We do not see things as they are…

New York City (1974) by Elliott Erwitt Notes & Quotes from, Theory, Articulating Critical Practice Section 1, (2020) Dr. Ariadne Xenou, Barnsley: Open College of the Arts. The French poet and essayist Anaïs Nin posited that “we do not see things as they are; we see them as we are.” Anaïs Nin, The Seduction of the

Karen Knorr

Karren Knorr, born, 1954, a German born American photographer currently living in London. Knorr specialises her work on Western cultural traditions focusing on British society, with wide ranging topics from lifestyle to animals. she is interested in conceptual art, visual culture, feminism and animal studies and her work reflects all these. Her photographs taken in

Reading Task – The photographic works of Diane Arbus – My thoughts

Much has been said and written about Arbus and her work, but I wonder if too much has been read into her photographs?  The images used to critique her work style all appear to poses those elements of the sublime, they have that something, that punctum that Barthes coined (1) and which all photographers strive

Notes from the Margin of Spoilt Identity – The Art of Diane Arbus By Gerry Badger (1988)

Notes from the Margin of Spoilt Identity – The Art of Diane Arbus by Gerry Badger (1988). The above link will take you to the essay, Notes from the Margin of Spoilt Identity – The Art of Diane Arbus By Gerry Badger Published in Phototexts (1988) Topless dancer in her dressing room, San Francisco, California.

Susan Sontag’s criticism of Diane Arbus

From On Photography, (1977) Susan Sontag, London: Penguin, pages 32-48. Untitled – 1, 1970-1971. Diane Arbus Notes & passages of interest. Sontag begins her essay comparing an exhibition of 112 photographs by Diane Arbus that was exhibited in 1972 in at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York city that drew large crowds

Richard Avedon

Richard Avedon, 1923 -2004. American portrait and fashion photographer, he worked for Harper’s Bezaar and Vogue. He specialised in capturing movement in fashion, theatre and dance photographs. Bob Dylon, Singer, New York City, (1965) by Richard Avedon. Elise Daniels with Street Performers, Suit by Balenciage, Le Marais, Paris, (1948) by Richard Avedon.

Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus, 1923 – 1971. Based in New York city, Arbus is most famous for her portraits of the marginalised, mentally and physically disabled, gays, sexual deviants, prostitutes, strippers, carnival performers and the unusual. Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. (1962) by Diane Arbus. Untitled 1, (1970) by Diane Arbus. Identical Twins,

Humphrey Spender

Humphrey Spender became a member of the Mass Observation Movement in the late 1930’s and became famous for his photographs, Worktown Study, (1937-40) in the city of Bolton. To obtain his photographs of non posed subjects would spend time with his subjects being seen to take photographs, but in fact having no film in the

Walker Evans

Walker Evans created a project called, Subway Portraits, (1938-41) in which he hid a camera under his coat with just the lens peeping out and he secretly took photographs of fellow passengers, on the New York subway trains, that were sitting opposite him. He later joined the Farm Security Administration (FSA). In 1936 whilst on