Bibliography
http://www.aperture.org/exposures/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/schwartz.jpg
http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/?page=article&article_id=875&catID=7
http://www.billybear4kids.com/Movie/PETER_PAN_PE-Photo_04.jpg
http://www.blackwellreference.com/publuc/tocnode?id=g9780631207535_chunk_g97806312075355_ss1-14
Chandler 2006 (206)
How to take better pictures David Bailey’s book of photography
Photographs by David Bailey
Text by George Hughes
Published in 1981
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/horizon
http://www.jessiemann.com/page04.html
http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/popup.php?slide=545
Sally Mann
Immediate Family
PHAIDON
Afterword by Reynolds Price
Published in the U.K. in 1992
http://www.sfmoma.org/images/artwork/medium/91.319_01_d03.jpg
These are all of the sources that I have used in my blog.
Critical Review
From looking at the photographer Sally Mann I have been looking at her collection from ‘Immedicate Family’, and I have been focusing on the photograph of her children called Emmett, Jessie and Virginia. I have noticed that there has been a lot of disagreements with how the children are in the picture in the nude. Many people feel that the children shouldn’t be in the nude in the photograph. Some say it could look like ‘child porn’, and that the messages of the picture could be created without the children being in the nude. Others say that the photograph has a lot of meaning and messages and the use of nudity helps build upon these messages, such as nature and power.
From reading Sally Mann’s book ‘Immediate Family’ Sally Mann say’s that she see’s her children everyday from when they are sick to when they are hurt. This is what she was capturing in the photographs in her collection. She was capturing every emotion of her children from happy or sad and produced a powerful collection of photographs. This is connoted by the use of facial expressions and body language in the photo of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia. By looking at both Sally and Jessie Mann they talk a lot about nature, Sally Mann uses this theme a lot in her photographs and Jessie Mann uses this theme in her art work. This also connotes the way the children are in the nude, from when a child is born they are in the nude, which is nature and the body itself is natural. In the photograph of the children the girl’s hair hasn’t been done up with any clips, and they haven’t got anything on their faces, such as make-up. This also builds on the idea of nature, as all of the children are natural and as they are in the nude it also builds on this theme, which makes the message stronger. I also looked at Don McCullin and how he also uses strong facial expressions with in his photographs, this relates to Sally Mann who also uses lots of facial expressions to build on the theme of her photographs.
The picture has a lot of power with the children tightly together that represents their friendship and love. With the contrast of having the youngest daughter Virginia seem the strongest by standing slightly in front of her two siblings, and having her head pointed upwards, also makes the photograph interesting and believable,as her facial expressions seem natural. I have also looked into other photographers that have taken photos of their children, and from my research I looked into Robin Schwartz. One of her photos is of her daughter on her bed, this reminded me of one of Sally Mann’s photographs with Virginia on the bed. By looking at other photographer who takes photos of their children, it helped me understand how Sally Mann was capturing the different ways that you can see yourself, other than just always smiling or looking happy in a photo, as you do see loved ones when they are in a bad mood or sick. Sally Mann has captured this in her photos with the use of nudity to make the photographs natural. I also looked at other photographers that have used nudity in their photograph, such as David Bailey, and how they have used nudity to make their messages in the photos stronger.
Power is one of the myths in the photograph,from this I used the film ‘Peter Pan’ as a source, with the use of the lost boys in comparison to Wendy, who is also described as the Wendy bird. At first the lost boys seem tough when they knock Wendy out of the sky. However it is soon clear to the audience that it is Wendy who is the stong character throughout the whole of the film. As she isn’t scared to get into danger or walk the plank off a ship. This relates to the photograph as Wendy is like Virginia who is the youngest, but is seemed as the powerful and tough one out of the three, this is clearly seen with the use of her body language, with her hand on her hip connotes her confidant and cheeky side.
I have also used a range of sources to build on the myth of family. Sally Mann takes photographs of the people who she loves and the places she loves, this is how she expresses her art, not for just taking photos of her children smiling, but having a message with her photos. This also relates to how she creates nature within her photographs, as the children are modeling everyday things, such as sleeping and hurting themselves.
Overall I feel that Sally Mann’s photographs have a lot of meanings and emotions when looking at them. The theme of nature is very important with in the photo of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia, with the use of the background being out of focus and having the children in focus makes the audience want to see the location. Having the children in the nude creates the idea of nature, and it makes the photo in itself a strong image.
Writing Plan
I have been looking at the photographer Sally Mann, and focusing on her photograph called Emmett, Jessie and Virginia. The photograph is a black and white mid shot of her three children in the nude.
As the children are in the nude, people feel that this distracks the messages of the photograph, and that the children should be wearing their clothes. Other say that the messages within the photograph are very clear, with the myths of family and power. I feel that the image itself is very powerful, and one of the messages in the photograph is nature. This then relates to the children being in the nude, as our bodies are natural.
Overall I feel that the children look confidantin the photograph, which builds up this natural theme, aslo their facial expressions seem natural with a strong look.
I-Map
This is my i-map outlining all of my research that I got from looking at the photograph of Sally Mann.
Research Findings
I have been looking at the picture by Sally Mann of her children Emmett, Jessie and Viriginia, and finding out the mani themes of the picture. The picture itself has had people feel strong for it and againist it, as many people feel that the children be in the nude. On the other hand other people see the message behind the picture. I feel that as the children are in the nude it creates the natural look, and makes the picture seem real. Sally Mann talks a lot about nature, and her home town, which meaning a lot to the photographer. I have been looking at the photographs in Sally Mann’s collection of ‘Immediate Family’ where the picture is apart of, the pictures create a strong meaning with the positions of her children in the photographs and with the use of props. An example of this would be the picture of Jessie and Virginia with the candy cigarettes, this connotes how the two girls are dressing and looking older than they are. I feel that Sally Mann loves to capture the people and the places that she loves in the photographs, and also likes to photograph her children when they are hurt,as she loves them and she see’s them when they are happy or upset. This is what Sally Mann’s feels is important to photograph as they have got a lot of meaning.
Diary
throughout my research for the photograph by Sally Mann taken of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia i have found out a range of different information about the photographer and her children.
Week one We found out that we had to create a blog and we had to choose one of six media products. Looking at all of the products I wanted to explore the picture by Sally Mann, as i liked the way half of the picture was in focus and how the background was out of focus and still very effective.
Week two I found out that the children in Sally Mann’s photograph were her children, and the name of the photograph were the names of her children Emmett, Jessie and Virginia. Virginia was also the name of her mother, and her home town. Sally Mann has taken some pictures with both Virginia her youngest daughter and her mother. As I was unable to log on to wordpress, I was hand writing all of the information about Sally Mann.I got Sally Mann’s book which has a collection of photographers of her family, where the picture of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia is apart of, this is called ‘Immediate Family’. I then added the picture to the blog and asked a range of questions I had about the photograph, this included where was the location of the picture?
Week three In the lesson we were put into groups to talk about our chosen subject. We then had to write down the different themes the photograph had, an example of this would be power. We then had a sheet of paper that we had to fill in different information about Sally Mann, this could have been primary information, secondary information, historical and social and cultural context. An example of historical and social would be how she was the photographer of the year for the Time magazine in 2001. Primary information would include her birthday, which is 1st May 1951. On the blog I then added the location of the photograph and a quote by Sally Mann from her book ‘Immediate Family’.
Week four In lesson we were talking about signifier and signified, with the signifier being the descriptive word, describing the main themes of the photograph. An example of this would be the three children, and the bracelets on Emmett’s arm. An example of a signified would be the meaning of what is in the picture, this could be the way the three children are standing with their brother in the middle and the two girls on each side of him. This then relates to myths and the myth in the photograph is of power and how confidant the children look. As a group we came up with a range of myths that relate to the photograph of Sally Mann’s children, an example of this is the myth family, and how the three siblings are close together in the picture.
Week five This week I was looking at binary oppositions, and as a group we had to come up with binary oppositions for the photograph of Sally Mann. We thought that a good binary opposition would be old and young, with the children as young and the location they are in as old, this also connotes the contrast in the picture. On the blog I then went on
Week six In the lesson we were talking about types and degrees, and how Sally Mann may have got her inspiration from. On the blog I then wrote how her father use to take pictures and that Sally Mann may have got her inspiration from him. I then wrote how Peter Pan may have been some inspiration, with the whole idea of the Wendy bird, and how the lost boys look and feel confidant, but when it comes to it they aren’t very confidant at all, and it’s the Wendy bird that is the confidant one. I also looked at Robin Schwartz and I was looking at her photograph of her daughter on the bed, which reminded me of the photograph of Sally Mann’s.
Week Seven This week I was still going at types and degrees, from this I looked at Don McCullin, who photographed a homeless man. From this I looked at the facial expression of the man and related it back to the photograph of Sally Mann, as both photos had very strong facial expressions. I also looked at some art work from Jessie Mann Sally Mann’s daughter, and i noticed how both Sally and Jessie Mann like adding nature into their work.
Week eight This week I looked at a book from David Bailey, and noticed how he also takes photographers for models in the nude, and I found some quotes from the book. I also noticed the type of camera David Bailey uses to take his photographs.
David Bailey
David Bailey has also used 35mm cameras a quote from his book say’s ’35mm format has long been a favourite with amateurs and professionals alike. For the latter it is especially useful when shooting live figures and action’. This is quite an old style camera, which Sally Mann also uses an old style camera to capture her pictures. When using the 35mm camera the photographer wouldn’t have to use a tripod to take the camera still, when taking a picture in not much natural light. When Sally Mann was using her camera she had to make sure that her children were in focus and the background was out of focus.
How to take better pictures David Bailey’s book of photography
Photographs by David Bailey
Text by George Hughes
Published in 1981
David Bailey
David Bailey is a photographer who has taken a range of nude pictures, in his book ‘How to take better pictures David Bailey’s Book of photography’. A quote from the book about nudity is ‘in theory, a successful nude photograph gives the viewer the impression of peeping for a moment into the model’s private world’. He then writes ‘simply pointing the camera at an undirected model and firing the shutter when the picture looks good. So finely honed is fantasy that the elements of the picture must contain no distractions, and it is much more productive to set up and carefully control every nude picture’. This connotes that as a model is in the nude, this shouldn’t therefore be the main focus of the picture, or be distracting from the main focus of the picture. The model who is in the nude should be there to make the meaning of the picture stronger, and should relate to the theme of the picture.
He also questions why nudity is ‘explosive’, as he say’s that ‘because, surely, the body naked is one of the very foundations of life: from birth and childhood to the beginnings of our own relationships with each other, and on to maturity, the body excites the most powerful emotions’. David Bailey is saying that being nude is the most natural form of the body and that in itself is a strong message, and meaning to photograph. We are born into this world without any clothes, which connotes a range of feelings and emotions for people. An example of this would be the first feelings a new family would have, for their new arrival into the family. The body tells a lot of emotions from an up right position to feel happy, or to a slouch position when someone is sad.
This relates back to the photograph of Sally Mann and how her children are in the nude. The children’s facial expressions itself make them look confidant, but how their bodies are positioned also tell the viewer how powerful they are feeling. Also the picture connotes a lot about nature, and having the children in the nude relates back to nature.
How to take better pictures David Bailey’s book of photography
Pictures by David Bailey
Text by George Hughes
First published in 1981
Jessie Mann
Jessie Mann Sally Mann’s eldest daughter has produced a range of pictures. From looking at the paintings there is a sense or nature. This is connoted by the colours used and how the brush moves over the paper. After looking at the paintings it almost looks like trees on a windy day. This still relates back to the picture her with her sister and brother, with the sense of nature. This could be the main theme of the picture and connotes why the three children are in the nude, to relate to the theme or nature.
http://www.jessiemann.com/page04.html
Accessed on the 23rd November
This is the painting by Jessie Mann, the colours used are feel very warm and almost relate to the last weeks of summer. there is also contrast with the blue, as it looks like the sky and the busyness of the other colours, as they look like the landscape, as it almost looks like the top of trees with the wind running past the leaves. This theme would also link in the title of the picture as it is called ‘horizons’ , and one meaning for this word is ‘the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet’. This also gives the idea of nature, and how Jessie Mann feels that nature and the surroundings are important to her, and this is expressed in the picture ‘Emmett, Jessie and Virginia’ with the children being natural.
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/horizon
Accessed on the 23rd November
Quote from Sally Mann
On the back of Sally Mann’s book ‘Immediate Family’ Sally Mann writes ‘these are photographs of my children..Many of these pictures are intimate, some are fictions and some are fantastic, but most are of ordinary things every mothers has seen. I take pictures when they are bloodied or sick or naked or angry. They dress up, they pout and posture, they pant their bodies, they dive like otters in the dark river’.
From reading this quote by Sally Mann, the Photograph of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia seems like it is both fiction and non-fiction. With their use of body language, as they are posing. Virginia as an example with her head slightly raised up, connotes that this is a posed body position. Another example of the picture being fiction is the way Emmett has his arms with all of his friendship bracelets that can be clearly seem by the viewer. This connotes the friendship of the three siblings and how close they all are. This when gives the idea of how they are positioned so close together in the picture. There is also a sense of non-fiction, with the use of the children’s facial expressions with that fix stare, and the use of the natural surroundings.
Sally Mann
Immediate Family
PHAIDON
Afterword by Reynolds Price
Published in the U.K. in 1992
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