aim:
-examine notion of presences in relation to notions of nakedness/nudity
-define gaze, voyeurism, consider inter-relation in photography
-consider how male gaze generates female roles.. how in turn these construct notions of female identity through case study of Cindy Sherman
Larry Clark - kids, bully films
project young adolescents into very adult roles
John Berger - ways of seeing
mens presence - promise of power he embodies
things
exterior to the man
shows what he can do for you and to you
womens presence - expresses attitude to herself
physical, aura, intrinsic
her body - how she appears to men
defines what can and cannot be done to her
woman has to construct her presence in terms of how she will be seen by men
men can gain this, money, objects etc
being impressive in the eyes of others
traditionally painting and even photography
painter/photographer male
model female
yet man is seen as creative force
principal protagonist of nude painting, the male spectator, is never painted
women look out of the paintings onto their spectator owners
surveyor of woman in herself is male - turns herself into object/vision/ sight
panopticism, internally looks at herself through eyes of a man - constantly
objectification - process of turning/treating someone as an object, object for use
the gaze - power to look upon others
indexicality of camera/photograph - takes you to the moment
Jeff Burton - mix genres of art/fashion/photography
'interaction with our environment which is saturated by images'
Task:
Cindy Sherman, in her collection of photographs 'untitled film stills', completely changed the idea of a self portrait. She dressed up as women roles in films and photographed herself in these situations. There are 69 images in total.
'the images imply the very construction of identity is built on a representation'
it is her but represented in many ways, of characters in films. She could choose to be any one of the women she depicts yet none of them might be her true self.
Is there anything women posess that is their own about their own identities?
One of my favourites from the series is number two (1977).
I love the old and grainy quality Sherman uses in this set of images. This is because they are made to appear like the cheap '50 cent' publicity photographs that were common at the time. I find this image really interesting especially when considering 'the gaze'. Here the gaze is less straightforward than in normal photography as her face is actually a reflection. She looks into the mirror, back at herself, but it also feels like she could be looking at us, we in turn are looking at her. is complicated as looking at us would be extra-diagetic gaze but it is more than that as she also looks at herself. She appears vulnerable as we can see her both from the front and from the back and her face looks wistful, almost questioning why we are judging her.
The face can also be read as simply looking at her own image, the way she touches her skin seems as if she is almost testing something. Either seeing how she looks in that particular pose, possibly in preparation for using it in future. Or just touching her skin, to prove that she is a tangible object. She touches her skin gently, like she is unsure of herself.
The towel is also an important prop as it does cover her nudity but at the same time highlights that she is naked underneath it. This again shows her vulnerability as it is suggestive to men even though that wouldn't appear to be her intention as we would assume she is just on her own after a bath or shower. As a woman viewing this image I would assume she is scrutinizing herself in terms of how men see her and as I fully empathize with this feeling. This reaction again acts as a highlight of how stereotypical I believe the role and life of a woman has become.
This image and the whole series comment on women's perceived roles within films but also society. Sherman attempts to demonstrate that society is socially constructed and contains 'roles' that we are women are projected into. I have read that Sherman actually discontinued the series because she said she ran out of roles to perform. This in itself demonstrates the point she is trying to make about societies view of women. As a woman I'm sure my reading of this image will be different to a males reading of the same image. I am not a feminist so I feel I have quite a balanced reading.
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