Henriette Theodora Markovitch, known as Dora Maar, was a French photographer and painter. Maar was both a pioneering Surrealist artist and an antifascist activist. Maar was depicted in a number of Picasso’s paintings, including his Portrait of Dora Maar and Dora Maar au Chat. 

the 20th-century French photographer and painter Dora Maar whose work in many ways defies explanation. Almost all of her artworks capture a certain uncanniness in their surroundings, bringing to light the strange in the mundane. 

‘One of Maar’s most famous works—the 1936 photograph Père Ubu—is as excellent example of her ability to capture the unknown. It is the kind of art that requires a deeper analytical eye and all perspectives and opinions yield new outlooks. There’s something inscrutable about the subject’s scaly body, its one slightly open eye, its barely outstretched claws and its ear flaps clouded by shadows. The viewer is left to question whether the figure is alien or something found in nature; they want to know more, but at the same time, they’re slightly disgusted’ says Andrea Nelson, an associate curator at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C. Donors gifted a print of the Surrealist image to the museum in 2021. 

During the 1930s, Dora Maar’s provocative photomontages became celebrated icons of surrealism. 

Her eye for the unusual also translated to her commercial photography, including fashion and advertising, as well as to her social documentary projects. In Europe’s increasingly fragile political climate, Maar signed her name to many left-wing manifestos – a radical and brave gesture for a woman at that time. 

Her relationship with Pablo Picasso had a significant effect on both their careers. She documented the creation of his most political work, Guernica 1937. He painted her many times, including Weeping Woman 1937. Together they made a series of portraits combining experimental photographic and printmaking techniques. 

In middle and later life Maar transitioned from photography to painting and found stimulation and peace within written literature, poetry, religion, and philosophy, and then finally returning to her first artistic love, the darkroom only in her seventies. 

Man Ray’s depiction of Dora Maar

Maar has been portrayed by the very renowned photographer (throughout the 1930’s) Man Ray many times, this is in light of the fact she worked as an assistant for him and they stayed in close contact afterwards when she opened a photography studio with Pierre Kéfer at 29 Rue d’Astorg, Paris. 

Although Marr often worked commercially her surrealist influence often snuck through into her ls experimental work as she danced mentally on the fragile line between fantasy and reality, a good example of this is her advertisement for a bottle of Petrole Hahn hair oil, in what should have been a simple and unassuming advertisement the bottle of hair oil positioned on its side does not spill air oil as would be conventionally expected but instead a bundle of wispy sliver hair flows out of the bottle in dreamlike waves and assumes the focal point of the advertisement.

Social Engagement to Surrealism

In 1933, Maar visited Barcelona and the year afterwards London, where she photographed and researched the effects of the economic depression following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 in the United States. Being a woman with a wealthy background, who had little perspective towards the suffering people with less fortunate backgrounds had to endure, she was shocked and horrified when she saw the miserable living conditions of the public and the approach of fascism. 
It was these experiences that triggered her involvement in left-wing politics at that time ( as many surrealist artists did) Maar was part of several ultra-leftist associations and often participated in demonstrations and café conversations, together with other Surrealist artists. 
At only 25 Dora Maar then became very politically active. 

This inspired Maar to start experimenting with surrealistic photomontages. This technique is frequently used as a means of expressing political discontent: It was first used by the Dadaists in 1915 in their protests of World War I. 

In the 1920s, it was adapted by the Russian Constructivist Aleksander Rodchenko as a protest against social imbalance in his country.

Even today, artists such as Peter Kennard use photomontages to express their distaste for economic hardship and the nuclear arms race. 
In fact, photomontage is such an important tool because by cutting and pasting images together and assembling images in unconventional ways to transform the original images in order to present challenging and thought-provoking concepts, the significance of the result is often totally different from the meaningless original images. 

However Dora Maar’s photomontages are different from those that started from Dadaists inspiration and even by some Surrealists such as Georges Hugnet.

usual photomontages are quite absurd and unattainable in a real life environment, Dora Maar created scenes that could almost have taken place, yet again dancing on that line between reality and fantasy. The woman wearing a star-shaped hat is a useful and interesting example, seen from the back, the star could simply be a hat, but at the same time, the image fits perfectly into the iconography and Surrealist ideas of unconsciousness, sleep, and dream as faces are often obscured in dreams as the mind struggles to recreate faces to the exact. 

Europe’s Political Climate

It is clear that Dora Maar felt very at home in the company of the Surrealists. Her group of friends included writers, photographers, and filmmakers who all had the same points of view in life. 
Thanks to her connections she was able to participate in various international exhibitions and publications between 1933 and 1938. 
Maar created the photomontage Le Simulateur (The Faker), inspired by the photographs she took a few years earlier in Barcelona. 
She recycled the photo of a young acrobat and placed him upside down in a winding road with architecture that is bending unnaturally and disturbingly. 
By representing his body like this, the acrobat seems to be somewhat deformed and unnatural, it can be assumed this is Maar making a brave and political reference to the arduous social conditions of the 1930s, which prelude World War               
The European political climate was extremely unnerving at the time, this may be represented by the building in which the acrobat performs his stunt as the setting also seems strange and creates an unnerving atmosphere. in order to see the truth behind the stting of this image the photograph has to be viewed upside down. Dora Maar placed a picture of an attic upside down and has drawn the bricks on it by hand. Even though it looks like a dream, the separate elements fit together seamlessly. This may be a comment on her belief that the social and political climate at the time as ‘upside down and masked in strategic disguises. 

Monstre sur la Plage (Monster on the Beach) also explores the anxieties surrounding the deteriorating political climate and the promise of war. The disturbed figure is staring at the sea, waiting for some upcoming event.
in the current zeitgeist this photomontage may seem strange because when you see a picture related to World War II and the sea, you might instinctually think of D-Day and the battles on the beaches of Normandy.
This provokes an intriguing though with Maar being French, she might have pictured a German soldier on the beach. On the other hand, she probably applied a common use in Surrealism by depicting the monster in an ironically idyllic setting such as a calm sea.
It also may reference the unknown as the sea is one of humans greatest mysteries and is largely unexplored, picturing a great sense of rising tension pictured in the rising waves and the large sense of ambiguity people at the time were feeling about the security and safety of their futures.

Monstre sur la Plage (Monster on the Beach) also explores the anxieties surrounding the deteriorating political climate and the promise of war. The disturbed figure is staring at the sea, waiting for some upcoming event. 
In the current zeitgeist this photomontage may seem strange because when you see a picture related to World War II and the sea, you might instinctually think of D-Day and the battles on the beaches of Normandy. 
This provokes an intriguing thought that because Dora mar was French, she might have pictured a German soldier on the beach. On the other hand, she probably applied a common use in Surrealism by depicting the monster in an ironically idyllic setting such as a calm sea(utilizing juxtaposition as many surrealists do). 
It also may reference the unknown as the sea is one of human’s greatest mysteries and is largely unexplored, picturing a great sense of rising tension pictured in the rising waves and the large sense of ambiguity people at the time were feeling about the security and safety of their futures. 

For my first photoshoot I have taken images based on the photographer Mandy Barker. To take these photos I asked family members to collect their plastic waste, this is to show just how much plastic people go through in a short amount of time. This links to the theme of union as it shows how people have a negative effect on the world through using plastic. I took images of mainly crisp packets, bottle caps, and plastic bottles.

Contact sheets:

Best images:

I like this shot as I like how part of the receipt is blurred and the other part isnt. I also like the composition of the image with the receipt going through the center of the image and leaving not much negative space.

Experimental shots:

During my photoshoot I decided to try experiment with using a torch and a bottle cap underneath a plastic water bottle in a dark space. I then photographed through the water bottle and ended up with these images which almost look like galaxies in their own way with the lines of purple light. It also shows how you can use something negative like plastic wastage to create a beautiful vibrant image.

Evaluation

Overall I am happy with how my images in response to Mandy Barker have turned out. Next I will be editing them and preparing to use them to create collages like Barker does.

Jennie Baptiste

Jennie Baptiste was born in north London in 1971 where she would then go on to graduate from the London collage of communication in 1994. but what is the style of her photography? The style of her photography explores the idea of music and pop culture but primarily focuses on black British identity, taking pictures of day to day people or even celebrities such as Jay Z, P Diddy.

the idea behind this image was that Jennie Baptiste wanted to take image of people from Brixton so she went to the highstreets and bought people in to take images of people who had tattoos and other features for a portrait project, she also claimed this fitted her idea of youth culture. as when looking at the context behind the image it speaks for itself. As wearing low slug jeans with a belt had become a trend due to American prisoners being banned from using them, which had become very popular between the youth which had gained the attention of rapper Dizzee Rascal. Which is when he then made a song referencing the trend with the lyric “I socialise in Hackney and Bow, I wear my trousers ridiculously low”. The reason why i have chosen this image is because it links to my idea is because as the image is looking into the culture of people from this time period in the UK which is similar to what I’m doing I’m going to photograph people of colour to look at stereotypes that currently exist in the modern day.

technical

lighting: when looking at the lighting in this image we can see that it isn’t natural as it looks like it was taken in a studio with some sort of artificial lighting that is being provided as there is no shadows behind the people in the image.

white balance: when looking at the white balance in this image we can see that the accuracy of any colour in the image is a little off as its been overpowered by the white (the jeans, the belt etc)

ISO: the light sensitivity is slightly high in this image as the image contains a hint of grain that is visible but not overpowering, id also say there is quite a lot of contrast in the image as from the clothes to the skin colour of the people is completely different to the background of the image.

visual

this image consists of contrasting shades of black and white but predominantly white, giving the image a lighter tone. the shape of the image is quite flat due to the background and lighting of the image being so bright it looks like the main focus of the image (the people) in a blank space.

contextual

the context behind this image is that Jennie Baptise liked to base her work around the hip pop culture as during the 90s pop was at an all time high in the UK, and at this time there was a trend from the American culture to wear low jeans with flashy belts which had made its way to the UK due to Dizzee Rascal making the trend even bigger which led her to taking pictures of people that she found in the Brixton high street.

conceptual

The idea behind Jennie Baptiste’s work was to capture the ever changing culture of hip pop in the UK as every month there was always a new wave that everyone one would jump on to and follow, she also wanted to capture the black British culture as just like the hip pop culture the black British culture had significantly change from the 80s towards the early 2000s.

For my exam project I want to explore cubism, specifically collages. To do this I am going to explore the photographer Mandy Barker, who I have previously done research on. Barker photographs found litter and objects and then combines them on large pieces. She does this to create beautiful pieces to capture the viewer’s attention so that they look closer to see that it is all litter, allowing them to come face to face with the ugly truth around littering.

Littering has a negative effect on wildlife on our planet, it is an example of anthropocene. This is why it matters to me as animals deserve to live in litter-free environments rather than suffering just because someone decided to litter rather than use a bin. I wish to develop my project by photographing many found objects, similar to Mandy Barker, and I will then combine these. I plan to find a second photographer who photographs objects in an interesting way, I will then photograph these objects again in this certain way. I intend to start my study by going onto beaches and parks to find pieces of litter to photograph, as these are places which people tend to litter.

During my Personal study I would also like to focus on the idea of over consumption and consumerism as I feel it links to the idea of Anthropocene and Mandy Barker. As these factors also link to the idea of how people have a negative impact on the world, linking to anthropocene. To do this I will also study the photographer Philippe Gerlach, who photographs people in many layers of clothing in his series ‘How much more do you need?’.

Definition:

a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.

‘Surrealism originated in the late 1910s and early ’20s as a literary movement that experimented with a new mode of expression called automatic writing, or automatism, which sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious.‘

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The term and style of surrealism first began to gain notice in Paris,1924 after French writer and poet, Andre Breton (1896–1966),, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism published the Manifesto of Surrealism.

manifesto stated : it was the means of uniting the conscious and unconscious realm

• the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in a “surreality”
• emphasis on psychic automatism: artist using the interplay between free creation and unconscious control

Surrealist poets were at first unsure whether to align and associate themselves with visual artists because they believed that the time consuming and tiring processes of painting, drawing, and sculpting did not encourage spontaneous uninhibited expression.
However, Breton and his followers did not altogether ignore visual art. They held high regard for artists such as Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Francis Picabia (1879–1953), and Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968)‘ because of the analytic, provocative, and erotic qualities of their work. For example, Duchamp’s conceptually complex Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) (1915–23; Philadelphia Museum of Art)’ was admired by Surrealists and is considered a forerunner to the movement because of its bizarrely juxtaposed and erotically charged objects. In 1925, Breton substantiated his support for visual expression by reproducing the works of artists such as Picasso in the journal La Révolution Surréaliste and organizing exhibitions that prominently featured painting and drawing.

Surrealism aims to revolutionise human experience. It creates balance between a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement’s artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional. At the core of their work is the willingness to challenge imposed values and norms, and a search for freedom.
Many surrealist artists have used drawing or writing to construct ideas and images from their unconscious minds. Others have wanted to depict dream worlds or hidden psychological tensions.( this is why you may often see a lack of faces/ recognisable facial features throughout surrealist painting, drawing, photography ect..) Surrealist artists have also drawn inspiration from mysticism, ancient cultures and Indigenous art and knowledges as a way of imagining alternative realities.

The movement’s aspiration towards the liberation of the mind as well as the freedom of artistic expressions has also meant seeking political freedom. In many instances, these artists have turned to political activism. In this way, the revolutionary concepts encouraged by Surrealism has led the movement to be seen as a way of life.

Since its inception, the ideas and art associated with Surrealism have been disseminated, embraced and re-imagined through international networks of exchange and collaboration. Surrealism’s core ideas and themes have been adapted and deemed relevant to different historical, geographical and cultural contexts, enabling it to be expressed through plural voices.