David Favrod

Through his work, David Favrod explores themes of identity, culture and memory. His work is informed by his own memories of traveling around Japan as a child, stories his mother told him and memories of a conversation he had once with his grandparents about the the war in Japan. “I guess my education and all that I lived through when I was young, all the experiences I had, affect in a way the man I am today and so also how I take pictures” (Favrod 2014).

Mishiko – David Favrod 2012
The girl with the watermelon is Mishiko, she was the sister of my grandfather. She fell ill during the second war, doctors diagnosed poor hydration. In Japan, watermelon is a very popular fruit and holds much water. So his parents gave it to her regularly. But the diagnosis was wrong; it was a salt deficiency and she died shortly after.

In his series, Hikari, Favrod visits an important time in Japanese history, and its impact on him and his family, through memories, resulting is a “poignant and compelling narrative positioned somewhere between the personal and the universal” (Boothroyd 2014). Hikari is a Japanese word meaning, light, which references the intense flash of light emitted by the atomic bomb. Some images are titled and have captions which help direct the meaning, while other don’t and remain open to the viewer’s own interpretation.

Vent Divin – David Favrod 2013

Born in Kobe to a Japanese mother and Swiss father, Favrod moved to Switzerland at the age of six. As his father had to travel for his work a lot, Favrod was mainly brought up by his mother, who taught his Japanese principals and culture. At eighteen, he applied for dual-citizenship, but the Japanese embassy denied his request. In the series, Gaijin, meaning foreigner, Favrod uses his sense of rejection to explore and prove that he is as much Japanese as he is Swiss.

Tanuki – David Favrod 2009

I like Favrod’s work. He very cleverly blends and borrows from different mediums. The sound of Bombs falling while hiding in the dark bomb shelter was one of his grandparents strongest memories. In order to “introduce sound in my picture? It’s why I decided to use onomatopoeias (that were found in manga/comic) and to paint them on the prints” (Favrod 2014).

BAOUMMM, David Favrod, 2013

In the interview with Sharon Boothroyd, I was very interested in David Favrod reply to a question about his creative process. “When I want to start a new project I think about what I want to show and what I want to speak about. Before taking any picture I write the general idea and I start to draw the images on my sketchbook. That allows me to construct the series and to see if there are too many landscapes, enough portrait or still life and to have a balance in the series from these different type of photographs. For each image I think about how I can produce it. I try to find the best solution to speak about the story behind each images. And for sure I think about the series and how the images can work together. It’s a quite long process but I like to work like this” (Favrod 2014).

Reference

Boothroyd, S. (2014) ‘David Favrod’, Photoparley Blog [online], 23 Sept, available: https://photoparley.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/david-favrod/ [accessed 10 Jul 2018].

Favrod, D. (2018) David Favrod [online], available: http://www.davidfavrod.com  [accessed 10 Jul 2018].

 

Duane Michals

‘Michals came to photography by chance, and has no formal training for which he has always been grateful since he never had to unlearn the rules’ (Chambers 2016).  He redefines photography on his own terms. Michals is known for his use of sequential images and text which often examine topics such as loss, death and desire, often with a sense of humour. Throughout his career, Michals, blends ‘text and image in an idiosyncratic way and undermine the photograph’s role as a conveyor of truth’ (Bright 2010). Things are Queer 1973, below,is a interesting series which challenges reality.

This Photograph is My Proof is a single image with underlying text, taken to to be a record of a real event. The image features, a man and woman sitting on a bed in a loving embrace. Beneath the image is the following text, ‘This photograph is my proof. There was that afternoon, when things were still good between us, and she embraced me, and we were so happy. It did happen. She did love me. Look, see for yourself!’ The image works in creating a sense of happiness and nostalgia, while the text, which seem desperate, creates a sense of doubt and melancholy.

This Photograph is My Proof is presented as autobiographical. In, What does photography ‘document’?, Dr George Petelin of Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, suggest that the man in the image may be Michals, ‘His interviews tell us that Duane Michals is gay and has been in the same relationship for 39 years (Murtha, 2008). Proof, however, is dated both 1967, two years before the commencement of this relationship, and 1974, presumably when the text was added and the picture exhibited as an artwork. Michals often appears in his own photographs, and in 1967 was 35, so could well be the man in the picture’. Petelin also concedes that ‘Michals is known for photographs that are constructs, extensively and obviously manipulated’ and the Michals in ‘Proof could be an actor or at least a persona he devises to question the evidentiality of photographs. But maybe also not’.

Whether the image is autobiographical or not, probably isn’t important. What is interesting on the other hand, is that Michals has presented us, the viewer, with an image and text which stimulates thoughts and questions regarding what we are looking at.

Reference

Bright, S. (2010) Autofocus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography, London:Thames and Hudson.

Chambers, K.S. (2016) ‘Duane Michals: Sequences, Tintypes and Talking Pictures’, AEQAI [online], 19 Nov, available: http://aeqai.com/main/2016/11/duane-michals-sequences-tintypes-and-talking-pictures-carl-solway-gallery/ [accessed 12 Jun 2018].

Livingstone, M. and Michals, D. (1997) The Essential Duane Michals, London: Thames and Hudson.

Michals, D. (2015). duanemichals.tumblr.com [online], available: http://duanemichals.tumblr.com/ [accessed 12 Jun 2018].

Petelin, G. ‘What does Photography Document?’ [online], available: http://www.academia.edu/208132/What_does_photography_document [accessed 22 Apr 2015].

Warner Marien, M. (2010) Photography: A Cultural History, 3rd ed., London: Laurence King.

Sophie Calle

Take care of Yourself by Sophie Calle has been described by Louise Neri as ‘a tour de force of feminine responses to a breakup letter that Calle received by e-mail from a man.’ At first, Calle didn’t know how to respond to the letter, but after showing it to friends, the idea for the series developed. Calle asked 107 women to answer professionally, and analyze the breakup letter that she had received from her boyfriend. She didn’t want the women expressing sentiment for her, just an honest interpretation of the letter. The series features a wide range of media including song and dance, scientific analysis, a crossword puzzle, origami, a shooting target, a forensic study and photographs. The title, Take Care of Yourself  is taken from the parting words of the letter, and was first presented at the French Pavillion in the 2007 Venice Biennale.

Whether or not the letter is genuine is of little importance. It’s remarkable that such an array of mediums were used to express reaction or response to Calle’s (very personal) letter. She describes how at first she did not know how to respond to the letter, but ultimately and ironically responded very specifically to the parting works ‘Take care of yourself’. Calle feels that the project is her doing just as the parting words state, she is taking care of herself. One contributor wrote a twelve page text, of which Calle selected the following phrase to go on the wall, ‘Cowardice or sublimity?’ For me this positive/negative question sums up the entire project. As out of something negative, came a positive, the project itself.

It is difficult for me to form a proper opinion on Take care of Yourself, as I haven’t seen the instillation as it had been intended. Researching the work, I was heavily reliant on books, critic reviews and interviews with Sophie Calle. That aside, I do find the project intriguing. Although Calle would disagree, I feel she exacted a form of revenge on the letter’s author. For what man would want to be dissected, analysed and attacked by 107 women ? Not I.

Reference

Artsy (2018) Sophie Calle [online], available: https://www.artsy.net/artist/sophie-calle/works?medium=installation&page=1&sort=-partner_updated_at [accessed 12 Jun 2018].

Chrisafis, A. (2007) ‘He loves me not’, The Guardian [online], 16 Jun, available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/16/artnews.art [acessed 12 Jun 2018].

Neri, L. ‘Sophie Calle’, Interview Magazine [online], 7 Mar, available: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/sophie-calle#_ [accessed 12 Jun 2018].

 

Roland Barthes’ Rhetoric of the Image

In his essay, Rhetoric of the Image, Roland Barthes, through deconstruction and analysis, explores the functionality of photographs in the communication of specific messages. Barthes opts for an advertising image for his study because “in advertising the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional”, and if the image is to contain any signs, then surely in an advertisement, “these signs are full, formed with a view to the optimum reading”. 

Below: The Panzani advertisement analysed by Barthes.

Barthes states that the image contains three different messages: the linguistic, the symbolic and the literal, with the symbolic and literal forming the pure image.

The linguistic (written) message is delivered by captions and product labels within the image, on two levels: denotation (statement of fact) and connotation (allowing for interpretation). ‘Panzani’ obviously denotes the company name, but also, by connotation, expresses “Italianicity” through it’s assonance, allowing the product to be seen as genuine and superior.

Examining the linguistic message more closely, Barthes states that regardless of its’ position or length, “the linguistic message is indeed present in every image: as title, caption, accompanying press article, film dialogue, comic strip balloon”. The linguistic message appears to have two functions: anchorage and relay. Anchorage is the most commonly used function of the linguistic message, extensively used in newspapers and advertising. It “directs the reader through the signified of the image, causing him to avoid some and receive others; by means of an often subtle dispatching, it remote-controls him towards a meaning chosen in advance.” Less commonly used with the fixed image, Relay functions in a complimentary relationship giving equal status to image and text (particularly in comic strips), allowing for ambiguity and interpretation, where “the unity of the message is realized at a higher level”.

Setting aside the linguistic message, Barthes presents the pure image in the form of the symbolic and literal messages. The image reveals a number of signs which can be interpreted to form the symbolic message (connoted image). The signs are not linear but do work together to deliver a coherent message. The half-open bag signifies the idea of freshness following the return from market and the domestic preparation for which the products are bound. The tomato, pepper and tricoloured hues (yellow, green, red) signify ‘Italianicity”. The collection of products present the idea of a total culinary service, “as though Panzani furnish everything necessary for a carefully balanced dish” , and as if “the concentrate in the tin were equivalent to the natural produce surrounding it”. The composition of the image itself evokes memories of art, signifying the “still life”.

The symbolic message is coded, and to read it as Barthes does, one must have a certain knowledge of culture (still life) and stereotypes (Italianicity). The literal message (denoted image) on the other hand is a “message without a code”. It’s the image at its most basic, it’s a statement of fact, in that for each sign, the meaning and what we actually see are one and the same, a tomato is just a tomato and an onion is just an onion.

The literal and symbolic messages are not easily separated, as they are delivered to the viewer simultaneously. Barthes suggests that the literal message appears in support of the symbolic message, or that the denoted image is in support of the connoted image. To remove interpretation and connotation from the image would be to reduce the image to what Barthes calls, “the first degree of intelligibility” (the point “below which the reader would perceive only lines, form and colour”), or an “Edenic state of the image” where a tomato is just a tomato and an onion is just an onion. According to Barthes, of all image types, only the photograph can transmit the literal information in this way, as drawings for example, are coded “even when denoted”. Drawings rely on a set of rules (“rule-governed transpositions“) and skills developed through practice; and are, by their very nature, representative, in that form is represented on a surface by a series of lines. In a photograph “the relationship of signifieds to signifiers is not one of transformation but of recording”, thus reinforcing the myth of photography’s “naturalness”. However, Barthes dismisses this idea, as man’s composition and other photographic interventions (framing, focus, speed, aperture etc.) render the photograph within the realm of connotation. Simply, the photograph cannot be a pure replication of reality because the photographer’s decisions ultimately dictate how the photograph will look.

The profound reality of the photograph is that it makes an “illogical conjunction” between the present (here-now) and the past (there-then). This has allowed it to elude history, as despite technological advancement, the photograph has remained relatively unchanged (“a flat anthropological fact”) since it’s dawn. Barthes already suggested that the denoted image (literal) appears in support of the connoted image (symbolic). He believes that the true function of the denoted image through it’s literal innocence, is that of naturalizing the symbolic message. Applying this to the Panzani advertisement, and despite all the symbols present, there remains as far as the literal message is concerned, a simple collection of objects.

A difficulty which arises when analyzing the symbolic message is that “the number of readings of the same lexial unit or lexia (of the same image) varies according to individuals”. According to Barthes, viewers have lexicons, essentially stores of knowledge on varying subjects, allowing meaning be applied to the connoted image. These lexicons form a library of knowledge a viewer draws from, referred to by Barthes as “a person’s idiolect”. This idea of people having an idiolect, which contains lexicons both common and unique, seem to be in keeping with the idea from Barthes’ essay, Death of the Author, where interpretation and meaning of a text (image) ultimately lie with the reader (viewer) regardless of the author’s intentions. The post I wrote on Roland Barthes’ Death of the Author is linked here.

Barthes suggests that an added difficulty when analyzing the connoted image is that “semiology can only be conceived in a so to speak total framework”, meaning that to communicate the analysis of signs within an image, one must rely on a language which is itself a system of signs, and open to misinterpretation. The question is, how can you effectively communicate your interpretation of another persons creative work (image), which is itself interpretive by its very nature? Barthes answers this question in stating that the “common domain of the signifiers of connotation is that of ideology”, or simply, that ‘known’ specific and generic concepts are used to interpret an actual image. All the signifiers on a particular subject, will be referred to as “connotators and the set of connotators a rhetoric”. Barthes believes in the probability of there being a “single rhetorical form” common to all methods of creative expression. However, he concludes in saying that rhetoric of an image is the visual elements within the image which may be signified and have meaning assigned.

The language used by Barthes makes any study of his work difficult, and I found deciphering Rhetoric of the Image particularly laborious. However, his essay is a fascinating lesson in photograph deconstruction and analysis.

A photographer creates an image based on their view of the world, knowledge, education and life experience (or what Barthes calls, their idiolect). Once created, the photographer loses control (Death of the Author), for each viewer interprets and finds meaning in an image bases on their view of the world, knowledge, education and life experience. By understanding how images are read, one can utilize this knowledge to guide viewers towards intended meaning.

Barthes’ method of deconstruction can be applied to any image, and it was interesting to see how effective his method is when applied to advertisements, where signs are optimized. Non-advertising images on the other hand may prove more open to ambiguous reading. This is where careful attention to the symbolic message within an image is important. However, the photographer may always fall back on the linguistic message, to try and direct or divert the viewer’s understanding.

Reference

Barthes, R. (1977) Image, Music, Text, translated by Heath, S., London: Fontana Press.

Barbara Kruger

‘American graphic designer Barbara Kruger culled photographically derived mass-media images for use in an extensive series of confrontational poster-like pictures based on postmodern assumptions about women in society…. she inserted bold, bocky type derived from advertising into her compositions, both as design elements and for their meaning’ (Warner Marien 2010 p.452)

‘I shop, therefore I am’ and ‘Your body is a battleground’, are some of Kruger’s instantly recognizable slogans. Kruger’s work explores and opens a dialogue on issues of feminism, desire, consumerism and self-determination. She often commentes on current politics, as can be seen  with her New York magazine cover, in which she calls Donald Trump a ‘Loser’.

‘I never say I do political art. Nor do I do feminist art. I’m a woman who’s a feminist, who makes art. But I think what becomes visible and what work remains absent is always the result of historical circumstance’ (Kruger 2013).

Reference

Bollen, C. (2013) ‘Barbara Kruger’, Andy Warhol’s Interview [online], 13 Feb, available: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/barbara-kruger [accessed 23 May 2018].

Kruger, B. (2018) Barbara Kruger [online], available: http://www.barbarakruger.com [accessed 23 May 2018].

MoMA (2018) Barbara Kruger [online], available: https://www.moma.org/artists/3266 [accessed 23 May 2018].

Warner Marien, M. (2010) Photography: A Cultural History, 3rd ed., London: Laurence King.

Kaylynn Deveney

Photographer Kaylynn Deveney moved into the neighbourhood of 85-year old Albert Hastings. Kaylynn took notice of the small rituals and routines which formed Albert’s everyday life. A friendship slowly developed as Kaylynn began photographing parts of Albert’s day. The two developed a simple yet effective method of storytelling, through Kaylynn’s images and Albert’s handwritten text. The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings is a chronicle of aging, living alone, and the ordinary things that make up our daily lives. The project is presented as a diary, containing seventy-eight photographs along with poems written by Albert, his clock drawings, and personal family photographs. This is a series which really appeals to me. The photography is tastefully executed, presenting the most ordinary and simple part of one man’s life in an attractive way.

Reference

Deveney, K. (2018) Kaylynn Deveney [online], available: https://kaylynndeveney.com/portfolios/ [accessed 7 Jan 2018].

Deveney, K. (2007) The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings, New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Deveney, K. (2007) The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings, New York, Princeton Architectural Press [online], available: http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=pp034 [accessed 7 Jan 2018].