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Doreen Spooner and Cindy ShermanEvery photographer is different from the year they were born to what type of photography they do, the techniques they use, and the subjects of their images. Throughout this piece, I will be exploring and contrasting both Doreen Spooner and Cindy Sherman through who they are as individuals and the work they have done over the years in the photography world. After looking at both Doreen and Cindy in detail I immediately noticed a dramatic difference throughout their lives and how that effected their paths in life to get them to where they are today, you can also see the challenges they faced over the years are also very different due to the eras they grow up in, this is because Doreen is 24 years older than Cindy is and that they were brought up in different countries with different cultures and religions.Doreen Spooner was born in London in 1928[1] where she was an only child, her father Len Spooner was a picture editor who was very supporting of her career choice, where as her mother Ada Spooner was less supportive due to her being with in times of when women would stay at home to look after the family but she was also very isolated due to what is now known as depression[2]. During her childhood in 1939 Doreen had to leave her parents and move to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire during the war due to it being unsafe for her, but returned home in 1944 HYPERLINK "" \l "cite_note-hodgkison-11" [3]. Doreen later married a French photographer called Pierre Vandeputte-Manevy in 1952, after a mutual friend of theirs set them up, the marriage went through some ups and downs and they sadly spilt however they never got a divorce, this was because Doreen was very religious but also in that era divorce was still very much frowned upon[4].Cindy Sherman was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey in 1954[5] however moved to long island, New York when she was three-year-old. When she was growing up she had to freedom to explore what was around her[6]. Both her parents, Dorothy and Charlie supported her creative activates which included drawing and painting both of which was Cindy’s favorite pastimes. Cindy was married to a fellow photographer Michel Auder from 1984 however they divorced in 1999[7], after times had changed so it was less frowned upon then when Doreen would have possibly have got a divorce. I choose Doreen because she is an extraordinary and inspiring woman who has achieve many things over her life time. I also choose her as I love the work she has done, as it is the style of photography I enjoy looking at and doing myself. I choose Cindy due to her being so different from Doreen in many aspect like I have discussed but also because her work stands out from many other photographers, as her work is very eccentric and unique. Before seeing Cindy’s work, I had not seen anything like her work, as many photographer I follow use similar techniques to Doreen and are very commercial in nature. right47363600Throughout her career, Doreen photographed many famous faces which included The Queen, Albert Einstein and Twiggy just to name a few, many of the people Doreen photographed was very comfortable around her and trusted her, for example Twiggy was unwell the day the picture below was taken, however due to her trusting Doreen Twiggy gave her blessing to Doreen to take a picture[8]. When looking at Cindy’s work you think you arelooking at different people or models of different genders, however this is not the case, Cindy was always the subject in every image shetook. When she was younger she always loved todress up and use tape to distort her face, this continued in her photos however she now used different types of makeup, wigs, costumes and props which help create the final looks[9].3040675131165900Throughout her career, Cindy was faced with controversy over some photos she had taken when she was 22 years old, which later were re-printed and used in different exhibitions. The pictures were part of a series she did called “Bus Riders” which were taken in 1976, to create some of these images she used what is known as “Black-face”[10]. Back when these photos were taken “Black-face” was more excepted due to the time they were in, however in today’s age, it is classed as racial discrimination and offends many people.After Margo Jefferson visited the International Center for Photography exhibit, White: Whiteness and Race in Contemporary Art she wrote a review On it saying “The blacks are all exactlythe same color, the color of traditional blackface makeup. They all have nearly the same features, too, while Ms. Sherman is able to give the white characters she impersonates a real range of skin tones and facial features. This didn't look like irony to me. It looked like a stale visual myth that was still in good working order.”[11] Which is a quote I have seen many times during my research.Due to Doreen being a staff photographer she never faced any backlash for her photography and was rarely aloud to speak her opinion about politics and other controversial matters, however she not have interest in these matters anyway, after reading her book, I noticed Doreen never used the fact that she was a women to get out of doing any jobs or to her advantage, she did the job as another other man did around her, however Doreen did describe the photography room as testosterone alley, as it smelt of smoke and sweat, due to smoking being more common back then, even though many a times Doreen was treated as any other worker she was well respected by all the men and would not swear around her[12]. Doreen’s work was more aimed towards the public due to her being a photo journalist for a well-known newspaper, The Daily Mail. Which meant her target audience had a large variety of ages and genders, however due to the era she was working in the percentage of genders was more biased towards men, due to the content that was in the newspaper, it wasn’t until later sections towards women were introduced. Cindy’s work would have had a more of a niche audience due to work her being unique and having an eccentric twist however it expanded into many different creative modes and genres which really broke the boundaries of the modern and fine art world taking things a step further and stretching their imagination. When looking at Cindy’s work it reminds me of what Vienne Westwood brings to the fashion world with both their work being very eccentric and is completely different and fresh, as it always pushes the boundaries and breaks the mould of what we expect to see as a society. The contrast between Doreen’s and Cindy’s work is substantial in many ways, from the genre of the images and the way they are composed as you can see below, one of the first thing you notice is the colours of the photos, Doreen’s photos are all in black and white and you can tell they are well lit as you can see all the details and there no shadows in the photos. The photos are relaxed, natural and clear making it easy on the eye and not complicated letting the audience see all the aspects of the photos that is needed. 2732109136481Photographs by Doreen00Photographs by Doreenleft139702699385162191right67391300Whereas Cindy’s photos are mostly in colour and have unique lighting to it to create shadows and depth but also to keep certain aspects of the image highlighted for example the photo below has a female character in it however she is not the focus, however you can see her clearly due to added lighting.Many of Cindy pictures are complex, and unclear in narrative, as they leave the audience asking more questions and not being answers, for example the first photo shows a man with his head detached from the rest of his body with glazed eye, as Leslie Stills right635000said “even without knowing what hashappened, the viewer gets a creepy feeling”[13], all of Cindy work gives you a feeling when looking at her work whether itis a good feeling or it makes you feel uncomfortable and often shocked, but they always leave the audience intrigued. When Doreen took her images she never got inspiration from any right62866400painters, artists or other photographers due to her being a staff photography every one of her photographs had to be original and the best so it could be printed in the paper, due to this Doreen could not produce the same image as every other staff photographer otherwise it would not attract people to read the daily mirror.Due to Doreen being in the centre of the journalistic world, she would see first-hand the political disputes that went on or high demand cases that filled the newspaper world daily. Doreen was often put forwardas the photographer to take the photos for these cases one big one that became Doreen most famous photo was the “trail of the century”. Due to Doreen being the only female staff photographer many people did not realise she was a photographer, which worked to her advantage for this image as she was able to get into a pub with a fellow work mate and catch the photo as the landlord thought they were a couple, the photo shows Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies in the pub having a casual conversation. Straight after the image was taken she was kicked out of the pub but was still printed on the front page of the newspaper[14]. 229489072040000426288872295500Unlike Doreen, Cindy could take inspiration from other artists work and paint’s, which is why a couple of Cindy’s photos like a lot like painters or an interesting twist on art more than the photography’s they are. For example, untitled #224 is based on a portrait by 16th century Italian painter Caravaggio as seen on the left.In the image, Cindy is recreatingthe painting Caravaggio did of himself in the mirror, to make this image as close to the original painting as possible shepicked up every detail from thebags under his eye, as well as the dirt underneath his finger nails[15]. 396429046338800Cindy shows the world that women have to be perfect or fit the mould whereas Doreen’s work shows the fashion forward industry with women having perfect hair, clothing and figure. When Cindy’s work started to get more attention a designer got in contact with her and asked her to create some photographs of Cindy wearing the latestfashion for a popular fashion magazine, Cindy agreed,however, added her own twist to the image, bymessing her hair, slumping in the chair whilst adding a clownlike thick tie and some blood to the tips of her fingers, the magazine reject the photograph, the reason Cindy did this is because she believes that women should not always try to look pretty or dress in the way society expects people to[16], even now theyare only just started to have more plus sized models due to black lash and concern of the models and influence it has on younger generations. Cindy work is often related to feminism. In conclusion both women are unique in their own way, with each of them bringing something different to the photography world and influencing today’s generation. Cindy had a good childhood and was free to explore the world how she wanted to with her creative mind but faced many controversial issues through her work for many reasons. Doreen faced many issues growing up with her mother and later in life her husband being an alcoholic and raising her children when she was also trying to succeed in her career, however she was well liked and respect will all her work being well received, with many following in Doreen’s footsteps as more women came into the forefront in the world of photographers. Bibliography- [1] [2] [3] [4] - Spooner, D and Clark, A (2016) Camera Girl Hardcover, Mirror Books [5] [6]- Leslie Sills, et al. In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. Holiday House (2000)[7]- [8] - Spooner, D and Clark, A (2016) Camera Girl Hardcover, Mirror Books[9] - Leslie Sills, et al. In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. Holiday House (2000)[10] - Priscilla Frank , August 2016 – [11] - Seph Rodney, October 29, 2015 –[12] - Spooner, D and Clark, A (2016) Camera Girl Hardcover, Mirror Books[13] - Leslie Sills, et al. In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. Holiday House (2000)[14] - Spooner, D and Clark, A (2016) Camera Girl Hardcover, Mirror Books[15] [16] - Leslie Sills, et al. In Real Life: Six Women Photographers. Holiday House (2000) ................
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