Artist Profile 2) Sam Taylor-Wood

Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor Wood is an English photographer and film maker and is known for her unconventional self portraiture and levitation work. She started in small short films, which then lead to bigger films like Nowhere Boy 2010,  she worked alongside different actors and visual artists and has won a number of awards with her films.  She has been nominated for annual Turner Prize in 1998 and as one of the most inflectional artists of the 21st century which you can see very clearly in her images the way her film maker past gives her an edge to her images.

Are approach to photography is always incredibly dramatic and have great lighting that give a immense atmosphere. I think that this is affected by her background in film making has she wants her images to say a thousand words and grab your attention, as in her previous projects she has 2 hours worth of context and content to give to the audience however in photography she only has a single frame. Her use of composition gives whatever subjects she showing in the image enough space for maximum impact on the viewer. She uses negative space to achieve this effect and works amazingly with her series called Suspended.

“Its about there being a physical limit but in an emotional space, its about being caught in an inbetween space, no mans land, a momentary space, neither up nor down, here nor there”- Sam Taylor Wood 2002

Self Portrait Suspended 2004, C-type print

Her series of work called Suspended is where the image shown is from, challenges the way reality is held up by fickle strings of society and how we have to find a way of release. She’s breaking the link between dream and reality, a place where your suspended from all worries and stress. The dream like elements are shown the large window symbolises freedom and opportunity, the brightly coloured walls and soft halo effect around her body and floor convey an angelic feel to the image, creating other-worldly

She experiments with dark humour, performance and characters. In her images she disregards and looses all sense of  place and time allowing it to exist in a hyper-reality world where the audience can escape to. Like Vivan Maier’s work, Taylor-Wood creates her own world where her characters, which are all different aspects of her personality, flourish and co-exist.

This is something that I really admire about her work and wish to translate over into my own work because it is important for the audience to understand that it is okay to escape from real life and this is my way of doing so. I wish to address her use of character within my work by showing myself looking at myself and also incorporate her ability of a hyper-reality  to convey the release and self preservation.

REFRENCES

Books:

Sam Taylor Wood- Still Lives, publisher Steidl BALTIC 2006

Sam Taylor Wood, publisher Steidl for the Haywood Gallery London, Essays’ by Micheal Bracewell and Jeremy Millar

Websites:

http://samtaylorjohnson.com/photography

http://whitecube.com/artists/sam_taylor-johnson/

Journals:

Title: Sam Taylor–Wood, Author: Tranberg, Dan, Is Part Of: ArtUS, Summer, 2008, Issue 23, p.31(1)

Title: Sam Taylor–Wood, Author: Birnbaum, Daniel, Is Part Of: Artforum International, Nov, 1996, Vol.35(3), p.88(2)

Title: Sam Taylor–Wood (exhibition), Author: Quinones, Paul, Is Part Of: Parachute: Contemporary Art Magazine, July-Sept, 1999, Issue 99, p.56-7 

Artist Profiles 1)- Vivian Maier

Vivan Maier

Maier is an American photographer who was born in 1926, she travelled around America to different cities such as New York, Chicago and LA to take images of their beautiful architecture experimenting with street photography, self portraiture and reflections.

In October 2009 a blogger called Maloof linked this work with that of Maier’s on the image sharing website called Flickr, after this exposure her work became viral. She got the rewards from the critics and her work has been exhibited all around the globe.

She used a variety of cameras including the Kodak Brownie and a  square format Rolleiflex. Has her work developed so did her approaches and methods, she became much more aware about composition and the message she wanted to convey within her images rather than taking simple city snap shots with her Brownie Box . She then started to use larger format cameras  that need a high level of precision, technical skills and clear visions of what you want to achieve with the image.  By studying the method of practice Vivian Maier used, I started purely going out and shooting snap shot style images of what I felt was right within the city, reflected upon the images I had taken to highlight my strengths and refine my weaknesses.  By working in this fashion I found what the best places were to shoot and discovered the  correct angles that would enhance my image for maximum context to be shown.

Her artistic influences have been Lisette Mode and Andre Kertsez, these artists style and use of the camera has been clearly translated into Maier’s work within the black and white tones, composition and their ability to be at the right time at the right place to take a snapshot image that was left to chance. Maier as used these artists ability of using chance to decide her images but with a much more controlled approach.

Her personality and opinions were very strong and she has been described as eccentric and unapologetic person who liked to dress unisex and wear men’s shoes. I feel like this is very important factor within her work,  as she herself if asking a bold question of identity in the society and culture of the 50’s.  Who she was allowed to be? In this time period photography was mainly an all male profession,  for a women dressed in unisex clothing taking a picture in the middle of the city was a very big public statement. However this is what drove her as she was asking questions such as, where is a women’s place?

A repetitive tool that she used within her image is reflection, I feel like she didn’t know herself which is why we was always travelling from city to city taking images where she is preserved within reflections as she hops from one world to another. She created her very own dimension where she could be anything or anyone she wanted to escape the pressures of social classification in the time period.

This sense of preservation is one that I connected with as in modern day we are constantly being told who and what we are by others, parents, friends and even now an even bigger source, social media. Within my images I wish to escape it all and like Maier, create my own space where I can just exist without anyone putting me into a box.  I will be using similar ideas like muilt-dimensions and layering which will link mine and Maiers work together, however I will be using colour rather than black and white to convey more ideas and theories.

References

Websites:

http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/jul/15/secret-selfies-in-the-1950s-photographer-vivian-maier-in-pictures

Books:

Carnal thoughts embodiment and moving image culture, Author: Sobchack, Vivian Carol, Statement of Responsibility: Vivian Sobchack., Publisher: University of California Press, Creation Date: 2004

Vivian Maier, Author: John Maloof, Publisher: Powerhouse Books, Creation Date: 2011

Exhibition 

Vivian Maier

Chris Beetles Fine Photographs, London , United Kingdom Mar. 11, 2013 – Apr. 03, 2013

Journals: 

Title: Camera Shy.(Culture)(Vivian Maier), Author: Chayka, Kyle, Is Part Of: Newsweek, Dec 13, 2013, Vol.161(45), p.1

Title: Vivian Maier: ‘Photographs from the Maloof Collection’.(Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk)(ART IN REVIEW), Author: Smith, Roberta, Is Part Of: The New York Times, Jan 20, 2012, p.C29(L)

Title: Introduction: Vivian Maier, Author: Merriman, Ben ; Seeder, Andrew, Is Part Of: Chicago Review, Wntr, 2013, Vol.57(3-4), p.102(10

New work & Technical Issues

Over the past week I’ve shot 5 films, out of those 5 only 2 of them came out with minimum damage.

Shoot 1:

On my first shoot I shot 3 films with the same camera in the same day, the shoot went really well and I was able to explore more ideas and colours I had with ease.  I got the exposure and shutter speed perfect, I wasnt worried about the technical side of the shoot at all as I had control. It wasnt until I processed the film, when I saw what had happened.

 

The camera had a light leek that gave me the same mark in each one of my images apart from the end image, it was very inconvenient as the images that I particularally liked have got the marks on. Some of the images haven’t got any marks on so I would be able to use those for larger prints if I wanted. I reported this to the technicians and at the hatch. I made it very clear that the next time I took a camera out that it should work as normal.

The next day I went an got another camera out, I was reshooting the films that had light leeks when the bottom of the camera feel off, making the camera fall off the tripod smashing onto the floor opening the back and exposing the film. I was extremely angry. I then had to borrow another camera off my friend to finish the shoot.

There are STILL light leeks with this camera! I reported all the issues and was then told that next time I take equipment out I should check it first, I was very confused as I thought that was their job.  I will be asking for 3 replacement films so I can reshoot AGAIN and hopefully manage to create some great images.

Vivian Maier

Vivan Maier

Maier is an American photographer who was born in 1926 and worked as a nanny for 40 years as her main occupation and then experimenting with street photography, self portraiture and reflections in her spare time. She travelled around America to different cities such as New York, Chicago and LA to take images of their beautiful architecture and city-scapes. As she never developed many of her negatives her work was undiscovered to the general public until October 2009 when a blogger called Maloof linked this work with that of Maier’s on the image sharing website called Flickr, after this exposure her work became viral. She got the rewards from the critics and he work has been exhibited all around the globe.

Self Portrait 1961
Maier as a person was heavily opinionated, eccentric, very intellectual and unapologetic. She wore men’s shoes and was at her happiest when holding a camera, I feel like this is very important within her work as she herself if asking the question of identity and who she was allowed to be. In this time period of the 1950’s , photography was mostly a men’s profession so to see a women in men’s shoes stop in the middle of the street to take a picture was a statement in itself.  She was asking questions such as, where is a womens place? I feel like she is stuck between two worlds, which is why reflection is so important within her work as her identity is layered much like her images. This is exactly the message I want to convey within my work.     She used a variety of cameras including the Kodak Brownie and a  square format Rolleiflex. She went from taking city snap shots with her Brownie Box camera to then her images became carefully thought and planned which is why she then could move on to bigger more precise images as she new the direction her images needed to be in, her artistic influences have been Lisette Mode and Andre Kertsez.

References

Websites:

http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/jul/15/secret-selfies-in-the-1950s-photographer-vivian-maier-in-pictures

Books:

Carnal thoughts embodiment and moving image culture

Author: Sobchack, Vivian Carol

Statement of Responsibility: Vivian Sobchack.

Publisher: University of California Press

Creation Date: 2004

Vivian Maier

Author: John Maloof

Publisher: Powerhouse Books

Creation Date: 2011

Journals:

Title: Camera Shy.(Culture)(Vivian Maier)

Author: Chayka, Kyle

Is Part Of: Newsweek, Dec 13, 2013, Vol.161(45), p.1

Title: Eye to Eye: Photographs by Vivian Maier.(Brief article)(Book review)

Author: Seaman, Donna

Is Part Of: Booklist, July 1, 2014, Vol.110(21), p.14(1)

Duane Michals

Duane Michals

Michals is an American photographer who was born in 1932, he uses photo-sequences to show the characters development and narrative, he also uses text to accompany his images which enables him to project a strong and direct message to the audience. In his early years he enjoyed watercolour paintings however was then drafted into the army and so was unable to carry on his artistic practice, once out of the army he planed on studying graphic design and Parsons School of Design but never finished the course. Whilst on holiday he discovered the art of photography and self taught himself everything he needed to know, he then launched himself a commercial photographer and took location images of models which gave him an edge over the photographers like Richard Avedon and Irving Penn who use a studio.

 

He’s been commissioned by the Mexican Government to photograph the 1968 Summer Olympics and has also done a number of musicians art work such as Synchronicity by The Police in 1983, with this in mind he worked with the theme of power and politics and how he uses his images as a tool for people to look and understand, his other themes include homosexual rights, life and death, reality and illusion.  This sequence shown is called Dr. Heisenberg’s Magic Mirror of Uncertainty, 1998 and as you can see from the title Michals is exploring how humans observe themselves and the in-between world of uncertainty and acceptance, if were good enough for societies standards and dissecting ourselves apart.

He has been influenced by artists like Lewis Carroll, William Blake and Walt Whitman intern he has influenced Francesca Woodman and David Levinthal. His work appeals to me as his use of sequences tells the audience the characters process and narrative which makes is personal, also the themes he addresses are very close to mine, he uses medium format cameras and also uses heightened reality as a tool to get his messages across.

REFRENCES

Websites:

http://www.thebucketshop.com/lessonplans/duanemichals.html

http://chi-photo.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/research-in-artist-duane-michals.html

Books:

Real dreams : photo stories by Duane Michals.,

Author: Michals, Duane,

Publisher: Addison House

Creation Date: 1976

Album : the portraits of Duane Michals.

Author: Michals, Duane

Publisher: Twelvetrees press

Creation Date: 1989

Journals:

Title: Storyteller: the photographs of Duane Michals

Author: Lacayo, Richard

Is Part Of: Time International (Asia Edition), Sept 8, 2014, Vol.184(9-10), p.91(1)

Printing My Final Images.

I spend a few days printing my contact sheets and work prints to try and narrow down which images I felt represented my ideas and theme in the best possible way. I wanted to show my work with reflections and the outside world and how they affect the way I persevere myself in the good and bad. Here are my 2 final prints:

I image on the left is a reflection of me in the street, however with the leading lines, shapes and buildings its hard to get a sense of place and where I actually am in the images. This is something that is very important to understand as I am asking the question of where do I belong in the world, wheres my place and is it here? Lee Friedlander’s work has made me be aware of composition, location and shape within the image, as you can see I have carefully aliened myself  the red poles, the rule of thirds have been used also.  Francesca Woodman’s work has enabled me to think about placement and how I would look in the image, I chose not to have direct mode of address with the camera to give mystery and so it seems I am looking at something in the distance, these things give great mise en scene and allow the idea to be more predominant.

The image on the right has been taken by a large window with a handheld mirror that I have angled towards my face and the lens, the idea for this image has come from Sam Taylor Wood and Tracey Moffatt as I am looking at myself and my character, the idea with the double reflection and the window is that I have more than person/ character and I need to prioritize which is real and which is what I think I am and who society thinks I should be. Both artists experiment with this theme within their work and how they use symbolism heavily, like the window in my image represents reality.

Artist Research 4- Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor Wood is an English photographer and film maker and is known for her unconventional self portraiture and levitation work. She started in small short films called Travesty of a Mockery and Pent-Up from 1996, which then lead to bigger films like Nowhere Boy 2010,  she worked with a number of different actors and visual artists and has won a number of awards with her films.  She has been nominated for annual Turner Prize in 1998 and as one of the most inflectional artists of the 21st century which you can see very clearly in her images the way her film maker past gives her an edge to her images. They are very dramatic, have great lighting that give a immense atmosphere and the composition makes the most of the image and gives your eye the perfect amount to look at.

“Its about there being a physical limit but in an emotional space, its about being caught in an inbetween space, no mans land, a momentary space, neither up nor down, here nor there”- Sam Taylor Wood 2002

Self Portrait Suspended 2004, C-type print
Her series of work called Suspended is where the image shown is from, challenges the way reality is held up by fickle strings of society and how we have to find a way of release , these’s are self portraits so the idea of her needing a break from reality. She’s breaking the link between dream and reality, a place where your suspended from all worries and stress. My work will be addressing the same realisation as Sam Taylor Wood, about being caught up in yourself and the way we deal with it. She has a great eye for composition and light, these are all factors which I will take into consideration as her style is very unique and edgy.  She experiments with dark humour, performance and characters. In her images she has lack of place and time in her allowing the image to just simple be. She uses this a tool for the audience to relate to may people in a hyper-reality world and experimenting with time and space.

REFRENCES

Books:

Sam Taylor Wood- Still Lives, publisher Steidl BALTIC 2006

Sam Taylor Wood, publisher Steidl for the Haywood Gallery London, Essays’ by Micheal Bracewell and Jeremy Millar

Websites

http://samtaylorjohnson.com/photography

http://whitecube.com/artists/sam_taylor-johnson/

Journals:

Sam Taylor–Wood

Author: Tranberg, Dan

Is Part Of: ArtUS, Summer, 2008, Issue 23, p.31(1)

Title: Artistic conceptions; Sam Taylor–Wood.(Features)

Author: David Mattin

Is Part Of: The Times (London, England), May 16, 2006, p.2

New Proposal

Representation  L4 2015

Project proposal

Name  Alice Worb

Project Description

What technique/s, key themes and ideas does the work hope to work engage with?

I’m going to be exploring the idea of self portraiture with reflections in mirrors and other reflective surfaces like shop windows, car windows, rain puddles and industrial structures.

What is the link with other work you are producing?

The link is the use of self portraiture not being directly ones face, it can be just a shadow, an outline of a figure or a facial feature. My idea is all about leaving gaps for the audience to fill in, asking questions with my work and then letting others fill in the blanks to what they want to see.

What research will you be doing or have you done, and how has it impacted upon the direction of your interests in portraiture on this unit?

I have visited the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in London which gave me idea about colour, also the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize was showing at the National Portrait Gallery, the artist Robert Timothy and his work One Minute To Go where he takes images of news readers just before they give a live news broadcast and you see right into their thoughts and let their humanity get the better of them before they become an unbiased robot. This inspired me into asking questions with my work and letting the audience fill in the gap, giving them a story and leaving them to figure it out for themselves.

Who are the most important photographic and artist references for your project at this stage? – include three illustrations as starting points.

Lee Friedlander 

Saul Leiter

 Francesca Woodman

How do you anticipate managing the timeline of the unit with production – outline a rough plan of work.

Week1) Plan, brain storm, online research

Week2) Digitally test shoot and blog post, film test shoot

Week3) Shoot 2 films and asses them

Week4) Artist research and 3 film shoot

Week 5) Print contact sheets and final prints

Week6) Finish printing, research and blog

Contact Sheets.

Over the last week I’ve shot 4 films all on my new idea and I am very happy with my results.

Contact Sheet  1

These were all shot in the studio with day light, 2 reflectors and a stool. They are self portraits so I used my friend to set up the shot, then we would swap places and she would make sure I was focused then take the shot. Mirrors and other materials are important as they convey the way I see myself, all the good and the bad. The images came out well exposed, good composition and the lighting is perfect. Here are my favorite images:

The highlight of sun light on my arms are beautiful, you can see the side of my head yet the face in the broken mirror is the only part in perfect focus. this image has a lovely soft colours and the message is clear. The second image has the same lovely lighting but the facial expression shows another side of the mirror, the insecure side where everything is wrong and ugly. But I made the image to let others know that they are not alone and everyone goes through tough days.

Contact Sheet 2) 

These images worked with the idea of the window, theres double reflection and one outlook. Youve have to decide which is the better view, and how you can acheive a mix of both. Sometimes you can get caught up in ‘being cool’ or ‘fitting in’ and even what society thinks of you, the window is the way to reach reality when caught up in it all. I like the end image best as I like the different patterns with my clothes and how the lighting flares off the camera.

Contact Sheet 3)

These images were influenced by Lee Friedlander and his use of shadows and reflection in the street and shops. This was taken in an industrial estate where there was architectural value to the images and a edge of difficulty for the audience to decide what part is real and what part is the reflection.  I like these images as they have heavy symbolism with the cracked glass as in one image Im looking straight into the cracks to so that I am deep within it or even created the cracks, then in another image I am looking up and over it and moving on.

National Gallery

When visiting he National Gallery I discovered my love for paintings again! The way they engulf all your senses and then spit you back out again when you move on to the next one. These are some of the paintings that caught my attention and the reasons why.

Peder Blake- Ship On Breaking Waves 1840, oil on canvas 

This painting swept me off my feet, the atmosphere it creates is pure and dynamic as the white in the middle of the image grabs your eye and then lets it scan the rest of the painting completely whisks you away. The colours convey an after disaster scene where the worst is over and the sun is coming out proving the return of the good. The browny red parts of the sea suggest alot of blood has been spilt and now its merging with the natural calm blue, making a mess of the natural balance of the sea. The men in the boat are slowly drifting away on a rescue boat as the survivors of battle reflecting on those they’ve lost and those they killed.  This painting reminds me that with bad comes the good and every mistake that I made and have made, will be a learning curve for the future. Its symbolism for no matter how bad things get in your life there’s another side to it, and when its over you will be able to reflect and disconnects.

Garofalo- An Allegory of Love 1527-39

This painting is completely different to Blake’s, this is all about form and culture of society when this was painted. The painting shows how society depicts what men and women ‘should’ look like in the 1520’s-30’s, the men are muscular because they were expected to fight in battles or be paid to fight so this is the body shape desired. Women however look voluptuous and curvy as a sign of weath and good health, they have large breasts and could be linked to the body type of Venus from Willendorf, the perfect women can bare a child and a sign of that is by having this body type.

This painting makes me reflect on my own wants and needs as this painting is showing the natural lust for power and sex. However theres many other objects of the image that convey connotations of greed, jealousy and sneakiness, etc the animals in the trees, the buildings in the background and the colours that have been used.

These paintings bring so much inspiration to me and open to my eyes, I feel like my work has to be this complicated but it doesn’t, I simple provide a platform and people can interpret what they want from it. Art can be complex or the most simplest thing in the world the audience will decide for you.

REFERENCES 

http://www.apollo-magazine.com/peder-balkes-arctic-landscapes-in-the-national-gallery/

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/02/2014/the-secret-story-of-the-venus-of-willendorf