2. • “The portrait is a sign whose purpose
is both the description of an
individual and the inscription of social
identity” John Tagg 1988
• What does this mean?
3. Apollo is an ideal type
who represents
perfection
Does this image refer to
an ideal or an
individual?
Portraiture has two opposing
yet Interlinked sides: Showing
the subjects true identity and
Robert Mapplethorpe Apollo relating that identity to the
world
4. Silhouette and physionotrance started to
become popular and started to anchor the
codes and conventions of portraiture from art
6. Early 19th C portraiture was equated to paintings and
their codes and conventions. Paintings of individuals
(and photos) showed wealth and status
7. • The Daguerreotype became popular
and affordable (still middle class)
• Studios sprang up
• Up to 40 seconds exposure still –
helps to confirm C&C
8. Other photographers begin to break painterly tradition and use photography to
show different social types and personalities.
People begin to remain in their social contexts
Is this ‘environmental portraiture’ now starting to become documentary?
Hill and Adamson
9. Late 19th c; Nadar works formally still but
establishes truer form of subject identification
This returns us to portraitures
central dilemma – ID or
Personality
13. • The paradox of portraiture is the true re-
presentation of the subject via the lens versus
how the images fits into social conventions
and uses codes of photography and art to tell
a story
• i.e. Can an image of me, every really show the
true me?!
14. Paul Strand
• Blind Woman 1916
• Documentary or
portraiture?
• Defines a personal
history within the
context of other
reference points
15. August Sander
• The individual
referred to in a
social context
• Subjects as
social beings
• Defined by
profession
(environmental)
• True identity
though?
16. Robert Mapplethorpe
• Address’s
problem of
identity
• Explores
portraiture in
relation to its
assumed
audience
• Rejects C&C
17. Cindy Sherman
• Explores
identity in
terms of
how modern
identity is
made via
media
images
• The Self is a
point of ID
20. We see continued reference from photographers as
they attempt to make sense of the ambiguous
condition of identity
21. Task
• Using your class notes and one of the images
provided you must write a brief analysis. Your
analysis must discuss some of the key issues
mentioned and not simply a textual analysis of
the picture.
• Use the books/handout provided to try and
find a reference or source
• You can work in small groups to begin with but
must write separately.
Notes de l'éditeur
Portraits are cultural, they relate to the time and place of their inception. This means they become documents, so we are crossing over already. As documents they are meant to inscribe truth
Apollo stares into the void, his perfect smooth stone is timeless and ageless, Apollo the portrait refers to the myth and not the individual so this opens up the key question of; does portraiture express the inner world of the subject?
Relates to things like phrenology etc and picked up on by the Nazi’s etc... Does relate to the idea of portraits for categorising and social status
Explain term ‘codes and conventions’. (gainsborough and howlett)
Daguerreotype was a one off on a plate unlike Fox Talbot’s wet emulsion process, it was delicate and needed protecting which added to its mystiqueNeck braces were being used still and painterly conventions followed yet the start of the democratic spread of art could be said to have begunSo popular even took images of the dead
We are back to our early quote.Q. What are we seeing in these images that is different from previous slides? What is going on with photographic technology that helps this? (negatives, moveable camera...)
Nadars work hovers between portraiture as identification and revealing the true personality – this is a point we keep coming back to!
Self portrait with paintbrush and PhillipeHalsman referring to his ‘jump’ images
Use of external space in this Francis Bacon image becomes symbolic of the painters status and state of mindHarold Pinter is surrounded by books and newspapers and his gaze is considered ironic as normally he provides material for the audience to gaze onto
We can see this central dichotomy of portraiture still very much in place
Other reference points such as the text ‘blind’ – this gives us the terms by which we see the picture and creates an emotional standing
a hierarchy of meaning is shown via the social distinctions made
Makes direct reference to himself and his sexuality and how its depicted by other images
Cindy questions the idea of how women are viewed within a media saturated context which essentially is a critique
Strips down celebs, basic flat lighting, reveals true id?
We are almost back to square one really. Is portraiture for the purposes of identification and categorising or is it to show the true inner nature of the subject
