Proximity
Matthew Finn.
According to Proximity - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com proximity means " nearness or closeness" through being in close contact and having with the subject, the photographer is able to create intimate images which show a personal relationship where the guard is down. This is clear in the following images by Martin Finn and others.
Today we looked at the work of Matthew Finn. He is notable for doing portraits of individuals- most notable however, a selection of images which document the later years of his late mother. Matthews mother sadly declined over this period into dementia-this was documented by Finn over the years.
Looking For Alice — Sian Davey
Both photographers in their work expand the awareness. They also give us a candid glimpse of life in their family and let an outsider in to see how they deal with issues such as dementia and downs. This way of confronting an issue which is seldom seen in such a domestic setting helps break the stigma associated. They use their proximity to their family to educate the viewer about a particular issue such as dementia. Rather than information coming from the NHS factsheet, we see proximity and closeness to a child affected by downs as a way of educating the public. Therefore, the concept is both public information and a sentimental look at Alice.
Sophie Calle Room 47 (The Hotel)
Sophie Calle was hired as a chambermaid working in a Venetian hotel in 1981. She was instructed to clean 12 rooms in the hotel. During the months she worked there, she became interested in the people who worked there through what they possessed and brought to their room. The findings would become a diptych (in 3 parts) which would show images and words that represented the guests stay in the hotel. She collected that much data that 21 diptychs were created by Calle. "Calle’s descriptions of the hotel rooms and their contents combine factual documentation along with her personal response to the people whose lives she glimpsed by examining their belongings. Each text begins with the chambermaid/artist’s first entry into the room and a notation of which bed or beds have been slept in, with a description of the nightwear the guests have left. A list of objects usually follows, as the artist transcribes her activities in the room. Calle is unashamedly voyeuristic, reading diaries, letters, postcards and notes written or kept by the unknown guests, rummaging in suitcases, and looking into wardrobes and drawers. She sprays herself with their perfume and cologne, makes herself up using the contents of a vanity case, eats food left behind and salvages a pair of women’s shoes left in the bin" The Hotel, Room 47‘, Sophie Calle, 1981 | Tate
This level of "proximity" reveals the lifestyle of the guests and their likes and dislikes. She even recorded the voices of the guests and when possible, went out of her way to see them in the flesh. In 1981 consumerism due to Neoliberalism was on the increase. People were defined by what they drove, clothes they wore, perfume or aftershave they wore and where they went on holiday. We were defined by what we consume. The concept here feeds into this belief and out of all these items consumed by guests, a picture of them would be created.
This interest in other people apparently stated in 1979 while in Paris. She would follow random strangers around the city curious to find out where they were going. She incorporated eventually a camera into her "practice" and added images to the notes she was taking regarding their movements.
‘The Hotel, Room 47‘, Sophie Calle, 1981 | Tate
Sophie Calle questions the idea of "private" in todays culture of Facebook and the internet. She reflects on the idea of once, people had private lives where their family images where not so widely available for everybody to see-as is the case today. The internet has created platforms where every aspect of an individuals life is for mass consumption. Almost to the point of being voyeuristic.
According to Sophie Calle "Private – a word from the past, or so it would seem these days. A word of hardly any relevance in an era when everything – from one’s favourite recipe to one’s current relationship status – is posted on Facebook. Exhibitionism, self-revelation, the urge to tell stories, the pleasure of presenting and voyeurism are the social strategies of our day and age. “
Sophie Calle: Detachment, Death, and Dialogue - LENSCRATCH
In bygone days, families would have photograph albums which had images of the family contained within them. All this would require buying film, taking the image and getting it processed somewhere. Today, photos are taken with one device-a mobile phone. The problem here is that digital images on a phone do not last forever-only as long as the phone that took them lasts. She uses image and written language in her work. This challenges Roland Barthes view that "photographs are ambiguous messages without a code that need text to anchor their meaning" Sophie Calle: Detachment, Death, and Dialogue - LENSCRATCH the apparent need for words is to put the image into context and clarifies. She argues that imagery and text are an important aspect of her work.
The early work of Calle's, especially The Hotel I consider as lacking in ethics. No consent has been derived from the subjects and unlike the other two photographers, there is no attempt to break the stigma of illness or conditions. Calle does raise important questions in todays social media society where we share our images with the world and people become obsessed with other people life's. A modern day individual who did what Sophie Calle did in The Hotel would be called "a troll" Callie does however incorporate writing, research and imagery in her diptychs.
However, Sophie Calle's mother gave her daughter a box of family images and pictures of her mother. This collection or archive of primary source material was the inspiration of a "book, film and art installation is Calle’s way of honoring her mother’s wish to take the central stage in one of her daughter’s projects, as if one last chance to perform in the limelight. Rachel, Monique… (2012) is a combination of archival material (Monique’s old photographs) and new images taken by Calle in response to the fact that her mother was dying. She had given great prominence to her parent’s last word souci (part of the expression “don’t worry”) – she engraved it in marble, recreated it in lace, and created numerous other objects, metaphorically giving her the last word. Jacques Derrida interprets the archive as a “symptom of the repetition compulsion, which in turn is connected to the death drive” .Sophie Calle: Detachment, Death, and Dialogue - LENSCRATCH
The work with her mum is in complete contrast with her other work because it is of a family member. This is similar to the work of Finn and his documenting his mothers illness and creating an archive of a dying family member. Rachel, Monique (her mother) "has been a participant but never the subject of an entire body of work. It is an exercise in remembrance and memory. Photography is considered to be an essential tool in art therapy, one that helps us cope with pain and suffering. It enables us to keep those who are no longer with us present through holding onto their image (and, in this case, paraphernalia such as diaries) – this is especially true in the form of analogue photography, which is virtually a physical trace of the person, directly stenciled off the real like a foot print or a death mask"
Source Sophie Calle: Detachment, Death, and Dialogue - LENSCRATCH
Leonie Hampton
A task for today's seminar was to look at this photographer's work with the view being proximity. A selection of images which deal with her mother's hoarding seemed to strike a chord with me.
.png)
Hampton uses her photography to outline her mother's hoarding in her home. I found this interesting because some years ago, I let things get on top of me to this extent and I couldn't cope. Looking at the mess seemed daunting and scared me into doing anything about the mess. In the end, I accessed help.
I feel that this sort of exposure to a common issue is positive if it is done correctly and tastefully. If it is mocking, then that is different. Drawing attention to an issue and challenging stigma is very positive. The photographer uses portraits and candid views of his mother's life-during this time. The images are in colour, which adds to the impact of seeing the items all around the subject. The work runs parallel to TV shows that highlight peoples struggle dealing with hoarding. The premise of such shows is the person is identified, shown the extent of the hoarding and help is given to solve the problem. Due to this kind of exposure, hoarding is recognised by the public as an illness mental health professionals recognise. In a time of mass consumption of goods, this kind of behaviour is more common then people seem to think.
BBC One - Britain's Biggest Hoarders - Episode guide
.png)
leonie hampton photography - Bing images
.png)
.png)
The images again question our assumptions and make us consider the lives of those in the images. They also deal with stigma through confronting the reality of poverty in society.
.png)
.png)
Today we looked at different views in photography and the motivations of certain photographers. We looked at certain practitioners and tried to understand what they are trying to convey in their photography and writings.
I looked at Chris Killip and Graham Smith and their work as photographers documenting the social change of the Northeast of Britain during the 1970s and 80s. Thatcher's economic policies of Monetarism were slowly strangling the state-run industries such as shipbuilding and coal that were nationalised in 1945 by Clement Atlee's Labour Government. The closing of ship building operations and the privatisation of utilities such as energy and water had a disastrous effect on the working class. Jobs in the coal industries would see mines being closed down by the Conservative government. The context of the time was a class divide where the working class were under attack from neoliberalism. However, out of this, there was a rich culture which would see subcultures such as punks and skinheads immerging. As with most cultural shifts, they have their roots in working class culture. Such as rap coming out of the ghettos of America in the 1970s. Punk of the 70s would be born out of working class disillusion of society and the music of the 70s. Punk would be minimalist in terms of music equipment and sound-though it would be angry and to the point.
Despite the economic structures created, Killip and Smiths proximity to the sub cultures has created an interesting reflection of working class culture of the time.
Chris Killip.
Both documented the cultural change also in the 80s such as the establishment of punk culture at the time. This gave a voice to a marginalised youth who were disenfranchised from the economic market but had a voice through culture. However, some subcultures would be nationalist and use their culture to demonstrate against the new economic model of neoliberalism through skinhead music.
Chris Killip | Photographer | All About Photo (all-about-photo.com)
Comments
Post a Comment