The development of fashion photography, just like its subject itself, was in the past and will be affected by trends in the future. The techniques and influences that emerged in the field since the...Show moreThe development of fashion photography, just like its subject itself, was in the past and will be affected by trends in the future. The techniques and influences that emerged in the field since the late 1980s and 1990s have marked a paradigm shift from idealized to flexible conventions shaping the status quo of what constitutes a contemporary fashion (ad) photograph. The developments are reflected in modern fashion (ad) photographers’ works such as by Philip DiCorcia or Juergen Teller. The latter is considered a trending fashion photography pioneer. Although it is impossible to typify contemporary advertising photography’s expression, this paper illustrates one of its multi-approaches by investigating Juergen Teller’s (aesthetic) strategy in the advert campaign series Resort 2020 for Miu Miu in light of the concept of hybridity, which reflects the tendency of post-modernist photography. The notion of hybridity is characterized by dualism. The ad contains a multiplicity of hybrid elements revealed by using the methods of interdisciplinary research approach, combining literature review from various disciplines and visual analysis: Miu Miu Resort reflects not only a hybrid fusion of the luxury (the Miu Miu collection) and the banal (the setting or the models’ posing) but also plays on the concept of the grotesque which is in itself hybrid and is exemplified in the photographic series mainly by pairing incongruent categories such as animal and handbag. The general ambiguity in Resort is reflected in ‘conflicting’ compositions intriguing viewers and stimulate their curiosity for luxury products’ display, proved by findings of other scholars’ research on grotesque imagery’s persuasiveness. Teller’s imagery lacks cohesiveness and is not classifiable in many respects, as underlined by his neither amateurish, documentary, or filmic photography style nor in terms of gaze and gender-specific representations of the models. The artist’s work is unlike traditional fashion ad photography, which provides an exaggerated and decorative aura. Teller maintains the Resort campaign’s focus on the Miu Miu commodities by presenting the ordinary as ordinary. The anti-spectacular approach in Juergen Teller’s photographs alludes to the aesthetic concept Wabi-Sabi incorporating intentionally cropped body-parts or sunlight overexposure, rendering albeit the impression of naturalness, but the awareness of an artificial construction remains.Show less
Aiming to develop an ecofeminist lens of lens-based art, this thesis analyses how the choice of a specific medium enhances the communication of concepts relating to the relationship between humans,...Show moreAiming to develop an ecofeminist lens of lens-based art, this thesis analyses how the choice of a specific medium enhances the communication of concepts relating to the relationship between humans, or women specifically, and nature. The implications of presenting the female body in nature are discussed through an amalgamation of (eco-)feminist theory and three established topics within media studies: representation, the moving image in the museum, and the affective turn. From representation in photography to affect in video art installation, the growing possibilities of lens-based art are argued to work towards more complex and critical artistic explorations of the relationship between the female body and nature.Show less
This thesis aims to examine the conventions governing both photojournalism and art with regard to war photography. More specifically, how are conventions in representations of war in...Show moreThis thesis aims to examine the conventions governing both photojournalism and art with regard to war photography. More specifically, how are conventions in representations of war in photojournalism interrogated by artists and what conventions in turn govern artistic approaches to war photography? The relationship between art and war photography will be examined in relation to three artworks, which present a complementary approach towards the discussed issues.Show less
This thesis reveals a reflection on trauma in a personal photographic project and focuses on the relationship between photography and memory, and photography and trauma. It aims to answer the...Show moreThis thesis reveals a reflection on trauma in a personal photographic project and focuses on the relationship between photography and memory, and photography and trauma. It aims to answer the question how a visual project created in the format of a reconstructed family photo album can provide insights into issues addressed in theoretical debates on those relationships.Show less
This thesis investigates through terminological and historical research violence metaphors used in photography language, such as 'the camera as the gun' and 'the photographer as the hunter.'
This thesis focuses on vernacular photographs that have been altered by artists stitching various forms of embroidery directly into the photographic paper, creating an interplay of thread, paper,...Show moreThis thesis focuses on vernacular photographs that have been altered by artists stitching various forms of embroidery directly into the photographic paper, creating an interplay of thread, paper, and image. The combination of these opposing traits into a single work subverts the viewer’s assumptions about both mediums, and constitutes a specific spectator experience. I utilise theories from film, photography, painting, and digital media that deal with materiality and embodiment in order to examine what is at work in an embodied spectator experience with specific works from four artists using varied approaches. My hope is to provide insight into potential avenues and outcomes for embodiment with both these objects in particular and embroidered photographs more broadly.Show less
When looking at the photobook as medium, it becomes apparent that the photobook has mostly been discussed as a presentation and storage tool but not as a medium of its own. Approaching the...Show moreWhen looking at the photobook as medium, it becomes apparent that the photobook has mostly been discussed as a presentation and storage tool but not as a medium of its own. Approaching the photobook as a medium from a historical perspective, it is interesting that the photobook, when discussed in an academic framework, has been theorized in matter of style and substance, looking at the evolution of the design and content of the photobook, but not in audience experience. At first glance, walking as a physical act and the reader-like walking through a photobook share the superficial characteristic of the possibility of freedom, as both the chosen path through the photobook and through walking is steered by the reader-spectator’s unique personality and life experience, which is not completely controlled by the author-artist and as such can have an unpredictable outcome. In this thesis, I aim to substantiate this claim. The reader-spectator’s hand turning the photobook’s pages are reminiscent of the wanderer’s feet exploring a path. To underline this argument, the act of walking is interpreted as metaphor. Where in an installation or exhibition space the spectator approached the artworks literally through their feet, now the reader-spectator approaches the photobook with their hands. In approaching the reader-spectator experience from this perspective, this research becomes also an investigation of the medium of the photobook.Show less
The thesis looks closer at vernacular photography, a record of the everyday created by common people, as one of the most common ways in which photographic images are created. By using the specific...Show moreThe thesis looks closer at vernacular photography, a record of the everyday created by common people, as one of the most common ways in which photographic images are created. By using the specific example of the family photographic collection of John “Zbyszek” Jagla, a Polish refugee born in Uganda, the thesis examines different dimensions of photographic meaning. The analysis draws on research from within the field of photographic theory and applies those theories and approaches to demonstrate the ways in which photographs carry their own meaning, both as images and as objects, and how that meaning changes not just over time but also depending on their context and who is viewing them and why.Show less
Depictive power of photography has to a great extent constrained people's perspectives on photography. Also, it is the reality that photography cannot dispense from depiction. However, the...Show moreDepictive power of photography has to a great extent constrained people's perspectives on photography. Also, it is the reality that photography cannot dispense from depiction. However, the depiction is not the only nature of photography, rather it is a kind of art that carries artists' intentions and ideas and a kind of medium that convey the ideas to audiences. It seems that the depictive power and the artist's intentions to some extent are contradictory. With Jeff Wall's constructed photography we may see how the contradiction is solved by a conceptual means. Jeff Wall's works exemplify that how a conceptual photograph could express the photographer's intentions and at the same time reflect the social reality. In such an artwork, there are both aesthetic value and fundamentally true social significance. It might not be able to depict how the world is, but reflect how the world could be, which provide more possibility for photography. At the same time, it provides more space for audiences to participate in the interpretative process of artworks.Show less
Today, it is possible to attach photographic cameras to drones. The advent of these unmanned flying machines has transformed the field of aerial photography as it has prompted the proliferation of...Show moreToday, it is possible to attach photographic cameras to drones. The advent of these unmanned flying machines has transformed the field of aerial photography as it has prompted the proliferation of vertical views. This type of view is known as God’s eye view. The technical specificities that differentiate drones from other flying devices enhance certain representational operations in the photographic language; operations that yield a very particular visual representation of the earth’s surface. The representation issues that have been identified in drone vernacular photography are three: paradox between chaos and geometry, miniaturization and flatness. These elements affect the way in which viewers perceive and ascribe meaning to our living space. When these characteristics are not critically thought, these photographic images can give rise to feelings of possession, affective detachment and omnipresence. Thus, they dehumanize our view of the world. A critical and historical reflection upon this issues in drone photography can decrease the visual reification of our living space, and instead, they can become qualities of a living and dynamic spatial representation.Show less
Humans of New York (HONY) is the result of technological changes such as camera phones and social media that so strongly has influenced the way we produce, consume and reproduce photography....Show moreHumans of New York (HONY) is the result of technological changes such as camera phones and social media that so strongly has influenced the way we produce, consume and reproduce photography. Digital network interactions that reshape modes of socializing contributes to dehumanization, while at the same time the easiness and rapidness with which photographs can be reproduced provoke the emergence of modern iconoclasm. Unintentionally, HONY counter-reacts both by creating a sense of human community that avoids visual saturation blindness. Its use of traditional photography has lead to position it within some of the photographic genre debates due to its users’ perception and reception. This professionalization of an amateur photographic project represents a problem for the academic field. The lack of an academic background prevents this type of photography from representing truthfulness ethically. Unconsciously, HONY perpetuates stereotypes and manipulates its viewers by appealing to sentimentalism, while at the same time falls into the tradition of the victim. This issues point at the fact of an urgent need for theorizing and conceptualizing this type of photography that despite being amateur is perceived within the professional photographic practice.Show less
Het onderzoeksobject van deze scriptie betreft een specifiek onderdeel van het oeuvre van de fotograaf Michel Szulc-Krzyzanowski (1949), genaamd de Sequenties, gemaakt in de periode 1970-1985 (zijn...Show moreHet onderzoeksobject van deze scriptie betreft een specifiek onderdeel van het oeuvre van de fotograaf Michel Szulc-Krzyzanowski (1949), genaamd de Sequenties, gemaakt in de periode 1970-1985 (zijn ‘vintage’ serie). De onderzoeksvraag richt zich op hoe een toeschouwer zich tot verschillende Sequenties van deze kunstenaar verhoudt. Een aantal van deze werken wordt geanalyseerd door toetsing aan historische feiten rondom de geschiedenis van de menselijke waarneming en door toepassing van theorieën uit de filosofie (o.a. Vilém Flusser, Philippe Dubois), de neurowetenschappen (Rick Grush), de kunstkritiek (o.a. Rosalind Krauss, Janneke Wesseling, Maarten Vanvolsem) en de fotografie- en filmkritiek (o.a. Laura Mulvey, Vivian Sobchack). De analyse focust zich op de verhoudingen tussen wereld, object, subject (fotograaf en toeschouwer), fotografische afbeelding en de fotocamera.Show less
Ever since the foundation of the online video platform YouTube in 2006 and the online social media platforms Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006), the mass spreading of the animal rights...Show moreEver since the foundation of the online video platform YouTube in 2006 and the online social media platforms Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006), the mass spreading of the animal rights organisations’ undercover footage over the Internet has caused a lot of controversy and has resulted in for example the dismissal of certain animal products by major companies under the pressure of the media. Evidently, these photographs and videos do affect people. This observation was the starting point of my research and lead me to the main research question: Which characteristics of the media photography and film are exploited in three approaches to footage shot in factory farms by undercover investigators of animal rights organisations?Show less
