GROWTH
It all begins with an idea.
The process of beginning to use cyanotypes, was of great difficulty to have the quality of paper, when added to water and dried the paper didn't go bubbly. The exposure time needed to create the perfect blue cyanotype took 35-40 per exposure. To dry the paper I would lay them on newspaper on a window sill in the sun and overnight for the images to dry naturally. Some images were a lot harder to catch detailing due to images being too dark that the ink would smudge on the acetate paper. In going further I would look at researching for the best printers for the use of acetate paper.
Growth
This project is focused on the pregnancy of my sister-in-law, of her journey from finding out she was pregnant to her giving birth. Due to the time scale of this assessment the baby may not have been born due to her due date being late May.
Through engaging with her I hope to explore photographically through different media. In doing so I hope to start with cyanotypes because of the colour blue. In late December they had a gender reveal and found out they will be having a baby boy. For this reason, I want to explore the history behind why boys are gendered to blue, and girls are to pink and maybe interpret that into my work.
The aim of the body of work is to create strong representation of a pregnant women during the 21st century and wanting to create how pregnant women are depicted in society.
Meg and Matt had the news that they were expecting a baby in September 2023. Later in January they got married. With Matt working for the British Army meant working away a lot of the time, as she was living in Wales in him spending most of his time in Windsor. This April they received their first house together in Windsor, Meg left her job to be a full-time mother. In my work I hope to not only show Meg’s pregnancy as a young mum but how her journey and Matts grows into married life.
Cyanotype
Milk Bath
Using a milk bath as a form of showing the female body has creates a magical and powerful image of how beautiful a pregnancy can be not only to bring life to the world but also showing the growth of ones development.
Pregnancy Weeks.
Test
Bala
Hike
Darci's Birthday
Ffynnone
Prams
Wedding Shopping
Poppit
Matty Army
Pumpkins
Decide on Wedding Date
Darci's Wedding
Harry's Birthday
Boxing day
Gender Scan
Wedding
Hamilton
Stayed at Darcis
Sanding Table
Sanding
Milo
Date Night
Meg and Milo
Bump
Meg & Matt
Meg & Milo at the beach
Meg's Mum's 50th Birthday
Luna
Keys
Moving to Windsor
Nesting
TEST SAMPLES
18. Boxing Day
19. Gender Scan
20. Wedding Day
21.Hamilton
BOOK
Creating each individual cyanotype for each week has been a challenge, of finding one images to represent that week, and to be of personal moment too Meg. During her pregnancy Meg had major events happening in her life for example her wedding. The image I have chosen for the wedding is them laughing in their wedding car.
I hope to create a short clip of the book as a visual to see megs 8 1/2 months pregnancy so far. I hope to add after this assignment to create the full 9 months, so she has something to look back on her journey in becoming a mother.
Black and White Images
MEG 8Months Pregnant
Photographing Meg closely at 8 months pregnant has allowed me to photograph closely at her bump. Changing the image from colour too black and white has enhanced the detailing and shape of the subject. Inspired by the work of Barbra Morgan I wanted to look at the body without overstepping Meg's comfort zone of photographing her body. Also allowing her to be her natural self her jewellery added to the image as her necklace shows an image of a family tree. In the second image you can just see her hand going out of focus where she is wearing her wedding band and engagement ring. These three images are seen as a sequins of how the bod looks in different angles and I hope they create a positive look to female body empowerment. Photographing these images at 8 months also documents her journey of being pregnant and will be able to keep as a memory for life.
Documentary Work Inspired by Nan Goldin
Matt and Meg
Creating Abstract Drawings Using Photoshop
Inspired by the work of Leonardo Da Vinci wanted to enhance and edit their key images in creating more of an age to the image. I then wanted to add colour to the image of both blue and red, blue signifying the gender of their baby and red signifying the blood and love between them both but also to represent the red of his tunic of the Welsh Guards.
Creating an abstract piece like this I wanted to collaborate both the use of the black and white image and a Cyanotype in doing this I printed a small scan image on acetate to fit on the stomach of the image. In doing so the water in washing off the chemicals of cyanotype the black ink has mixed on the paper.
SCAN PAGE
7th January 2023
The Wedding
Meg and Matt both asked me to photograph their wedding in a documentary style from beginning to their first dance. Meg's getting ready images were located in Llandysul hair salon and Plas Pant Y Deri. Their ceremony in Cenarth church, due to the lighting in the church I was able to use natural lighting to capture them saying their vows, first kiss and signing the official papers. The three of us had discussed their location shoot of them, bridesmaids, and groomsmen to be on Cenarth falls carpark. Due to the weather and the water in the river rising we had limitation of the sight of where best to photograph. I ended up photographing them under the bridge and in their wedding vehicle. In editing the images I wanted to keep with the theme and styling of Megs dress of being vintage and to also capture their personalities.
REDESIGNING THE WEDDING DRESS
CYANOTYPE ON FABRIC SAMPLES
As a test I reused my acetate images and printed on to square pieces of white cotton fabric as an experiment to see if the image would come out strong. Small attentions to detail were lost but can still be closely seen if looked closely under bright light.
CREATING A DUMMY VERSION OF THE DRESS.
I wanted to use the technique of what I had previously learnt and create an outline of the bottom of the dress out of cyanotypes. I used an old white dress of mine to represent Megs wedding dress. In the process of having to dry the cyanotype ink I used a hair dryer to dry the ink before leaving the uv light to respond to the chemical, because of this it left splashes of blue in the middle of the dress. At first I hated in and carried on finish the outline of the dress. In looking back at Meg's pregnancy I found images of her gender reveal and how they used a confetti gun to release the colour of the gender they will be expecting. as the confetti was made from tissue paper I thought of using circles of blue tissue paper to cover the spots. This wouldn't have worked due to the fact I wanted to sew them on and because of them being delicate and thin the paper would tear as the needle went through. I furthered my research in using blue sequins, this use of material worked to cover some spots but as I stitched on some I felt I didn't need to cover every singe on as it blended together to create the effect of than gender canon.
IMAGES OF THE PROCESS
In keeping all the acetates save from the ink smudging I created my own two washing lines in my room to hang the prints. Each image took 35-40 minutes to expose the image under UV light to create a strong clear image. Some didn't work as well as the others.
If I was to create this dress again using the designing of Meg's dress I would buy fabric to create the dress but before sewing it all together I would print the cyanotypes first so the ink when washing is easier to control so it doesn't run onto any of the previous images or run up the dress as well as leaving splashes of blue when drying the fabric. As Megs wedding dress was filled with layers id hope to play around with printing on different layers but also have a see through fabric covering the skirt half so I could sew on blue sequins to represent the gender reveal.
The Finish Outcome of the Dummy Dress
Overall I like the look of the dress in how the cyanotype are around the ends of the dress, when recreating for the final piece I would be extra cautious in how the fabric is to dry and how to wash the chemicals off the dress. I hope to experiment on different types of fabric to allow the best results when printing the cyanotype. I like the use of blue and its significance to the gender therefor I will not be looking into different forms of printing like screen printing or block. Also, because of the aesthetic in how the cyanotype sits on the dress.
Creating a Stomach Cast of Meg 8 1/2 months Pregnant.
Creating a stomach cast this late in the pregnancy allowed the cast to show the sizing of the bump. The cast is made out of plaster.
In the collections of items I have created I would hope to display the pregnancy diary, bump cast and recreating Megs wedding dress as final pieces in an exhibition setting. In combining all three elements documents her pregnancy from beginning to the potential in giving birth. Also the wedding dress connects mother, (meg) baby, and father (Matthew). Furthering this project I hope to look at the relationship between both parents and baby, especially with Matthews journey in the army, which are seen elements in Meg's pregnancy. Images of Matthew in uniform can only be seen in sketch book due to the armed forces rules and regulations and personal choice of both Matthew and Meg.
Designing Exhibition Space
Further in the next steps I would hope to show the work as displayed above as a collaborative piece of using different materials. Centre piece of the exhibition will be the recreation of Meg's wedding dress on a mannequin next to it a plinth with her wedding shoes and a plinth the opposite side of the dress will be a plinth with her dried wedding bouquet. On one wall will be cyanotype images from the book that is also displayed on a plinth in front of the images. The wall showing nothing will be a potential video of the pair and the baby, a documentary style 5 minute clip. Also to potentially display the stomach cast depending on the space. Curating an exhibition to this scale would allow people to engage with the subject matter and create a positive look on pregnancy.
In potentially moving forward looking at film documentary I'd hope to film not only the milestones but the everyday life of Meg being a house wife and the impact of Matthew's work on both mum and baby.
18th May 2023
Noa
Noa
Noa’s first photoshoot 2 weeks old
6th June
9th July
Breast Feeding
Awkwardness, body image issues, stigma, fear, and lack of confidence
Awkwardness, body image issues, stigma, fear, and lack of confidence are words to describe the stigma around breast feeding in public. The breasts are seen as sexual and for that many women reduce their time of breastfeeding in public or to not breastfeed all together. “In particular, the sexualisation of breasts, disgust narratives and lack of exposure among observers to baby-led infant feeding patterns resulted in beliefs which created a stigmatising environment. In this context, many mothers felt unable to breastfeed in public; those who breastfed outside the home were usually highly self-aware, attempting to reduce their exposure to conflict.”(Grant, 2022) The sexualisation of breastfeeding is seen throughout society mainly in people of the same gender. “The researchers concluded that those who were uncomfortable with public breastfeeding were more likely to be unfamiliar with breastfeeding, to hold sexist views, or to have an association with breasts as hypersexual organs”(Grant,2016)
Meg’s Breast Feeding Story
Whilst posting this image on her social media Snapchat. Meg received many messages from boys sexualising her. One said, “Your breasts turn me on” another said, “I hope your husband is happy to share you.” Meg was mortified by these messages and her intention of posting this photo was to empower others women and young mothers on breastfeeding.
Military Wife
Artist Research.
Inês Abrosio
Unknown
Inês Abrosio uses photographs on acetone paper to create her cyanotypes. This image is both a creation of her hobby of surfing but also the love for photography. Abrosio talks about her work from her perspective “For me photography has always been about the physicality of it, from the early days of my practice I have realised the importance of spending time creating an image. I experimented with many alternative and analogue processes and the blue print made me feel instantly connected with my biggest passion - surfing - and my favourite element - water – not only for it’s colour but also because of the process itself. Whether it is on a piece of paper, fabric or glass, the photographic object needs to be in contact with the sun, more precisely UV light, being then washed in water. For the few years I was studying Photography at the University of Brighton, Photography became the main focus of my life and surfing was left to a secondary priority. Today, I naturally found my place and balance in Cyanotype making.” (Abrosio, 2021)
Courtney Pasterchick
Tension
Courtney Pasterchick uses her own digital images and prints them on to acetate paper to create cyanotypes. This way of working has allowed her to not only capture the shape of the subject like a classic cyanotype but capture fine detailing in the portrait. The darkness of the blue background allows the woman in the centre of the frame to stand out by being lighter shades of blue. With the subjects’ hands grasping at her face with the expression of sadness and hurt we can also see a casting shadow over her right shoulder of what seems to look like hands overlocking one another.
In creating my own work, I hope to use this technique of creating detailed cyanotypes, allowing my subject matter to empower the piece and show the beauty of pregnancy.
Nan Goldin
Rebecca at the Russian baths, NYC, (1985).
American photographer and activist Nan Goldin used documentary style photography to photograph people. Her most popular series of work was documenting people during the crisis of HIV and Aids.
Even though Goldin has photographed herself pregnant this image of a mother to be documents a pregnancy of hurt and upset. The image doesn’t show the viewer much detail of where she is lying. However, the subject is laying on what could be a concrete slab. The tiles behind look warn and old and the positioning of the subject’s body looks as if she’s been there for long. Her positioning of her body shows the tiredness and strain on the body in what it entails to be pregnant.
From looking at Goldin’s work I hope to engage with the composition and use of lighting she uses. The composition of the image in my opinion is important as the details of where, when, and who creates the strong narrative. The use of direct light coming from above the subject highlights and creates sharp tones, creating the atmosphere in the Russian baths
Diane Arbus
Pregnant, NYC, (1945)
Diane Arbus’ self portrait Pregnant, 1945, is the making of a new era of change in the photographic and art world. A change of liberation to women finding their voices in society. Arbus’ photograph of her pregnancy impowers her a feminist to liberate the female body and to empower herself. By photographing herself she always us as viewer to see only what she wants to photograph within the frame.
The “body” is a representation of many things, a construct of oneself, an identity, a way to express themselves. The power to express oneself in a social and political way to break down old stereotypes this portrait of the artist is filled with curiosity, erotism, self-questioning and directly fights against the male gaze.
In what looks like she is using a 4x4 camera photographing herself and both the camera off-centre in a mirror. Her positioning of the body shows that she is with child as her hand is placed above her stomach. As a viewer we can see that she is not heavily pregnant, by the size of her bump. The positioning of her head tilted towards the camera creates more dynamic in the structure as nothing in the image is parallel to one another. In my opinion this is Arbus playing on the idea of breaking down the barriers and creating a new way of being photographed, then in a traditional way of every line being symmetrical.
Photographing this image of herself was intended to send to her husband during the second world war to let him know the news he was to be a father. This photograph did not only now see as a historic change in photography but a creation of joy for her and her husband when the world was in darkness, they had hope.
This photograph was a sign for change and hope for more women to be accepted towards their bodies and to impower and embrace the changes that happens. To be proud of being pregnant, to break society circle of women are to be wife’s and mothers. In later years during the 1960’s this image became a statement to embrace the body.
Barbara Morgan
Pregnant
Barbara Morgan’s black and white photograph pregnant show the body up close to the stomach. Highlighting the changes that the body makes to allow a pregnancy to happen. The stomach and breasts are key parts in what the artist is focusing on, the growth and change to one’s body. The use of lighting and composition of the image creates a dramatic effect on the subject, creating a strong narrative to the empowerment of body. How the light lands and falls of the body creates harsh shadows emphasising the shapes and structure of the body.
Barbara Morgan’s work shows the maternal subjectivity and creates reasoning on why we should be celebrating our bodies and why we should be having conversations to break down the stigma. “Maternity is traditionally an important source for women’s art and yet the relationship between maternal subjectivity and artistic creativity is still very rarely discussed.” (Sieglohr,1998)
This series of work during the 1970’s empowers the women’s movement in the art industry in engaging with the subject matter and creating a woman signifying power and resilience. Ulrike spoke about how women’s history of being under-represented it is now being moulded and changed into a new era of contemporary practice. “Despite women’s history as photographers and their strong presence in contemporary practice, it is significant that they are still widely under-represented in mainstream exhibitions, galleries and publications on the subject.” (Sieglohr,1998)
Sally Mann
Jenny and Leslie, 8 Months Pregnant
This image Jenny and Leslie, 8 Months Pregnant by Sally Mann is from an iconic black and white series “Immediate Family” 1984-91. These images created a conversation of the ethics in regards of children in art, many of her work’s consisted of conflicting conversations about innocence and sophistication in portraits of teenage girls. This photograph published in the 80’s 90’s created more conversations leading to women’s rights. Ann Beattie talks about how Mann’s work does not glamorise the life of the individual in the photograph and shows the realistic look of society. “Sally Mann’s photographs don’t glamorize the world, but they don’t make it into something more unpleasant than it is, either.” (Mann,1988) The image also speaks volume of how women should embrace their body and to love all of it.
Mann’s documentary style of working embraces the beauty of pregnancy and the female body. The detailing and focus on the subjects create their own narrative. In what looks to be a hot summers day and 8 weeks pregnant you can see the expression on their faces that the heat could be affecting the pregnancy.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Embryo in the Womb
Embryo in the Womb is founded in the third volume of his private notebooks, these drawings were created during the years of 1510- 1512, using black and red chalk with some one and ink. This groundbreaking illustration of the foetus, advanced his understanding of the human development and showed his role as an artist during the Renaissance. The work consists of large detailing of the womb and how the baby is developed in the womb through text and drawings.
Angela Chalmers
Something About Mary
This Cyanotype dress by Angela Chalmer Something About Mary is inspired by the history of St Martin’s Church, Scarborough, and the founder Miss Mary Craven in 1814-1889. The designing of the hand-printed dress is connected to the medievalism of the Pre-Raphaelite art.
The Pre-Raphaelite art began in 1848 by poets, artist, writers, and art critics. Painters like John Everett Millais famous for his painting of Ophelia a famous portrait using inspiration from the death of Ophelia in Hamlet a play by William Shakespeare. The traditional woman known for the period to only show from the jaw line above emphasises this in the dress of it being to the floor, long sleeves and covering the neck. The flowers and patterns on the dress are symbolic also to the period of which this dress was inspired from.
Justine Kurland
Justine Kurland. Baby Tooth, 2011
Hidden Mother
“Through her erasure, the absent mother represents a figure that refuses to be pinned down by the objectifying male gaze, and so offers up a different model through which new perspectives on contemporary motherhood might be thought today.”(Riches.2014).
Theory
Memory
Memory is a key theme of my research and practice. In researching memory we as humans consist of three cognitive processes. These cognitive skills we learn as a baby are growing through our lives. From 15 weeks pregnant a baby can began to hear muted sounds, these sounds when born baby knows mum and dads voice due to memory of being in the womb.
Ontology
Pregnancy ontology is a biomedical ontology used for identifying pregnancies in health databases. This process was developed to keep a database of pregnant women in the uk for keeping track of vaccinations. Maja Sidzinska talks in her article about the phenomenon of pregnancy.
I find that a processual ontology captures a great deal about pregnant embodiment and is a significant improvement over Cartesian and anti-metaphysical accounts. However, in order to accommodate pregnancy, what we still need from an ontology is the inclusion of subjectivity. (Maja Sidzinska. 2017).
How do we see pregnancy's as 1 individual or 2?
Many people class a women being pregnant as 1 individual due to the baby being foetus, some see as 2 individuals, mother and baby. "If you, however, think that two individuals are present where we see a pregnant individual at a certain time, then you are likely to be committed to the so-called Containment View." (Meincke, 2022) Meincke later talks about alternative ways we look at pregnancy. "The Process View of pregnancy emphasises transition instead of composition as opposed to a static analysis that ignores the characteristic developmental trajectory
Reflection
When starting this project I wanted to look into growth, of how nature starting growing in the spring. This thought of growth of something small becoming something, growing, and being beautiful, I began to look at humans and how a human grows another human. At this time of the project Meg was 4months pregnant, and I began being curious to what her thoughts and feelings were about being pregnant at a young age. Her feelings consisted of love, joy, happiness. I wanted my work to reflect them words and document her time of being pregnant. After talking a lot too Meg if she'd be happy to be my subject matter she was more than whiling to collaborate with me. I found it difficult not to over step or intrude on Meg's personal space to much, as she is also self conscious about her body.
And element of my work is family of not only mother and baby, but also mother father and baby and how their relationship works. In previous work I have documented Matthew numerous times in his paddling carrier from a young age of 14. In doing so I have been able to see is progression from being a young welsh slalom paddler to becoming a member of the British army to now becoming a father.
When looking for photographs on Maternity many studio styles images appeared, I wanted to step aside from what seemed to be the 'norm' and document Meg's pregnancy. A quote that inspired me was by Sieglohr, how she discusses women art and the relationship between art and the maternal."Maternity is traditionally an important source for women's art and yet the relationship between maternal subjectivity and artistic creativity is still very rarely discussed." (Sieglohr, 1998).
Key artist that have inspired my work are Nan Goldin, Courtney Pasterchick and Angela Chambers. Nan Goldin documentary style of working has been influenced from the very beginning in capturing images of story and narrative during Meg's pregnancy. Developing on with Goldin style of documentary I wanted to work with cyanotypes, after research on how best to keep the image detailed I began researching on different methods and came across the work of Courtney Pasterchick who's work using cyanotypes came with outstanding attention to detail. Combining the documentary photographs and cyanotypes I wanted to create something bigger and have a collaborative piece that included their wedding that was during Meg's pregnancy. In researching I came across Angela Chambers and her work on cyanotype on fabric and her key work of Something About Mary. In seeing this work I wanted my work to reflect on both her use of cyanotypes and also keep the theme of the dress white.
When developing this work further I hope to carry on using Meg as my subject, and also document the relationship between newborn and mother. Also furthering on to looking at mother, baby and fathers relationship.
References
Articles
Abrosio, Inês (2021) Ines Ambrosio : A Modern Cyanotype Artist. https://finisterre.com/blogs/broadcast/ines-ambrosio-a-modern-cyanotype-artist
Grant, Aimee. (2016). discrimination: The Online Response to a Case of a Breastfeeding Mother Being Ejected from a UK Retail Premises. Journal of Human Lactation, 32(1), 141–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334415592403
Grant, Pell, B., Copeland, L., Brown, A., Ellis, R., Morris, D., Williams, D., & Phillips, R. (2022). Views and experience of breastfeeding in public: A qualitative systematic review. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 18(4), e13407–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13407
Riches, Harriet. (2014) Home Truths: Photography, Motherhood and Identity. Afterimage, 41(4), 27–28. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.2014.41.4.27
Books
Maja Sidzinska. (2017). Not One, Not Two: Toward an Ontology of Pregnancy. Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.5206/fpq/2017.4.2
Mann, & Beattie, A. (1988). At twelve : portraits of young women. Aperture.
Meincke. (2022). One or two? A Process View of pregnancy. Philosophical Studies, 179(5), 1495–1521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-021-01716-y
Sieglohr. (1998). Focus on the maternal : female subjectivity and images of motherhood. Scarlet.
Images
FIG1 Inês Abrosio, Back to the Blues https://inesambrosio.com/back-to-the-blues/
FIG2 Courtney Pasterchick, Tension https://www.analogforevermagazine.com/online-exhibitions/certain-kind-of-blue-march-2021
FIG3 Nan Goldin, Rebecca at the Russian baths, NYC, (1985). https://www.artnet.com/artists/nan-goldin/rebecca-at-the-russian-baths-nyc-L5DJgDxiRHWMx5uOBUTmlA2
FIG4 Diane Arbus, Pregnant, NYC, (1945) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/306318
FIG5 Barbara Morgan, Pregnant https://www.artsy.net/artwork/barbara-morgan-1900-1992-pregnant
FIG6 Sally Mann, Jenny and Leslie, 8 Months Pregnant https://www.artsy.net/artwork/sally-mann-jenny-and-leslie-8-months-pregnant
FIG7 Leonardo Da Vinci, Embryo in the Womb https://www.leonardodavinci.net/embryo-in-the-womb.jsp
FIG8 Angela Chalmers, Something About Mary https://www.angelachalmers.com/portfolio/mary-craven/
FIG9 Justine Kurland. Baby Tooth, 2011
https://aperture.org/editorial/picturing-motherhood/
Bibliography
Arbus. (2003). Diane Arbus : revelations. Jonathan Cape.
Bright, Susan.(2013). Home truths : photography and motherhood (Bright, Ed.). Art/Books.
Goldin, & Costa, G. (2001). Nan Goldin. Phaidon.
Mann. (1992). Immediate family. Aperture.
Mann, & Beattie, A. (1988). At twelve : portraits of young women. Aperture.