Contextual Studies, assessment task two: conceptualising your own work

A specific piece of art that has had an influence on the work I have created in recent weeks is ‘The Whites of Kenya’ by Martin Parr. I love the composition of the image, the inability to see the face of the subject yet his whole figure is captured in the shadow. The photo really focuses on the high life of those white and slightly older rich men who live in Kenya. They live above the lower black classes; playing bowls, hunting, attending dinner parties in their large houses. To me the picture represents the facelessness of such characters. I really feel that Martin Parr is trying to communicate the inequality of race in such countries. The way the picture is composed definitely shows this, the slight overexposure lets you know the picture is taken somewhere very hot - not just your regular English summer. The man’s skin looks freckled like he has been on an extended holiday. He is watching another man bowl, but his face is also hidden, out of focus. Even the handkerchief in the subject’s back pocket represents that he is upper class.
I love the way the subject of the picture has no personality, or visible distinctive features, which makes him a stereotype and a representation rather than an actual person with a story to tell. I am really interested in the idea of people representing a stereotype or a group of people, rather than a personalising it, trying to make every person individual. I think art that embraces stereotypes is more poignant as that is the true way we view the world. Our minds need to create stereotypes to process people.
I think that portraiture is a hard subject to break into. Although it is the thing we are most interested in (the faces of others), it is also the thing we see most every single day and therefore in order to create a reaction with such imagery you need to make a portrait which really makes the viewer think. I think taking the identity from a person can really get a reaction. We brush past people every single day, not caring who they are or what they look like, but if we are presented with a piece of art where we are prevented from making a connection with the subject even if we wanted to, that can really get under the skin.
I created a piece of art with this same principle, my conceptual photography project where I took pictures of strangers in the street, from just below their eye level. I finished with an illustration of each of my subjects. The images did not contain any eyes, this prevented the viewer from connecting with the subject but also made the viewer aware they could not connect, that the stranger was unattainable, just another face in the crowd. I really enjoy experimenting with this idea and I hope to continue along this thread with other work I create.


Rachel Atulomah
Tutor: Annabel
Word Count: 502