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[oliver-crown]

ACP - Dissertation Proposal

‘Breaking the Internet’: How changes in technology and culture enabled Jean Paul Goude to revive a questionable photoshoot in the 21st Century

Fashion Photography is a strand of the medium that focuses on showcasing clothes and accessories as a marketing or sales tool. Through history, we have seen the production of fashion images increase alongside the viewership of said photographs. Around the time of invention, fashion photographs weren’t mass published and the images were only produced for private clients and fashion houses, in order to aid illustration and design. Nowadays, everywhere we look we see fashion photography, on our phones, billboards, social media and plastered on newsstands. It is the development in technological and cultural factors, that I want to explore in my dissertation, specifically using Jean Paul Goude’s Paper Magazine Cover (Winter 2014) as a case study to comment on the shift in culture. 

In November 2014, Paper Magazine coined the term ‘Break The Internet’ after their cover star Kim Kardashian posed semi-nude popping a bottle of champagne into a glass placed on her posterior (see appendix A). The image, shot by photographer Jean Paul Goude was a recreation of his earlier released image Carolina Beaumont, New York (The Champagne Incident) (see appendix B) from 1976. The photographer is known for creating many iconic images with models in seemingly impossible poses, working very closely and having an intimate relationship with Grace Jones for numerous years. However when he shot the cover for Paper magazine in 2014, the majority of people who saw the image were seeing his work for the first time, or at least didn’t have an understanding of his history and presence as a fashion photographer. This raises a really important point I want to explore further in my dissertation, imitation and reference in contemporary work. Jean Paul Goude has recreated very similar work to previous his previous images in ‘Jungle Fever’ in order to appeal to newer audiences that may not have seen or have an understanding of the previous work and it’s historical context.

The cover of Kim Kardashian was published almost 40 years after the original image, meaning the cultural and historical context of the image was completely different to that of the original. The Champagne Incident and Goude’s full series of images ‘Jungle Fever’ faced a lot of cultural backlash at the time because of how he represented women of colour in his work. The animalistic nature of his images gave him a negative reputation, whereas in an article for People magazine, he simply explains his habit of exaggerating and eroticising the features of black women (Wolfhert, 1979). I want to explore the criticisms of this further in my dissertation, mentioning the ethics involved in the work, racial undertones of both ‘Jungle Fever’ from 1976 and the contemporary recreation for Paper Magazine. 

With the rising use of technology and visual media being shared on social media, it is easier for content to spread around society a lot faster. Platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are at the forefront of viral trends, due to the easy accessibility for users, both artists and consumers. Magazines and publications have online accounts to repost what they’re publishing in print, alongside the artists and creatives themselves to share their content. I want to explore the power of these online presences and how the change in technology has allowed fashion photography to go ‘viral’ in the 21st century. It poses questions as to why Goude decided to shoot Kim in this way, whether it was a decision made by himself or the magazine itself. Kim is known for presenting exaggerated features on her body, that are symbolic of women of colour, which are further highlighted in this shoot. So could the pairing of photographer and model be due to these similarities or maybe she was used just as a platform for excellent exposure. At the time of publication, Kim was the most followed account on Instagram, with just over 20 million followers. This sort of coverage on social media, clearly did great things for the shoot and the magazine alike, where the website had increased visits of 25,500% just 3 days after posting (Tuchinsky, 2014). 

My current plan is to split my dissertation into three sections, which include:

Viral photography and the conception of the term ‘Break The Internet’

Jean Paul Goude’s obsession with women of colour in his work and why this is significant for this body of work

The use of high-profile models and celebrities to force increased coverage

The first section of the dissertation will use history as a field and method, to explore the cultural affects on photography when the term ‘Break The Internet’ was coined. Due to this part not really being about art history specifically, I wanted to use history as a method to analyse the cultural influences rather than what was happening at the time in art theory and styles of photography. 

The second section will be broken down about the photographer himself. Jean Paul Goude is a very interesting photographer with a lot of controversy throughout his professional career. He had a very dynamic relationship with model Grace Jones, which may have fuelled his eroticism of women of colour. One trait I have identified of his photographic style is to paste multiple images together to form a new, realistic composition of the model. He continued to use this in his shoot for Paper Magazine in 2014, but using newer technology to when he shot the original image back in 1976. As previously mentioned also, Goude faced a lot of backlash for his fetishisation of women of colour, so in this part of my dissertation I will use ethics as a method to analyse whether his portrayal of models was acceptable or not.

Finally, for the use of high profile models and celebrities to force coverage in contemporary society, I’ll be looking at Paper Magazine, and maybe other smaller case studies in comparison, to their use of recognisable models in order to drive sales and exposure. As mentioned, Kim at time of publication owned the most followed instagram account after also growing up in the public eye on her family reality show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’. I haven’t found yet, but I want to find material that links to the use of high profile models and celebrities in fashion photography in order to explore the cultural impact on the photographs and their contexts.

I think that with the correct supervision then this proposal is innovative and appropriate for a photography dissertation. I will use methodologies such as historical context, ethics and social and cultural factors that have influenced not only the work I will be talking about, but the fashion photography industry going forwards. Given the circumstances this proposal has been written under, I haven’t got a lot of legitimate content to start my research, as when we started lockdown my dissertation was more focused towards the culture of Pop Art. Therefore, the research I have done so far has had to be done online. I want to firstly acquire Goude’s photobook ‘Jungle Fever’ and some of his other work, to use this to gain a better understanding of the project that inspired the 2014 shoot. My plan also includes contacting the editorial team in charge of that shoot at Paper Magazine, to see if they can give me any more information or where to find it. 

[katiaelizabethanderson-blog]

ACP - Interesting artist who focuses on the physical nature of specifically analogue photography, could be interesting to link to Wall Page & Screen ideas.

[oliver-crown]

ACP - Critical Essay

The use of Polaroid Instant Film in Ryan McGinley’s Contemporary Practice

A photograph is defined not only by its content, but also something tangible that exists in it’s own right. Whether this be a physical print, or a a trace of the image on a screen, made up by pixels and code, the materiality of the photograph has just as much affect on the viewer as the subject matter. Geoffrey Batchen (2004) highlights the ‘need to develop a way of talking about the photograph that can attend to its various physical attributes, to its materiality as a medium of representation’. This notes not only the objective features of the photograph that make it identifiable as what it is, but also the artists’ choice of medium, and how they have adapted it to its’ most realised potential. It is the physical attributes of the photograph that allow for more channels of communication between the artist and the viewer. Choices in materiality and physicality add context and meaning to why the artist has chosen to produce and present their work through a specific medium. 

We can analyse the materiality by identifying two key aspects of the photograph; the plasticity of the image itself, the chemistry, the paper it is printed on, the toning, the resulting surface variations’ and ‘presentational forms, such as cartes de visite, cabinet cards, albums, mounts and frames’ (Edwards and Hart, 2004). In short, we look at the materiality of production and the materiality of the outcome. Instant photography is a medium that has undergone lots of various, material aesthetic changes in history, due to the developmental technology used when producing prints. Using Polaroid as a reference, we can see the changes in technology that have enabled cultural shifts and how we interact with the medium. 

Polaroid have seen insignificant development since it’s release in 1947 is what Edwin H. Land dubbed ‘one-step’ instant film. His release was intended to cut the process of printing images down to simply ‘one step’ of taking the photograph, and letting the camera’s built in technology do the rest. Land’s first take on instant photography, saw the responsibility still sit with the photographer to remove the film from the camera and peel away the negative sheet. However 25 years later, with his release of the SX-70, this process was truly cut down to ‘one step’ with the automation technology relying on the new, integral film.

Polaroid enabled a shift in the relationship between the photographer and their equipment, by embedding the print technology into the camera itself (Hand, 2012). The development of ‘one step’ printing turned the process of making a photograph into a less skilled action, due to the lack of dark room printing processes a photographer had to do. Now lacking the human tactility when producing the prints, the new technology was widely rejected by amateur photographers (Buse, 2008), where there became a stigma that the medium was unskilled and didn’t show talent as a photographer. The release of the SX-70 discarded the physical negative, keeping it hidden inside the integral frame, making the new process even more dissimilar to analogue, dark room printing. 

But how has a brand that had so much cultural backlash when released, become a household name, and a medium that is still highly prevalent in contemporary artists work? One photographer that is at the forefront of the medium is Ryan McGinley, an American artist working in New York. ‘The Kids Are Alright’ was exhibited in 2000 at a small gallery in West Broadway, New York. Sylvia Wolf, after receiving a copy of the photobook accompanying the exhibition, helped McGinley to upscale the exhibition for a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he broke the record as the youngest ever solo exhibitor. His exhibition and supporting photobook showcased hundreds of Polaroids, taken from the over 10,000 shot between the years of 1998-2003. The exhibition was revived in 2017 by curator Nora Burnett Abrams, putting the Polaroids on display in Denver alongside a collection of prints of his close friends and inner circle. Director and Chief Animator of the MCA, Adam Lerner, talks on the artists’ subject matter when explaining that ‘naked bodies abound in McGinley’s photographs’ (2017). But this isn’t a new feature in galleries and museums. Nudes have been recurrent in photography since the mediums’ invention in the 19th Century, but they have been constantly criticised for representing the real with a true likeness. McGinley pushes this further however, photographing his close friends in very personal circumstances. Lerner further explains ‘A woman is seen shovelling coke up her nose […] a guy is holding up his dick […] cum is dripping down his face’. This intimate subject matter shown by McGinley, taken on a medium that is personal and a symbol of shared experience between a photographer and a sitter, on the walls of a gallery is an insight into, put simply, his life. Thus, the intimacy of the photographs mirrors the cultural fact of Polaroid, both being this tangible, cherished exchange. 

McGinley gained a name for himself as a photographer for embracing the use of Polaroid, but in an interview with Miss Rosen for Dazed (2017) he explained that the medium ‘opened up (him) to being able to photograph the person for the rest of the day or night’. After carefully shooting the first frame of the sitter, McGinley would shoot dozens of rolls of film of whatever he wanted to shoot. In the same interview, he explains the ritualistic nature of the shoots ‘The person who is being photographed is being celebrated because I would take the Polaroid and then we’d look at it. I’d write their name, the time it was shot, and the date on the back and then I’d stick it on my wall’ (McGinley, 2017). 

Analogue processes, especially the use of Polaroid, enabled McGinley to create an identity as a photographer. It was the work that landed him his first large scale exhibition, which we associate with his body of work, even in contemporary practice. Although, McGinley has progressed into the use of digital for some projects, his prevalence and coverage in the media is almost solely based around his use of analogue processes. Although McGinley has progressed into digital photography for some work, he chooses an appropriate medium for each project, with no bias towards either analogue or digital. For example, for his 2018 project ‘Mirror Mirror’ McGinley instructed people to shoot 5 rolls of colour negative film following various instructions based around mirrors and reflections. McGinley provided all of his subjects with the camera, mirrors and instructions, however he wasn’t present in any of the images. He directed all of his models taking the self portraits through a series of detailed instructions. In the first set of instructions, McGinley explained ‘the photographs are shot on film so the subject cannot see the results they are shooting’ (McGinley, 2018). The choice to produce this work on film was key to the intentions and outcome of the project, as if the images were shot digitally then McGinley’s subjects would be shooting the images in a completely different way. Not being able to see the images as they are being shot, allows for a lot more experimentation and playfulness in the images, as there is a lack of judgement between frames. 

‘New Originals’ was a project in collaboration with Polaroid Originals that took place in New York, 2017. McGinley was chosen by the brand to select 5 emerging photographers that shoot on Polaroid film to showcase their work in an exhibition celebrating the young creatives using the medium in their work. This idea was intended to be a commercial recreation of how McGinley was selected for his first solo exhibition by Sylvia Wolf in 2003, whilst also being good coverage for Polaroid Originals as a brand. In material terms, this collaboration was purely reliant on analogue processes and disregarding of technological advances, but social media had a large influence on McGinley’s choice of exhibitors. In an interview with Anna Zanes for Office Magazine he explains that ‘I wouldn’t say it’s all through Instagram, but I mean, isn’t that how everybody gets visual information these days?’ (McGinley, 2017). This shift in culture is a commentary on technology and it’s influence over how we see and interact with art and photography. In contemporary practice, almost all photographers have an online social presence, in one form or another. Whether it is used to post your actual work, interact with people that enjoy your work or just as a contact tool. McGinley is no exception here, running an account that showcases his professional work and occasionally shows an insight into his processes and personal life. 

Another case study is when Ryan McGinley released 15 never-before-published film images in collaboration with We Transfer, a digital online platform for users to transfer and share files. The project showcased McGinley’s analogue prints alongside an interview between himself and Kathy Ryan, renowned director of photography for the New York Times. The accompanying interview gave insight to his work process, as Kathy Ryan curated images that are inspired by his family life, his obsession with nudity and the constant theme of rebellion in his work. So even though this work was produced on film, taken on various road trips around America, when published there is still the influence of digital technology that makes the exhibition accessible to viewers. When shooting, McGinley wasn’t aware that the images would be shown online in a collaborative exhibition, however it was the influence of curator Kathy Ryan and what she did with the images that brought the analogue images into a digital context.

It is this point that makes us wonder whether in a contemporary setting work can solely be produced and shown using analogue techniques. In an essay for The Anxiety of Photography, Matthew Thompson explains ‘Photography is thoroughly and visibly connected to technological apparatus and […] technology is constantly changing’ (Thompson, 2011). This argues that the potential for creating a contemporary project without use of digital processes is less likely to occur when the technology that enables and accompanies photography has progressed so much. An exhibition such as McGinley’s ‘New Originals’, a project consisting of analogue prints mainly on Polaroid instant film, is now a project that wasn’t solely produced via analogue processes. The smallest involvement of digital process such as online curation or online coverage can alter the contextual factors affecting the work. For example, the material processes and techniques to produce work for ‘New Originals’ is undeniably analogue. The work was shot on Polaroid instant film, using Polaroid cameras, and the prints were created in camera using Instant integral film. As a viewer of this exhibition, it could be argued that seeing the work in person, without prior knowledge of how the artists were chosen is seeing the work of analogue processes. As soon as the work is posted online, or you learn of the online curation via social media, there is an added depth to the work which takes it out of an analogue context. 

A similar point can be made for the online exhibition in collaboration with We Transfer, whereby the production of the work was solely analogue, however Kathy Ryan decided to take the images and make them available online. This online publishing of the article and supporting images enabled McGinley’s images to be taken into a digital context, making them more accessible to wider audiences worldwide. 

This development of technology into a digital era for photography is a similar occurrence to what we saw with the progression of Polaroid Technology in the mid 1900s. As mentioned, the instant camera started off with more physical processes required to produce a print, namely removing the film from the camera and peeling off the negative slide from the print. However with technological advancements, we saw the process of shooting Polaroid become a completely different thing, with the camera developing the print itself automatically and leaving the only physical task for the photographer to do is remove the print from the camera. The development of technology allowed for the process of image printing to become easier and more accessible to those who didn’t have access to dark rooms or other analogue printing technologies. Similarly we have seen the development of digital technologies, and their large influence on the way we interact with photography, whether it is shot analogue or digital. In contemporary practice, it is so much easier to scan and post images you have made online making them more accessible to larger audiences than if they are only shown in exhibitions. But because of this ease now to put your work on social media, it has become more important to keep up with technology to an extent, in order to not fall behind. 

To an extent, a photographer should create an identity for themselves producing work in whatever style they desire, whether this is using solely analogue processes, the newest digital technologies and techniques or a combination of the both. Staying true to themselves is what helps to create consistency in a body of work, which is what Ryan McGinley has done throughout his career. After launching to fame with his project shot on Polaroid, he has continued to use the medium in his more contemporary work. What McGinley has also done, however is adapt to the advancing technologies that have become available to him. When contemporary processes are applicable or necessary to use for a project, he won’t disregard them. Whether the technology is a large influence like the method of shooting the project or a small influence of online curation for an exhibition, it is difficult for contemporary artists to work solely using analogue processes in a given context. 

References

Batchen, G. (2004). Forget Me Not: photography and Remembrance. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Buse, P. (2008). Surely Fades Away. Polaroid Photography and the Contradictions of  Cultural Value, in ‘Photographies’, pp 221 - 238.

Edwards, E and Hart, J. (2004). Photographs Objects Histories: On the Materiality of Images. Oxfordshire: Routledge.

Hand, M. (2012). Ubiquitous Photography. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Land, E. H. (1972). Absolute One-Step Photography, in ‘Photographic Science and Engineering’. 16 (4) pp. 247-252.

McGinley, R. (2017). ‘New Originals with Ryan McGinley’ Interviewed by Anna Zanes for Office, 6th December 2017.

McGinley, R. (2017). ‘Ryan McGinley talks coming full circle’ Interviewed by Miss Rosen for Dazed, 24th April 2017.

McGinley, R. (2018). Untitled. [Online]. [Accessed 20th April 2020]. Available from https://ryanmcginley.com/mirrormirror

Minniti, S. (2016). Photo-Objects and Analogue Instant Photography in the Digital Age, in Italian Journal of Science and Technology Studies. 

Ryan, K. (2017). ‘WeTransfer Studios x Ryan McGinley’ Interviewed by Kathy Ryan for WePresent, 7th November 2017.

Thompson, M. (2011). ‘The Object Lost and Found’ in Thompson, The Anxiety of Photography, Aspen Art Museum: 2011.