a photographic likeness can depict more than the outer surface of an individual, and perhaps even plumb the depths of something unknowable about both the sitter and the photographer.‘ – mackbooks.co.uk
Soth took around a years break from travelling and photography. When he returned to it, he decided to revisit the basic elements of photography. He moved to photographing people and their interiors, from capturing the epic landscapes of America.
He focused on photographing just interior spaces, even if it meant each image was different.
“my goal was the same: to simply spend time in the presence of another beating heart.” – Alec Soth
Analysis
This is the series of his that I have been inspired by. I want to capture my grandmother in this style. The image above especially caught my eye because he uses depth of field, and his foreground and background to create a unique and intriguing image to many of his others. The vivid colours that link, such as the sage and deep greens, create the overall feeling of the picture, reflecting the woman’s personality.
I think this will be hard to replicate, so I might have to take a different approach, however I will look at Soth’s other images to bring me to that conclusion.
Photoshoot Plan
What? I will still photograph my grandmother but I will focus less on objects, but more her and her in her space. I will photograph her in a few spaces such as the garden, her lounge, her bedroom chair. I might also photograph her looking at the archived images I will include in my photobook.
When? again I will go just after midday to make sure that the light is bright as I am going to attempt to take a photo of her through glass in her chair.
How? I will use my DSLR camera for this shoot because Soth’s images are quite modern. I won’t be able to choose the light with aperture using a film or polaroid camera. I might need to use a tripod depending on the light, and shutter speeds.
HIs portraits can be quite uncanny, placing his subjects alone stood in an open space. I might take some like these to experiment, however I might not use them in my photobook.
I quite like the use of mirrors – It also links with Goldin’s mirror images
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
