CHARLOTTE COTTON

Story Telling

Charlotte Cotton's, "the photograph as contemporary art", which I now own has been a recent topic of discussion.

The pages specific to this discussion are 64-70 in chapter 2, "once upon a time".
Another blog featuring this particular chapter: http://imagingworkshop11.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/reading-charlotte-cotton-once-upon-time.html

You can buy your copy from: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photograph-Contemporary-Art-World/dp/0500203806

What narratives are investigated by Cotton in the work discussed? What varied ideas are these works linked to?

Collected fears and fantasies, psychological powerful devices, childhood references and stories usually dramatized and given sinister edges, storytelling gone wrong in most cases. Some had troubling narratives but were linked to fashion. For example animals, birds, rituals, bizarre and disturbing psychological dramas.

untitled #2 (wonder), 1996. Chromogenic print, A.P. 2/2, edition of 5, 47 5/8 x 39 5/8 inches (120.8 x 100.6 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York,Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council  97.4577. © 1999 Anna Gaskell- 

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search=Anna%20Gaskell&page=1&f=People&cr=1 - Link to Anna Gaskell's collection.

These were all quite disturbing to look at, especially with the involvement of children, and the fact that their childhood memories of fairy tales and adventures were being totally transformed into sinister alternates of similar stories. I thought this could be the result of an unfortunate child who is rebelling at the idea of happy childhoods and would like to express their hurt and anger for not being able to experience what normal, happy children would experience. Or not even the child itself but a cry out for those who are victims of these experiences. I feel as if these images would not appear into someone's head without having some sort of recollection of the ideas around the subject, they are very powerful and effective however troubling and worrying views come to mind when viewing them. 

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/bio/?artist_name=Anna%20Gaskell&page=1&f=Name&cr=1 -This link is to Anna Gaskell's biography.

Artwork by Gregory Crewdson, "Twilight" 2002

Untitled, 2001

Digital C-print

Image size: 48 x 60 inches (121.9 x 152.4 cm)

 The use of sets and props compared with location and the environment, children as the subject and fashion models. Fashion and costume is frequently used with the references from stories which are extremely exaggerated. Landscape and Portrait photography and some combined together, also interior/architecture and perspectives and angles. The photographers reference film and fiction most in their work along with mild horror and Sci-fi. They use real people and children to create fake and unrealistic scenes and they exaggerate the things we most fear in the past and the future. For example the work above by Gregory Crewdson is very staged and fictional but there is an element of beauty within its' context. It's a very mysterious and intriguing body of work that again captures the essence of the paranormal and disturbing. Either way the images are very captivating and would have taken some time to produce.

For more information visit: http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/june-29-2002--gregory-crewdson

Work made by Charlie White, "Ken's Basement", 2000

http://www.charliewhite.info/bio/

Contemporary is a very open term and can be discussed in many ways however I see the word and work relating to it, new and exciting with challenging and sometimes controversial aspects to it. Work in this genre can be visually striking with powerful meanings and there will always be new work emerging to back up a new and interesting idea. Photographers under this term use their experiences and personal references to express themselves and through their work. Contemporary doesn't always suggest modern but is something that's new to the art world and is there to provoke discussion and analysis. Some people would argue that contemporary art/photography is too different and hard to understand, but if everyone produced the same photographs in the same way you would get bored looking at it.

CHRISTOPHER STEWART United States of America 2002 

c-print
40 x 60 in / 122 x 152.4 cm

http://www.gimpelfils.com/artist_popup.php?artist_id=24

Does not liking a piece work make you disregard it completely? What happens if you pick a photograph/painting to pieces, would you discover a hidden meaning that you do prefer?

WAYS OF SEEING

John Berger’s 
“Ways of Seeing”

In photography it's not all about the 'photo' but there's a deeper meaning to all photography and Art in general and one person who discusses theoretical meaning is John Berger. Here is a discussion on a few pages I recently saw from his book.

This chapter is purely images, no text, which at first was slightly strange as I am used to seeing images with text alongside. The text you usually see, normally informs you about the narrative and opinion about that particular image, but here, John Berger has included 14 pages with no information.

After looking at these images for a while I decided to take a look at John Berger’s BBC documentary, “Ways of seeing”, which I thought may give me some ideas and thoughts around this piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnfB-pUm3eI

The following images are from the chapter I will discuss.

No text, Just image?

Berger may have done this to give the viewer an opportunity to read the images on their own accord and not be manipulated by a piece of text that decides for you. I thought that including text may change the significance of the image and “manipulating” its’ concept. Berger states that “pictures are like words”, “the images speak for themselves”. During the documentary Berger shows a “reproduction” of an image, to a group of primary school children and asks them to look and explain what they see. 

The result being quite diverse and strangely, the boys thought the person was a man and the girls, a woman. They all had their own opinion on this painting and came up with their own ideas and I think that’s very important when making your own work, whether it’s necessary to include text or your interpretation straight away to avoid the viewer being too restricted.

Why can’t viewing art be more spontaneous?

Narratives? 

The idea of male and female roles in society during the 16-1800’s, power and wealth, culture and social status and the depiction of women.  Most of these images were oil paintings, mainly during the Renaissance, some earlier, some later and it was evident that the portraits within them were of high status and considerably wealthy. Some emphasise the dominance in the male figure with the women as house-wives or maids. 

There were a few images of animals that suggested possession and ownership and most importantly the images of women could be a little provocative or a little exaggerated In terms of the female figure. John Berger argues that in European art from the Renaissance onwards, women were depicted as being “aware of being seen by a male) spectator”. This explains the poses and the styling of the women in the paintings and how they were almost always seen, as nudes.

Similarities and what period in history? 

The similarities of the images are that they were either during the Renaissance or later, maybe earlier. They are of a very classical style, some biblical, some of historic relevance, and they represent the women quite frequently. The nudes of women were generally seen as beauty and a “form of dress”, or a “display”, “disguise”. The oil paintings, specifically the biblical ones were often representing eve as being punished, the women was always seen as the “weak” or “vulnerable” and this could also be the answer to why women were nude and men were dressed, the male was superior over women.

 In Berger’s documentary he suggests that women were normally depicted by a (male) painter for the viewer’s pleasure. The images are quite expressive and the paintings exaggerate certain subjects, “paintings were to be seen, not hidden”, it was the “idealism” of that time. There are emphasises on wealth and culture, “how the other half live”, and these were represented with animals, huge amounts of land, portraits of maids and servants and family portraits in quite extravagant clothing. The slave trade is also represented in a few images and these would probably be shown in a newspaper at the time, documenting an event.

Can the readings of these images change over time? 

The readings of these images would change over time, and we thought that our ideas on history and religion would change from person to person and we can see how exaggerated paintings were of the depictions of the world. Also the images of the slave trade would have been seen at the time in newspapers to document these events and now we see it as a historical document, something that we now learn about. 

Education, advertising, modern art has changed our perceptions of things, and traditional art is now something we admire rather than producing more of that style of work. The images with the wealth and social status is an insight to the way they lived and that has changed a considerable amount, what we think of social class now is completely different, these images are now historical documents and insights to a society that doesn’t exist anymore.