Andres Serrano was born 15th August 1950, in New York City; Serrano is from a half Honduran, half Afro-Cuban background. Serrano was raised as strict Roman Catholic. He studied at the Brooklyn Museum and Art School from 1967 to 1969; Serrano currently lives and works in New York.
Serrano is a conceptual artist, a traditionalist when it comes to photography using film and shoot straight without post production. Unlike many other photographers of this age, Serrano is unique in that he uses no gadgetry or computers, literally pointing, shooting and printing. What you see is also what Serrano saw, this really emphasises his incredibly advanced photographic skills in that he relies solely upon his own skills, that of which with lights, film and his imagination. Serrano purely works on the basis of his imagination surpassing anything that could be achieved with the use of any fancy, high tech equipment. The reason Andres images are so spectacular and without the use of Photoshop is because his effects are real, with minimal or no trickery. Serrano’s subjects are real like his series The Morgue where all the subjects are in fact dead, The Klansmen series, where the Klansmen are in fact KKK members, knowing this, it’s then amazing to think Serrano, so bold and brave enough to approach and relay his ideas and to carry them through with such brilliance, regardless of the thoughts and opinions of other people. Another example of Serrano’s creative brilliance is the image portraying the conjoined twins titled; Lori and Dori, where the conjoined twins, are really conjoined, whereas it is more than likely that any other photographer would have created this kind of image with that of Photoshop and/or darkroom techniques. In the image ‘White Nigger’ Serrano uses a white male subject, painting him black; the image is completely believable that you are looking at a black man, except for the intentional mistake where the black paint finishes, revealing the pale white of the man’s true skin. The fact that Serrano always strives for authenticity in his images it undoubtedly can start to cause some problems a quote from Andres Serrano:
“The trick is not so much coming up with ideas, as how to make them work. When I first tried to photograph my ejaculations, for instance, I kept shooting and missing. After about eight times of getting back black film I realized that I needed a motor drive on my camera. I would start shooting film before I felt myself coming, and was able to shoot a roll of film in seconds. Invariably, there would be one shot, and one shot only, of my ejaculate. In Vagina Dentata (Vagina with Teeth) the teeth-they were shark's teeth-kept falling out. I had to keep pushing them in to keep them from coming out. After a while, they stayed in place. When the shoot was over, I tried to get them out, but they were stuck. I then realized that the glue that kept them in place was dried menstrual blood.”
Quote from: http://www.artnet.com/awc/andres-serrano.html
Serrano’s works have been exhibited all over the world and created such controversy and established an elite following and respect in the photography industry. There are many prestigious galleries his work has been displayed in some of which are: Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre in London in 2001 and in the Collection Lambert Avignon France in 2006. Serrano’s work is primarily displayed in New York and Paris by the Yvon Lambert Gallery where he has established a giant, cult following. Due to the massive controversy that comes with Serrano’s work, it is natural that people will develop distaste for it, this being so, October 5th 2007, several of Serrano’s pieces on exhibition were vandalized at an art gallery in Lund, Sweden. The culprits are believed to be part of a Neo Nazi group opposing Serrano’s works.
Andres Serrano - America
In Andres series America, Serrano makes portraits of a vast array of different people from many different walk of like and depicting them, the way that they are, portraying the jobs, lives, loves and personality in a straight, simple portrait. I have chosen to research this series as it is in the same way/light that i wish to portray my subjects, Serrano's subjects range from: Porn-stars, Hobo's, Pimps, National Treasures, Nuns, Policeman, Freedom Fighters, Racists etc. Serrano shoots all of his portraits in the same way:
In allowing the subjects, freedom of pose/position
Freedom of Attire, they are shot how they are in life, no charades and no costumes, portraying them for themselves.
The main traits that i like about these images is that no matter the subject, Serrano shoots the subject in the same style, same theme and lighting, regardless of the subject i.e; no matter what walk of life the person comes from, be it policeman, racist, hobo, pimp or nun, Serrano will still shoot the image on level with the subject, neither looking upto or down upon them. Serrano uses simplistic, often bright lighting, neither harsh nor soft.
Take home notes:Like Serrano I;
1) Will use a simplistic portrait style shot, allowing the subject to present themselves how the feel comfortable as long as no aggression is shown.
2) They will be wearing the attire that is what they would normally, giving a natural feel and showing them for themselves.
3) I will neither look up nor down on the subject and make a point of shooting them honestly and in a style no way giving any negative impressions of the subject.
Deadpan Portraiture
Unlike most generic forms of portraiture, in which the subject will be portrayed in a certain way to promote a mood or theme while deadpan portraiture works along the lines of a lack of which, it is portraiture in which the subject holds a completely neutral and emotionless expression. The common themes of deadpan photography will be obvious from all portraits;
• Expressionless, vacant facial features.
• A natural feeling shot e.g. no/minimal props, basic surroundings e.g. park, street, pool, school etc.
• Lack of physical gestures, straight bodied and usually no appearance of movement.
Rineke Dijkstra
Dijkstra's works are generally individual portraits focusing on children, young adults, club goers and soldiers. A lot of Dijkstra's images are made up of series all following the trends and characteristics of deadpan photography, whereas her subjects are generally straight faced and emotionless and showing complete lack of gesture and expression, almost removing all sense of humanity from the subject. Dijkstra subjects are portrayed in black, empty environments, showing minimal details apart from the subject themselves. I have acquired inspiration for my images from Dijkstra's works as the with every portrait she creates, it is nearly impossible to feel what the subject is feeling to relate to them, instead achieving a feeling of looking through them, through their emotions, into the inner, vulnerable self. Her subjects all assume such an open empty appearance, which almost makes the subject, no matter who they are or what they appear, the emotions emitting from them scream insecurity, vulnerability and emptiness. My intentions, in using techniques inspired by Dijkstra is to really portray the lack of aggression, the openness and vulnerability of my subjects, in doing this, i intend to prove that even though these people are intimidating and a lot larger than ourselves, they are human, they have personalities, they have feelings, it doesn't matter how thick the muscle, they are just as vulnerable as anyone else.
Deadpan Portraiture
Unlike most generic forms of portraiture, in which the subject will be portrayed in a certain way to promote a mood or theme while deadpan portraiture works along the lines of a lack of which, it is portraiture in which the subject holds a completely neutral and emotionless expression. The common themes of deadpan photography will be obvious from all portraits;
• Expressionless, vacant facial features.
• A natural feeling shot e.g. no/minimal props, basic surroundings e.g. park, street, pool, school etc.
• Lack of physical gestures, straight bodied and usually no appearance of movement.
• A very candid, amateur style/feel.
Thesaurus definition:
deadpan
adjective
his deadpan expression: blank, expressionless, inexpressive, impassive, inscrutable, poker-faced, straight-faced; stony, wooden, vacant, fixed, lifeless. ANTONYMS expressive.
Thesaurus definition:
deadpan
adjective
his deadpan expression: blank, expressionless, inexpressive, impassive, inscrutable, poker-faced, straight-faced; stony, wooden, vacant, fixed, lifeless. ANTONYMS expressive.
Rineke Dijkstra
Dijkstra's works are generally individual portraits focusing on children, young adults, club goers and soldiers. A lot of Dijkstra's images are made up of series all following the trends and characteristics of deadpan photography, whereas her subjects are generally straight faced and emotionless and showing complete lack of gesture and expression, almost removing all sense of humanity from the subject. Dijkstra subjects are portrayed in black, empty environments, showing minimal details apart from the subject themselves. I have acquired inspiration for my images from Dijkstra's works as the with every portrait she creates, it is nearly impossible to feel what the subject is feeling to relate to them, instead achieving a feeling of looking through them, through their emotions, into the inner, vulnerable self. Her subjects all assume such an open empty appearance, which almost makes the subject, no matter who they are or what they appear, the emotions emitting from them scream insecurity, vulnerability and emptiness. My intentions, in using techniques inspired by Dijkstra is to really portray the lack of aggression, the openness and vulnerability of my subjects, in doing this, i intend to prove that even though these people are intimidating and a lot larger than ourselves, they are human, they have personalities, they have feelings, it doesn't matter how thick the muscle, they are just as vulnerable as anyone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment