Part Three - Putting yourself in the picture: Project One - Autobiographical self-portraiture: Exercise - Reflection

I'm struggling now... I don't find self-portraiture that interesting, unless there is a surreal or fantastic element, as with Francesca Woodman.  I am 100% more interested in the world I inhabit, rather than the portrayal of my own being, and I think for me, I would only really be interested in self-portraiture, if I knew first-hand the author or artist and cared personally about their life...So I'm afraid to say that I don't feel very motivated to do this exercise.  Apologies now to blog readers if this seems a negative and unimaginative post.

The idea of making work about myself doesn't fill me with dread, I don't mind being on the other side of the lens for souvenir/joke shots, and my life isn't boring either.  I just don't have anything to say about myself.  I want to explore the world, not my own identity (perhaps that is my identity!).  I'm more of a "get on with it" person; now I tend not to self-indulge in deep emotional torment - I have done in the past, but today I have a much more of a "live in the moment" and "look forwards" approach to life, rather than to dwell on stuff that I can't change.  I don't even use my own photo for my Facebook profile (because I prefer to find something funny to use - I like to laugh)!  It's not about denial of existence, or lack of self-value, I just literally don't have anything to say.  At the moment.  Perhaps I'm lucky?

But... onwards and upwards with the exercise, which is to reflect on the pieces of work discussed in this project, and do some further research.  I will however be brief!

The artists in question are:

• Francesca Woodman (see previous post) -portrayal of depression using humour to cope?
• Elinus Brotherus - work relating to failed IVF treatment
• Gillian Wearing - exploration of roles in family history

Elina Brotherus

When I started to research Brotherus, as is often the case now, I realised that I had seen "Le Nez de Monsieur Cheval" (image available from the artist's website) - I think in one of my many books... but also in an exhibition.  I don't quite understand this picture though...

I struggled to find information about Brotherus' work online. I can see by the email traffic from student blogs that I follow that I have missed an OCA artist's talk in Wapping, and although I might not like the photography, I do find it an interesting and learning experience to engage with other photographers (again..note to self..).  I have found a few big Scandinavian landscapes, where she is both nude and clothed in the shot.  I broadened my search to include the word "Annunciation" and found one image in the "Photography, Motherhood and Identity" exhibition at the Photographer's Gallery (and I also remembered seeing the OCA post about this).  The image in question shows a lost "Alice in Wonderland" type portrayal of Brotherus sitting on a sofa, pressing the remote cable release (resembling umbilical cord?).  Of course, knowing the background to the image of her failed treatment, this is very sad.  But I am genuinely struggling to persist with this research, I haven't had children myself (by choice), haven't had IVF, and can't relate to the experience.  I relate more to The Dad Project by Briony Campbell - see previous post, as this is a family relationship I experience (thankfully my dad is still alive, although ancient).

Gillian Wearing

Again, this exploration of roles within a family is something I would never engage in.  I just get on with it.  I looked at some of the images (in Google Images) and found them a bit strange.  Unlike Brotherus and Woodman, Wearing seems to be putting masks on.  Is she hiding?  What is she hiding from?  I do have a copy of Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Post-memory by Marianne Hirsch, which I have read but not written about, which also explores the topic of family roles in photography, but I have never felt relevant to my photography.  The photographs I take of my family are souvenir shots.  But I have never wanted to document or explore family relationships in this way.  What I found lots more interesting, and which I have seen before, was Wearing's work on Signs featured in The Guardian online.  I found this interesting because as a society we all have a tendency to make assumptions about people based on their appearance: quick judgements without taking account of any context.  In Signs, Wearing effectively broke down those barriers to enable people to say what they are really thinking, for example the policeman, who is supposed to brave and ready to deal with confrontation, asking for "Help".  In this project, she is actually demasking as opposed to masking, and I find this more intriguing.

The exercise asks us to think about some questions about these pieces of work (note Wearing refers to the family masks work - not the signs work):

• How do these images make you feel: Woodman - intrigued; Brotherus - sympathetic; Wearing - disinterested
• Do you think there's an element of narcissism or self-indulgence in focusing on your own identity in this way?  Woodman - no - I think this is a coping mechanism; Brotherus - initially no - again a coping mechanism, but how long did the project last - there may come a point where it would start to become self-indulgent?  Wearing - no - it's an exploration of relationships and dynamics
• What's the significance of Brotherus's nakedness?  I have no idea, not something I've ever wanted to do.  Is it to get rid of everything - to declutter the mind and body to expose the inner being?  Is it a reference to a newly born child?  Is it to do with lost innocence, awakening, the realisation that your life will never be the same - like a rebirth?
• Can such images work for an outsider without accompanying text?  For Woodman, yes, these are interesting images in their own right.  Brotherus and Wearing, no, I think you need the text to understand the images.  They have specific context, meaning, story, and research elements.
• Do you think any of these artists are also addressing wider issues beyond the purely personal?  I think Wearing is addressing the issue of role and identity being linked to appearance - she is questioning whether by changing appearance we can step into someone else's position.  Woodman, I don't know - I think she is more primarily dealing with her own pain.  Brotherus - yes I think she is - she is tackling the whole subject of grief, and how hard it is not being a mother (if that is what you want), and documenting the impact of such an invasive process.  Would people go through with IVF if they knew already what it is like?

Websites

• Elina Brotherus available from http://www.elinabrotherus.com/news/ [accessed 1 February 2015]
• Home Truths at WeAreOCA available from http://weareoca.com/photography/home-truths/ [accessed 1 February 2015]
• Photography, Motherhood and Identity at The Photographer's Gallery available from http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/photography-motherhood-and-identity [accessed 1 February 2015]
• Private lines: Gillian Wearing's signs in pictures available from http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/mar/04/gillian-wearing-signs-in-pictures [accessed 1 February 2015]