Franchesca Woodman

        This artist was recommended to me by one of the tutors last week and when I researches her work yesterday I found it really relevant to me. Franchesca Woodman was born in America in the 1950s. She took her first self portrait photo at only 13. In her 30s, when in Art College, she took these series of photographs. I really love them . I think they are absolutely beautiful.There is something haunting and eerie about the images. Woodman used long exposure to capture movement- creating photos of her trace in these old, run down spaces. There is a ghostly timelessness to her work. I particularly like the photo where Woodman  is peeking out behind wallpaper and a fireplace...it's almost as though she is becoming part of her space (/ vice-versa).  I find Woodman's photos sad when I consider the fact that she committed suicide at only 22. These photos are her legacy. Her work is often debated.....some think she passes comment on woman's social standing, others think she wanted to explore the human body in space. Someone suggested she wanted to disappear in her surroundings, ultimately like she did in life. This morbid reading of her work is denied by her father.
       I would like to take influence and inspiration from her work, esp. the long exposure and the illusionistic feeling to her work.  Over the weekend I had begun a video in an old, broken down house my Nana owns. It used to be our holiday home when we were younger and it holds a lot of important childhood memories for me. It kind of ties in with Franchesca's work...capturing a human trace in a very empty space.


Self Portrait at 13!