top of page

ARTICLES

maass.jpg

Figure 1, Rusty (Opie, 2008) 

mass.jpg

Figure 2, The Family (Avedon,1976) 

Can Photography Stimulate A Fluidity In Stereotypes Of Masculinity?

Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography

​

My practice has been influenced by Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, an exhibition curated by Alona Pardo (2020), where Pardo uses photography to ‘(reflect) the conceptual turn in art practices from the 1960s’ (p359, Windsor, 2020) and to illustrate how photography has shaped cultural representations of gender and defined the modern age. Laura Cumming has critiqued Pardo’s exhibition because it presents a view of masculinity where the ‘the socio-jargon is unflinchingly 70s’; e.g. in Richard Avedon's The Family (1976) (Figure 1) which raises the issue in the interconnected nature of stereotypical male professions in positions of political, economic and cultural power, which Cumming argues provides minimal ‘representation of men today’ (2020). However, I would argue that this exhibition does reflect contemporary masculinity as delves into the various strands of masculinity from sexuality, queer culture, female perspectives and its relationship to the patriarchy which are all still relevant today. For example, the piece Rusty (2008) (Figure 2) by Catherine Opie captures images of adolescent football players, which insinuating that being muscly and sporty is synonymous with a “machoistic” culture, providing a more nuanced view of masculinity and reflecting contemporary discussions surrounding toxic masculinity. Additionally, I believe the intentions with the choice of medium was to suggest a fluid interplay between clarity and vagueness via photography which parallels the fluidity in gender, which is again still relevant today. Pardo, a curator at Barbican Art Gallery, has curated other projects including Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins (2018) and Vanessa Winship: And Time Folds (2018). However, Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography has been the most significant to my practice for its photography to blur masculine stereotypes.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

References

  1. Avedon. R. 1976. The Family. [Photography]. At London: The Barbican Gallery.

  2.  Cumming, L. 2020. Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography review – men as types. The Guardian. [Online]. 23 February. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/feb/23/masculinities-liberation-through-photography-review-barbican-art-gallery-stereotypes [Accessed 15 April 2021].

  3. Opie, C. 2008. Rusty [Photography]. At London: The Barbican Gallery.

  4. Pardo, A. 2018. Another Kind of Life [Exhibition]. 28 Feb—27 May 2020. At London: Barbican Centre.

  5. Pardo, A. 2018. Vanessa Winship: And Time Folds [Exhibition]. 22 June – 2 September 2018. At London: Barbican Centre.

  6. Pardo, A. 2020. Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography [Exhibition]. 13 July – 23 Aug 2020. At London: Barbican Centre.

  7. Windsor, M. 2020. Masculinities: Liberation through Photography. The British Journal of Aesthetics, 60(3), pp 359–362.

​

bottom of page