Photographer: Francesca Woodman

Really, I'm not stalking anyone.

 

I bought the FW book, was impressed and, realized I'd probably never look at it again and

sold it. She's in a whole different class than most artists in that her work is the leavings of

an amazingly powerful inner world. I'd guess that the torture that must have led to her sad

end had to do with that energy running the show, leaving little room for her to develop a

calm, reflective mind.

 

So it's authentic in the sense that I can't imagine her saying no to the impulses that led her

to shape the work the way she did.

 

The nudity: get over it. We all have bodies, ever take life drawing? That's an erotic

nakedness too. But the eros lies in your mind's attempt to see and describe something in

the world...a different sort of union than the good old fashioned kind.

 

That said...sex still sells!

Can I see your mugshot, please? And where you live.

 

Was the food not to your satifaction Sir. Should i pure this jug of water over your big red face before it explodes Sir.

Eugene Scherba

 

With respect dude you are out classed and out gunned even with the help of you ageing happy dayﾒs crowd.

 

Don't be an old punchy coming out for one fight too many. Itﾒs embarrassing do us both a favour.

 

Take care

Michael Bridges

Sorry Andrew, I have updagted you, I am sitting only with my MP3 player.

meant : "updated" obviously ;>)

Jeff, which FW book are you talking about? I'd love to buy one. Your comment is mirroring my feelings exactly.

here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/3931141969/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-5249538

-5199047#reader-link

 

As far as I know that's it. Art like hers scares me at bottom. I take care of four g-kids from

5 mos to 4 yrs. It's obvious that their education will involve them transforming themselves

from works of nature to bearers of civic identity. Of course, they'll also gain lots of vital

tools for survival and maybe, reflection. But their imaginative function is, in these early

years, is a better show than any IMax movie. I notice kids on the edge of pre-pubescence

as well. They think and behave pretty much like four-year-olds. All of a sudden then they

have to handle sexual blossoming and think about where they'll fit in the civics org. chart.

They close up and may or may not find affinity groups of peers. They will certainly develop

some sort of shell or other even in the best case.

 

This doesn't seem so dire in more open and reflective families, but the child must always

put away childish things and think as an adult. Woodman couldn't go through the

initiation, I'd guess. Stayed behind in the garden and played it out there til the end. I'm

sure the imps in her brain admired very much how they looked in her pictures.<div></div>

and her tragic life?

 

In love with her reflection. Imaginary imperfections in herself destroyed her due to self obsession.

 

A pix of happiness frowned upon by the Arty arty.<div></div>

Someone said a there's only so much blood in the body. It can ever go into your head or dick.

 

Of course it goes into our heads.

Living for the more abstruse delights of the mind doesn't always lead to happiness in the

world. Doestyevsky's hero in Notes from the Underground asked himself, "How can an

intelligent man truly respect himself?" In his impotence, he delights in the fantasy of

insulting a soldier in a bar with a view to being hurled through a plate glass window. He

attempts to deliver the insult and is brushed away like a fly. This only confirms his bitter

understanding of how little he matters in a world that revolves around brutality.

Andrew, I'm sure there are lots of films and so on about it. Just as there are lots of photo projects about my chosen subjects. Nonetheless, if you don't photograph the things you feel strongly about, what's the point?

 

"A rather sweeping generalization regarding females and their objectivity. I can?t help thinking your next thesis will be females have not produced any great thinkers or artists."

 

Michael, fortunately I'm not responsible for what you can't help thinking.

A Bob, to re-iterate, I don't feel strongly about this subject. I merely mentioned

it to (hopefully) illustrate a point.

My mistake, Andrew.

A Bob, you've got me thinking about Nan Goldin again. Definitely one of my

all time favourites.

<i>Barely a week after she published her strange and twisted

book, she hurled herself from her apartment window on to a

freezing and final sidewalk below. </i>

Nan Goldin's work is the most honest and direct I've seen so far. It is so tempting to hide

behind metaphoric, iconic, or mood-setting approaches to suggest inner states. Her work

should be called photo-memoir, a neat alternative to the memoir explosion in literature

and graphic novels.

 

Maybe she didn't go crazy like Diane Arbus because she is solidly integrated with the lives

of her subjects. And, she has the capacity to make a choice in the matter.

"Back when I was in school in the late 80's, a lot of students were kind of preoccupied with

Woodman and her photography; it was very fresh and influential at that time. The fact that

a lot of those students later went on to copy her is not her fault."

 

Back in the '70s it was the same with Diane Arbus, especially at RISD. I was in Boston at

the time and all those RI students were coming up to Boston's officially-named 'combat

zone.' They'd pay the trans-gendered, fetishistic, gay, and traditional hustlers for their

time and make 'direct' portraits. They were fortunate, as I am in my own way, to go on in

life and be able to reflect on their foolish youth.