Landscape - Julia Fullerton-Batten

Julia Fullerton-Batten
Constructed Landscapes
by David Kieckhefer

Julia Fullerton-Batten is a worldwide acclaimed and exhibited fine-art photographer. Her body of work now encompasses twelve major projects spanning a decade of engagement in the field. Julia’s use of unusual locations, highly creative settings, street-cast models, accented with cinematic lighting are hallmarks of her very distinctive style of photography. She insinuates visual tensions in her images, and imbues them with a hint of mystery, which combine to tease the viewer to re-examine the picture, each time seeing more content and finding a deeper meaning. These distinctive qualities have established enthusiasts for her work worldwide and at all ends of the cultural spectrum, from casual viewers to connoisseurs of fine-art photography. - juliafullerton-batten.com

Teenage Stories 

2005

'Teenage Stories' portrays the emotional dynamics of the female adolescent - self-consciousness, mood swings, uncertainty and vulnerability; experiencing over time, changes in body, psychology, emotional and social identity. Adolescent girls often spend time day-dreaming, just staring into space, immersed in their own thoughts and fantasies. For a while they inhabit an imaginary world. At this vulnerable age their imaginary world appears to be bigger, grander, more real than their own mundane suburban surroundings. In this fantasy world girls feel that they have much more power than in their everyday lives.

Fullerton-Batten shot the images on location in model villages so that the girls appear to have outgrown the world they live in, as in their day-dream existence. All of her models were street cast, with no formal training whatsoever. Young, vulnerable, awkward and uncertain, as they already were as models, she directed them to be static and show no emotion.

Airport, 2005

Beach Houses, 2005

Broken Eggs, 2005

Girl with Baby, 2005

Awkward

2011

In ‘Awkward’ Fullerton-Batten shows the social limitations and anxieties that girls endure in their relationships with the opposite sex. Her choice of location, sombre colors and the use of subtle lighting techniques to increase the tension between the sexes, and in some instances between the same sexes. She emphasizes the lack of understanding between boys and girls, despite the fact that they are close to adulthood and have gained at least some meaningful worldly experience on the way. 

They are aware of the underlying sexual overtones, but they still don't have the emotional maturity or social skills to know how to handle their hormonal impulses.

 

Bathroom, 2011

Bike in Living Room, 2011

Girls in Bedroom, 2011

Sports Hall, 2011

Night-dress, 2011

Yellow Dress, 2011

The Act

2016

Fullerton-Batten examines the lives of female sex-workers, women who choose to earn their living by exploiting their bodies as escorts, dominatrices, porn actresses, web cam and live sex and peep show performers, striptease, lap dancing artistes, or sexual surrogates as therapy for clients, and transgender people. She interviewed 15 women for the project. During her meetings with her models, she sensed that they tend to live their entire working lives as if on a stage.  They are women who are proud of their bodies and choose to use their bodies in order to make an income. Many have had physical enhancements in an attempt to be more physically attractive to their client. They live in the present and think little of their long-term future. 

Most are single, but some have relationships. Some are bold and confident while others are very vulnerable.

Fullerton-Batten created the backdrop for the images in the form of mini-theatrical sets. Each setting is relevant to the individual woman and her profession. The mini-sets were mounted on a stage as if they were giving a performance. She avoided sexually explicit scenes – the images are sexy and provocative, but also playful. The role of the sex industry in today’s society is heavily debated. While many feminists believe that sex work should be abolished, others on the other hand claim it as a contribution to a woman’s freedom of choice as to the work she engages in.

Bentley and Jade, Pornstars, 2016

Eliza De Lite, Burlesque Dancer, 2016

Jaye Rose, Webcam Girl, 2016

Lola Marie, Escort, 2016

Mouse, Ping Pong Girl, 2016

Veronica, Aerial Artiste, 2016

Their stories accompany the images in text form and can also be seen in here in this ‘behind-the-scenes’ video.

Event Review Guerrilla Girls

Guerrilla Girls- MIAD Talk
By: Ryan Cindric

The Guerrilla Girls are female activist artists who first came together in 1985. The group has consisted of over 55 people with dedication ranging from a few weeks to over a few decades. They have kept their identity a secret all these years through the use of gorilla masks, its also goes well with their name (pause for chuckle).  The Guerrilla girls, in their own words, "undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders."

Going into the talk I only had a very limited idea of what the girls were all about, however my mind was blown by all of the different issues they shed light on. Throughout the duration of their talk the covered the basic background knowledge of themselves, but once we got into it ideas and issues started flying around like poop in the monkey enclosure. I had no idea that the art world was as corrupt as it was; museum board members having the museum buy their personal collections for millions of dollars. As well as this, i also never knew just how unrepresented female artists, and artists of color were in museums, sometimes not even having any representation at all. Lastly, the issue of women artists trying to make a living; it seems that to make a living, in the way that we picture some of the greats, you must be male; less than 3 % of artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 83% of nudes are women.

This was an incredibly eye opening talk into a world that i clearly don't know much about. I am incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to go and am also incredibly thankful that the Guerrilla Girls exist to expose the corruption and misrepresentation in the art world.

Identity - Gender - Jess T. Dugan

By David Kieckhefer

Jess T. Dugan is an artist whose work explores issues of gender, sexuality, identity, and community. In her series, Every breath we drew, Dugan’s photographs explore what it means to be masculine. When asked about her own identity, Dugan says, “I’m part of trans community; I’m not a lesbian and I’m not a gay man but I hang out in those spaces. I think I’m hyper aware of how my identity changes in different contexts.” Dugan’s work asks for her viewers to question the gender binary, as she believes these gender roles are failing the LGBTQ community. Dugan photographs people in their homes, usually in their bedrooms, using medium and large format cameras to create a very detailed and intimate portrait. Dugan holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago, a Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from Harvard University, and a BFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

http://www.jessdugan.com

Dugan’s website is extremely clean with no added color or flare to distract from her images. It is very user friendly and easy to navigate. I found myself very drawn to her work because of my own interest and personal experiences as a gay man in the LBGTQ community. Much of my own work is centered around gender identity and sexuality. I have been shooting portraits and would like to have more control over my lighting, and am currently learning new techniques in my Studio Lighting course.