I have decided to continue to explore self-identity from the previous project.
This time, however, I want to concentrate more on how I am affected as a female by popular culture and female representation in it.
My interest is to explore and show how the standards of beauty in our (Western) society are affecting me.
It is many things that affect our personalities and the way we perceive ourselfs. Our families, friends, colleagues, media - all of the above shape our views on self-image, and their views are reflections of knowledge we gain through generations, which sets us into boundaries of what is seen as acceptable and how this can be challenged.
For my research, I want to look at a variety of photographers and artists, such as Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Catherine Opie, Robert Mapplethorpe, Frida Kahlo, Egon Schiele, Francesca Woodman.
I also want to consider movie icons, pop stars and other famous females, whose images we are exposed to in the media now or have been in the previous decades, i.e. Audrey Hepburn, Marylin Monroe, Sofia Loren, Princess Diana, Courtney Love, Kate Moss, Margaret Thatcher, Angelina Jolie, Monica Lewinsky, Gia Carangi, Twiggy.
Thursday 26 February 2009
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Influential photographs
As soon as I thought of influential photographs, I knew straight away which photographers to look at. However, I found it impossible to limit myself to 5 images that have influenced me. Therefore I decided to include few images of different photographers that I have found influential.
The first photographer I decided to include here is David Seymour. I first saw his photographs in International Center of Photography in New York. The moment I walked into the room, where his work was presented, I was mesmerized. I found his work very powerful and intense. His photographs didn't really need captions or any sort of explanation as the images seemed to speak for themselves through their context. After leaving the room, I felt like crying, so much human emotions and suffering I could see in Chim's photographs.
Ever since, he's been one of the most influential photographers for me and it was through seeing his work that I've developed an interest towards documentary photography.
Woman at Land Distribution Meeting, Estremadura, Spain, 1936
Terezka, a Child in a Center for Disturbed Children, Produced These Scrawls as a Picture of Home, Poland, 1948
Another documentary photographer who I found very fascinating and influential is Weegee. I really like how he represented New York. I find incredible how he showed different sides of life of the city.
Summer, The Lower East Side, 1937
Accident, 42nd Street at Third Avenue, 1946
Although, until recently, I have been mainly interested in documentary photography, I always had other influences as well.
Richard Avedon's photography has inspired me a lot, particulary he became influential after I have watched the film Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. The fashion shoots stills that are shown in that film are of incredible beauty but they were not the first photographs of his that I've seen. Here I'm putting the first of his photographs that I have seen and which I found incredibly beautiful.
Dovima with Elephants, 1955
I like the elegance of the photograph and the striking contrast between the woman and the setting of the photograph, which I think is the reason this image works very well.
There are quite a few contemporary photographers who I find very influential.
For example, Corinne Day. However, it is her earlier work that I prefer and which has inspired me in my work. I really like the photographs of Kate Moss which she took throughout her career, but particularly the early 1990's photographs.
Kate Moss, 1990
The reason I really like this photograph is because it doesn't seem to advertise anything. It looks natural and spontaneous, and for me, that is the beauty of it. I find Corinne Day's fashion work very refreshing as it isn't something you expect to see, especially considering that at the time noone knew who Kate Moss was, whereas if these photographs were taken now, the meaning would change automatically because now Kate Moss is a celebrity, so she herself is advertisement now. Back in the 1990's though, these were an absolute sensation. For me, this is a perfect fashion photograph of the time.
It is not just Corinne Day's fashion photography that I like though. Even more influential for me are her Diary photographs, which are of events, friends, herself. They are very personal recordings of her life, which I think is incredible to look at, as they let us into her life in a way and let us think and guess about her life.
Corinne, New York, 1996
Tara, 1997
Another photographer who I find very inspiring is Lauren Greenfield. As well as being a photographer, she is also a documentary filmmaker and photojournalist. Her work focus is on contemporary issues related to the influence of popular culture in our lives.
I first saw her work, while doing research for my project on eating disorders in college. I watched the documentary film Thin that she's made and I found that it was one of very few eating disorders related media projects that showed what it is really like. Here I want to include some photographs from this project that depict the women who were treated for eating disorders and took part in her film.
The first photographer I decided to include here is David Seymour. I first saw his photographs in International Center of Photography in New York. The moment I walked into the room, where his work was presented, I was mesmerized. I found his work very powerful and intense. His photographs didn't really need captions or any sort of explanation as the images seemed to speak for themselves through their context. After leaving the room, I felt like crying, so much human emotions and suffering I could see in Chim's photographs.
Ever since, he's been one of the most influential photographers for me and it was through seeing his work that I've developed an interest towards documentary photography.
Woman at Land Distribution Meeting, Estremadura, Spain, 1936
Terezka, a Child in a Center for Disturbed Children, Produced These Scrawls as a Picture of Home, Poland, 1948
Another documentary photographer who I found very fascinating and influential is Weegee. I really like how he represented New York. I find incredible how he showed different sides of life of the city.
Summer, The Lower East Side, 1937
Accident, 42nd Street at Third Avenue, 1946
Although, until recently, I have been mainly interested in documentary photography, I always had other influences as well.
Richard Avedon's photography has inspired me a lot, particulary he became influential after I have watched the film Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire. The fashion shoots stills that are shown in that film are of incredible beauty but they were not the first photographs of his that I've seen. Here I'm putting the first of his photographs that I have seen and which I found incredibly beautiful.
Dovima with Elephants, 1955
I like the elegance of the photograph and the striking contrast between the woman and the setting of the photograph, which I think is the reason this image works very well.
There are quite a few contemporary photographers who I find very influential.
For example, Corinne Day. However, it is her earlier work that I prefer and which has inspired me in my work. I really like the photographs of Kate Moss which she took throughout her career, but particularly the early 1990's photographs.
Kate Moss, 1990
The reason I really like this photograph is because it doesn't seem to advertise anything. It looks natural and spontaneous, and for me, that is the beauty of it. I find Corinne Day's fashion work very refreshing as it isn't something you expect to see, especially considering that at the time noone knew who Kate Moss was, whereas if these photographs were taken now, the meaning would change automatically because now Kate Moss is a celebrity, so she herself is advertisement now. Back in the 1990's though, these were an absolute sensation. For me, this is a perfect fashion photograph of the time.
It is not just Corinne Day's fashion photography that I like though. Even more influential for me are her Diary photographs, which are of events, friends, herself. They are very personal recordings of her life, which I think is incredible to look at, as they let us into her life in a way and let us think and guess about her life.
Corinne, New York, 1996
Tara, 1997
Another photographer who I find very inspiring is Lauren Greenfield. As well as being a photographer, she is also a documentary filmmaker and photojournalist. Her work focus is on contemporary issues related to the influence of popular culture in our lives.
I first saw her work, while doing research for my project on eating disorders in college. I watched the documentary film Thin that she's made and I found that it was one of very few eating disorders related media projects that showed what it is really like. Here I want to include some photographs from this project that depict the women who were treated for eating disorders and took part in her film.
Thursday 19 February 2009
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