Photo Synthesis Symposium

The Photo Synthesis Project refers to all major work – research and practical – of the final year students of the BA Photography course at Coventry University (myself being one of them). The first event to come under this banner is the following symposium, where the major research projects will be presented.

Click to Enlarge

Coventry University Photography up for Auction

On Thursday the 3rd of March, Photography and Fine Art students of Coventry University, will be holding a fundraising auction, selling a selection of their best work, and including several high profile pieces donated by their tutors. The money raised will be put towards their degree shows.

The auction will take place in the Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry; but bidders can also participate remotely via paper and telephone commissions. A full catalogue can be found here, and below is the selected photography pieces.

More information can be found on the Herbert website, including terms and conditions.

Contact:
Bruce Fletcher
T: 07816966892
E: bruce_fletcher@hotmail.com

The Persona Reinforced

Following on from my recent post on Steve Coogan's celebrity persona – I was struck by this comment he made writing in an article for the Guardian: 

"I've been fortunate enough to work with the likes of Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris, Simon Pegg, Julia Davis, Caroline Aherne, Ruth Jones, and the Mighty Boosh – some of the funniest and most innovative people in British comedy. And Rob Brydon too."

The article actually concerned the remarks of the Top Gear presenters regarding Mexicans (completely unrelated to my research). But the reason I chose to quote was because even when writing a critical and opinionated article on a separate matter, Steve Coogan still cannot resist displaying the same humorous, childish, mocking character (one that picks on Rob Brydon) that he so demonstrated in The Trip. What we are seeing here is this same persona eagerly pushing its way out, making itself known as a commonplace attribute of the actor/writer/celebrity that is Steve Coogan. The relevance here then lies in the appearance of this "loose version of himself", and his acknowledging of this played and playful persona as an irrevocable element of his self. And crucially the relationship between the two: the overall professional, down to earth character allowing and indulging the cheeky, self-centred 'sub-character'.

The Work and Character of Bjorn Veno

Veno's ongoing work 'MANN' concerns male identity, which he feels is in need of addressing in light of the extensive focus on femininity. His work looks at issues of male confidence into adulthood, as a man realises his inevitable failure at fulfilling the 'hero characters' of childhood. The work is in a sense autobiographical, or certainly self-reflective.

From Chapter I, Sirkel Bjorn Veno

There is humour and self-mockery to his work, although it may not be apparent at the surface of the images, it is displayed in Veno's Artist Talk video – where he talks dryly and ironically of his own foolishness in holding onto childish desires. "You might be a big muscle builder, confident and secure, me - I have fleeting moments of confidence, the rest of the time I wonder: what the hell am I doing?" (0:46 - 1:07). What's really of note here is this repeating trait of self-mockery, it continues to reveal itself and it comes to define Veno's character as a practitioner. A result of self-portraiture – the artist lives in the work, and the work lives in the artist.

The skeleton needs some flesh

Today I received feedback from Ed Dimsdale for the planned structure which I had put together last week. Overall this seemed good. It is apparent that I need to be wary of the timing of the piece, as there is quite a lot of points I plan to make in support of my argument, but the flow of it is logical and it seems to present an interesting and original perspective.

I've added notes in red to explain the development and intended progression of each point.

Title: Self-portrait, Self-mockery, and the Mirror

Intro: Seeking to explain Self-mockery in photography and video (and visual art/culture). Rather than ‘seeking to explain’ it’s more the case of questioning what is happening, or may be happening, when artists et al use self-mockery.

1.     The curiosity and intrigue of the mirror/reflection. Our interest in viewing our own image. This is the widest context with which the argument fits into. Lacan can be used as reference, but rather than spending time on it, its significance across history and many schools (Psychology, philosophy etc.) needs to be raised, encourage the audience to accept and move on. 

2.     The consciousness of presentation - the desire to be revered, to give best impression. Erving Goffman’s ‘presentation of self..’ will support this. (reading to be done).

3.     Awareness of an image's ability to immortalise character. Could be considered as 2b. or 2+3 leads to 4. Again touch and don’t dwell on this. Worthwhile illustrating, or supporting this with theory if possible.

4.     The will to make/possess/show images which display our desired qualities - an explanation of vanity?: Rather a behaviour which has elements of vanity, narcissism, self-centredness. Barthes' thoughts on being photographed may assist this point - the relationships between viewer, subject and creator. A social media context may be relevant also – the facebook profile photos.

5.     Then the response to mock ourselves, our narcissism, vanity, and self-centredness. Use relevant artist examples here. Also some theory on Self-mockery would be useful, and may also help to explain point 6.

6.     However, self-mockery being humour, gives us a position of performing to be funny, to make others laugh, to be liked, all about us(me) again..

Relevant artists: 

·        Boris Mikhailov – I am not I, Football

·        Bjorn Veno – Mann - Skirgel

·        Steve Coogan - playing a version of himself in The Trip

Other Areas (these are things I plan to mention but not discuss, and also for questions afterwards):

–      Masquerade, dressing up, performing as another: Cindy Sherman, Yasumasa Morimura

–      Femininity, concerning the appropriated images of women: Sarah Lucas  Julie Pochron Tracy Emin. The issues surrounding gender are prominent in this field of discussion, and will need touching upon, as well as suit further discussion.

The main concern now that the structure is confirmed, is to flesh it out with strong and relevant content. The tutorial with Ed, his suggestions and the discussion we had, has given me the confidence to do this. He has also mentioned the importance I must place on deciding what images to use to illustrate the argument.

Boris Mikhailov in 'Auto Focus'

I recently bought Susan Bright's book Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography (a good article on it here). Published just last year, the book is proving to be incredibly useful and informative as a reference for recent and current practitioners working with self-portraiture.

There are many names I've come across before, and equally many which are new to me. Curiously there are also several practitioners I'm familiar with, but not for their self-portraiture work. This point alone speaks of the draw towards turning the camera on oneself that many photographers experience, even if that's not work that they spread widely nor produce often, it still seems to be a thing of intrigue for many artists.

One such photographer whose self-portrait work I found in the book which suited my research admirably, was Boris Mikhailov. Susan Bright's comment says it as well as I ever could:

“A wry sense of humour is often apparent throughout Mikhailov’s work, and tends to be the tie that binds his self portraits together. His comedic sensibilities can be seen in the series I am Not I, in particular his ridiculous posturing with a dildo. He pokes fun at his masculine body-builder pose – which aims to show the body to its best potential – by being unafraid to laugh at himself and mock the potency of the phallus with its plastic counterpart. The more recent photographs of Mikhailov playing football in the park rely upon a similar goofiness and slapstick humour, which turn what could be banal pictures into an almost tragicomic meditation on age and agility. They are evidence that he does not take himself too seriously.”   

Boris Mikhailov - I am Not I

Boris Mikhailov - Football

Bright's writing is concise, interesting, and accessible. In the introduction she mentions several times the continuing efforts exercised by photographers and artists to discover something of an objective or pure self through self-portraiture. Claude Cahun's quote sums up the challenge of it succinctly: “Under the mask is another mask, I will never finish lifting all these faces.” I can see this and the further points Bright raises in this part of her book, assisting me in providing a context from which my current photographic practice will emerge from. 

The intrigue in the mirror

A key theme to my practice, is the relationship we have as individuals to our reflections. The mirror and the reflection, and the fascination of them, has a long history of featuring in photography, both in and out of self-portraiture. Sam Kelly touches on these issues with his thoughts of Bas Jan Ader's I'm too sad to tell you.

As image makers, photographers will at some point turn the camera on themselves. It may only be brief, it may never be shown, but it seems that the compulsion to try it is almost inevitable. The mirror as an object is the greatest partner to this activity. I began an exploration into the motives and the outcomes of this activity with the following.

Contact sheet (click to enlarge)