Photographer: Bellocq

BELLOCQ

I have chosen to look at Bellocqs work, as I like the idea he has of scratching peoples faces out of images. I feel this also relates to my project in the way that you can't choose who you have as your family, yet thats who you share your home with whether you like it or not.

Bellocq was born into a wealthy white French Creole family in the French Quarter of New Orleans. He became known locally as an amateur photographer before setting himself up as a professional, making his living mostly by taking photographic records of landmarks and of ships and machinery for local companies.

However, he also took personal photographs of the hidden side of local life, notably the opium dens in Chinatown and the prostitutes of Storyville. These were only known to a small number of his acquaintances.

In the latter part of his life, he lived alone and acquired a reputation for eccentricity and unfriendliness. According to acquaintances from that period, he showed little interest in anything other than photography.

In his early days, he had been something of a dandy.

Bellocq died in 1949.

Objectively, this image shows a woman posed on a stool, of which is covered in white cloth. Her black clothing makes this a high contrast which enables her to stand out. The image is in black and white and her face is scratched over in black. It is set in, what appears to be, a bedroom, as there are dresser drawers and a mattress at the edges of the photograph.There is a white backdrop roughly placed into the photograph which seems to have been purposefully put in, as you would normally crop it out. It is quite a raw images which makes it quite unnatural and subjectively gives a sense of awkwardness. Personally, this image being evidently staged suggests that the story behind it is about being true to who you are as a person, and that you stand out from the crowd more when you are yourself.

Objectively, this photograph shows a naked woman posing, laying on a bed, with her arms rested on the back of her head. It is black and white, and her faced is scratched out. The quilt and cushions on the bed are embellished and suggest that this could be set in the bedroom of a more upper class home. The woman is the main focus of the image, being central. Her hair comes down to just above her breasts, which is sometimes known to be done by women due to insecurities and that they want to cover up. This image also makes the woman vulnerable due to her nudity, however, this is contrasting to the confidence she portrays through her stance in this image. This relates to my project, as it enables the emotions that come with insecurities to be shown through the image, telling a story.



Objectively, this image has a graininess to it, which shows the age of the photograph, making you think of memories. I think the idea of scratching out the faces is quite an aggressive and malicious asset to the photograph, and it definitely adds to the mood of image, making you feel slightly anxious, as it is an act that has been thought about and purposefully done. Contrasting the mood that this portrays; the patterns in the bedroom also add a homely element to the photograph, giving a sense of comfort, as you are surrounded by them.
 Subjectively, the black and white gives a sense of dullness, which contrasts with the setting and composition of the photo, as it is taken in a bedroom, which could be thought as the most homely, welcoming, personal place in the home.
This idea would relate to my project as it could show tough upbringings and how some people relate to 'home' with the feeling of loneliness and no-one to look to for help.

A lot of Bellocqs photography includes very intimate, elegant settings, such as this one with a woman laying on a day bed, but on the contrary to these settings, we see the aggression of the scratching out of the faces in the images. 

MY RESPONSE

Objectively, this image shows a family photo of two sisters hung up in a home. The photograph is placed in a wooden love heart shaped photo frame with red flowers around it, and is hung onto a small silver nail in the wall by brown rope. One of the sisters in the photograph in this image has been aggressively scribbled out with black pen, which subjectively, contrasts with the whole idea of lovely family memories and the way of which people present photographs around the home of those who mean the most to you.
The image has really warm and welcoming lighting and colours, which also show this contrast. It is strange to have an image with someone scribbled out put up in your house for everyone to see, and therefore it makes you think. It's as if they want the audience to know all about their broken relationship. I think that the image can be seen as a play on the word 'home', because a home should always be welcoming and a hospitable place, however sometimes people just want to welcome the 'good things' about you; which will benefit them, yet not the 'bad things' that life throws at you. It relates to having an open heart everyone, and also the phrase "home is where the heart is".

To improve my response I decided to scan images in, so that the quality would be better. I also experimented with different size brushes and opacity of the brush to see what worked best, and instead of scratching me out the photo I scratched different family members.

Objectively, this found image shows a posed family portrait, with what is suggested to be a mother with her two daughters. It seems to be professionally taken, due to the photo frame it has been placed in. Each person has put on a fake smile in order to portray that they are a happy family. However, contrasting this, the youngest daughter has had her face scribbled over and covered with black pen. This deems to be quite aggressive and subjectively brings a sense of horror and awkwardness to the photograph. It also exaggerates the fake portrayal of being a happy family, and suggests that there has been happy family memories but they're now a broken family and are annoyed at one another. The colour in the image shows this well, as there are bright colours, suggesting happiness, but the background and frame colours relate to a storm, which could be telling their story.
Photographs like this are often put up around the house on show for everyone to see, which is what this image does - it tells people their story, and invites them into their personal lives; not only the happy times but also the sad times, which engages the audience. 

Dark room work - 

Objectively, this image shows three siblings in black and white sat on a sofa showing affection for each other by hugging. The 2 girls on the left are happy, as suggested by their smiling facial expression, however, the boy on the right has had his face scratched out the image.

Subjectively, this image shows a childhood family shot, which is suggesting to no longer have the joy they used to feel, because of the young boys face being scratched out the image. This comes across as quite an aggressive thing to do, which makes you come to the conclusion that the family have split up for some reason. The black and white photograph gives a sense of dullness, as there is no colour; because of this, it also shows that the photo is an old memory.

This artist has helped me develop my ideas for my personal investigation because this idea can truly show the reality of home dynamics, and how some broken families live. It will also connect emotively with the viewer, as they will respond with questions as to why their faces are scratched, and what they have done or been through to be forgotten about in someones life.

Bellocq has also given my another idea to manually rip a person out of a photograph to exaggerate the destruction of the family. I think this would make a really powerful image.