Identity
Artist gallery
Analysis
Annegret Soltau is a visual artist born in Lüneburg, Germany in 1946. Soltau had a tumultuous relationship with her mother and did not know her father due to his death during the Second World War so grew up on a small, isolated farm with her grandmother. In 1967 she moved to Hamburg where she studied painting and graphic arts at the Hochschule für Bildende Künstet (Academy of Fine Arts). In the same year she announced herself on the art scene with the performance Permanent Demonstration, during which she wrapped herself and others in a web-like structure using black thread. She continued to study there until 1972 when she attended classes at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien (Vienna Academy of Fine Arts). Since then, Annegret has continued to use photography, collage, performance, and video to challenge representations of the body through the theme of identity. She now has two children and has been awarded with Villa Massimo scholarship, Rome (1984). Her work has gained her a multitude of other awards including the Kunst im Öffentlichen Raum (Art in Public Spaces) competition, Zentralkrankenhaus (Central Hospital), Bremen (1986); Maria Sibylla Merian Prize (1998); Wilhelm Loth Art Prize (2000); Marielies Hess Art Prize (2011); Johann-Heinrich-Merck-Honor by the City of Darmstadt (2016).
Annegret Soltau has challenged conventional notions of representation through various artforms including performance, photography and collage. In her work she explores the body and its inherent connection with identity. In an interview with INJECTION Magazine, she talked about her interest ‘in how the body and mind are connected’ and stated, ‘I seek to think with the body’. Her art more specifically explores the female body, and, in the same interview, she talked about how throughout history ‘the woman's body was considered lower and filthier, while the man's mind was considered superior’. This view of women has inspired some of her work and motivated her to create photos embracing women’s bodies. Soltau’s work has explored a variety of themes for example, generational consequences, age, violence, the image of the body and the search for one's roots. In her photo depicting a model (I believe Soltau herself) with their face torn out and the SIM card of her credit card sew into the space, Soltau examines the question of personal identity in the age of digital information. This photo is part of a series by Soltau in which she shows a search for biographical traces in self-portraits with sewn-in original documents, including her birth certificate and SIM cards. I believe this photo in particular helps to communicate the idea that our identities are now defined by a much larger scope of things ranging from credit cards to phone chips (both of which Soltau incorporates into her photos). This image will influence my own work as I intend to take photos of myself and displaying aspects of my own identity, as Soltau has done here. From analysing this photo, I have learnt about the importance of having a personal connection to your work as this adds a sense of authenticity and significance to it. This image itself relates to my theme of hidden identities as it explores the identity of the subject (Annegret Soltau) whilst at the same time hiding the face and identity of the subject. This creates an interesting contrast between what had been hidden and what has been revealed and why the artist has done so.
Although I could find very little on the technical aspect of Soltau’s work, it is likely that she uses artificial studio lights as her photos appear to all have been taken inside without the use of natural light. The lighting was probably supplied by soft boxes as there are no shadows in her work suggesting either the use of one direct source of light in front of the subject, or two sources of light facing the subject from either side. She also uses a lower aperture as neither the background nor the focal point of the image is blurry, and it has a high depth of field. Furthermore, her images have a longer shutter speed and a low ISO as they are relatively bright and are not grainy creating a more vivid image. Her images are probably taken using cold/cool light as such lighting is closest to daylight and makes the image appear bright.
In Soltau’s photos in general, and this one in particular, the focus is on the subject (a model) as they are the clearest area of the image. The model however does not create any shadows as the light, which is soft and artificial, is direct and head on with them. The dominant lines in the photo (created by the thread) are straight and outline the subject, specifically the subject’s face as they all point inwards in that direction. Although this photo shows very few examples of 2D shapes, it does have 3D forms. The lines of thread sewn into the image and the SIM card are examples of such 3D shapes. The texture of the image appears mostly smooth other than the area around the sim card which seems rough as it is torn paper. In this photo and others by Soltau she uses sewing, stabbing into her photographs with a needle, scratching the negatives with it or sewing torn photographs together. Doing so allows her to go beyond the limits of her body, and results in people-like monsters as in making these she neglects the anatomical laws. Her photos largely consist of bright tones, specifically in the background which is often an illuminating white. However, there is often contrast for example in this image which displays a light blue background contrasted by the dark tones of black thread. The photo exhibits an array of colours including the harmonious colours red and yellow, and various shades of blue. The use of blue as the background of the image creates an air of
peacefulness in the image as blue is a serene and calming colour that symbolizes intelligence and responsibility. The use of a light-coloured background emphasizes the darker and more vibrant areas of the foreground, for example the clothes and hair of the model. However not all elements of the foreground are vibrant, for example the SIM card which is a light blue (other than a rectangle of gold) creating harmony between the background and foreground of the image.
Soltau’s images evoke feelings of intrigue in the viewer as to who the photos are of and why she has sewn certain aspects of people’s faces together. Her photos remind me of those of Maurizio Anzeri as he also sews onto his photos and in doing so hides the identities of those he has photographed. He covers key aspects of their faces with vibrant thread whilst emphasizing others, for example eyes are often the focal point of his photos. I believe her work is very interesting as it is deeply personal to her and her identity as she and her children have not only been models for her photos, but she has also incorporated her birth certificate and bank cards into her photos. If I could interview Annegret Soltau, I would ask her what inspired her to combine sewing with photography. I am going to use my knowledge of her in my photographs by using myself and my friends and family as models for my photos to make them more unique and personal. Additionally, I will also incorporate other aspects of my identity into the photographs, for example my zip card.
Photoshoot Plan
This plan is for my Annegret Soltau inspired photoshoot. I have created it in order to have a clear reference point to return to when taking my photos so that I know what I have to do and what my initial ideas were. For my photoshoot I intend to take photos of people from the shoulders up and more specifically their facial features. I am going to create this photoshoot at home, aided by this photoshoot plan as it tells me what settings to have on my camera and what I need to take my photos. My photoshoot will relate to the artist as I will take photos of people and their facial features in order to later sew them together in the style of Soltau.
Contact Sheet
My photoshoot turned out badly and I had to retake it multiple times as there was not enough lighting so my photos were grainy and out of focus. My final photoshoot was successful and my plan helped, as it told me what photos I wanted to take. When taking my photos, I changed the settings as I used auto mode on my camera instead of adjusting the shutter speed, and ISO. I did this as the photos where coming out more in focus with auto mode. I have created 30 photos of my model in order to later edit them in the style of Annegret Soltau. The circles on my contact sheet show which images I have chosen to use and the crosses show which photos I will not use. The circled images are successful as they are in focus and depict good composition. The crossed out images are unsuccessful as they are out of focus and grainy. From this photoshoot I learnt that it is better to use natural lighting when photographing people as it is easier to do so without creating shadow. To improve my photoshoot, I would use bright natural lighting in order to create less grainy photos without shadow. With the images in my contact sheet I will layer facial features, enlarging them and changing their orientation in order to create photos in the style of Soltau. My initial photos relate to the artist as they depict members of my family and myself which will later be used to create images layering different facial features like Soltau has done in her photos.
Initial Edits
To create my 12 initial edits, I printed out photos I have taken and edited, and then sewed onto them. To edit my images, I layered facial features on top of the initial photos and enlarged and adjusted them. This made my work appear creepy, and disfigured. I did this in order to create pictures similar to those of Soltau, who these edits are inspired by, as the subjects in her photos are sewn together in such a way that you often cannot tell who they are or what they actually look like. My edits link to the artist as I have used mixed media and sewn together my images in the style of Soltau, as well as taking my photos against a white background and of similar things that she has. I do not think my work is better than the artist’s as her images have better composition than mine as well as being more personal as she used both herself and her children as models. To improve my edits, I could use more found imagery (like the cat) as this makes the work more interesting. From creating these images, I have learnt about the importance of a successful first shoot as having to retake my photos multiple times caused me to significantly fall behind in my work. Following on from my initial edits I will physically sew separate layered images onto my photos in order to make work more similar to that of Soltau.
Process
To make these edits I first adjusted the brightness and contrast of the photo before lightening the background of my images using the dodge tool; as they were not taken in a bright enough setting. I then dragged images of facial features onto them and used the lasso tool to cut out the area of the images I wanted to use. After adding and cutting out more facial features I placed them where I wanted them to be, changing their orientation and size to create the final image.
Highlighting Success
I believe that these images are the most successful of my initial edits as they are the most similar to those of the artist. All three images successfully appear creepy and distort the face of the model, as had been done by Soltau in her photos. Furthermore, the two photos on which I have sewn are the best of the initial edits I have done, as on top of having good composition they incorporate mixed media making them most similar to the artist and successful in general.
Contact Sheets
This photoshoot is different to the one I did initially as I took it in a brighter setting of more communicative facial expressions. This developed my ideas further as not only was it more successful, but it also allowed me to create more interesting images as the images were better quality and of more interesting subjects. To circles on my contact sheet, signify images that I have chosen to use and the cross signify images I will not use due to their bad quality. Some photos are more successful than others as they are in focus and have good composition, compared to those that are blurry and either do not show as much of the model as I want, or show too much of the model.
First Developments
I have created 6 further edits by sewing layered images of facial features onto my initial photos. I have created these to build upon my initial edits, as rather than sewing directly onto the paper, I cut out areas of the image and physically sewed images onto it. To make these edits I printed out photos I had taken and cut out areas of the face. I then glued the photo onto white paper and selected and cut out images I wanted to sew on top of it. Using black thread, I sewed the selected images onto my photo to create my further edits. These edits are different from my initial ones as they are more physical as fir my initial edits I digitally layered my images. Furthermore, they are more similar to the artist as Soltau also physically layers and sews her images together. These edits relate to my work as they explore hidden identities through the use of images of me to conceal images of my mother. To improve and develop these edits I could use a larger amount of layered images to further build upon the idea of hidden identities.
Highlighting Success
I believe these are the most successful of my first developments as they are the most similar to those of Soltau. This is due to their good composition and creepy appearance. I believe these images best incorporate different elements of people's faces as they are neither too random nor too simple in their placement. This makes them most alike to those of the artist as she uses good composition to help elevate her images and create more weird and interesting photos.
Third Developments
I have created these 16 edits using Photoshop to double expose my images, making them appear more freakish. I did this to my pictures to further develop them in the style of Soltau who makes her photos appear purposely grotesque and disfigured. I think Soltau’s work is more successful than mine as she creates her creepy looking images physically whereas I completed these edits digitally which I believe is easier. To improve these edits, I could layer two different images rather than using the same image duplicated. For my next developments I will sew patterns onto black and white images as Soltau has done in some of her work.
Highlighting Success
I believe these are the most successful of my third developments as they are the most similar to my artist’s, as well as being the most interesting and weird looking. One of the key aspects of Soltau’s work is the creepy nature of her images which my three developments best replicate through their abnormal appearance. In all three, different aspects of the images are layered creating images even more disfigured than the edits were originally, therefore making them the most interesting due to the weirdness of the way they look and their composition.
Contact Sheets
My photoshoot was successful, partially due the aid of my plan which directed me as to what photos to take and how to take them. When taking my photos, although I initially intended to use artificial lighting, I instead used natural lighting as it allowed me take photos without my subject creating a shadow behind them. I have created 44 images my model in order to later sew onto them in the style of Annegret Soltau. The red circles on my images signify images that were successful due to being more in focus and having good composition; whereas the red crosses signify images that were unsuccessful do to being blurry and either too close up or far away. From taking these photos I learnt that it is important to plan ahead at what time you will take your photos as this greatly affects the lighting and thus quality of your photos. My photoshoot could be improved through the use of both artistical and natural lighting as this would both create more focussed and bright images but also prevent the existence shadows in my photos. With the images in my contact sheets, I intend to use photoshop to make them black and white, then print them out and sew onto them with black thread. My initial photos relate to Soltau as they depict my subject looking in different directions; although these are quite uninteresting as photos themselves, they create a basis for my further development edits which I will have sewn onto.
Initial Editing
To create my further development edits, I need to print out my images and sew onto them. Before doing so I made some slight adjustments to my photos so that they are more similar to those of Soltau. Using Photoshop, I first cropped my images to make my subject more centred, before lightening the background using levels and making them black and white.
Further Developments
I have created 6 edits in order to further my understanding of the artist's work. To create these edits I first used Photoshop to make my images black and white and adjust their contrast and brightness. I then printed them out, marking where the lines would be in pencil before using black thread to sew onto them in the style of Soltau who did the same thing to some of her photos. These edits relate to the work as the use of mixed media allows me to conceal aspects of my model's identity, relating to my topic of hidden identities. To improve my developments I could take my photos in a brighter setting so that they are better quality.
Highlighting Success
I believe these are the most successful of my further development edits as they are the most similar to those of Soltau. These three edits in particular were based on patterns the artist sewed onto her work and show good composition with their complicated structures. In these edits I have also showed good understanding of the artist's work as I have explored a different style of work the artist has explored. Although not as successful as the artist's due to the quality of the photos I have sewed on, these images depict three vastly different patterns each of which utilizes the direction my subject is looking in and aspects of their face making them the most successful of my further developments.
AO4
To create my final piece, I first printed off smaller versions of my images and glued them onto pieces of card. I then sewed patterns onto each of piece of card having sketched them out with pencil. After that I attached the pieces of card together at the bottom using tape and sewed between two pieces at a time through the existing holes. I created this piece to develop Soltau’s black and white photos which I did for my further developments. These depict delicate patterns sewn across the subjects face which I have developed by connecting each pattern to one another. In my final piece I successfully sewed patterns on each picture and then sewed them together. However, if I was to redo this project I would assemble my structure differently so that the sides could be more equal and some of the strings could be more tight.
