Francesca Woodman

Woodman, F., Keller, C., Blessing, J. and Bryan-Wilson, J. (2011). Francesca Woodman. San Francisco, Calif.: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Francesca Woodman (1958 - 1981) was an American photographer based in both the USA and Italy. She is best known for her black and white images featuring herself or other female models.

Many of her photographs include models that are nude, blurred (due to long exposure) or obscured by mirrors or her surroundings. Unfortunately, many reviews of Woodman’s work focus on her suicide resulting in interpretations that may have not been said if she had not died so young.

However, I do agree that her work shows an intimate sadness in the most beautiful way. Whether this was a conscious decision or not will never be confirmed, yet Woodman’s images portray an uncanny sense that attracts viewers to her work.

The book on Woodman made me think of the intimacy of the handheld image and the connotations that instant and analogue film can hold. This made me think about my practice, and I decided to step away from the modern DSLR’s and concentrate on instant and analogue photography; aiming for the intimate viewer experience of analogue photography.

Quotes

"Aware of the feminist discourses of her era, she approached female self hood and sexuality from a deeply personal - rather than political or programmatic point of view" pg 169

"Some of Woodman's pictures were carefully plotted in advance, complete with preparatory sketches. But most of them - indeed, the most powerful images - were produces as she responded to her environment and her own imaginative flights of fancy" pg 171

"The exploration of photographic temporarily, the body's relationship to space and architecture, and the simultaneous seductiveness and blankness of the nude body are themes around which her work later revolved." pg 172

"Not only is she both subject and author in her works, but she intentionally alludes to the representation of self within the picture, particularly through her use of mirrors and portraits, while simultaneously suggesting a dis-junction between the self and it's identity, and between the body and the self" pg 177

"Nudity for Woodman is also clearly a state of being unclothed, of shedding the signifiers of identity as it is projected through clothing" pg 178