Assignment 1 – Contact sheets

Gender – Alternative approach

I thought I would try out a different idea of looking side by side at some of the obvious ways society imposes gender into everyday life. If I went with this idea I would need to adjust them to get the colours hues and whites even.

Pink for a girl, blue for a boy : In the first half of the 20th century this was reversed.

We continue to imply gender even as babes:

Cute for girls and sporty/ tough for boys we are beginning to mould to the conforms of what society expects:

Pretty Hello Kitty in her little house v’s fast cars and adrenaline:

Girls are ‘Moody’ and boys are ‘Horrid’:

Education is not immune with single sex schools and different uniforms:

By puberty we are choosing between men’s razors and lady shaves, which technically do the same job:

Dress to impress as we work and date, bows for girls, ties for boys :

Bride & Groom, Hen & Stag but once married it becomes Mr & Mrs, His & Hers, Husband & Wife:

Two for a girl, one for a boy:

So women want recipes and men want abs?

Even our pets are not immune!

 

Gender – Two sides

My new attempt at this theme was using just one person and showing a morning routine. In one set of images they appear more masculine purely based on clothing choices and in the second set people draw a different conclusion about the person based on clothing.

I think this works in demonstrating the impact clothing and society has on our interpretation of people. Gender neutral clothing seems to imply that male clothing is neutral as this is acceptable for both male and female, whereas female clothing is still not generally as acceptable in society for men. I am happier with these images although I have another option I want to explore before making a final decision.

Set one:

Set two:

 

Another attempt

In a desperate bid to get this right I am trying out a few alternative ideas around the theme of gender.

Today I have taken two sets of pictures of my husband, The main difference is subtle and is really just clothing but I am interested to see if it forms a different opinion/ viewpoint because of society’s opinion on what is ‘male’ or ‘female’.

It was interesting in that I only had my husbands lunch break to work in and in the middle of this the Hotpoint repair man turned up. I dread to think what must have been running through his mind as I went back upstairs to take photos of a semi naked man in the middle of the day!

Images to follow.

Change of plan

So I have decided that I hate everything I have done for assignment one, they do not come close to what I had hoped to achieve. With a lack of people willing to pose for me I need to think about what I can achieve in just under a week that doesn’t involve people! 

I could try out my idea on gender , I.e pink v’s blue and how it exists in society (minus people) then at least my research so far will add value. 

Or I could revisit my EYV first assignment and look at the two sides of my local river? A complete change but I might end up with a more presentable set of images. I still like my current theme but without models for a retake I cannot present anything I am happy with!

Panic is setting in with just 6 days till deadline, I already had an extension to allow time for summer hols and preparing EYV for assessment so I am under pressure to get this done.

My head is so far out of the game! I need to focus and remember what I have learnt so far and put it into practise. 

Research Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman has been the master of disguise for quite some time, herself portraits often use make-up and props to present an alter-ego of sorts. Her images range from clowns to Stepford wives, apparently Cindy Sherman used dressing up as a form of escapism when she was younger , she went on to catalogue this process and use it to explore the realms of identity.

Most recently Cindy Sherman has taken to Instagram and has been posting ‘selfies’ designed I believe to mimic and ridicule the selfie taking society that now exists.  She proves that we are never truly as we seem and that the images we post are not of our ‘true selves’. So then what is a selfie if it is not a true representation of our self, does the name merely allude to the fact that we take it ourselves.

Cindy Sherman’s Instagram account can be viewed here:

https://www.instagram.com/_cindysherman_/ (Accessed 17.09.17)

Her ‘self portrait’ images are warped beyond what looks realistic, some are doll-like, some are grotesque , they are caricatures.

Claude Cahun

Was Claude the inspiration for Cindy Sherman? Claude took photos of herself in various guises and positions. Her photos seem political and focus on gender. Her name itself can be considered male or female and many of her images leave you wondering on her gender. She was original born and named Lucy but used Claude as her name as well as Daniel. Claude also wrote and during WW2 became an ‘activist’, she was arrested and sentenced to death although this sentence was annulled.

Her work can be seen here:

http://www.connectotel.com/cahun/ (Accessed 20.09.17)

Vivian Maier

I love Maier’s self portraits, they remind me of my shadow images I am starting to collect although I might start looking more at reflections. Her photography did not come to light until late in her life, she worked as a nanny but had amassed a huge portfolio of work including self portraits mostly taken by reflections. Using mirrors, shop windows and shadows she has a range of images in both monochrome and colour.

Her work can be seen here:

http://www.vivianmaier.com/gallery/self-portraits/ (Accessed 20.09.17)

Hobbes Ginsburg

It is difficult to find much about Hobbes Ginsburg other than her photographs, but she has an interesting series of ‘selfies’ or self portraits which explore gender, as well as anxiety and depression. In an article with I.D with Dean Kissick in 2015 she say:

I think it’s an outlet for taking a lot of the negativity that I feel at times and making something more positive and more pretty out of it. When you’re feeling really depressed, not doing anything – empty – you can take that feeling and make this thing out of it, using yourself as an important icon in the photo, and making something that’s very pleasing to the eye, and it becomes a moment to release that energy into something better.

So I think there’s probably a lot of internalized misogyny when it comes to thinking about things in that way. And I think it’s a lot of misplaced negativity in terms of what taking selfies is because everyone else has always been that, sort of, self-centred and narcissistic; people have painted self-portraits, and that took hours and hours and hours. People have always been recreating their own image, it’s just that now it’s become more readily accessible and it’s not only elite white dudes who can create images of themselves

Her work can be seen here:

http://hhobbess.tumblr.com/ (Accessed 20.09.17)

Iiu Susiraja

 

Iiu is a photographer from Finland whose collection of self portraits appears to say that abnormal is normal! There is a humour to her photographs and a brutal honesty. In an article for Dazed she says:

What do you want people to feel when they see your work?

iiu Susiraja: To feel freedom to perform how they want to in their own self-portrait. And the best part is if the viewer has conflicting thoughts with my art.

Boredpanda.com writes “Some of us use selfies as a vain form of self-expression, trying to make ourselves look richer, happier or more beautiful than we really are. Iiu Susiraja, however, turns this concept of the selfie on its head by taking brutally honest, surreal and unflinchingly funny self-portraits using her own body and other objects as props.

There is a warm humour to the images, in one she holds a broomstick under her breasts, this image made me recall the pencil test. In secondary school I remember reading an article in a teen magazine that suggested the way to know if you had pert breasts was to put a pencil underneath. If the pencil dropped out your breasts were pert if it stayed then they were supposedly saggy! I failed the pencil test but I think with age and wisdom it was because they were larger, they are still not was I would consider saggy. How impressionable magazines can be to a young girl!

Her work can be seen here:

http://www.iiususiraja.com/portfolio/valokuvat/ (Accessed 20.09.17)

Jo Spence

Jo Spence’s work fascinates me, the later part of her career was spent photographing her breast cancer and treatment which has resulted in very emotive self portraits. They are open and honest, showing her scars and vulnerability. She apparently looked to Chinese medicine rather than the usual radiotherapy and chemotherapy but did in fact beat the cancer. Sadly she died of Leukaemia in 1992 after overcoming her cancer.  But I am also interested in her work entitled ‘ Beyond the family album’ which seems to explore how though the family album she was perceived and how it informed her as a person. I would like to look at this work in more detail.

Her work can be seen here:

http://www.jospence.org/ (Accessed 20.09.17)

 

It may be coincidence but I have noticed that all of the above although sometimes exploring gender are woman, even Francesca Woodman is known for her self portraiture but I cannot think of a male photographer? Are woman  more open, exploratory or narcissistic?

 

 

 

Assignment 1 – Selfies

I think that these images are slightly better although there are still differences in light as they were taken at the same time as the gender images. I can retake these a little easier without using the white background so they look more ‘selfie-like’ then offer the alternative image.

It is startling to realise just how different a person can look with a minute or two spare and a smart phone!

Assignment 1 – Selfies

Definition of selfie in English:

selfie

(also selfy)

noun – informal

A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smart phone or webcam and shared via social media.

‘occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn’t necessary’

Origin Early 21st century: from self + -ie.

A quick look on social media and it seems as though everyone is living perfect lives, having fun and looking beautiful. People either show the very good or the very bad, it is a filtered view of their lives in which ordinary and everyday does not exist.

The statistics for social media show a huge growth with a reported 1 in 8 marriages in the U.S starting via social media.

There is a pressure to look good and keep up appearances, young people are hugely susceptible and comments, follows or unfollows can add to the pressure to make every post ‘perfect’.

My daughter often  states that a certain photo meets her ‘Instagram standard’! in reality I don’t often see young girls walking the streets pursing their lips but according to Instagram ad Facebook this would have you believe its the’ norm’.

An internet search for ‘Teen selfie’ yielding the results below, Teen is 13-19 yet these images look far older and more sexualised than I would expect a 13-19 to look.

The camera doesn’t lie? If a 13-year-old can look in her 20’s then surely no images can be believed? The huge rise and success in internet dating makes me wonder if all is as it seems?

First there is the pout (No-one really walks round like this):

Then the coloured filters to make it Instagram worthy:

Even animal ears:

So I took a look at what was out there, there are a huge array of websites detailing how to take the ‘perfect’ selfie as well as a vast number of Apps available to perfect your look. No need to worry about acne or bad teeth, these can be fixed in under a minute and usually for free! The effect can even be reversed and a person aged.

So how much can we truly believe?

 

 

Assignment 1 – Gender

Unless I have an opportunity to re-shoot this I do not think I can submit these images, I am truly disappointed with them.

I had set up the backdrop in my conservatory in the early evening so the light changes as night fell were impossible for me to manage. The shadows around them really detract from the image and the differences in background colour is immense.

Photographing people is obviously not my forte, they were uncomfortable in front of a camera so I felt pressured to take minimal shots and get them through it quickly which meant I sacrificing taking the time to make the correct adjustments. Maybe it would have been more successful with models but then the instinctive behaviour would have changed.

In hindsight I think they would have worked better in a natural environment rather than a plain white background, I also would have liked more variety in the age groups I photographed.

I would however like to re-visit this topic as I did find it fascinating.

Assignment 1 – Gender Couples

Following on from my previous post I found the images I had taken of the couples quite interesting.

In the first image it appears that the change of clothes has led to a role reversal, in the first image the ‘female’ is snuggling into the ‘male’ and he is acting as the protector. Her body positioning suggests that she is ‘girly’ and ‘flirtatious’.

In the second image the ‘female’ in standing tall and proud and has taken on the role of the protector. The ‘Male’ is now snuggled into her and is more submissive.

In this second set the ‘male’ still acts as the protector in both images however he attempts to stand with more authority in the image on the right. Perhaps this is instinctive?

 

In the third set they both appear comfortable and equal, perhaps this is due to the clothing being more neutral?

The fourth set amuses me, in the first image both ‘male’ and female’ appear equal however in the second images the ‘male’ appears scared and emasculated whilst the female smirks at her new-found power!