In their book on self-portraits, Bond and Woodall consider on p11 “the intense outward gaze that is a consistent feature of self-portraiture from Van Eyck to Warhol.” This made me think more about self-portraits and question whether the statement were true or not. It is easy to remember the self-portraits that fit this mode – …
Category: Literature Research
Dec 30
A Face to the World – Laura Cumming
In her book on self portraiture ‘A Face to the World’ Cumming discusses the Vasari corridor at the Uffizi gallery in Florence (which houses a collection of Self-portraits by many famous artists). On p67 she describes many of the self-portraits as “Formal to a fault, but rigorously avoiding anything personal, they end up in opposition …
Oct 17
Photographic interpretation of poems
When researching the exercise on choosing a poem and producing a photographic interpretation, I came across a book called Positives by Thom and Ander Gunn. The introduction of the book states “Thom Gumm is a poet, his brother Ander a photographer. In Positives they have joined forces to produce a book in which poetry and …
Jul 12
Photography: The Key Concepts by David Bate
Learning points from the book: Photography: The Key Concepts, David Bate, Bloomsbury Academics, 2009 Chapter 3 p 45 Documentary aimed to show, in an informal way, the everyday lives of ordinary people to other ordinary people. ln this respect, the modern notion of documentary is a media product of the twentieth century. p 47 Editorial …
Jul 11
Basic Critical Theory for Photographers by Ashley La Grange
Learning points from the book: Basic Critical Theory for Photographers, Ashley La Grange, Taylor and Francis, 2013 Chapter 3 Sontag p 30 ‘despite capturing reality photographs are also interpretations’. p 33 ‘The moral impact of disturbing images lessens as people are continually exposed to them and become used to them’. Chapter 5 Rosler p 114 …
Jul 10
The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer
Learning points from the book: The Ongoing Moment, Geoff Dyer, Abacus, 2007 Quoting Dorothea Lange “to know ahead of time what you’re looking for means you’re then only photographing your own preconceptions, which is very limiting.” I found this to be quite an interesting quote – does this mean that we should never preconceive an …