Francesca Woodman

At a recent exhibition at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art, entitled 'Artist Rooms', with works by Damien Hurst and other big names, I came across a photographer who tragically died quite young, who's work I thought was very inspiring. Her name was Francesca Woodman, 1958 - 1981. Her photos are B&W, often of young nude women, often blurred (sometimes quite ghost-like), often the faces are not shown. The movement softens the line of reality, and softens the body - creating often feminine, sensual shots. The prints we saw were small, and soft around the edges. They seemed quite experimental. I've done a bit of reading online, and looking at more photos, and if you are interested, the wikipedia page has excellent links to her photos. It's fascinating seeing some of her early shots, which she took when she was a young teenager.

Links to some of my favourites: Space, untitled 1976, Space2, angel series,

In fact, the more I look at her photographs, the more amazing I think she seems.

Another interesting photographer I discovered while reading about Woodman is Duane Michals (b. 1932), whom she may have been influenced by. This site has an interesting analysis of his work & art. I like his mix of surrealism and obvious sense of humour evident in some of his photos. I also like his attitude of not following the pack but trying to be different in ones photography, something I would like to strive to do more as I develop my own style.