Connecting Kaurismäki to irony is not surprising, but is surprisingly enough, not so much scholarly researched in the past. Irony appears in different disguises, largely depending on the function...Show moreConnecting Kaurismäki to irony is not surprising, but is surprisingly enough, not so much scholarly researched in the past. Irony appears in different disguises, largely depending on the function of it; what the ironist wants to achieve. Applying it can originate from an urge to complicate a matter of discussion but can also be applied to translate the oppositional stance the ironist wants to reveal. In the case of the enigmatic Kaurismäki his intentions or motivations in his choice of theme and subject are essential to the humour he adapts in telling his stories, but always remains somewhat vague. This thesis provides an image of how irony prevails and functions in his cinema on the base of a series of comparative case studies linked to three of his films: I Hired a Contract Killer (1990), The Man Without a Past (2002) and The Other Side of Hope (2017). It eventually sets out an idea of a filmmaker who, by applying irony, both distances though simultaneously engages himself with his audience in his own wayward fashion.Show less
The portrayal of African Americans in mainstream media has subjected us to a succession of images which depict poverty, crime, violence and suffering but omit the circumstances of quotidian life...Show moreThe portrayal of African Americans in mainstream media has subjected us to a succession of images which depict poverty, crime, violence and suffering but omit the circumstances of quotidian life which lie beneath the stereotypes of towns in Northern America. The complicated and often frustrating history of African Americans has played a material role in the discourse of black representation. Today, the majority of poorer African American communities inhabit the outskirts of larger cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Here, they seek to create a comfortable environment for themselves and their families. However, given that the history and experience of African American life has frequently been portrayed in the media as being at odds with that of white communities, it is unlikely that they will be left to pursue their lives freely and independently, especially when black men and boys are coupled with criminality and violence, and there is increased public support for a more rigorous approach to policing and punishment. Contemporary black representations provoke debate because they bring the material world to life. What is more, these photographic images also liberate the viewer’s mind by offering previously unknown facts and information. While the media focuses on communities when there is violence to be written about, once the violence subsides, communities like Braddock and Watts are left to their own devices, with little or no attention being paid to the bigger picture of social and economic disparity. The cause of these communities has been taken up by local photographers like LaToya Ruby Frazier and Western photographers like Dana Lixenberg, with both women taking particular interest in the documentation of life as an African American living in an unforgiving environment. Frazier meshes her work in photography with human rights activism to create visibility for the African American communities, while Lixenberg seeks to counter stereotypical images of these communities. This paper will focus on Frazier’s The Notion Of Family and Lixenberg’s Imperial Courts. Rather than dwelling on the negativity and violence that has historically been associated with the communities’ state of being, the two photographers have chosen to produce images of African Americans which stand as visual resistance to prevailing negative black stereotypes. The shared aim of both photographic projects is to counter the negative stereotypes that circulate the media today, and is the reason for choosing these projects. Given the shared aim, the photographers might be expected to adopt a similar approach to documenting their subjects. This paper will consider whether the photographers’ approach is indeed the same and, on the basis of the observations made, will carry out a further comparison of the methodology used by Frazier and Lixenberg respectively in the field of representation of African Americans. When examining the bodies of work of Frazier and Lixenberg, specific consideration will be given to the photographers’ divergent cultural backgrounds, the historical representation of African Americans and the role that the ‘observational’ and ‘participatory modes’ play within this discourse of representation.Show less
This thesis is a genealogy of photography as a communicative object, one that goes against the grain of photography as a memento. The phenomenon that has triggered my interest is Snapchat, a...Show moreThis thesis is a genealogy of photography as a communicative object, one that goes against the grain of photography as a memento. The phenomenon that has triggered my interest is Snapchat, a smartphone app with which photographs can be exchanged that disappear almost immediately. My genealogical method, as inspired by Michel Foucault, is not one of looking for origins; I acknowledge the inconsistencies and vicissitudes of history. Rather, my aim is to establish how conditions were shaped in order for a phenomenon such as Snapchat to emerge. Throughout my research I assess how the paradox of the photograph as memento versus the photograph as communicative object has affected photography’s relation to terms such as memory and communication over the course of a number of decades. In order to establish productive analyses, I use examples from vernacular photography as well as art photography and conceptual art. The family photo album, Instagram, and Fiona Tan’s Vox Populi are the protagonists in the first chapter, in which I assess the altered relation between photography and memory. In the second chapter, On Kawara, the picture postcard, and Polaroid photograph serve to illustrate some characteristics of visual, photographic communication. The emphasis in such interactions is on the transfer of phatic messages, an exchange in which the photograph as an object plays a mere verificatory role; it helps the sender to tell the recipient that they are still alive. The third chapter centres on the disappearance of the photograph that is the consequence of Snapchat and other disappearing-photo-apps. At a time in which we amass daunting amounts of photographs, Snapchat has begun to relieve us somehow from the burden of remembrance and time-consuming structuring processes, but clearly, it does not operate without collateral damage. Certainly, the way in which photography functions as part of our daily life is rapidly altering. Snapchat’s wealth of ambiguities complicates straightforward interpretation, certainly at this stage in time when it is still relatively new. Could it be considered an inherent critique of the way in which we build our online identities, or is it inextricably part of the social media machine? Does it enable a renewed sense of intimacy, or is it the epitome of contemporary alienation? Through the continuous publicness of our private lives, much of the distinction between what used to be the private and the public has collapsed. Snapchat provides an answer to this situation in the sense that it offers its users a right to be forgotten, yet also, the consistent exposure and interaction it motivates leaves little room for privacy. And contrary to what many believe, this increased exposure does not seem to make us more visually literate, and it never ceases to overwhelm us. More than ever, Snapchat has made visual communication to be about its “here I am” value, and less and less about the photograph itself. Clearly, it is not an isolated phenomenon as such, rather, it is symptomatic for many widespread societal changes, attitudes and developments. As you will read, Snapchat’s inconsistencies cannot currently be solved, but arguably, that should not be seen as a weakness. On the contrary: they demonstrate the complexity of the phenomenon that I have studied.Show less
