For this short analysis, I will consider Collier Schorr’s “In the Garden (Karin in Grass),” a photograph, for how it appears concerned with the (potentially) manmade confusion between what is real and natural, and what is artifice. At stake is the claim that humans are quite responsible for the rigid distinctions used to separate, identify, and qualify gender and, more poignantly, beauty. To begin in terms of formal components, Schorr frames his shot in what looks like an unremarkable field: There stands a tree in the immediate background, behind the subject who lay sprawled over long grass. It is the subject (his- or herself), therefore, that brings those elements into light, along with the photograph’s intentions. Indeed, the ???
“fluidity of identity,” as Robertson and McDaniel (2009, p.84) call it, stands out as the image’s foremost interest, particularly insofar as a close observation of the subject does not dispel doubt that he is a she, or she a he—nor how those terms have come to be defined. The formal choices responsible for creating that ambiguity are, first, the subject’s pose, which is historically associated with “Western male artists’ conventions of depicting the female” (Robertson & McDaniel 2009, p.84). Second, and intensely,
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Either way, an individual’s physical traits and his or her physical “quality” aside, Schorr presents his audience with the task of discerning the difference between a natural occurrence and a misplaced calculation. At least for me, the source of that task finds itself rooted in the juxtaposition of garments in the
To elaborate, Scott argues that as a picture interpreter, we must make a distinction between the “ideal and the real,” to understand the true meaning of an image. She argues how the Gibson Girl and the American Girl were two idealised visions of modern beauty and femininity which made women to try to be like them. These two girls became markers of their decade, ...
Curtis’s work represents the ideological construction of foreign cultures in the 'way of seeing' that is suitable for the audience of the photograph and the photographer. This illustrates the highly political motives of photograph, carrying multiple meanings in order to craft certain imaginations of the subject (Berger, 1972). As a result of the power that the photographer has on its subjects, certain messages and ‘way of seeing’ are depicted through photographs. For instance, expected gender roles are played out in photographs of the Indian subjects, portraying the expectation of Curtis and his audience of the masculine and feminine behaviour by the subjects conforming to such gender standards (Jackson, 1992). Indian men are captured in what Jackson (1992) describes as ‘active poses’, such as fishing or dancing, juxtaposed with the ‘passive poses’ of female subjects, photographed in more decorative postured of waiting and watching. Though it can be argued that the manipulation and selection of images by Curtis as an artist’s ‘creative manipulation’ of their work, Curtis’ photography was used as a scientific measure, and hence should be devoid of such influences (Jackson,
In the opening sentence of this paragraph, two workers at the newspaper office are described. They are not, however, described as people though, they are instead said to be solely “two pairs of legs” (Porter 271). By describing solely this part of the people, Porter is drawing attention to a part of the body seemingly unrelated to newspaper writing. This gives the reader the impression that these two writers are either unskilled in the area or writing, or unimportant to the speaker. Interestingly, the legs are also described as, “dangling,” which paints the picture of a lifeless body. This could be perhaps indicating that these people are dead to her; both unimportant and unwanted. Porter then goes on to describe the legs as being “stuffed thickly into funnels of dark expensive-looking material.” The way in which this is described seems to imply that the fabric itself is strangling these legs that have now become representative of the speaker’s time at the newspaper. By describing the material as “dark” and “expensive looking,” Porter makes the writers at the newspaper appear to be both evil and fake. As Porter continues her description of the two writers, she notes how one of then was “oldish” and the other “youngish.” The vagueness in this description goes along with the feeling of universality in the writers that Porter has achieved by having them represented by a mere body part. Also, by having one writer be old, and the other young, the writers are closer to representing every man.
Women have spent a large amount of time throughout the 20th century fighting for liberation from a patriarchal form that told them that they must be quiet and loyal to their husbands and fathers. For the duration of this essay, I will be discussing how the “Modern Woman” image that appeared through the Art Deco style — that emulated ideas such as the femme fatale and masqueraded woman, and presented new styles to enhance women’s comfortability and freedom — is still prevalent and has grown in contemporary art and design since. Overall I will describing to you how fashion, sexuality, and the newly emerged ‘female gaze’, and how these tie in together — in both periods of time — to produce what can be described as powerful femininity.
Have you ever wished that someone would go away or were dead? That everything would be fixed if this one person would just go away. You wouldn’t have to deal with anymore of their issues. The neighbors of Mrs. Turner know this wish very well, as they deal with Mrs. Turner everyday. The first page of the story “Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass,” by Carol Shields, represents Mrs. Turner as a social outcast compared to her neighbors as she is alone and spends her days outside cutting grass and killing the plants with chemical killer. She doesn’t care about her looks and what others think of her. The Saschers are waiting for her to pass away or to be moved into an old folks’ home as they are judgemental towards Mrs. Turner and her daily activities.
Prior to the 20th century, female artists were the minority members of the art world (Montfort). They lacked formal training and therefore were not taken seriously. If they did paint, it was generally assumed they had a relative who was a relatively well known male painter. Women usually worked with still lifes and miniatures which were the “lowest” in the hierarchy of genres, bible scenes, history, and mythological paintings being at the top (Montfort). To be able to paint the more respected genres, one had to have experience studying anatomy and drawing the male nude, both activities considered t...
know beauty in any form”(86). We are so conditioned to see female beauty as what men
Hollander continues her argument by presenting the reader with more images women in private spaces, having private thoughts while wearing public dress. The idea that these women are so comfortable in these corseted, elaborate garments, that even private contemplation cannot separate them from dress, leaves the viewer with the impression that these women have no other state of being. Hollander’s conflation of private moments with public dress makes it clear why she avoided including Tissot in her
Through the exploration of this diverse range portraiture, the contrasting ideals of masculine and feminine beauty in the Renaissance have been explored. Yet overall, no matter what the gender orientation of the subject, it the discovery of such passionate and artistic talent presented which is essentially ‘beautiful’. Consequently, the grand appeal of such glorious images is still appreciated today, and will continue to delight viewers for generations to come.
No other artist has ever made as extended or complex career of presenting herself to the camera as has Cindy Sherman. Yet, while all of her photographs are taken of Cindy Sherman, it is impossible to class call her works self-portraits. She has transformed and staged herself into as unnamed actresses in undefined B movies, make-believe television characters, pretend porn stars, undifferentiated young women in ambivalent emotional states, fashion mannequins, monsters form fairly tales and those which she has created, bodies with deformities, and numbers of grotesqueries. Her work as been praised and embraced by both feminist political groups and apolitical mainstream art. Essentially, Sherman’s photography is part of the culture and investigation of sexual and racial identity within the visual arts since the 1970’s. It has been said that, “The bulk of her work…has been constructed as a theater of femininity as it is formed and informed by mass culture…(her) pictures insist on the aporia of feminine identity tout court, represented in her pictures as a potentially limitless range of masquerades, roles, projections” (Sobieszek 229).
Over the years many artist have viewed sensitive subjects within their work. Sex is one of the sensitive subjects that has been viewed in a positive and negative way. Before and during the 19th century, most paintings, sculptures, and art pieces focused on the features of a human's body. During this time, most artist believed that showing these features of a human could show the role a woman and man had in life. Sculptures in early times focused on the body of a man and showed distinctive features from head to toe. Most sculptures were representations of Greek Gods, which showed their strength and power throughout their body. Showing the sexual side of men in art, lead to showing the sexual features of a woman. The sexual features of a woman was shown throughout paintings and sculptures that mostly represented fertility. suppose to symbolize the sexual union between him and the woman. The idea of showing sex in art has been shaped and formed into various perspectives.
The images that infiltrate our lives appear to focus on maintaining the status quo or the norms of society. They are designed to show what is expected in life. Berger states, "Images were made to conjure up the appearance of something that was absent"(107). Berger argues "images" are "conjured up" or imagined to represent what is "absent" or what the individual wants to see as reality. There used to be a tendency to over exemplify the way in which women were thought to be, but "today, that opposition no longer seems to hold quite as rigidly as it once did (women are indeed objectified more than ever, but, in this image-dominated culture, men increasingly are too)" (156). Regardless of so...
The first images of the garden are seen through the exaggerated imagination of a young child. “” are as “ as flowers on Mars,” and cockscombs “ the deep red fringe of theater curtains.” Fr...
More strikingly, she dismisses the recent feminist attempts which fundamentally lead to inappropriate answers of the question, why have there been no great women artists? For example, the first reaction to the question is to rediscover forgotten female artists in history of art such as Artemisia Gentileschi. However, Nochlin asserts that such attempt is an inadequate response to the question, and “tacitly reinforce its negative implications (148).” In fact, it supports the notion that the great female artist is fundamentally rare and proves the natural assumption that all greatness in artistic accomplishments has been only reserved for male artist. Another reaction to the question is that women’s work has different formal and expressive qualities which cannot be judged by male situation and experience in art world. So, the work itself has a different kind of greatness, so called feminine style, which essentially contains a female sensibility and experience and a feminine aesthetic. However, again, Nochlin finds it is an inadequate response because there is...
16.)Utt, Jamie. "Navigating The Difference Between The Appreciation of Beauty and Sexual Objectification." Everyday Feminism 18 Apr. 2013: n. pag. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. .