Eleanor

Eleanor is photographer From Austria and Vienna she is know to be a photographer but also a filmmaker. Her interest for photographing mannequins began when she previously discovered abandoned mannequins; this was where she started documenting them further. She claims that she was interested in them, as they resembled human like figures. She describes them to be ‘Out of order’ and that they were imperceptibly damaged, but the idea that they were hidden from the public intrigued her further. She then states that she is in search of ‘fragile beauty'.

In terms of my project, I wanted to explore the idea that the human body can be seen as object. There is an ‘ideal’ image that women must aspire to be, and if they to not meet the ‘ideal’ that they are imperfect. However many men and women take action by undergoing through medical operations to change the way they look. Where does it stop? It has become fairly easy for people to access these pedicures. The evolution of technology may have a future affect on the way we change our bodies.  I wanted to explore idea that we treat our bodies as objects and that we can change the way we look very easily. By using a mannequin this represent that in todays society we can so much as easily post and order body parts, in order to achieve the ideal look. That when our body changes as a cosmetic pedicure the part do not belong to use and are artificial, they can been as being renewed. There have been photographers in the past who have slightly touched on this idea , such as Nick Knight, after he photographed paralympians. 

Below is mood board to demonstrate the types of ideas that I was taking into consideraton.

This is an intriguing image because when we first acknowledge the subject it appear to look like a woman, however after looking closely we begin to recognise that it is an imitation of a woman. Subjectively this image leaves me wonder what is ‘perfection’? The composition consists if two models, the figure in the background is out of focus, which then leads our focus to the figure at the front, which is in focus. The expression on her face appears to be blue and rather sad. The entire composition is in black and white possibly to symbolise the simplicity of the image. From this composition I would like to draw the illusion of the mannequin to being a real woman into my own work.

This image consist of mannequin sat on the floor, the figure appears to look fairy realistic, however she is missing arms and she bold. The ‘ideal’ look in the fashion industry would controversially state that facially the figure has perfect face, however she is missing arms, which then questions what is the perfect look. The images contrast with what is perfect and what isn’t. Her facial expression is staring into space, she does not seem fairly happy. Subjectively this could link in with my exploration that women are never happy the way they look and are always seeking ways to improve their body by changing their bodies, hence the missing arms. The image consist of a white background which could symbolise purity and the idea that woman often change themselves to bring back their purity. As a result of the back ground being a simple white background our main focus is then on the mannequin.


This image is closely linked with my project and the type of message I wish my audience to see. The image consists of what appears to be a body rapped up in plastics bags. However in this image the human like figure is a mannequin. The plastic bag is covering the figure, which makes the figures identity anonymous. The idea that the figure is being treated likes a package, the figure symbolising the human body demonstrates a metaphoric message. The image is in black and white with a fairly high contrast. The clear focus point in the image is the covered figure as it is the only thing that is in focus in this image.

Response

For my response to Eleanor I used a mannequins as she uses them in her work. I really liked her style as she approached her work in a way where they are seen as people. I used her work as inspiration and used the studio as I wanted to create a clinical scene where the mannequins where being packaged of for the people who had ordered them. I only used one light as I felt using two would be over powering and too bright however ever this would not have been the case. I placed my mannequins inside a transparent paper which would have symbolised packaging material. In order to improve my photos I feel it would be beneficial if I used packaging paper in my work as this would make my idea much clearer through my photographs. However I was pleased with the shoot as I felt my images were clear, whilst they gained inspiration from my photographer I did not produce a carbon copy of her work. I wanted it to relate the message I was trying to get across.

To follow my artist style I also experimented with changing my images to black and white, this is something that  Eleanor does in most of her work. I felt this was effective and rather simple. I felt as though the main focus was on the mannequin, this was where I felt the mannequin symbolise a real person.  I felt as though the composition also helped the image to be much more successful I feel as though it would be worth doing the same thing for my other images to see how they would work.I felt as though the image with the plastic over the mannequin worked best with the black and white filter. This could be something I include in my work as it was a success.