15th March 2021 

From Part Four C&N Research Task: Insomnia

The size of the image is discussed (it’s big) suggesting that Wall wanted it to gab peoples attention and also commenting on Walls own words when he stated that the image was made in response to the words “When a prince doesn’t sleep well, a nation doesn’t either” and that

“this work was made as part of the desire to depict unimportant people in his images and in doing so he makes the narrative transcend culture, class and success.  He speaks to us all” (Boothroyd, 2012)

The last phrase “He speaks to us all” made me think of parts of the course where the question around self portraiture has asked about these images being just about self or to highlight issues affecting a wider audience. I had alluded to the fact that I had always thought of self portraiture big about self in previous posts and once again I am seeing that this is far from the truth.

10th March 2021

Whilst completing Part Three C&N Research Task: Nigel Shafran

A self portrait doesn’t have to include a person or the artist. In can include people other than the artist who are representing something about the artist. It can be an image that says something about the artist and or the wider community without having any people in it at all. For example the series Washing up by Nigel Shafran (Fig 1,2). I hadn’t every really questioned this and always assumed that a self portrait would include the artist in the image. I guess just another aspect of image making that I hadn’t consciously thought about!

Part Three: Exercise – 4, Shafran Critique

Bibliography

Figure 1,2
Shafran, N., 2000. [image]
Available at: <http://nigelshafran.com/category/washing-up-2000-2000/
[Accessed 12 February 2021].

Boothroyd, S., 2012. Beneath the surface. [online] The Open College of the Arts.
Available at: <https://www.oca.ac.uk/weareoca/photography/beneath-the-surface/&gt;
[Accessed 15 March 2021].