Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller
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| 1907 - 1977 |
American-born, Miller started her career by becoming a fashion model. Even though she approached photography from a fashion viewpoint, she inevitably ended up capturing images of the Second World War by becoming a war correspondent for Vogue magazine.
These images were exhibited at the Imperial War Museum, a selection entitled Lee Miller: A Woman's War.
In relation to the weekly topic, here we see women being represented in an intriguing way. Under the conditions of World War 2, Miller depicts women performing tasks that go against the stereotypes of being female at that time. Miller shows that War is not necessarily a male domain, a women also fought, albeit not always on the front lines. I believe Miller sough it fair to represent what women were capable of at such a turbulent time in history.
From the first two images, we can also understand that she is dealing with the theme of femininity. These photographs were presented alongside each other, one depicting a resistance fighter who's hair is styled in such a way to reflect her rebelliousness and, the other, showing a woman who was understood to be collaborating with the Nazis, so her head was shaved. There is an interesting comparison to be made here, one woman uses her individuality in such a way to identify with the resistance of the Nazi regime and another whose head has been shaved by others people for not resisting. Miller has provides an interesting take on what femininity means during war time, with the focus being on hair style.
Nan Goldin
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| Born September 12th, 1953 |
Nan Goldin is an American photographer. Her photography explores themes of love, gender and sexuality in her snapshot style and aesthetic. Goldin's work offer her an insight into her life and the people in it. She depict a stark realism in her photographs and she actively avoids glamorising them. I have chosen the self-portrait of herself above as an example of this. Despite being one of her most celebrated and popular pieces of work, 'Nan One Month After Being Battered' was created show she could remind herself why she shouldn't return to an abusive relationship.
I interpret this image to suggest a reflection of a male dominated society. Despite her bruised face, there is a strong message being conveyed about femininity. Her well kept hair and adornment of jewellery and make-up show that in the face of abuse by a man, she has still engaged in the systems of domination and common assumptions of the representation of women in photographs. She stares at the spectator, wanting them to question what an abused women symbolises in a male dominated society.
LGTB related themes also feature as theme of exploration in Goldin's work. In relation to the weeks topic, the meaning of gender can be explored through the binary opposition man/woman. Society at large has a number of assumptions about what makes a man a man and what makes a woman a woman, in terms of both physiology and personality.
Goldin has chosen to photograph a marginalised and under-represented group in these images. These pictures portraying drag queens undermines these assumptions we make about gender and how gender is represented in society.
Sarah Maple
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| Born 1985 |
Born to an Iranian Muslim mother and a English Christian father, Maple is inspired by her mixed religious and cultural background when it comes to her artistry.
From the examples I have selected above, we can see that Maple's photography blends a lot of themes all at once. We can see a nod to popular culture and a strong message to the viewer that makes us question what is traditionally thought about religion, the role of women in society and personal identity.
A self-portrait of Maple wearing traditional religious headdress worn by Muslim women, whilst at the same time holding a cigarette, calls into question any preconceived notions and assumptions we have about Muslim women, religious women in general and the Maple's very own identity.
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