Emilia Ashby
Artist Research
I am currently very interested in documentary photography from a personal point of view particularly the work of Bertie Van Menen and Nan Goldin. Both of these women use photography as a visual diary and this is also how I am beginning to view my own work as I can look back through my work and see a narrative forming.
For this project I want to show the very real sensation of isolation in a documentary style but with a more stylised approach to emphasise this. I will do this through self- portraits which show the alienation I experience due to my mental health.
Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin has gone onto use her style of photography and influence in the industry to bring certain issues to light such as working with the RAPP campaign to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice in the USA as well as fighting the ‘Opioid Epidemic’ and many other important causes.
Nan one month after being battered
1984
‘For a number of years I was deeply involved with a man. We were well suited
emotionally and the relationship became very interdependent. Jealousy was used to inspire passion. His concept of relationships was rooted in romantic idealism. I craved the dependency, the adoration, the satisfaction, the security, but sometimes I felt claustrophobic. We were addicted to the amount of love the relationship supplied ... Things between us started to break down, but neither of us could make the break. The desire was constantly reinspired at the same time that the dissatisfaction became undeniable. Our sexual obsession remained one of the hooks. One night, he battered me severely, almost blinding me.’
The bloody red eye is what immediately strikes you with this image which is brought out even more intensely by the bold red lipstick she is wearing. Her eye is made the focal point through the contrast of her pale face framed by big dark hair. Her hair is well styled and she wears elegant jewelry suggesting she is ready for an evening out. We can assume by the blue and green toned background that it is night and the apparent artificial light most likely from a camera flash. Both eyes are heavily bruised as if she has bloody, dark circles making her appear exhausted which could show her emotional exhaustion in her relationship. This is juxtaposed to the defiant stare she regards the audience with and ultimately makes her look powerful despite her apparent injuries.
Self-Portrait on the train, Germany
1992
‘I still perceive the outside world as an abstraction. When I look at a landscape, I see a postcard. I find it hard to connect to what I'm looking at. When I started taking pictures, I realised that it was a way to make a real record of what I had actually seen and done. It came from a very deep place, this need to record. It was all about keeping myself alive, keeping myself sane, and grounded. About being able to trust my own experience... it's so essential, it comes from a need to Survive.’
Her face fills most of the image and is in sharp focus compared to the blurry movement out of the window. This contrast is intensified by the warm tones of inside the train versus the cold tones outside of the train. This likely means that Nan Goldin was not concerned with the location of her photo but rather her constant travel. Goldin lived in Berlin in 1991-2 with the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) artist's fellowship. During this time she travelled around Europe, often by train, overseeing her exhibitions.
Bertien Van manen
Bertien van Manen started her career as a fashion photographer, but Robert Frank's photobook The Americans (1958) inspired her to concentrate on her own projects, taking a spontaneous, unforced approach. She made lengthy, repeated trips to the Appalachians in the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
I was able to visit the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam over the summer where i was able to view the ‘Beyond the image’ exhibition of Bertien Van Manen who is a contemporary Dutch photographer that uses her photography as a visual diary with “Many of her series are long running projects for which she revisits places and people and develops close relationships with communities throughout the world” (https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/beyond-image-2). Her work inspires me due to the personal connections she forms with her subjects and the raw nature of her work.
Bertien van Manen, 'Eva, Sasha and Alosha'. Shachunia, 1993
This photo, like many of Bertien Van Manens, is part of her visual diary. It appears a quick snapshot taken at the end of a meal as all are occupied: talking, eating and smoking. No one appears posed as it is a documentary photo from her travels. The light colours of the cream wall and white table cloth in contrast to the dark clothes of the subjects allows them to stand out in the image.
Bertien van Manen, 'Tao in her Dormitory - Fudan University', Shanghai, 1998
This photo appears to be taken in a hostel due to the old, metal bunk beds and clutter on and under the bed as well as the makeshift curtain. Your eyes are drawn to the tanned legs as they are warm toned compared to the cool tones of the curtain and floor. Again, this photo is taken with the subject in action, possibly unaware their photo is being taken. And their identity is kept anonymous due to the curtain which could reflect the many people that Bertien Van Manen met while travelling. The split between the bright white top half of the image versus the dark navy bottom half of the image creates a very striking visual aesthetic.