Project Notes
Conversations with twenty women aged between the ages of 55 and 88 are central to this research. Issues arising have included: gender difference in the ageing experience; the effects of extended working years; surgical and chemical intervention in the appearance of the body; generational aspects; and responses to media pressure to maintain a youthful appearance.
The three projects - Performing Mrs Whistler, Self and Image and 'Strangers to Ourselves' - all of which appear on this website, are integrally informed by these conversations.
It is not possible to tell by looking at Performing Mrs Whistler if some kind of self policing is at work through strict diets and exercise regimes or if cosmetic surgery, chemical treatments and expensive skin creams have been used; it is not possible to tell much about their interior lives either except, perhaps, by their confident and relaxed expressions although these, too, can be performed. The objects in their hands offer clues to their identities, often, like Mrs. Whistler, reflecting family connections – usually between mothers, children, sisters and grandchildren rather than partners and lovers. Photographs of children were chosen by two women and there was also a rag doll made by a sister for a daughter and then granddaughter; one woman chose to wear a jacket that had once belonged to her mother and another held a clock, the only item she had retained from her mother’s house.
Although the reasons behind the choices are unknown to the viewer, there are strong visual clues to their responses to ageing: some have fashionable, creatively coloured hairstyles, some wear designer fascinators, make-up, red nail varnish, jewellery and stiletto heeled shoes suggesting a challenge to the traditional stereotypes of ageing; but there is also grey hair and a variety of body size, shape and style – skirts, trousers, dresses. Whilst some of the models were certainly interested in keeping a youthful appearance, others were less concerned but nonetheless, wanted to look their best. Although both a celebration and interrogation (the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive), the work can be seen as an aesthetic of - admittedly complex - positive ageing which was my original intention.
The theme of pressure to maintain a youthful appearance, touched upon in Performing Mrs Whistler is considered further in Self and Image. Five women aged between 55 and 73 each appear in two consecutive images. The first of each pair is made by the model herself; a full length mirror, placed out of shot, allows her to make her own pose, check it in the mirror and press a cable release when she wishes. [1] The image is not, then, the reflection but a representation of the model’s choice of appearance. She is not looking at the camera or the viewer but at herself, often laughing, performing, and sometimes playing in a private space, relaxed and confident.
By contrast, the second image is controlled by the photographer who, informed by the genre of fashion photography, directs pose, background and lighting. The sole decision offered to the models was choice of outfit but even this is influenced by a prior request to choose clothing suitable for a catwalk. Questions of self confidence and response to ‘pressure’ - a mannequin, the ‘perfect body’, can be seen in the background - arise alongside the matter of who is looking at whom.
‘Strangers to Ourselves’
Shot at Strangers’ Hall, Norwich, a sixteenth century building housing a social history museum, this project references the Dutch interior artists – in particular Vermeer, de Hooch and de Witte - who created visual narratives of women’s lives.
As well as an echo of the location, the title of my work – ‘Strangers to Ourselves’ – is taken from Julia Kristeva’s book of the same name.
Although ‘stranger’ suggests ‘foreigner’ or ‘other’ entailing different cultures, it can also refer to the body becoming a stranger as we age. Failure to recognise an unexpected personal reflection is quite a common experience – the sudden jolt from shop window or mirror.
My images feature ‘strangers’ of different kinds – a young woman who came from Norway to study and work in Norwich and an older woman in her late sixties. At first glance one appears to be a reflection as they stand either side of a doorway, looking at the camera but this is not so and several issues are raised. What is the relationship between the two? How do they view one another? Where is the older woman going? What is she thinking? Why aren’t they looking at each other? Although dressed in long skirts they are obviously modern women but like the Dutch interior paintings they create a narrative and a picture within a picture reinforced by the choice of lighting, areas of focus, tiles, panelling, fabric looped over the doorway and painting on the wall. In the first image the older woman has the younger in her sights but she is also facing a clearly lit doorway to her left; it could signify uncertainty – ‘a tearful face towards the lost homeland’ as Kristeva describes homesickness - or new challenges and opportunities.
Neither Performing Mrs Whistler, Self and Image or ‘Strangers to Ourselves’ sets out to provide any hard and fast answers about the ageing process but are intended rather to be open ended. I hope the viewer is intrigued by the portraits and that a dialogue can be created but there will, of course, always be a difference between the photographer’s intention and the interpretation of the viewer. I would be very interested in any response you may have which may be made by e-mail – see Contact above.
None of the women who appear in my projects are professional models. I am very grateful to them and to the conversation group for taking part and, in the case of the models, for allowing me to use their images for research and on this website.
I am also indebted to Tony Millings, Photographic Technician at Norwich University of the Arts, for his invaluable advice and practical assistance. Thanks too to Danny Wilson for the design and maintenance of this website.
Footnotes:
[1] This technique was used by David Attie in his 1977 Russian Self Portraits, London: Thames and Hudson.