The Abject Body

The words The Abject Body in photography looks at the body discussed.  The reaction to what is unconventional however the sense of familiarity that some viewers have with the subject at some level. An image that provokes the audience creating a discussion around the intensity of the image and the relevance of it being printed and viewed by the public. It presents us with the notion of wanting to dispose of the unwanted: People would rather not see the reality and consequences of war.
In terms of death we are all familiar with it, however seeing the gruesome images of a body on fire is something we are not accustom to seeing over breakfast whilst reading the paper.
An image like this divides us between looking at this images as an object on fire or a subject. 

  British Journal of Photography - After Shock. 3/2/2010 Page 16

                                                                                               

Another commonly controversial subject for The Abject Body in the arts world is the portrayal of people with physical disabilities. During the Edwardian period people like this were looked at and represented as 'freaks' outside the fringes of society and what was seen as 'normal and acceptable'. This perception is slowly changing as society is exposed to images like those in 'Vile Bodies'-the article in the The British Journal of Photography 2009. Dr Eugenie Shinkle discusses the work of photographers such as Antony Crossfield (Foreign Bodies) and Larry Dunstan. Both photographers experiment with digital technology by manipulating the familiar image of a body and creating a disfigured  hybrid with multiple limbs. His work invokes a discussing round what is normal and why are these images different. They are familiar yet abstract and show that through this modern change of technology and digital world we can use abstaction to present reality.

                                                                                     








  





The Bristish Journal of Photography - Vile Bodies, 15/04/2009 Page 12/13/14

 
The body can take on different meanings dependent on how it is portrayed. John Coplan's self portraits of an aged body are fragmented and divided, questioning out notion of beauty. Taking the audience away from the traditional style of portraits, loosing us in a image focused on composition and texture.

( Review- The body in Question- Creative Camera 8&9 1967 P73)




His Self portraits 1984 at the age of 64 are shot beautifully on a large format camera in black and white with a natural white background.