Catherine Opie
Catherine Opie is an American photographer who investigates issues surrounding feminism, whilst utilising portraiture and landscape photography. Opie’s series, As long as they are wild, documents her exploration of Yosemite National Park as a feminist. The series is a mixture of in focus or blurry images. There is no text, so the images are hard to pin point, as there is no narrative. There are purely landscapes, there are no people. At face value, you could look at her images are think they were taken by someone on holiday, someone who got the composure wrong, who didn’t focus them, basically images that would be binned when editing. But when you look deeper, you can see her reasoning. Her images, in particular Untitled #2 (see fig 1), reminds me of Ansel Adam’s Mirror Lake(see fig. 2). Whereas Adams images are sharp, in focus and meticulously detailed, Opies is blurry. Adam’s image is through a male gaze, it is perfect. It is almost as if she is doing the exact opposite, as if her images could never be taken through a male gaze, as they are not perfect. They are through a female gaze, fighting against the traditions.
Her images hold an uncertainty, there is nothing to go on, they show vulnerability and even loss. It strikes as she is taking a stand against the traditions of landscape photography, but also shows almost her loss of identity. I like her series as they hold a deeper more complex meaning, one which has been influential in my body of work.
This is the effect I want in my Body of Work images. I want the uncertainly, I want the images to show an uneven stance, like something is wrong. I think this will be an effect way of portraying a problem. Whilst I am investigating the inequality in landscape photography, I believe this Technique can show something is not quite right and make the reader think.
Bibliography
Tam, P. So Long As They Are Wild. Catherine Opie. At: Art Asia pacific.com/magazine/WebExclusive/SoLongAsTheyAreWild(Accessed on 24th of July 2019).
Tate. Catherine Opie. At: htttps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/Catherine-opie-4641 (Accessed on 24th of July 2019).
Tsui, E. (2018). Yosemite in all its intimacy: feminist photographer Catherine Opie’s first solo .hong Kong show features Western landscapes. At: https://www.scmp.com/culture/arts-entertainment/articles/2147211/Yosemite-all-its-intimacy-feminist-photographer-Catherine(Accessed on 24th of July 2019).
Figures
Fig. 1. Opie, C. (2015). Untitled #2 (Yosemite Valley). [Photograph – Online]. At: https://ocula.com/art-galleries/Lehmann-mauling/artworks/Catherine-opie/Untitled-2-yosemite-valley/(Accessed on 24th of July 2019).
Fig. 2. Adams, A. (1925). Mirror Lake. [Photograph – Online]. At: https://shop.anseladams.com/mirror_lake_signed_special_edition_photograph_p/1701807106.htm(Accessed 24th of July 2019).
Georgina's Body of Work 