FMP Essay - Identity

 

 

Identity, the personality, appearance, beliefs, qualities, and expressions that make up a person. We are constantly showing our identities, through our style and appearance but I wanted to be able to capture someone’s deeper identity rather than what’s see from first glance. My aim in this project was to find a way to photograph someone’s personality through interaction and lifestyle in the hope of creating a connection between an audience and the model. My work looks at the relationships in my own life and the interactions that take place in them. Initially, I was set on looking at myself only, taking portraiture images and photos at home, but as the project went on, I began looking at the people around me and thinking about how they influence my identity. Within this essay, I will be looking at the ways in which I have approached the topic and explain the ventures I went down. As well as looking at the artists that have influenced my work so far. 

 

In the beginning of the project I looked specifically at myself and my own features using portrait photography, which would only give a surface level view of myself and not tell the audience anything about me. I wanted to be able to show more than just how I present myself in a photograph. As the project went on I continued to use photography as my medium but started thinking about ways in which I can tell a story in of me in my own work.

 

Photography - the art or practice of taking and capturing images using light. Beginning in 1839 with the Daguerreotype, created by Louis Daguerre. The process involves creating a detailed image and placing it onto a sheet of copper with a thin coat of silver. The sheet is then cleaned and polished before being exposed to light. Process like this would have taken from thirteen to fifteen minutes which is just impractical when wanting to take portrait images. As photography evolved images became quicker to take and the process in having a physical image became much easier, from developing images in a darkroom to taking images digitally.

 

Photographers such as Garrod Kirkwood, Nan Goldin, Maria Clara Macri, and Wolfgang Tillmans all explore the theme of identity and have helped me when creating new photos and when thinking about how I want to present my work.

 

Garrod Kirkwood is a British photographer who’s work looks at storytelling, specialising in advertising, editorial, and fine art. Constantly exploring themes of community, family and culture in his personal work. ‘He instinctively finds beauty in the mundane’ with his fine art photography by bringing vibrance and warmth to his work. His work is often personal and involves people that he knows which I believe helps connect the audience with his work as we can then image someone in our live that’s similar.

 

Garrod Kirkwood. 2021. About. [online] Available at: <https://garrodkirkwood.com/about/>

 

His images are able to tell a story simply which is what I aim to do in my own work. By telling story in an image the audience is able to learn a lot about the model, from looking at the background and seeing the location, to seeing if there are other people around and think about whether they are with friends. Or thinking about what the model is wearing the facial expression. All these factors can tell a lot about a persons identity and personality. 

 

Looking at one of Garrod Kirkwood’s pieces where he takes a picture of three framed images, this piece gave me inspiration for my possible showcase layout. The framed images give age to the picture showing growth and change. Similarly, in my own photograph I show my whole family, doing this I believe I am showing a story of age and life. It is a way of commemorating people and remembering events that had happened in the past. Looking into each image individually we are able to see the relationships between the people in the image. 

 

The images taken by Garrod Kirkwood are taken in his area with the people which I think makes his. work particularly unique.

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

       Garrod Kirkwood. 2021. Garrod Kirkwood. [online] Available at: <https://garrodkirkwood.com>

 

Nan Goldin a raw American photographer, who’s work explores LGBTQ bodies, the HIV crisis, the opioid epidemic, and moments of intimacy. Similarly to Garrod Kirkwood’s work the images take tell a clear story. Goldin work reflects a lot of herself, like the journeys she went on and who she would see. Within my work I have attempted a similar thing by capturing images of the friends and family I see and the journeys I have been on. She began in New York photographing the post-punk new wave music scene along with the post-stonewall gay subculture and hard-drug subculture. She believed photographing them would be a way to hold onto her friends. Describing her work as ‘completely immersed in the queens’ which is clearly show he love for them makes the audience feel empathetic for the situations they may have been in.

 

Tate. 2021. Nan Goldin born 1953 | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/nan-goldin-2649>

 

Her images seem to show a lot of pain and hurt which is shown through the models expressions. When looking at her images we almost inspect the whole image looking at the foreground and the background of the image. Making sure to look at the model’s face and clothing and then looking at the background and begin to think and question what the model’s are doing, why they look a certain way whether it be beaten up or having clothes ripened. We also question where they are, and where they might be going. By making the audience think about these things a story can be created, it may not be exactly how Goldin expected her work to be perceived but by allowing people to think about the work rather than seeing it clearly as it is able to open up dialogue between people.

 

Goldin’s use of cold tones emphasise the feel of the work, she doesn’t aim to show happiness to wants to show raw emotions from the models at a difficult time  in their lives, where life sexuality wasn’t as excepting as it is today. When editing my images I will think about the changed the hue of my images, creating warmer and colder tones and thinking about what the audience may feel when seeing the altercations to my images.  

Tate. 2021. ‘Misty and Jimmy Paulette in a taxi, NYC’, Nan Goldin, 1991 | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/goldin-misty-and-jimmy-paulette-in-a-taxi-nyc-p78046> 

 

I looked at Wolfgang Tillmans not only for his photography but also for his presentation and layout when placing his work into exhibitions. This contemporary German artist became noticed in the 1990s with his snapshot documentaries looking at clubs, youth and the LGBTQ community similar to Nan Goldin. His work then expanded to diaristic photography and magazine work. I am mainly focussed in this era of his work rather than his new. However, I do like the way his work is displayed at exhibitions for his newer works. 

 

These images also have an edgy raw feel to them like  Nan Goldin’s does. When having the model look directly at the camera the audience almost becomes immersed in the image, creating a connection between the model and audience. When capturing an image of something happening like in the first image a story can be told quite easily, it is as though the image is a snapshot from a scene. These images again make us as the audience think. Within my work I want to capture things happening rather than the aftermath of a situation as I believe it helps show parts of my life that not everyone can see. 

 

Looking at the placing if the images in Fest in Germany we can see the photographers use of space and by collecting images and placing them in specific areas sequences small series are created. I also like the range of different sized images from extremely large images making the audience feel overwhelmed by his work, to the smaller images that make you want to get up close and really inspect the image to see what’s going on. When thinking about placing my work into an exhibition space I plan to experiment in positioning my work in a similar fashion. Also the use of a white border and no border is something I plan on experimenting in.

  

Artnet.com. 2021. Wolfgang Tillmans | Artnet. [online] Available at: <http://www.artnet.com/artists/wolfgang-tillmans/>

 

Artnet.com. 2021. Wolfgang Tillmans | Artnet. [online] Available at: <http://www.artnet.com/artists/wolfgang-tillmans/>

 

Tate. 2021. ‘The Cock (kiss)’, Wolfgang Tillmans, 2002 | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/tillmans-the-cock-kiss-p79302>

 

2021. [online] Available at: <https://ocula.com/art-galleries/galerie-buchholz/exhibitions/wolfgang-tillmans-fest-buchholz-cologne/>

 

These three artists have played a major part in where I wanted to go in my project. Each artists made me think about the way in which I should edit my photos, the number of photos I wish to accumulate and how I want to present my images in their final state. 

 

To conclude, identity surrounds us all the time whether it be from others or what we do. Looking at these artists has helped me to understand exactly where I want to go and the style I want to go in. This essay has allowed me to think more about how a story can be shown and perceived in a photographers work.