Has the media shaped our vision of women through photographic portrayal, and is their true purpose a

Identity is a very captivating topic with many subjects to discuss. However, after brainstorming many ideas I realised I wanted to base my work specifically on women and their identity across the media. Women in the media cover many issues from present day to previous time periods. Therefore this topic has allowed me to explore women in history making comparisons to present day forming deeper understandings. I feel it gives a deep discussion and has many layers of meaning to uncover due to it’s controversy and raw material it often contains. I also feel it gives me something to relate to as it is an area I feel strongly about, enabling me to be passionate about my work and show my views and opinions, which I feel is an important feature in any personal project. I explore by project with a link to the work of photographers Cary Fagan, Annette Pehrsson, Alma Haser, and Flora Borsi.

Throughout history women have always been a significant part of the media. Stereotypically used to represent beauty and sex appeal. But what is considered as beauty? Nowadays the western view of beauty is usually defined by body shape and age, we associate women who are skinny, tall, with white-straight teeth, and smooth-long hair with ‘perfection’. Throughout decades, symmetrical proportions have changed. In the 1950s Marilyn Monroe was considered the ultimate beauty queen with her curvaceous body, yet in the 1990s a heroin skinny Kate Moss took the public eye as the ultimate ideal, One thing, however, that will never change is the fact that we will all strive to fit in with what is considered attractive as this is part of human nature. My interpretation of this media issue leads me to wonder why the true purpose of women has been dismissed. Women nowadays are stereotyped to represent beauty in such a way that it has proven to blur ones perception of their true purpose, causing opinions of a women to be based on their body image rather than their greater, more significant meaning and purpose such as mothering, I feel women should be celebrated for their natural ability to nurture and cherish, and not for being glamorized by film, television and magazines in the media for a stereotypical appearance, as this proves to be the only type of inspiration for women provided.

An american photographer named Cary Fagan one who deeply explores the representation of women in his empowering series ‘Pale’. He explains that he believes “The female body is overly sexualised and objectified, I want to help women reclaim their bodies as their own rather than a product of the media and those around them,”.1 His “photographs are deliberately not aesthetically pleasing,” as he aims to have the audience appreciate the beauty of his models in a cloth naked form without objectifying them, representing the contrast of beauty within warm and cold colors, and pale and dark features of the models. Some would argue that his images may still be considered slightly sexualised, however Fagan uses these techniques within his images which enables his intentions to shine through, for example, he often has his models pose nude with no make up on, which instantly connotes neutrality. Along with this, the fact that the models are barely dressed is implying that a lack of clothing shouldn’t instantly imply sexual connotations, instead it suggests that a woman’s natural form should be appreciated and that they should not need to be materialistic to be conveyed as attractive.

Clothing and make-up are a huge responsibility of how women are depicted in the media, these days women have to be seen wearing make-up and revealing clothing to be deemed as attractive, and it is almost always suggested that if a women is wearing no make-up and is covered in, for example baggy clothes, they will look unattractive, simply because these days make-up and figure-hugging fashion signifies beauty. Historically garments had a very different connotation. Greeks marked their prostitutes with make-up and brightly coloured dresses. Cosmetics through the Middle Ages represented promiscuous women and nobility. In fact, it was considered sin to wear make-up. The bible referenced ancient Egyptians and their use of cosmetics in a sexual manner, criticizing them for lustful dress.2

Similarly, in the time of the Mona Lisa (1503) painting the portrait was considered intense and compelling in its beauty. The painting is a Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo a Florentine cloth merchant. Her enigmatic smile is what has become most famous about the painting, and also making her the most beautiful woman of her time, which could be seen as ironic because to be the most beautiful woman of your time is a huge statement, especially if the lady as the Mona Lisa is hardly beautiful herself. The way in which she is presented would be considered incredibly plain, simple and even boring in this day and age, although still signifies mystery, proving that our perception of beauty is no longer created by a smile but has been influenced by material, as that is evidently what we expect to see, unlike what the Mona Lisa, who wears a garment of dark silk which is gathered at the neck and has loose sleeves rolled back at the elbow, and a black vale. Neither the sleeves nor pleats in her gown, nor the scarf delicately draped round her shoulders are garments that would imply a sense of seduction. The most important or notable element that would have been considered in this time period would be the type of material worn. Despite the muddy colouring within the image it is clear that the Mona Lisa has a remarkably pale face, something that was desired, as it implied wealth due to the fact of being inside, rather than working outside like a farmer and catching the sun. This remained desirable for many centuries, again emphasising how basic ideas of attraction would once have been.

Annette Pehrsson is a Swedish photographer whose work takes a similar approach to Cary Fagan’s in its appearance. For me, her images explore the female body in its simplest form, using a lack of make-up, hair styling and often clothing, to present the basics of femininity. Also similar to Fagan, Pehrsson uses bed sheets cloths and curtains to signify simplicity and minimalism in her images. She uses very dull, soft, neutral colours, with her models being pale and slim, but never revealing any obvious assets, ensuring an element of privacy within her images. Like Fagan, she aims not to objectify but present the female body in a way that signifies pureness and innocence in rather striking positions that could often be considered very raw, by using this technique both photographers provide a controversial outcome.

After establishing how women are stereotypically presented in the media, I began to think about how they should be presented in the media. A woman’s main strength is having the ability to nurture and cherish in a way that makes women hugely significant in our world, but this often never gets celebrated or even considered in todays society, as women are encouraged to be seen a particular way which dismisses their true significance. The medias portrayal of mothering seems to be more focused on single mothers, particularly in film, where roles of single mothers are often depicted as weak, incapable and struggle to balance work and family life.

Alma Haser, is a German photographer whose work explores identity, from her series ‘Cosmic Surgery’. Her images represent identity in a rather alien way. She manipulates the faces of the models, as if they belong to some futuristic next generation. The children captured within the images become uncanny, while their parents are seen in a more familiar moment, This concept enabled me to explore how mothers and daughters identify themselves with one another, which I consider to be a relevant topic when exploring motherhood. This shoot allowed me to capture the connection between a relationship, and portray this through photography, conveying ambiguity by asking viewers to consider for themselves whether they witness a positive or negative relationship. This concept applied to my work aims to provide a starting point of negotiation for the viewer, inviting them to understand the image in a way that best suits them, due to the amount of ambiguity. The fact that my images show mothers and daughters with strange shapes on their faces, which clearly suggests a disconnection, creates curiosity and effectively the starting point of the theme explored throughout my work, due to the strong imagery it creates, causing the viewer to question the relationship between mother and daughter, effectively introducing the concept of my work.

Flora Borsi is a fine art photographer from Hungary, her work explores the complex strength and fragility of the female psyche, she plays with hiding and revealing the eyes or face to leave only the feminine form, exploring questions of female representation and the relationship between body and self, specifically noticed through her shoot 'Ireel' which portrays a slim woman in very minimal clothing, behind a clear shield which symbolically acts as a barrier between the woman, and the viewer, creating connotations of defence, perhaps suggesting that less is more, and there should only be so much the viewer should be invited to see before the image becomes objectifying, arising the question of what exactly is too much skin and how much is needed to be shown to create an attracting image? I applied this concept to my own work in shoot six, using the idea of creating a barrier to represent the disconnection between women and the media that should be apparent to avoid exploitation.

Overall, these photographers have presented female identity in a way that aims to strip back to the basics and portray women in a pure and innocent light. I feel each photographers work accepts the concept of using female bodily beauty to achieve aesthetic appreciation, but also challenges the idea that it must be in a materialised and ultimately objectifying way. Each artist furnishes their work with a unique element, which suggests there is more depth to how females are stereotypically represented visually. Providing me also, with ways in which challenge this notion, and as a result replacing it with something more natural and angelic, making natural beauty as well as purpose far more striking and recognised than often presented.