daniellekeaneripu

[daniellekeaneripu]

asu2

http://www.transartists.org/about-residencies

https://www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/jul/03/artist-in-residence-schemes-top-tips

http://www.resartis.org/en/residencies/about_residencies/definition_of_artist_residencies/

[daniellekeaneripu]

Shoot four

This shoot only captures three images. But they were taken spontaneously to catch the subject off-guard. I wanted to depict women in a way contrary to the often desired aesthetic from the male gaze of ‘perfect, preened and ready’. This was inspired in part by the work of Maisie Cousins, she is not afraid to use alternative views to women, showing that women do not always just have to be ‘nice’.

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Shoot three

In this shoot I wanted to explore the popular colour of ‘millennial pink’ which has become an associated colour with fourth wave feminism. It has been part of the reclaiming of the colour pink as being associated with women, but does not make women less powerful, strong or independent. 

I chose to offset this colour choice shooting in an overcast area, the woodland setting creates a darker tone and the images are greatly shadowed. For me these images make a statement about the way the colour in association to women tends to be depicted. These images have more of a gritty depth to them than often associated.

I chose to shoot either with the subject at eye level, or with the camera looking up at the subject. This decision was made because of the sense of power and authority that this perspective gives.

[daniellekeaneripu]

Shoot two

I began by shooting two female friends.  

-Intimacy -Female relationships -Trust -Modern friendships -Comfort 

Were all ideas I wanted to explore within this. I photographed the females in their shared apartment, this allows for a narrative to begin to build. The viewer can feel like an on looker to their day to day. I directed some of the shoot, but allowed many aspects of their behaviour to happen naturally- this is something that comes quicker by photographing people I know.

These 3 images depict the closeness of a modern female friendship. I think they work well in showing the intimacy between the pair, they feel authentic and raw.

[daniellekeaneripu]

Shoot one

This shoot took place in September in Mallorca. However, the processing, scanning and editing of the images has all taken place in October. The selection process has been made with the concept in mind.

A narrowed selection from the shoot. I selected images I felt gave the female a sense of power and place. She seems very present and dominates the frame. Yet they have a softness through the approach which makes them have a sense of nostalgia or memory to them.

I think these two images are very successful. I think they show the female as strong, brazen and powerful. I think the consistent hues and the warm tones work aesthetically. They give a sense of drama and command to be looked at.

Creating a diptych based on two images I instinctively felt belonged together.  This explores the relationship between the individual and the space they are photographed within. This idea of photographing supporting still lives/ landscapes that go along with the portraits is something I naturally do, I think it helps to expand the narrative and gives a more varied outlook to the piece.

Part two

On a different roll of film I had these 5 images which were processed after the other images had been scanned and edited.  I think these images are particularly successful in depicting a strong female, she is taking on the landscape, and the angle of shooting upwards gives her a sense of dominance and authority.

[daniellekeaneripu]

Within this body of work I will be photographing other women to allow me to explore various factors of the female gaze and the impact of this on the resulting images.

[daniellekeaneripu]

BODY OF WORK

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Interview - G.A.

This interviewee wanted to remain anonymous and will be referred to as G.A throughout. 

What impact do you think fourth wave feminism is having on the photographic industry and women in general?

I feel out of touch with fourth wave feminism because I think it excludes women/people that don't have access to social media, because so much of it is based online/selling art/online clothing/so on and so on.  

It also feels extremely appearance focussed. In my experience of it, and I'm guilty of it too, a lot of the portrait/fashion work that claims to be promoting body positivity/confidence seems to purely be a case of photographing larger women/women of colour/so on and so on, but the women are still beautiful. If you know what I mean?

I think current media is very current in that women of all different body shapes are praised and we're in a much better world where the trends aren't one way or the other, slim or curvy, pale or tan, etc. Kim K, Adele, Nicki Minaj, etc are considered beautiful and are praised in the same way that women like Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa and Ariana Grande are put on pedestals.

 Body type wise, you can be pretty much any shape these days and you're not automatically disregarded. Of course there's still dicks out there but I see the same being done to men in the limelight for being larger or out of shape. I just think there's always gonna be arseholes around, so as long as we do what we can to lift each other up then we're on the right path. I do think fourth wave feminism has had a direct impact on mass media becoming much more accepting of different body types, but I think it's becoming an outdated and stale movement by now. And it still seems so obsessed with appearance that I feel like it's becoming vanity rather than anti oppression or whatever you wanna say.

What do you want your work to say to women?

I don't think I want any difference in reaction between men and women when they see my work. Like I said, I haven't shot anything in nearly a year and I don't feel any drive to keep photographing the way I did, for the reasons I said above. All the women I've worked with are beautiful women - they fit in with current societal beauty standards, I don't think body size/shape means much anymore, which is a good thing. But, I don't feel like I'm contributing or creating anything of feminist value by showcasing beautiful women and calling it 'body positivity'. I actually feel like a fraud for doing it.

What drew you to photographing women?

My favourite part of working with the women I work with is when they see the photos and are surprised and genuinely think they look good. I said they fit suit current 'beauty standards' but obviously everyone has insecurities and the women I work with aren't models, so it's still a massive deal for them on a personal level. So yeah, on a one on one personal level I find it rewarding and it lifts them up, but I'm not sure I feel it does much for women as a whole or for feminist movements.

It is interesting to receive a response which feels quite different from the research and opinions I have been looking at previously. To see that this woman in particular is still skeptical of the reach of fourth wave feminism shows that it still needs to grow and reach a more diverse range of women in her opinion, and is something I can agree on. There has definitely been progress made on this point, but there is still chance for it to progress further even more. 

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Amy Blackwell - Interview

What impact do you think fourth wave feminism is having on the photographic industry and women in general?

Fourth wave feminism is having a great impact on the photographic industry. Its giving younger female (and male) photographers the confidence and the platforms for them to express themselves, get their work seen and inspire others. I feel its providing women with the opportunity to express themselves and boost their confidence. I know myself that it has impacted me, inspiring me to be able to express myself through my work and by other means.

What do you want your work to say to women?

I want my work to be able to give women the means to celebrate their femininity and be happy with themselves and how they choose to express this. I want to portray femininity, sexuality and the friendship between women. Also to acknowledge the transient period of life, where a female may not consider themselves a girl nor a woman, but a kind of in-between and to get them to think about what they consider it is to be a woman.

What drew you to photographing women?

I’ve always felt more comfortable photographing women. I feel like I build more of a connection with women, which is what I love to show through my work. I enjoy being able to portray women for who they are, being comfortable in their own skin and make them feel great about themselves. I also enjoy portraying the female body and being able to show it in a soft, delicate and feminine way, but also tailoring the images to the model and who they are as a person.

What impact do you think female gaze is having, and how has this impacted the way you work?

Again, I feel the female gaze is enabling women to express themselves more and celebrate their femininity in whatever way they choose. In my work I have found the concept of the female gaze quite difficult to come to terms with. Growing up learning and hearing so much about the male gaze it was really difficult to accept that the work I was making was okay and not degrading women in any way. I initially felt that when I started photographing women I was doing it for the male gaze and that the images were for men but stepping back from my work and thinking about the bigger picture, I realised this was not the case. I was and am making these images for women, for women to see others and feel great and celebrate themselves. To connect with other females and to have the connection between the photographer and model. I am female, therefore I have a female gaze.

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Interview Questions

Having researched the industry, other female photographers and their work, I wanted to ask some female photographers a few questions myself. I devised these questions looking at the factors of the female gaze I found most interesting, and questions that will hopefully allow the women to express the drive for their work.

-What impact do you think fourth wave feminism is having on the photographic industry and women in general?

-What do you want your work to say to women?

-What drew you to photographing women?

-What impact do you think the rise of the female gaze is having, and how has this impacted the way you work?

UPDATE: Unfortunately, only two of the photographers I contacted were able to be interviewed and answer my questions. Had I had a longer time frame, or contacted photographers earlier I may have been able to gain more responses. Because of only having two responses I will treat these as a case studies, and will not make any generalisations with the information that results from it.

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INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED MYSELF

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Petra Collins

Collins, P. (phot.) and Gevinson, T. (2014) Discharge. New York: Capricious LLC.

At the introduction to Collins’ book ‘Discharge’ she discusses having had her Instagram account deleted. She had not violated the terms of use, but instead had posted a picture of the lower half of her body, wearing bikini bottoms. However, at the time of posting her one image stood out from the 5,883,626 other images under the #bikini due to her unshaved bikini line. 

Up until this moment, I had obviously seen and felt the pressure to regulate my body, but never thought I would literally experience it. (p9)

The introduction continues by listing numerous accounts of unequal treatment between men and women in the public eye and within pop culture. Women are treated as the lesser of two sexes.

Speaking again in reference to her Instagram account. These profiles mimic our physical selves and a lot of the time are even more important. They are ways to connect with an audience, to start discussion, and to create change. Through this removal, I really felt how strong of a distrust and hate we have towards female bodies. (p11)

Even if society tries to silence you keep on going, keep moving forward, keep creating revolutionary work, and keep this discourse alive. (p11)

At the end of the book is an interview between K8 Hardy, Petra Collins and Tavi Gevinson (founder of ‘Rookie’ an online and print publication for teenage girls). They discuss the psychological associations between certain things eg. cheerleaders and the sexualisation of these acts; this becomes highly jarring when it is young teenage cheerleaders being photographed by their teen female friend which can easily be skewed by predetermined sexualising by men. The idea of being behind the camera allowing a female to take control allows her remove herself from being viewed as an object, as instead she is being the camera, yet this is conflicted with still wanting to be desired ‘You want to be the object of their desire but you also want to be in control of it.’ (p108) 

It’s not work that caters to the male gaze but it’s work created by someone for whom the male gaze informed how you saw yourself. (p108- Tavi Gevinson)

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-female-gaze-of-petra-collins

The work of Petra Collins discussed by Lizzie Widdicombe for The Newyorker

Collins is the poster girl for an aesthetic that has taken hold in the fashion world and some quarters of Instagram—a dreamy, hyper-feminine approach that sometimes appears under the headline “the female gaze.” Her Instagram account, which has three hundred and eighty-six thousand followers, is full of portraits of young women that seem to allude to the fact that they were created by a young woman.

http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/8531/petra-collins-on-collective-crying-and-celebrity-culture

An0ther Magazine

‘I am just one person, and a white cis girl at that, so I definitely cannot represent everyone, and do not try to at all. I am just here to do want I can, and that’s obviously not representing the full scope of feminism.’ - Petra Collins

https://fashionista.com/2017/03/petra-collins-instagram-photography-interview

Fashionista.com

What things would you like to see change for other young women photographers?

I would love for them have the same respect men do. There are a lot of powerful photographers that are female, but it's always been the same, like, five men that shoot all of the campaigns, all the covers, everything. I'm not gonna name names, but I think it's very obvious who they are.

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Anna Liber Lewis

-Winner of the Griffin Art Prize 2017. Where 8 of the 10 finalists were women.

-Feminism is making strides, and as a painter I’m preoccupied with what it means to be a woman - Anna Liber Lewis

-Citing Maria Lassnig as an influence, Anna’s work explores the female form and orgasm, sexuality, the “manifestation of sensation”, defiance and desire, and how men depict women in art. She also says she’s spurred on by misogyny. “Of course I love the work of Picasso and Matisse but I also want my work to say, ‘fuck you, I can do that and be a woman’. Screw Lucian Freud – I can be a good mother and a good painter. When I was at the RCA surrounded by men, I painted a lot of cocks because I wanted to have the biggest cock in the room. You could say I’m inspired by bravado.” (https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/anna-liber-lewis-griffin-art-prize-2017-winner-031117)

Female artist with a need to express that she can be as good an artist as men after decades of females being suppressed and belittled within the art world. Liber Lewis seems as if she has a point to prove that she can be more than ‘just a woman’ but can also be a successful artist as these things seemed to previously exist as mutually exclusive

-”My painting is often concerned with ideas around female sexuality, challenging the image of woman, created historically by men. The paintings shift between what is seen and what is felt. They morph between the act of looking and the manifestation of a sensation, be that flirtatious glances, desire or defiance. Tension hides in the space between us: in the looking, not touching. Many spaces are at play and each of these spaces is left to vibrate in the truth and untruth of things.” (https://griffingallery.co.uk/artists/anna-liber-lewis)

Liber Lewis challenges the way that women have previously been represented within art, having historically had the female form be challenged by male artists. A need for feminist art to express her feelings towards suppression and a desire for females to represent themselves, to speak for themselves through art rather than for men to speak for them.

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Eliza Hatch

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/nicer-tuesdays-october-2017-eliza-hatch-cheer-up-luv-151117

-Founder of ‘Cheer up Luv’, photographs women who have been sexually harassed near the location that the incident occurred. Named after regularly being told by men to ‘cheer up’ numerous times, “it never gets more acceptable.”

-Shows a solidarity between women and also highlights the scale of the issue. Many men are unaware of the fact that women are effected by this subject, and to what extent, this helps to alter that and make it more widely talked about. Men should realise this is not a normal behaviour, and that treating women as a lower sex is dehumanisation. 

-In being a female photographer, documenting women it allows her access and understanding of this matter. A reclamation of the female gaze, not only in photography, but in life where men claim ownership over women.

-All pictures document women looking directly at the camera, forces the viewer to look at the woman directly. Facing the actions, and to give a human connection to the victim. The photography is stripped back to accentuate the woman and her story.

-To turn vulnerability into empowerment and strength.

-Shown relevance even more so in recent times in connection with the #metoo campaign, exposing sex acts and harassment, originally exposing Hollywood stars, but took feet to build up to thousands of women speaking up about everyday sexual harassment. 

"Cheer Up Luv" is a photojournalism project, which documents women who have experienced any form of sexual harassment in a public space. Each woman is interviewed before their photo is taken, and the setting of the photograph is related to their experience. The aims of this project are to show how society normalizes sexual harassment, and how we, as women, learn to accept that being told to 'cheer up' on our way to school is a normal thing. It is something that happens to women every day, and this is a documentation of those experiences. - Eliza Hatch

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Steph Wilson

https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/43wgpb/photographer-steph-wilson-sees-strength-in-fellow-female-image-makers

Confrontational and somewhat suggestive, her work typically centres on the female form, situated in an incongruous context like a field or forest, and framed by some kind of fetishized prop — a piece of fruit, a pair of gloves, an insect, an animal, or even a pair of scissors.

“As women we depend on each other's strength and support; it's not about who outdoes who, but enjoying the fact we are succeeding as women together. There's enough room for all of us!“

Why is it so important to see more women behind the camera? “I've tried really hard not to let myself get creeped out by straight male fashion photographers — it seems like such a cliché. Fashion week tends to warp your views on older men with cameras, however. Not just that but, as a woman, I really wouldn't feel comfortable being, literally, physically directed by a man I'd just met. I've always found it odd how women's clothes, in women's magazines, edited by (mostly) women and shot on female models, are then captured through a male gaze. A female gaze brings empathy into the equation, and numerous models have told me the feeling of security and well being with a female photographer as opposed to a straight male. There are certainly male photographers I deeply admire, don't get me wrong, but I've witnessed some pretty grim situations that make it hard for me not to be a bit cynical.”

What's the bravest thing you can do as a young person? “In a world where vanity has evolved into a virtue, I think displaying humility and kindness while having the confidence to do what you believe is right is a brave thing. To be respectful while being blunt is a difficult balance, and as a woman it's a constant battle to achieve that equilibrium while trying not to adhere to the multiple stereotypes set against women who are "making it."”

https://www.itsnicethat.com/watch/nicer-tuesdays-2016/steph-wilson

-Naturally tried to incorporate a political message into previously just fine art photography to allow messages to reach a wider audience that Wilson believes needs to have access to them, than fine art photography would have previously allowed, eg. teenage girls. Feminism being a key topic within this. 

-Tries to lie this alongside humour and wit to make it more absorbable. Trying to revive a side of feminism, so that it seems ‘less dowdy’. 

-Explored her personal experiences with anxiety as a photography series as a form of catharsis. Having asked a cross section of her suffering peers created visuals of their experiences and coping mechanisms alongside her own experiences of these. (Commissioned for Dazed)

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Collier Schorr

https://i-d.vice.com/en_au/article/zmxpv8/in-conversation-with-collier-schorr

Over three decades, her photography has served as beautiful and confrontational observations of a taboo-centric society.

'The Female Gaze': you must have a completely different view of this than anyone else? I'm very much from a generation that looked towards clothing and hair cuts to mark out an identity. The word 'female' itself has always seemed somewhat removed from my day-to-day life. Women's rights were crucial but being a woman seems somewhat of an alien notion when I looked in the mirror. In fact, we weren't even supposed to gaze in the 80s. That itself was kind of forbidden as it related to the toll objectification took on women. But not looking is not the answer, and so now I do it all the time. I'm not sure when I look through the lens that I'm particularly one thing or the other.

Why are women photographers important now? I don't think a new picture will be made by a man in my lifetime. It's not that men don't make good pictures, or that they haven't made some of my favourite pictures. But they've been making pictures for so long that I think we pretty much have seen all the pictures they might make—until the world changes drastically. The reason I've been excited by pictures made by women is because there weren't that many of them. One isn't better than the other, but I certainly don't think men's images were so amazing as to occupy the entire territory for as long as they have.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/17/artist-collier-schorr

While boys are her favoured subject matter, Schorr blurs the boundaries in beguiling if unsettling ways. Her boys frequently look girlish, while girls are to be found masquerading as boys. In Schorr's politically pointed photographs, ambiguity piles up.

From Girls! Girls! Girls! : ‘You know, people say “How come you don’t take pictures of girls?” And I say, “Well i do, I just use boys to do them”. (p9) 

Schorr blurs the line of what it means to photograph women, doing so in a more ambiguous way, and in a playful nature of what gender means, often mixing ‘gender roles’. The point she makes about men needing a revolutionary change to be able to make exciting new photography is interesting, opens the idea of the male gaze being reclaimed by female photographers. 

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PHOTOGRAPHERS WORK AND EVALUATION