For my research I decided to explore the work and portraits
of Ana Casas Broda. I was drawn to Broda's work because of the honesty and such raw
emotion you can feel through her work and through the expressions in her photography.
I particularly enjoy Broda's project Kinderwunsch, as she explores the natural form of human beings, identity, and the
development of life.
Through some extensive research I discovered Broda’s
motivation into creating this project that took fourteen years to complete. In
an article I found that her desire and motivation for this project was to
explore and display the stages of motherhood from pregnancy to beyond. Broda talks about the struggle of being on fertility treatment and decided to
document it as a reflection piece for herself and also to help explore identity and show her audience the depths and raw truth about
motherhood. Broda has sometimes received some negative reviews on her project as
the extent of nudity was perceives as “too real” but she continued to push her
work to be displayed. She talks about how the project and motherhood changed
her as a person, by learning to “live for the present” allowing Broda and her
sons to engage and be spontaneous within her work and their private lives. I
also watched an interview with Broda, where she talks about the process of her
project and how it developed and adapted over the fourteen years it took. She
talks about how the children were involved heavily in deciding what they would
do, such as bath in milk, or draw on Broda’s naked body. She talks about how
playful it was when her two sons came into her life and how the project changed
as they grew up.
Untitled
The first image I got drawn to was of Ana and her son lying
together, facing each other, in a dark lit room. This piece is untitled,
however it is still within the project
Kinderwunsch.
I personally enjoy the photo in a lot of different ways. The lighting in
the photograph and all of this project is very striking. The harsh bright light
that is directed at their bodies only, directs our focus onto the main
attraction to the photo; it is almost a spotlight into her work, and her life
as a mother. Another aspect of the photo I love, is her son touching her face;
this is such a simple thing but evokes a real raw feeling of love towards your
parents that anyone can relate to when they were little. I love how much this
piece aesthetically relates to portraiture in general, with
the traditional set
up of the subjects in the centre of the frame, but then Broda changes it to
suit her with both her and her son lying down.
Untitled
The second image that I resonate with is another untitled
piece of Broda’s son feeding from her. This really draws me in due to the
close framing, the natural lighting across the whole photograph and the soft
focus and playful depth of field. It is unlike some of her other pieces in
Kinderwunsch, but nonetheless I still
enjoy it. The framing is something I particularly enjoy, I love the way her son
and her form fill the entire frame, and therefore the whole focus is right
there staring you in the face, nowhere else for you to look around the frame.
The rule of thirds has also been used to great effect, her sons eyes in the
right hand side, fill the last third and the eyes completely dominate the
photo; they stare up at you and are so dark and striking you can’t help but
hold the gaze. The lighting in the photograph I adore, the natural light across
her son and her skin is very kind to the photograph, it creates a soft
atmosphere with gentle exposure, unlike her other pieces in
Kinderwunsch with the harsh lighting, I
feel this is a more intimate, precious and positive look into her life as a
mother. This is rather different to the general conventions of portraiture, as
it so close up and personal, filling of the whole frame and so raw.
One hour before Lucio's birth
Thirdly, the last image I love from her work is a titled
piece called “One hour before Lucio’s birth” this is such a striking image with
Broda as the main focus of this photo. Her pregnant stomach and enlarged
breasts from lactation dominate the piece as they rise up from the bath water.
I am unsure if there was a sense of empowerment behind the photo but I feel it
when I analyse this piece. This piece really conforms to the codes and
conventions of a self-portrait as Broda is central in the frame staring into
the camera, and sending us a message through her piece, for us as the consumer
audience to resonate with in whatever way we feel. I love her expression in
this photo as from the title we see she is due to give birth very shortly,
there is a look of worry, fear and determination across her face as she will
begin motherhood. The exposure is so beautifully adjusted to give that darkness
around the edges, but still natural highlights and shadows where light hits her
body.
Through an article in the guardian I discovered who Broda’s
inspiration was for her work, and what photographers she went to for ideas and
styles; she mentioned Elinor Carucci who is described by the Telegraph as “The
mother of all photographers” she has an incredible style to her photography
work. She really captures life as it really is with her loved one, close family
and her children. When looking at Carucci’s work and Broda’s work you can see
where Broda has got some of her inspiration from.
Love
One of the first images I could see some resemblance in
Broda’s work was Carucci’s
Love 2009, I
could see a similar style between the bond of mother and son. You see in
Carucci’s work the joy and happiness her son brings to her through facial
expression, and with Broda you can see that maternal love in a slightly more
dark and intimate way, with just her son’s hand resting on her face. They both
explore maternal love and how intimate the bond is through birth and then
childhood. As from research we know Broda idolises Carucci we often see a lot
of similarities in Broda’s style, lighting, framing and expressions in her
pieces similarly to Carucci’s
Mother project.
Snut
The second image I saw a lot of similarities with is Carucci’s
Dry Snut 2005, this had strong links with
the second untitled piece I looked at by Broda. The first thing that I saw in
both pieces was the natural and soft lighting, you can see how Broda has taken
a lot of inspiration from it to put into her project. The framing of both their
sons, with the innocent looks on their faces and how close up and
personal they
both are, I deep and intimate look into their childhoods. Since researching
these two photographers I have become quite interested in their style on
portraits and self-portraits, so much so that I feel I can draw some things from
their pieces to help me create my own.
Feeling me
Lastly, I wanted to look at Carucci’s
Feeling me 2004, and Broda’s
One
hour before birth, I personally I see in both of the pieces a strong
approach to female empowerment and identity. The way they both appear confident
in their skin through body language, their facial expression so blank but in a
way anyone can interpret what their feeling. The lighting in both are very
similar, both photographers often use harsh bright spot lights to play a part
in their pieces but for the more intimate photos such as these two, the
lighting is a lot softer, more evenly spread to give more of a natural and
clean look to the overall image. With softer lighting it creates a gentler and
light mood to the piece instead of harsh lighting and a sombre feeling. I am intrigued
by both photographers and I am fascinated by their use of lighting and have come
to the conclusion that I shall explore similar lighting themes in my portrait
work too.
Auto Focus – Susan Bright Page 35
http://www.elinorcarucci.com/mother.php
I hope you enjoy. Thank you.
