Lecture 5 – From Voyeurism to Exhibitionism

David Company, a writer on photography, suggested that since the 1980s photography has become much more theatrical in its approach. This means that photos are being projected to us. They are more staged and theatrical. They are more like a screen and less like a window.

Roland Barthes commented on this notion, saying that;  “I lend myself to the social game, I pose, I know I am posing, I want you to know that I am posing, but this additional message must in no way alter the precious essence of my individuality.” I think that what Barthes means by this, is that our private worlds become public, which makes him uncomfortable.

Many people agree with Barthes and apply negative connotations to theatrical photography, such as ‘pretending’, ‘copying’, ‘shallowness’ and ‘spectacle’.

Theatrical photography existed in the early forms of image distribution and celebrity culture. Early ‘celebrities’, such as comedian Sarah Bernhardt, would set up theatrical backgrounds in photo studios and take pictures which they would then distribute amongst the public.

Eikoh Hosoe did a series of photographs, called Kamaitachi, with Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of the Japanese dance movement 'ankoku butoh'. Through his pictures, he took theatre into the landscape, meaning that the performances in the photos were made purely for the photos (i.e. completely staged). 

Cindy Sherman staged pictures to look like they were taken out of films.  Her reference to publicity in the 70s would have been very unusual at that time. She acted out female stereotypes e.g. blonde bombshell and the female runaway.

Jeff Wall did a series of photos that were of a staged documentary. For example, he paid someone to clean a community centre and once his actions had become second nature, Wall would photograph him. The photos are quite theatrical in how they are displayed as they were presented on a light box in order to make them very large. Perhaps he believed that his own photos were not dramatical/theatrical enough and that’s why he had to present them in an over exaggerated manner.

I found Juno Calypso, an ex-student of Leeds College of Art, extremely intriguing as she staged herself as a fictional character called Joyce. ‘Joyce’ was consumed by the male restrictions of femininity, which after looking at Cindy Sherman, is especially interesting as I can see the links between her stereotypical feminine shots and Juno Calypsos feminist work. In some of the photos, Calypso uses her grandmas rooms as a theatrical background. For example, the curtains in the background can be seen as theatrical backdrops.

Nabil Boutros did a series of photographs about Egyptian people altering their appearance as they changed their political affiliations. Although at face value his work can seem slightly humorous, it’s important that we keep in mind that the Egyptian unrest is a serious issue, as is Nabil’s artwork. It is all about mistrusted appearance and how we show ourselves to the outside world. I think his work is very interesting due to the contrast between Egypt and the UK. I don’t think anyone would change their appearance based on which political party they support, but perhaps that is because of the contrasing political and cultural beliefs of the two vastly different countries.

Jacques Lacan, the author of ‘The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis’ wrote about the body being both the subject and the object. We can’t see people seeing us, yet we know that people do see us. However, we can’t be sure on how people see us because we don’t know how we are actually being represented/ how people interpret us. This is similar to Barthes negative view of theatrical photography – he too was uncomfortable with it.

Masahisa Eukasa made a photography series called ‘Bukubuka’, which translates to ‘bubbles’. It is an expressive body of work, featuring images of him in the bath. He was exploring themes of depression and isolation as he had recently gotten divorced.

Links to Advertising:

I found this lecture had lots of links to advertising, for example:

·      Barthes negative connotations of theatrical photography can be compared to criticisms of advertising. For example, some people interpreted the Protein World beach body ready ad as sexist, and so there were a lot of negative connotations surrounding that advert.

·      The early forms of image distributions, such as of Sarah Bernhardt, links to advertising as many ads use celebrity endorsements to entice the public and raise publicity of that advert. For example, PETA frequently uses celebrities in its adverts, such as Kelly Osbourne in its ‘Save the Seals’ advert.

·      Moreover, just as Eikoh Hosoe’s photos were all staged, most adverts are staged. Print and TV adverts are all planned and perfectly acted out. The only exception would be ambient advertising, as ‘live’ advertising is harder to stage.

·      Cindy Shermans staged pictures link to advertising because just as she uses feminine stereotypes, lots of adverts do as well. For example, most cleaning product adverts will feature a woman, which reinforces the sexist stereotype that women belong in the private sphere, and men in the public sphere.

·      Nabil Boutros’s photos of how people show themselves to the outside world also links to advertising, as brands will choose a specific direction and message that they want to portray to the public. Through advertising, they attempt to show themselves to the world in a particular way. For example, Apple aims to be portrayed as an innovative and technologically advanced brand.

·      Finally, Jacques Lacan commentary on how people can’t predict how we are seen by others, links to advertising because although a brand can try and get a particular message across, it can’t force an audience to accept that view of them. Moreover, their efforts can fail, for example American Apparal produced an ad featuring Lauren Phoenix wearing only American Apparal socks. They were targeting young women, trying to get them to view American Apparal as a bold and sexual brand, however their target audience claimed it was offensive to women and so the brand received a lot of negative publicity.

References:

-Lecture 5

-Google Images

Lecture 4 – The Networked Image

-In the last year, more photos were taken than in the whole history of photography. It is interesting to wonder if in the future more photos will be taken in a single day, than in the whole history of photography. 

-More photos are taken by everyday photographers/amateurs (vernacular photography) than professionals. This links with what we explored in the previous lecture on Interactive Documentaries. Just as vernacular photography is increasing due to the increased availability of technology, e.g. camera phones, documentaries made by amateurs have also increased due to technology.

-‘Stocking’ is an act of taking photos that mimic stock photos in a comical way. Whilst the stock photos had been produced by professional photographers, the ‘stocking’ is done by amateurs, and therefore the work done by professionals and amateurs can cross over. Stock photos are regularly used in advertising, and therefore ‘stocking’ can indicate their ineffectiveness.

-A photo itself is all about reproducing – it is a reproduction of a particular subject. It brings up the question of when one takes a photo of a photo, and so forth, does the image loses its authenticity with each replication?

-A network is a group of interconnected people/things, however they did exist before the Internet, e.g. postcards and photos, although more limited.

-Whilst some argue that digital photography was the biggest change to photo networks, others say that broadband connection (internet) has had a more influential impact, due to the ability to share photos.

-Domestic photography has shifted from preserving events to conversational photography e.g. people’s brunch, because the process of sharing has become so much quicker. 

-As Rubenstein said, if a selfie is not shared on social media, it is not a true selfie. I partially agree with this, because I believe people do take selfies to show other people, which is why social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram are so popular. However, we can’t speak for everyone, and some people may take selfies for their own enjoyment. I personally believe that some people may take more selfies now than ten years ago, merely because of the front camera. Many modern advertising campaigns use selfies to their advantage, e.g. asking people to take a selfie with their brand, of, for example, clothes. 

-There are two types of metadata, firstly information that you find in the file of the image, e.g. shutter speed, and external metadata, which is the likes/comments etc.  Some argue that external metadata can be seen as political as it can control which images are most important.

-When undertaking an activity, the photo taken can be more important than the activity. For example, once someone has uploaded a picture of their meal, eating it is then thought of an after-photo/ echo.

-Charlotte Champion wrote an article called ‘Je Suis La’, meaning ‘Here I Am’, and she argued that photos represent the now. I think this relates to Advertising as adverts are made to showcase products etc that are currently relevant.

-Older images can turn from un-networked to networked as one can put old photos on the internet, e.g. by scanning them.

More links between this lecture and Advertising:

-Brand Instagram accounts can re-post images of people wearing/using their brand. These images were taken by amateurs, however are now used to promote that brand.

-The Apple campaign ‘Shot on Iphone 6’ is an example of how there is more access to photography, even if you are an ametaur, and how advertisers can use this to their advantage:

Trying out an Interactive Documentary

After the lecture on Interactive Documentaries, I decided to try out the Ford McMoney one, as I was interested in how they handled the environmental issues.

The first thing I did was talk to a woman who discussed the prospects for a woman living in the fictional town, which seemed very realistic. After the talk was over, I was given the opportunity to explore the town, and the first thing I did was attend a local council meeting.  As soon as becoming a ‘citizen’, I was able to vote on matters, such as should the town run a PR campaign.  I also ‘met’ the mayor, and got to choose from a variety of questions to ask her about her town.

The experience takes four weeks to complete, as you play it in ‘real time’. Although it is therefore much longer than an ordinary documentary, deciding whom to speak to, and voting on certain matters was an interesting and different experience. However, sometimes the layout could become confusing and I understand the criticisms that we discussed in the lecture, such as it becoming less pleasurable than simply watching an environmental documentary. 

 

Lecture 3: Interactive Documentary

Interactive Documentary is a project that intends to document the ‘real’ and uses digital interactive technology to achieve this.

Interactive documentary uses technology to bring different elements together, such as:

·      Moving image

·      Photography

·      Digital gaming

·      Text

·      Social media

John Grierson first coined the word ‘documentary’. The first documentarists were middle class socialists who wanted to document the struggles of working class people. However, documentaries did exist before the term was coined, e.g. Man with a Movie Camera, by Vertov, 1929, which was a very innovative piece as it was before Hollywood dominated film.

The documentary ‘Primary’ (1960) was a landmark piece as cameras were being made a lot smaller so people could go out to location. This meant documentaries could explore new places, giving us new information that we couldn’t access before.

With new technology such as Oculus Rift (VR), we are not bound by linear restrictions.

In the 1950s, TV was introduced, and therefore more people had access to watching documentaries. Similarly, now more people have access to making documentaries, as you can make one using just a camera phone.

David Dufresne made an interactive documentary, which featured a virtual fictional town called Ford McMoney, where viewers become fictional citizens. It centres on environmental issues, such as oil drilling. However, unfortunately only 1% of users went onto do any action, which raises the question of how effective interactive documentaries actually are.

Brenda Longfellow also created an interactive documentary that focused on environmental issues, such as offshore drilling. In the documentary, the viewer can make decisions on the environmental issues.  As an environmentalist myself, I thought these two interactive documentaries sounded very intriguing, and I was disappointed to hear that only 1% went on to do any action, as I would have thought this type of documentary would have been more persuasive.

Why make interactive documentaries?

Firstly, it can reach and engage new audiences, such as the younger generation, as it is interesting and different. Moreover, it requires the full engagement of the viewer, as they make the decisions, instead of being fed information by the film-maker. However, that could put some viewers off, as they may just want to watch, and not participate.

Interactive Documentaries and their link to Advertising

In my opinion, interactive documentaries could be extremely useful in advertising, as people could explore different dimensions in ads. For example, if people had access to VR, they could enter the advert themselves.  Moreover, as interactive documentaries give the viewer the opportunity to make decisions, an advert could be created using interactive technology, which enables people to make a decision in the advert. E.g. people could choose whether or not to pick a certain brand.