Picture This How Pictures Work

Picture This How Pictures Work, 2000, Molly Bang, San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. ISBN: 978-1-58717-030-0. I purchased this book in my charity shop. This is a great little book that takes you back to basics. Using just shapes and colours, Molly Bang deconstructs composition and examines each element that makes a good picture work. The

Sexuality, Documents of Contemporary Art.

Amelia Jones, (ed.) (2014) Sexuality, Documents of Contemporary Art, London: Whitechapel Art Gallery. ISBN: 978-0-85488-224-3. This book is a collection of essays and interviews. Many of the artists are involved in performance art in which they will either perform in front of a live audience or video their work. Much of the discussion is in

The Presentation of Self In Everyday Life by Erving Goffman

Goffman, E. 1990, The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life, London: Penguin Books. ISBN: 978-0-14-013571-8. First published in 1959, this book is a little dated in terms of reference to racial circumstances. However, on the whole this is a useful book to read, particularly for visual artists such as actors, and also playwrites, authors, and

The Suit and the Photograph (1979) by John Berger

Young Farmers, 1914, August Sander. Country Band, Seigerland, 1913, August Sander. Stadtmissionare, 1931, August Sander. In John Berger’s essay, The Suit and the Photograph, Berger examines Sanders famous photograph The Young Farmers (1914). Berger suggests that the status of these three individuals can be deduced from their clothes. He begins by explaining that the dark

My Other Half – a critical self-review.

My Other Half – A critical self-review by Shaun Mullins. The objective of this project was to create 6-10 environmental portraits and I chose to produce photographs of my wife in different locations in our home, dressed for and performing the typical activities that I often see her doing.  I wanted to convey the idea

Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Nation.

Kath Woodward, (ed.) (2000) Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Nation, London: Routledge. ISBN: 0-415-22288-5. This publication is part a series of books for the study of social science through the Open University, published in 2000 it is probably a little dated now as it pulls from examples no later than the 1990s. However, as a book

Cindy Sherman

Untitled Film Still #3 (1977) by Cindy Sherman Accessed 24 July 2020. I am a fan of Cindy Sherman, my and I have done some stage acting and so I can Sherman’s work and artistry. I very much like her clever and carefully thought out construction of mise-en-scene as much as her performance.

The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey

The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey (2012) by Yaakov Israel Yaakov Israel, The Quest for the Man on the White Donkey, (2012) Amsterdam Schilt Publishing. An interview with Yaakov Israel Yaakov Israel works with 8×10 and 4×5 inch cameras, he prefers this format because it slows down his process and due to