Bodyscapes (young woman)

Looking to broaden the subject matter further, I brought in a new model - a young woman. I was interested to see how these images would differ, when placing this after the macro body work I've done to date. Would it be easy or possible to distinguish age and gender, when the camera is this close? Such specific and detailed images of the human body, and yet potentially very vague when describing that human.

Unlike my father, who sat frowning wondering what I was up to, this model was more open to me positioning her, and hence we spent time working to find some unusual angles and body contortions, which would make for some detailed and quite odd photographs. With some shots I was a little more experimental with the light. I was cautious not to venture away from the frank and bold style, but just to control the shadows with a bit more precision.

Similar to when I was photographing my father, I again felt uncomfortable with some of these images – the same worries of exploitation. When making pictures of such an unflattering nature, and when scouring the model's body, searching for these interesting but potentially viewed as 'gross' images, I feel troubled as a photographer. I do think there is a place for this work though, for a study of different bodies, to observe the human form in all its varieties and in great depth, but not right now. 

With this project as it currently stands, I realise that I need to be back in front of the camera. If I'm to really scrutinise a body without holding back, then it needs to be my own. It comes back to this idea of a photographer holding power over their subject, and power over the judgement the viewer makes of the subject. But when the photographer is also the subject, it's like that judgement has already been made, or the option for the viewer to judge has been removed. The photographer presents herself, judges herself, and the viewer can only ponder on that, on why. Pushing the viewer to this contemplation is what I want my work to deliver. 

The Politics of Ageing, and Where the Power Lies...

Rather appropriately – considering the recent work on my father, and moreover my concerns about it – we had a lecture, followed by discussion, on 'The Politics of Ageing'

The real 'meat' of the lecture came out though when we got on to looking at power relationships in photography. It was said that all photographs have embedded within them a triangle relationship between photographer, subject, and viewer. When the subject becomes a person, the relationship is naturally of greater significance and holds greater impact. The power almost inevitably lies with the photographer, they choose the moment, they edit the world, they edit their exposures, they decide on how the subject is presented to the viewer, they have say over the meaning of a photograph. Think of Joel Sternfeld's work 'Landscape in Memoriam' where the additional text describing the crimes committed at the scenes, alters the viewers opinions and how they regard those pictures dramatically – replacing a calm non-committed stance with shock and pity.

We then thought about when this three-way relationship becomes two – when the photographer is also the subject, and how the power shifts, or seems to. The photographer casts a critical eye over themselves, and this can then come back at the viewer, potentially challenging them. Think of John Coplans, Sam Taylor-Wood, Jo Spence, Cindy Sherman. It seems the photographer holds sway over both themselves and the viewer, 'controlling' the image, and its presence.

We then thought about photographers who could be regarded as exploiting their subjects, exploiting their  power as the photographer. Martin Parr, Diane Arbus, Jock Sturges, Sally Mann. Often their subjects are not aware of the context in which these photographs will be viewed – their use (intended or otherwise) for ridicule, mockery, disgust, gratification. And so we questioned, with lots of debate, whether a photographer should be 'allowed' to publish such work.

All of this discussion was very relevant to the anxieties I have on my own work. I remember at the time agreeing that as a serious practitioner our work deserves to be free, to be spread, to be viewed. Information, pixels, want to be free, should be free, should be shared. And then I looked again over the photos I'd taken of my father's body – and had doubts. I think if a practitioner is confident with their work, then yes, they should push it out there regardless of concerns as to what others might think. But if they are uncomfortable with it themselves, and don't wish it to be widely viewed, then there's a reason for that, and it shouldn't be ignored.    

He who bears the camera bears the power... and the responsibility.

Bodyscapes (father)

I decided to try a new subject for my close-up body studies. Thinking that it would be good to go for a very different type of body – I asked my father to be a model for me. He is in his 70's and so there were some strong alterations in the subject matter and hence images, from the work on my body. 



View the set here.

The shoot went well – lighting, framing, focussing were all successful. But I felt uneasy, I felt like I was exploiting my father, particularly when I would choose sensitive areas of his body, areas which showed his age, and aim to make interesting ambiguous images of them. The problem with these images was that they could potentially be viewed as repulsive, and I was aware that I was choosing them for that reason. Not because I wanted to present my father in a negative light, but because I wanted images that would have dramatic effect on the viewer, and all of a sudden this didn't seem fair.

Narrative

I'm currently quite enthused by my latest work with body close-ups. But alongside this staged photography, I still have the desire to photograph my social natural surroundings – a process I'm most used to. I was also keenly thinking about narrative. This inspiration came from the small story piece I put together of my parents earlier on in the module. So I've been shooting some more colour medium format film (attractive and slow process). These are just the frames in the order exposed (contact sheets) but I quite like looking over the shoot and seeing the scene evolve. Also I hope the viewer gets an idea of how the  photographer works/moves/interacts within the space and with the subjects. I saw some excellent work like this by my fellow student Joanna Ornowska.

Bodyscapes

My work on nude naked was received quite positively, but with clear room for improvement (largely with the light) and a question of where to take it. I wanted to stay with my own body, stay with the macro, but enhance the ambiguity and move away from the apparent (think of the image of the ankle from the last series). Influential to this direction I was taking were the wise words of John Coplans, particularly the quote regarding alteration of scale, and the resulting transformation of our perception of the subject matter.

I set about making a set of photographs of this nature - these landscapes, or rather 'bodyscapes'. The process was quite straightforward – a plain white background, one umbrella-reflected light above the camera, and then myself and my assistant took our time exploring my body, searching and finding potential images, keeping an eye out for the abstract, the interesting, the unusual etc.

I don't really see this work being about nudity anymore, certainly not in an explicit sense. And as it's so close up and of varying parts of the body, no decisive judgement can be made as to what counts as naked and what doesn't – which I think is just great, especially with the potential to mess with the viewers when they start to get worried or 'grossed out' by what they are looking at. I don't feel that this work is really about humour anymore either, at least not in as obvious a way, there may be undertones, but I think that's now down to the viewers response rather than an intention of mine to incite humour directly.

Below should be a slideshow of all the images, if not working the full set can be viewed here.

John Coplans

My most recent work on Nude Naked is a rather dramatic change in both the subject matter and the method  in which I usually take photographs. It's all very new and different for me, but I'm finding that very exciting and inspiring, and hence am eager to continue it further. A photographer's work who is very pivotal in this area is that of John Coplans.

Coplans spent many years photographing his own naked ageing body in as honest and unflattering a manner as possible. He doesn't take himself seriously with this work, but instead laughs at himself, and adopts a cynical approach to the perceived ugliness of old age. His face never appears because he doesn't wish the work to have any reference to his identity, but rather to be a universal portrayal of humanity. He wishes to challenge the negative opinions towards the appearance of ageing.

"I'm not dealing with a perfect body, I'm dealing with another kind of truth - that is how the body is. And why don't we accept it because that's our norm?"

I am very drawn to the frankness and the humour of his images. As well as holding the pictures in high regard, I also think Coplans speaks brilliantly about his work, and so I've included a couple of quotes from Channel 4's series on taboo photography - Vile Bodies. Some of the points he makes are very relevant to where I'm thinking of developing my own work.

"I'm a terminal man reflecting on being a terminal man, but I don't really deal with old age per se. It's merely a condition that I'm in that I have to make use of as best I can. I pretend to be young. I want to be as young as I can because I want to be like every man."

"It's a timeless space, there's nothing that connects it to today, no hint that connects it to a contemporary event, except the mere fact that it's a photograph. ... My photos are pre-linguistic, they're not to do with language, they're to do with being, conditions of being, which have nothing to do with our modern idea of language or communication."

"It's all about perception. The world has a certain size or scale through us, through the relationship of our body and our eyes to it. But when I take a camera and I take it very close, suddenly it's transformed; and I shoot a hand, I do this and it becomes a woman, I do something like this and it becomes some primitive sexual organ. We see everything in a way which we have accumulated, which is a norm; and the moment we focus on parts of the body, then we've changed the scale of how we see - which is one of the things that interests me enormously. I photograph my chest - my hairy chest and my two nipples - and isolated it becomes a face. So in changing the scale of how we see with the camera, there's a slippage occurring, what I've taken looks like something else and I haven't done anything except change the scale. It's a transforming process, they are what they are, and they aren't what they are."

Nude Naked

This was the theme for last weeks task of 'Picbod'. I wasn't really interested in photographing other people, mainly because I had no original ideas as to what I'd do with them; and if you're going to get someone to take off their clothes in front of your camera, you need to be confident in what you want. So I turned to my own body, which - being the self absorbed type - I had lots of thoughts and ideas about.

I recognise the dangers of vanity but I'm also aware that I'm susceptible to it, i.e. when I get out the shower I'm not disinclined to glance in the mirror and gain a confidence boost. So I wanted to acknowledge this shallow opinion, by mocking it. I do find a lot of humour in observing all the little 'ugly bits' of my body, such as the straggly thin and very dark hairs which sprout around my nipples. I suppose I'm still something of a spring chicken, however I do feel I'm past the watershed, so from here on out It's all getting fatter, uglier, hairier, and more wrinkled. Hence I decided to make unflattering studies of all these bits.

From The Inside 2

A continuation of the theme from the previous post. This time I was working with digital, and so moving with a quicker pace. Again I'm not really looking for any winning images (I'm not even sure there are any) but the shoot was a good example of me finding ease with expression, and enthusiasm. Hence I have uploaded the contact sheets, so that the progression of the shoot can be observed. I've also picked out a few images of worthwhile interest.

I've developed an interest in photographing peoples interactions - whether these be conversations, physical contact, or even just a shared presence. When frozen (and edited) by photography, these moments of communication are obviously inaccurate and subjective. It is then intriguing to see what inferences a viewer can draw about these people, when observing these 'paused instances'.

Elinor Carucci, Nicholas Nixon, and Nan Goldin

A few of the people I mentioned as inspirations in my last post. Thought it was worthwhile showing the images which were particularly relevant to me/my thinking.

From The Inside

“To photograph from the inside. Photograph as Nan Goldin says ‘Your Tribe’. Study someone you are close to and make images with them that of an intimate nature. Pay attention to both the relationship and the form of the image - look for the light.”

Ok so not exactly new territory for me, but If you've been reading this you'll know that I hit a bit of a serious creative block not too long ago, and hence my interest in activities around photography. However that's not to say I want to give up entirely on making photographs, I do still enjoy this.

I'm aware that I tend to get wrapped up in critiquing and then over-thinking my work, almost before I've finished producing it. (a delightfully blunt friend of mine recently informed me "You talk too much.") This is not an enjoyable nor positive way to work. So recently - hoping to be a bit freer and easier with expression - I've simply made pictures and tried to avoid any initial or in-depth self-criticism. Naturally there is always a notion of 'quality' which is unavoidable, but I can let that make its judgement almost subconsciously, and there by not distracting my process. I'm aware that some of the work is not great, but it does interest me. And for me at the moment, what's 'interesting' rather than what 'looks good', is what counts. The curating of the work can be considered later.

I've always been photographing friends. These two are quite used to me now, and so I continued with last weeks method of shooting unobtrusively, and then giving direction - asking for a look. Found myself thinking of Goldin.

My father is similarly very used to me being around with a camera. I set up a frame with the camera on a tripod and then watched the scene for sometime, choosing my moments. I've previously discussed my interest in storytelling, and so put together this small narrative piece from scanned negatives (click to enlarge and scroll across). 

I've not photographed Alex before, but did this with an old Mamiya RB67 i.e. looking down into the camera, and so not the usual intrusive off putting lens-face. This is possibly Elinor Carucci, and definitely Nicholas Nixon inspired.   

Contact sheets below.