Assignment 5 – Reflected Image – Final

03/05/19

Brief:

Produce a constructed image that tells a story, building on what you have learnt in the whole course.

I spent time before starting this exercise thinking about several possible ideas including work using mirrors, either in self-portraiture or still life, an image based on folklore (the red thread) and a series of images based on the defence of Scotland’s coastline. I worked up two in more detail but chose to use the reflected self-portrait as a final piece.

Assignment 5 – Initial Thoughts

I dislike having my photo taken. If you look over our family archive I am rarely shown, I am usually the photographer. I rarely even take selfies. I have tried to develop this aspect of my photography by taking regular selfies, with little success and also previously looked into some research on why people take selfies however the group discussed have little in common with my demographic and this didn’t explain my near phobia.

Selfie Research 1.

Research:

In earlier exercises in context and narrative I looked at self-portraiture by other artists and photographers and also self-absented portraiture. When I did assignment 3 on my diary, I chose to use self absented work to describe myself and my life.

https://scottishzoecontextandnarrative.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/autobiographical-self-portraiture/

https://scottishzoecontextandnarrative.wordpress.com/2018/10/20/self-absented-portraiture/

https://scottishzoecontextandnarrative.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/assignmemt-3-rethink/

For this assignment I decided to work on self-portraiture but using a reflected image that showed multiple layers and partially disguised the image. In assignment 4 I looked in detail at a series of images where the photographers (Mizutani and Bailey) used deliberate camera movement and stacking of images to give blur and depth to the final image. When I tried my initial photograph of a reflection in my window, I found that the double glazing gave a similar effect of movement and layered images but also distorted the image slightly. I then added in a mirror behind the window to give a further layer and produce a triplicate image.

https://scottishzoecontextandnarrative.wordpress.com/2019/02/26/assignment-4-redo/

Mirrors have had a long history in art and photography. Initially the only way an artist could produce a self-portrait was by looking in a mirror. Photography has somewhat negated that, with the possibility of using a tripod or delayed release and timed photography but the use of mirrors is still common. Davis Campany says ‘Pointing the camera at mirrors is a common strategy among photographers when they begin to explore the medium. It is more than just a coming to terms with the nature and possibilities of the apparatus. While discovering what photography is for them, they attempt to confirm or recognise themselves as photographers. The two go together in a private moment of self-assertion that says: ‘I am curious about this’ or even ‘I am serious about this’ (Campany, 2011).

Clementina Hawarden

Vivian Maier © John Maloof

One of the earliest images that shows a mirrored reflection is by Lady Clementina Hawarden (1822-1865) in her image of her daughter, Clementina Maude, 5 Princes Gardens, made in about 1861. The image shows her daughter’s back together with a reflection of her face and the garden behind her (Friedewald, 2018).  Vivian Maier (1926-2009), among her huge archive of photographs of life in Chicago and New York, took many images of herself reflected in windows and mirrors. Some of these show multiple reflections and are clearly carefully planned and positioned. Maloof describes her, and her images as ‘a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’ (Maloof,2019).

© Jeff Wall Picture for Women

© Hannah Starkey – Untitled, March 2013

Mirrors are also frequently used in constructed images. Jeff Wall’s image Picture for Women (1978) shows a very formally constructed image of two people, a female and himself, set either side of a camera. There is an implication that the image is reflected – although there are no edges of the frame visible. The woman and man (Wall himself) are both looking towards the assumed position of the camera. This image is based on, or more correctly connected with, Manet’s painting ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ – although in Manet’s image the mirror is explicit, the girl is reflected, and the male viewer is only seen in the reflection. The ‘male gaze’ made overt. Hannah Starkey also utilises both windows and mirrors in her carefully constructed images such as Prism, September 2008 and Untitled, March 2013 where she shows a multi-layered reflection of buildings and a person in the glass of a fish tank. This multi-layered effect and the need to look carefully at them at the influenced my production of this image.

Practical work details:

 I started by simply trying to catch a reflected image of myself our front window, which is double glazed. This was a steep learning curve.

1. The initial images were lost because of the lack of clarity in the glass. I had not realised quite how dirty it was, but every speck showed in the photographs. It needed a thorough clean, both inside and outside. I wonder if all the reflected images you see are clear by luck, or if the photographers waited until the glass had been recently cleaned.
2. When clean, the images were confused because not only could you see the reflection (actually a double reflection because of the double glazing) but also what was going on inside the room. This was dealt with by hanging a black curtain inside the window.
3. I then experimented with adding in a mirror behind the glass so that part of the reflected image was much clearer.
   1. This was initially held up by an assistant, but we couldn’t work out a way of not showing his hands
   2. I then balanced the mirror on an easel – but the paint tray, which was a light wood, covered with old paint, was obvious and became the main focal point in the image. This need to be painted black to match the rest of the easel.
4. I discovered that the exposure was critical, as the light reflected in the mirror was much brighter than the light reflected in the window, and, although I could sometimes get it balanced, at other times either one was grossly overexposed, or the other underexposed.
5. I also found that the background was crucial. At one point some street workmen set up a bright red barrier on the road behind me, which I didn’t notice at all when taking the pictures, but which was clearly showing in the photographs when I looked at them on screen.
6. My position was also critical, the combination of effectively three reflective surfaces meant that in some images there were multiple versions and parts of me showing, which made for a very confusing image and moving around gave different effects.

This was a fascinating experiment, looking at layers of reflections and the effect this had on light and exposure, and also emphasising the importance of being aware what is going on in areas of the picture that you do not have control of.

I tried out some of the images in black and white, taking the colour away removed some of the distractions and made the image more about me rather than about the background – so the final effect depends, as always, on what I am really trying to show. However, on consideration I felt that the colour images were more interesting and linked into the earlier work on looking at movement and layered images in landscape photography.

Final Image:

Conclusion:

Producing any piece of work that is not in your ‘comfort zone’ involves research, both theoretical and practical together with repeated attempts. I am pleased with the final image, and am grateful for my tutors’ input who encouraged me to go with something less conventional than I might have chosen.

References and Inspiration:

Bailey, V. (2016). Fragile. Triplekite.

Campany, D. (2011). Jeff Wall, Picture for Women. London: Afterall Books.

Friedewald, B. (2018). Women photographers. Prestel Verlag, pp.78-81.

Maier, V. and Maloof, J. (2011). Vivian Maier street photographer. New York: PowerHouse.

Maloof, J. (2019). About Vivian Maier. [online] Vivian Maier. Available at: http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2019].

Mizutani, Y. (2018). HDR Nature. Tokyo: amana.

Starkey, H., Cotton, C. and Jobey, L. (2018). Hannah Starkey Photographs 1997-2017. Mack.

Wagstaff, S. (2005). Jeff Wall Photographs 1978-2004. London: Tate Publishing.

Contact Sheets:

Reflections – Contact Sheet 1

Reflections – Contact Sheet 2

 

Response to Tutor – Assignment 5

26/04/19

I had an interesting and helpful feedback discussion with my tutor. He encouraged me to use the more potentially risky (he said interesting) self–portrait as my final image.

For the final write -up to go with A5 he encouraged me to:

1. Define why I chose the topic
2. Look at links to previous assignments and explain how they developed into this piece of work
3. Explain how I took the image, with what worked and what didn’t
4. Discuss research
   1. Remember that practical experimentation is just as much research as reading
   2. Discuss the impact of other photographers on my thoughts processes

Other things to do:

1. Check learning log for clarity and brevity
2. Final observations on what has been learnt in both this assignment and in C and N as a whole

Further reading:

1. Jeff Wall – ‘Picture for Women’ and the David Campany (Company, 2011) book talking about it

I have managed to have a (fairly) brief look at this image. Wall describes it as a response to Manet’s image of a barmaid reflected in a mirror ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’. It shows a woman, a camera and a man (Jeff Wall). The whole image is reflected, although, as the edges of the frame are not visible, that is not immediately obvious. There is also no obvious reflection visible. It is a complex image that merits intense study, together with reading of the book, and a further essay by Merritt (Merritt, 2009).

2. Uta Barth – photography where light is the subject, rather than illuminating the subject She says “My work is about perception – ……. My desire is to make the viewer become aware of their own perceptual process …. The light is literally the medium for this work” (Barth, 2012).

Both of these photographers will repay much further study – although whether I will get it done prior to submitting Context and Narrative is doubtful!

References

Barth, U. (2012). Conceptual Photographer Uta Barth: 2012 MacArthur Fellow | MacArthur Foundation. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxYcpPDq5iQ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2019].

Campany, D. (2011). Jeff Wall:Picture for Women. London: Afterall Books.

Meritt, N. (2009). Manet’s Mirror and Jeff Wall’s Picture for Women: Reflection or Refraction?. Melbourne Art Journla, (4).

 

Project 1 – Setting the scene

06/03/19

Much photography is constructed to set the scene and increase the impact of the narrative. All image making, other than sports photography and straight street images has a degree of construction about it. You pose someone for a portrait, the wedding photographer poses groups of people to show their best sides and to flatter the bride. You choose the best flowers or best landscape view. Even with sporting events and street images you choose where you will stand for the best chance of getting an image. The difference with some images such as those discussed below is that there is much more formal planning involved, and entire teams of people may be called on to set up the scene.  This is obvious in cinema but may be much less so in single images.

Goodfellas:

The film Goodfellas is an American crime film about the rise and fall of a mob family. There is a short clip which sets the scene and tells you about one of the characters. It is interesting to analyse because much of the information comes across almost subliminally, but it must have been set up extremely carefully to be so effective.

https://youtu.be/yCYwcObxl78

What does this tell you about the main character?

• He leaves his car – partner is surprised but its normal for him “it’s easier”
• Bypasses massive queue to entrance through kitchen – implies he knows all the secret ways
• Everybody knows him, calls them all by first names, large tips
• Everybody in the kitchen accepts him – does he own the place?
• Greeted by everyone in the club – popular (or at least important)
• Additional table immediately set up in a prime position – space has been kept for him? Or his regular area?
• Sent bottle of wine by another table
• Partner? Girlfriend? bemused – doesn’t believe his statement that ‘I’m in construction’

So, he’s wealthy, well-known (at least in some circles), people like to make up to him (the wine, the glad handshakes). He’s smooth – but possibly not safe, not entirely truthful (in construction). He’s probably dangerous and wants (and gets) the best of everything. Fun – yes, safe – no!

Would I like him – probably yes because he exudes sex (and I am female). Would I trust him – definitely not. Is it worth the risk?

A short clip gives a lot of information, much subliminal, mood lighting, music, darkness.

 Jeff Wall – After ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Emerson, the Prologue, 1999-2001

© Jeff Walls

This image shows the back of a black man, sitting, leaning forward in a chaotic room under a mass of light bulbs, some lit, some not. In the room is everything one needs for living, a bed, a table, books, food, cooking equipment. Does the man ever leave the room? Does he need to? The image is based on a story by Ralph Ellis about a Black Americans experience of racism. Here Wall has used the story as a basis for an image. Not everyone will have read the story (I haven’t) – but you can still see a crowded space, loneliness, despair and a sense of mystery. Why is he there?

This is a very complex picture. It clearly took a long time to build the scene and is probably the combination of many images to get the ceiling, background and foreground all in focus and balanced. My eye goes to the lights, then the man, then all the other chaos. It a disturbing image, and I think reflects the man’s thoughts. Depression, trauma, confusion, despair, but – in spite of all that I have ‘got the better of them’, I have light.

Hannah Starkey

© Hannah Starkey

Hannah Starkey’s self-portrait of a woman shows the reflection of a woman (herself) in a window. The image is further diffused by plastic sheeting hung over the window and is surrounded by the reflection of white, empty frames hanging from the ceiling.  In the press release for the exhibition it says ‘In the area of self-portraiture, the camera freed the artist from the necessity of looking in the mirror. And yet paradoxically photography is full of examples of photographers using mirrors in order to make self-portraits. This often adds a self-reflective quality to the image. The creator of the image becomes part of the image, often with camera, as seen in the self-portraits made by Ilse Bing and Lee Friedlander. There is a voyeuristic thrill in seeing the creator of the image, and of being privileged to view what is usually outside the frame, through seeing what is behind instead of just in front of the camera’. (Maureenpaley.com, 2010).  Looking further at Starkey’s work she concentrates on images of women, constructed in what appear to be elaborate, but every day settings. Many of the images include windows and mirrors and make use of reflections. Sometimes it is difficult to pick out the figure at first glance. In others the image is shattered into multiple pieces.

Initially artists needed to use a mirror to paint a self-portrait, with photography this is no longer necessary, you can use a delayed timer, a camera phone set on ‘selfie’ type setting or you can still take images of your reflection. Mirrors are fascinating. You only ever see yourself directly in a mirror, when everything is reversed. Mirrors have a long history in literature, ranging from Shakespeare (Richard II), via Lewis Carroll (Through the Looking-Glass) to Sylvia Plath (Mirror). They are rarely benign, usually uncanny or show disasters happening. They are popular in song lyrics too, a quick search came up with a list of the 100 ‘best’ songs with Mirror in the title implying there must be more (Ranker, 2019), again they are often depressing. In photography the use of mirrors may reflect and emphasise the fact that everything you take gives an image that is not actually ‘real’, but telling a story about a place, a person or an event.  It acts as a reminder of the nature of photographs, but also can force you to look closer, and may give an uncanny overlay as they automatically bring up reminders of other mirrors, in other places.

Taryn Simon

© Taryn Simon

Taryn Simon in The Innocents uses photography to place people in a situation which is linked to the crime they didn’t commit, such as the crime scene or the place of their ignored alibi. In criminal cases photography is often used to act as a ‘silent witness’. It is used as an identification tool and can be used in court to show the jury what happened. However, it is a two-edged sword. While is can, undoubtedly, be crucial it can also be misleading. Images can be altered. This applies to both digital and analogue photography. Scenes can be set up. Photographs can be taken in such a way that although they are technically correct, they can give a very misleading view. The other problem is that, in this day of ‘fake news’, people are conditioned to disbelieve things they see and hear. The image may be totally accurate – but it is very easy to suggest that it is not, and very difficult to prove that it is. Gullibility works both ways. Simon constructed her scenes to copy reality.  They are still a copy and whether or not you choose to believe any image is personal and depends on your previous experience. This dilemma is certainly not new. It has been present from the first time an artist made an image – the only difference is that photographs may appear totally convincing, so much so that you appear to be at the event itself.

Simons latest work Cold Hole is a piece of performance art, where people watch, at an uncertain time of day, the ‘performers’ plunging into a cold, ice filled pool built with a gallery floor. The plunger gets the satisfaction of psychic or physical cleansing while the watchers get what? A thrill, a second-hand cleansing, amusement at the faces. This opens up the question of why we look at things that are potentially shocking. What do we get from them? Does an image of the event give the same satisfaction as actually being there watching? Does watching give the same satisfaction as doing the plunge. Much performative art is not photographed or videoed as the artists (such as Tino Sehgal) argue that the whole point is in the doing or the being there. They may also argue that repetition of the act is also pointless as it will never be exactly the same. So where does this leave the role of photography such as the images of the Cold Hole event shown on Simons website (Simon, 2018). Without those images the event is lost in time, only occurs within the memories of the participants and the watchers, and then, with increasing dilution, in the memories of those who have been told about it.

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia

© Philip-Lorca DiCorcia

DiCorcia also produces images that are constructed. His series Hustlers was entirely ‘set-up, carefully planned and used real prostitutes to act out an event placing them in a constructed scenario that is done so well that it is almost impossible to see that they are ‘not real’. He was very clear about the provenance of these images when they were exhibited – but without this they look like unplanned street photography. They certainly tell you about life on the street, and in many ways are more honest than a random snapshot would be. The hustlers were paid for their work at the going rate for use of their time. How many other apparently candid shots are actually staged? Sometimes you know, such as in the work of Nikki S Lee when she inserts herself into groupings of people and appears to take on their identities. However, there are undoubtedly many where it is either unclear or simply not stated by the photographer. Does it matter? I think so, as while both constructed and candid shots have their own validity, they do take on different meanings and need to be interpreted in different ways. A constructed scene allows the image maker to show their ‘take’ on an event and may give more information about difficult or complicated areas of life than a totally candid shot, but that information is inevitably filtered through the photographer’s thoughts and feelings and may not be neutral. A second question then arises – is any image neutral? To have taken the image the photographer was there, had an interest in the subject, and a reason for showing it to other people – so no, not neutral and almost certainly not unbiased.

Gregory Crewdson:

© Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson is known for his large, highly detailed images which he makes with the aid of a vast crew of up to sixty people. They source the materials, do the lighting, and actually take the image in most cases. His role is in the visualisation of the image, planning and designing it. He says about his images ‘There should be no motivation, no literal plot line, it’s just the moment of the picture………I don’t have the direct relation with the camera, I never have, I’m not that kind of a photographer’ (Crewdson, 2017). The images he produces are massive, spooky and unreal. The light (and lighting) is crucially important, as is what he is saying with them – they exist in an area between the real and the imaginary, they show a story that asks questions rather than one that gives answers. His more recent images ‘Cathedral in the Pines’ are made with a smaller crew and are situated outside rather than in the built setting of many of his earlier works, but are still carefully constructed and difficult to read, leaving it up to the viewer to decide on the story. His work raises many questions, among others about photography and its authorship. Is the photographer the person who ‘hits the shutter release’ or the person who plans the image? In most cases there is an obvious answer (the planner) – but at what point does the complexity of the team interfere with this. In a film there will be a series of credits, from the producer and the director on downwards.  Crewdson’s images involve such a large team that I wonder whether they should be given more overt credit than they are.

Anja Niemi:

© Anja Niemi

Anja Niemi has produced several series of work where she has constructed images carefully to tell a story. The story is told via the pictures, without any words other than the series titles but are relatively easy to imagine. In several of the images she appears twice.  In ‘SHE COULD HAVE BEEN A COWBOY’, with the subtitle – ‘I am sick to death with this particular self, I want another’ (Niemi, 2018) – she is both the subdued, shy person in a pink dress and the flamboyant cowboy. Unlike Crewdson, Niemi says she works alone, investigating possible sites for her elaborate stories, setting up the scenes and acting out all the characters. These series are clearly fictional and do not pretend to be otherwise – but the construction allows the development of a complex story, more than a single image, but needing more viewer imagination than a film.

Oana Stanciu:

© Oana Stancui

A much simpler, but equally intriguing form of constructed image is used by the young photographer, Oana Stanciu. She concentrates on self-portraits saying ‘… experimenting with my body and everyday objects to improvise scenes and create unnatural or subtly distorted images’ (Stanciu, 2018). One of her series involved attending the Hidden Door Festival and asking the audience to make suggestions for objects and then using them to construct both single images and films with different objects being used to construct the images on each day.  Each image, while part of the series, stands alone and may appear to show only part of a body, or look like a photograph of a sculpture rather than of a living person.

Summary:

 The more I consider this topic the more I realise that many images have a degree of construction. This is particularly important when considering images that are used to convince people about the ‘truth’ of a matter, when it is not clear that the truth may be a story.

Briefly:

• Constructed images are those where significant planning is involved, possibly more like the type of planning involved in film-making (Crewdson)
• They may be portraits (Stanciu), story-scenes (DiCorcia), or still life. Pragmatically most still life is constructed – although some may be found scenes (Arnatt’s rubbish heaps)
• Many self-portraits are constructed (Cindy Sherman’s work is a fascinating example of this)
• Sometimes (but not always) teams of people are utilised to produce the images
• Lighting can be very important, and is often complex
• Construction allows a story to be told that is under the control of the photographer and not due to a random event such as is more common in street photography
• Constructed images are based on the imagination of the photographer, (but this can be used to illustrate other people’s stories – Wall’s ‘Invisible Man’ is a good example of this)
• By constructing an image an apparent ‘everyday’ scenario can be changed, to tell a story, to become mysterious or to make you see alternative meanings
• Constructed images can also be used to tell a false story, ‘fake news’, and therefore one needs to be aware of this especially when using images to effect people’s lives.
• The image/story in a constructed picture is filtered though the photographer’s own thoughts – therefore not neutral and there is a need to be aware of this bias (although all images have a degree of bias – in that they were taken in a certain way)
• There is a clear difference between candid and constructed images – but it is not always obvious just by looking unless the image maker is honest about their process. Probity is as important in photography and storytelling as in any other aspect of life.

I don’t think I will look at any images in quite the same innocent way again!

References

Crewdson, G. (2017). Photographers in Focus: Gregory Crewdson. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIRm5BsXeE [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].

Maureenpaley.com. (2010). Maureen Paley | Hannah Starkey. [online] Available at: https://www.maureenpaley.com/exhibitions/hannah-starkey-1/press-release [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019].

Niemi, A. (2018). New Work. [online] Anjaniemiphotography.com. Available at: http://www.anjaniemiphotography.com/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].

Ranker. (2019). The Best Songs With Mirror in the Title. [online] Available at: https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-songs-with-mirror-in-the-title/ranker-music [Accessed 19 Feb. 2019].

Simon, T. (2018). Taryn Simon. [online] Tarynsimon.com. Available at: http://tarynsimon.com/works/cold_hole/#8 [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Stanciu, O. (2018). #makingascene. [online] OANA STANCIU. Available at: http://www.oanastanciu.com/makingascene.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2019].