Week 8

Elspeth Diederix: "jeroen"

Blog post by Hannah Zimmerman 

For my 8^th photography class blog post I decided to write about yet another photograph by Elspeth Diederix. The photograph that I chose to write about this week is titled “jeroen.”

The reason that I chose to write about this picture was influenced by an upcoming assignment for my photo class. This is our last weekly photography movement assignment. It is called the “directorial mode.” This movement consists of fabricating something before the camera. It often illustrates a narrative that the photographer thought about ahead of time.

This picture could be labeled as almost a portrait of the man in it. However, there is a red grocery bag blowing against his face and also covering it. There is a city as the backdrop with a partly clouded sky. He is wearing a navy blue collar shirt with a small red logo that matches the plastic bag. However, because his face is covered in this picture I think that it creates a story that a regular portrait can’t quite accomplish.

I think that it is obvious the photographer arranged for the bag to cover the subjects face and for it to subtly match the red logo. This is the reason this picture feels like it is of the directorial mode.

I think this could be talking about the covering up of an identity and questioning whether it is important or not. Also this piece could be about the fluidity of ones identity and how it can blow from one place to another or how our identity can change with a minimal concept. I think that it has a strong conceptual component that the directorial mode makes available.

I think this picture is influential to my own work under this movement because it shows that it is possible to make even simple fabricated situations have a strong narrative. 

This photograph can be viewed here: http://www.elspethdiederix.com/ 

My photo of the week: