The theme of identity is one that we as human beings
are consistently confronted with on a daily basis and it is this reason, the
fact that it is something that we have all encountered and have personal
experience with, that it is so commonly addressed within the art world whether
it be through the painting medium or photography. Identity is an extremely
broad subject, one of which I have addressed in different ways throughout my
photographic practice over the years. During my research for this assignment I
have come across many different photographers who also address this theme in
their work, two are Cindy Sherman (b.1954) and John Stezaker (b.1949). Within
this essay I give a brief explanation of the psychology behind identity, more
specifically first impressions and stereotypes, as written by British
psychologist Donald C. Pennington in his book Social Cognition (2000). I also discuss the main artists I have
used as inspiration for this assignment and the specific aspects of their work
that has had the most influence in creating this body of work.
In my opinion it
is impossible to imagine human society in a world without knowledge of who
others are and without a sense of who we are as individuals. I also think that
questioning, developing, struggling with or trying to stay comfortable within
an individual identity, is quite possibly an internal battle everyone goes
through each day. Society is asked to speak, dress, walk and act in specific
ways in order to be accepted and sometimes just to be acknowledged and because
of this we are constantly under scrutiny by peers, strangers and the media.
When meeting a stranger for the first time, one of the first things we do is
attempt to identify them (Zerubavel as cited in Jenkins, 2004, p. 6). The
information relied upon to make this identification includes the clothes worn
and language spoken by this stranger, as well as information from third parties
(2004, p. 6). This often leads to a negative or false first impression being
established due to the opinion consisting of points of view from two different
parties. This first piece of information received, or the first opinion formed
about another person, has greater effect on the overall opinion of that person
rather than new, and possibly more truthful information that is received at a
later date (Pennington, 2000, p. 77). This is often how false first impressions
arise and how the stereotyping of individuals usually comes about. We as a
society, try and work out all that is possible about a stranger just by looking
at them but at the same time, try to present ourselves in such a way so that
others will see us in a way that we want them to. Identity is constantly talked
about; whether it be through compliments, talking about outfits, talking about
other people; how these people dress, where they work and who they are friends
with. Identity is most likely one of the most talked about topics of
conversation in the world, even if the word ‘identity’ is not always used
(Jenkins, 2004, p. 6). It is human nature to have an opinion, but the
scrutinising of someone else’s identity along with being scrutinised ourselves,
is something that is in my opinion, quite often inescapable. This application
of opinions and ideas that are used to create a description of someone’s
identity is often where false and negative first impressions, as well as
stereotyping arise.
The term
‘stereotype’ is linked with social perception when dealing with social
psychology (Pennington, 2000, p. 62). Social perception emphasizes the
importance of first impressions, whether they are made purely from our own
opinion or that of others and can be loosely defined as “the process through
which we seek to know and understand other persons” (Baron & Byrne as cited
in Pennington, 2000, p. 62). This process of trying to achieve an understanding
of an individual’s identity involves a concept called ‘schema’ (Bartlett, 1932,
p. 208). Within this concept are sub-concepts, one of which is the social
schema. Social schemas are structured collections of information gathered from
past experiences that are then stored in the mind’s memory banks for later
recall (Pennington, 2000, p. 87). They provide a simple overview of information
about the social world and aid the mind in easily categorising new information
rather than having to fill a blank slate every time a different social
situation is encountered (2000, p. 69). Schemas allow the processing of
information about different social scenarios to occur quickly and easily as
well as have influence over which information is remembered about specific
social situations at any one time (p. 70). However, the information gathered
about one social group may have a high chance of differing from the next. This
information is used, as well as information from previous similar encounters to
form an identity and understanding of this second group, which in turn could
result in the identification of this group being false. An understanding of an
individual is achieved in this way also. A limited amount of information is
usually used which could result in unique characteristics being ignored, and
the assumption that the person holds personality traits of a generalized member
of society, being made.
The issue of
stereotyping is one that is quite commonly addressed within the contemporary
art world and more often than not, this issue refers more directly to feminism
and/or racism. Although my work refers to neither of these issues and deals
with the more generalized identity of society, I have found that artists that
address these issues have been extremely helpful both contextually and
aesthetically when researching information for this topic. One that has been
particular helpful is American photographer Cindy Sherman. Sherman is one of
the most influential artists of the past twenty-five years who deals with the
issue of identity and feminism, so influential that she is now classed, not as
a photographer but an artist as her work has merged into the category of
contemporary art (Schroeder, 2002, p. 57.). Sherman is most famous for her
series of Untitled Film Stills,
1979-1980 (Childs, 2006, pp. 87 & 91). The series consists of sixty-nine
black and white photographs, all of which the artist herself is the main and
almost always, the only subject within the frame. Within each photograph
Sherman takes on the identity of an imaginary character that resembles a woman
who would have featured in a 1950s film noir or B movie (2006, p. 87). Each
character is defined by the roles and stereotypes women are placed into within
society and “explore the ways in which women are represented in popular
culture” (p. 87).
The vast array of
stereotypical identities occupying this series of images ranges from the film
star to the housewife, the young starlet to the lost adolescent. The photograph
called Untitled Film Still #35,
(1979) sees Sherman clothed in a short sleeved dress and a pinafore that could
suggest that she is portraying a maid working in an upper-class household.
However her surroundings, an old, slightly run-down looking door, may tell the
viewer otherwise.
Cindy Sherman,
1979. Untitled film still #35 [silver-gelatin print]. The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, NY.
Due to this small detail it could be assumed that this
is in fact her own house and that she is perhaps a hard-working, doting
housewife. Her stance, leaning on one leg, hand on her hip and glancing over
her shoulder, gives the impression that the viewer is in her territory but also
that there is someone else positioned behind the camera, as her gaze is resting
a little above, and to the right of where the camera lens would be situated.
This gaze does not look friendly and it seems as though she is not happy that
this person is in her home. The woman’s stance, although suggesting that it is
her space the viewer is intruding on, also seems as though she has been
interrupted or caught out, as though this unfriendly look on her face was not
meant to be seen by others. When piecing together the narrative for this
photograph, the presence of the coat and scarf in the left section of the
photograph, together with the stance and facial expression of the woman, could
suggest that the look she is casting across the room is directed at a masculine
figure that has possibly demanded that she hang these items of his clothing up
while he carry on relaxing after a stressful day at work. The overall identity
that could be brought to light using this image is that the woman present is a
lower-class housewife. She seems to be a doting wife to her demanding husband,
but also despises him due to his demanding ways. The subtle detail of the
woman’s polished shoes gives the impression that she is proud of herself and
her home, no matter what her social class may be.
Cindy Sherman,
1978. Untitled film still #13 [silver-gelatin print]. The Museum of
Modern Art, New York, NY.
Cindy Sherman, 1979. Untitled film
still #48 [silver-gelatin
print]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.
This, along with
other film stills such as Untitled Film
Still #13, (Sherman, 1978) and Untitled
Film Still #48, (Sherman, 1979) are perfect examples of how the identity of
an individual is able to be established even when the smallest amount of
information is available. It is this aspect of Sherman’s work that I am incredibly
interested in and have brought into my own studio practice this year. Although
I do not feature in my images nor do my subjects disguise their identity using
costume, I have carried the idea of establishing an identity with limited
information into my work by digitally removing the subject’s face, leaving only
their clothes and silhouetted face for the viewer to gather information from.
The nameless subjects featuring throughout Sherman’s complete series of Untitled Film Stills are given
identities based purely on their clothing, surroundings and facial expressions
at the moment the photograph is taken, therefore becoming whatever the viewer
deems them to be (Childs, 2006, p. 89). This identity is not constructed by
their unique personality traits and mannerisms, only by these generalized and
limited details.
British born
artist John Stezaker is an artist I have recently discovered who has been
incredibly helpful when researching information to aid in developing my body of
work. Although he is not an artist who deals directly with the issue of
identity, the aesthetic qualities and concepts are something that will have
great influence over my work in the very near future. Stezaker is a conceptual
artist who fits into the category of surrealism, and has been a central
influence in a number of developments and movements within the art world over
the past thirty years, including Conceptual Art and New Image Art, right
through to contemporary collage (Wilson, 2009, p. 235). This interest in the
conceptual and aesthetic aspects of collage has merged with the long-term
fascination he has with ‘the image’ and has resulted in “finding new aesthetic
allegiances with the image through working with found photographs and printed
matter” (Giolla Leith, 2008). As his work particularly concentrates on the
portrait, using found photographs generally consisting of salvaged film stills
and studio publicity shots from the 1950s (Darwent, 2011). Using these images,
Stezaker manually cuts and pastes to create completely new images that toy with
our subconscious and dabble in the surreal, even if it is achieved only through
cutting portraits down the middle and pairing them with another (Stills, 2007).
It is this straightforward technique, which enables the concept and the visual
aspects of his work to be so strong (Wilson, 2009).
One such strong
series of works, in which Stezaker came to master the process of selection and
representation (Wilson, 2009), consists of several images under the name
‘Marriage’; Marriage IV (2006), Marriage VIII (2006) etc. The series
concentrates particularly on the portrait and plays with the fascination human
society has with the face (Still, 2007). This combined with Stezaker’s interest
in the concept of the image, has lead to him deleting and altering different
aspects of images, resulting both in visual harmonies and juxtapositions
occurring within one work (Giolla Leith, 2007).
John Stezaker, 2006. Marriage VIII [collage]. Saatchi Gallery, London.
The image titled, Marriage
VIII consists of two photographs from the 1950s, both black and white
studio publicity shots, one seems to always be a man and the other always seems
to be a woman. One photograph, in this case, the image of the man is cut
diagonally across through the middle of the face and stuck on top of the
portrait of the woman. For most of the images in the series, Stezaker leaves
the edges of each portrait in tact, not trimming either image in an attempt to
blend the two together and structurally make them seem as one (Wilson, 2009).
This decision adds to the uncanny nature of his images as it makes it all the
more obvious that something has been changed. However, the way in which
Stezaker positions these photographs when they are stuck together, makes them
seem like the portrait is in fact of one person. They are positioned so that
the main features of each subject line up completely thus merging the two
portraits into one. The viewer is quite possibly left with a sense of unease
because of this; the man can too easily be seen as beautiful and feminine,
while the woman seems strong and masculine, therefore blurring the line that
divides their own identity and to an extent, their gender.
In conclusion,
although the visual aspects of the work produced by the two artists mentioned
in this essay vastly differ, the theme of identity is also so vast that it
makes it possible for both Cindy Sherman and John Stezaker to be highly
influential towards the same body of work. The instantaneous first impressions
and stereotypes brought to light through one glance at the women who feature in
Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills, is
something that occurs everyday in society and I have been interested in this
idea for a long time when dealing with my photography. The manual way in which
Stezaker constructs new images by using two different photographs and blurring
the identity between two subjects is a technique that I have recently become
extremely interested in. Overall, I have found the ideas and visual concepts
behind these artists’ work to be extremely helpful and influential towards
creating and researching information for the body of work I am working on this
year.
References
Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering:
a study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Childs, P. (2006). Contemporary
cultural texts and critical approaches. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.
Darwent, C. (2011). John Stezaker.
London, England: Independent UK.
Giolla Leith, C. M. (2008). Masks.
London, England: Ridinghouse.
Giolla Leith, C. M. (2007). Marriage.
London, England: Ridinghouse.
Jenkins, R. (2004). Social
identity. London, England: Routledge.
Pennington, D. C. (2000). Social
cognition. London, England: Routledge.
Schroeder, J. E. (2002). Visual
consumption. London, England: Routledge.
Sherman, C. (1978). Untitled film
still #13 [Photograph] Retrieved from http://masters-of photography.com.
Sherman, C. (1979). Untitled film
still #35 [Photograph] Retrieved from http://masters-of-photography.com.
Sherman, C. (1979). Untitled film
still #48 [Photograph] Retrieved from http://masters-of-photography.com.
Stills. (2007). John Stezaker. Retrieved
from http://www.stills.org/exhibition/past/john-stezaker
Stezaker, J. (2006). Marriage IV
[Photograph] Retrieved from http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk.
Stezaker, J. (2006). Marriage VIII
[Photograph] Retrieved from http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk.
Wilson, M. (2009). John Stezaker:
Friedrich Petzel Gallery. Art Forum International, 47, 9.
