The Family Photograph

By Josie Moger

-An analysis of various artists’ representation of their families through the medium of

photography.

The family photograph has evolved through time. This evolution has matched and

coincided with the development of photography on a technical level. The first family

photographs were family portraits. These images were very composed, structured

and stiff, due to the subjects having to hold still for quite a while in order for their

image to be recorded. Paintings were also produced of people in this formal style

which was the fashion of the time, people wanted to appear important, respectable

and grand.

In the beginnings of photography informal images were just not possible. As

photography progressed technically allowing short exposures the ‘snap shot’ was

created, thereby allowing candid shots that were not pre conceived or contrived.

More technical advances also allowed for a far greater range of the public to be able

to access photography. At first only the very wealthy and privileged could utilise

photography due to its expense. The invention of roll film in 1888 by George

Eastman along with Kodak’s development in cameras allowed for a larger range of

the public to get involved. The Kodak Box Brownie, for example, was pioneering in

allowing amateurs to become photographers. The snapshot was born, thereby

creating the family album. The family photograph no longer had the restraints that

made it conform to the structured formal style of the early to mid-1800’s.

There is a large difference between a person taking a snapshot of their family for an

album, and an artist scrutinising and producing work of the family. An artist,

analysing the family ignores the traditional capturing of calendar moments, family

milestones and smiles; the shots that consist of the everyday family photo album.

The artist zones in on the quirks and characteristics of their family and shows

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something different, something unique. They produce a different and insightful view

of people and individual family dynamics.

“The photographer is attached to the members of his family, but almost never to its

conventionally ritualized moments. He seizes seemingly indifferent moments, paying

little attention to the calendar of family celebrations. In this sense he distances

himself from the traditional family photograph.”1

To truly capture a person, or ones family you first need to detach yourself from the

subject in order to reattach through the view of an artist. This is why I am captured

by family photography. I find the physiology, logic, politics and morals behind a

person portraying people close to them interesting. You see a glimpse into a

person’s life; the subjects portrayed how the artist (who is emotionally connected)

chooses you to see them. I find it emotionally intimate to see a person displayed by

someone they love.

Richard Billingham – Untitled, 1996 2

Richard Billingham’s depiction of his parents is extremely personal and intimate. It is

sensitive once analysed but initially shocking; this is what makes it so enchanting.

His work documenting his parent’s instantaneously grabbed me. It posed to me a

massive question as to whether it was morally right to show your parents in such a

blunt and initially grotesque way.

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Richard Billingham – Untitled, 1995 3 Richard Billingham – Untitled, 1994 4

Over seven years Richard Billingham documented his parents in a very raw and

gritty fashion. He was living with his working class alcoholic father in a council tower

block in a Britain run by Margaret Thatcher. He was trying to make it as a painter and

would try and use his father as a subject to paint. But his father could not stay still for

more than twenty minutes so Billingham photographed him to produce paintings from

the pictures. He used poor quality film and cheap processing as these techniques

gave the images distorted colours which were good for his painting. He soon found

that the art community went mad for his photographic work, his snap shots

possessed such garish quality in the documentation of his parents; this quality was

only enhanced by the poor quality of processing.

Richard Billingham – Untitled, 19955

His original interest was his dad, how his father existed in his flat with his alcoholism;

he took interest in his mannerisms and daily routines due to his illness. His father

never knew if it was day or night, he bought home brew from psychedelic Sid, stayed

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in bed a lot and did not eat for the two years he lived alone with his son. Billingham

referred to his Dad’s flat as his father’s own “physiological space”6, he only used the

bedroom and bathroom as these were the only rooms he needed, these areas were

what interested Billingham. Irony lies in the title of his book ‘Ray’s a Laugh’-(1996),

the image of his father on the front is emotionally moving.

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His parents lived in a terrace house and Ray was a mechanic when he lost his job

and spent his redundancy money on alcohol. Richard Billingham considers his best

image to be that of Ray laughing in the mirror. It is incredibly touching. His laughter

seems desperate, mad and isolating. It is a heartfelt image of a man momentarily

blissfully content with the despair of alcohol induced delusions of joy.

Richard Billingham Images from ‘Ray’s a Laugh’, 1996 8, 9

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Just as Billingham’s work was taking off in the art community his father moved in

with his mother into her council flat. His images now took on new dimensions as they

contained his mother and portrayed her; her surroundings were in contrast to his

father’s bleak rooms. She had 10 cats and three dogs living in the cramped flat at

one point, and was a hoarder with the flat full of clutter and trinkets. The images now

displayed the parent’s unusual relationship which gave the work a new edge.

Richard Billingham – Untitled, 1995 10

Billingham made his parents’ lives very public. There were no composed images or

fake smiles. Here you can see his Mother’s beaming smile, but it is not because

there is a camera pointed at her. It is through the sheer delight and enjoyment of the

animal in her arms. This shows her in a different more human light in comparison to

other shots of her looking like a brut, being violent or acting grotesquely. This shows

her beauty and an almost childlike innocence. It is a pure natural portrayal of human

emotion. In analysing this image I have noted how all of Billingham’s work is a

display of pure human emotion. His parents seem unusual to most in there way of

living and behaving. However their lives have panned due to their lack of wealth,

poverty; and therefore their social class. They conduct their lives due to their

economic status, which to most is unusual. The imagery shocks and is controversial

because such brutal honesty in a documentation of one parent’s is a rare display to

see. Billingham has just documented human behaviour in its rawest form, and that in

itself is just pure beauty.

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“The images are unsparing, sometimes shocking: the flat is a squalid mess, Ray is

often conspicuously drunk… However the family seem bound together as much by

love as by violence and poverty, and Billingham catches moments of pleasure and

tenderness: Ray playing with his dog, his wife pouring over crossword puzzles.”11

Richard Billingham – Untitled 12 Richard Billingham – Untitled, 1995 13

Upon first viewing Billingham’s work I felt there was a strong moral issue of him

showing his parents in such a way. I felt it was near exploitation, on closer analysis

my mind soon changed. Billingham has said that he does not see it as exploitive but

as art. I have come to think how disconnecting from ones subject can often lead to a

more accurate and honest portrayal of the subject; personal connections and

emotions can warp a view and intended outcome.

“All photography is exploitive, the only thing you can do is to try and make the

photographs artistically good. You overshadow that exploitive element that’s inherent

in the medium, so that’s what I’ve tried to do.” – Richard Billingham14

This is why I see the beauty in his work, the beauty dose overrule the question of

exploitation; the display of natural human behaviour is so pure that it cannot and

does not exploit as its real and the truth.

The documentation is an even one. He shows his parents as violent, in filth and all

the negative traits, but however alongside he shows the positives; little expressions,

loving there animals, valuing there belongings or having dinner together. He shows

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the whole picture of their lives. Had he solely focused on the negative traits and did

not show their humanity I would have found that exploitive. It would dramatize reality

by playing on a one dimensional note of alcoholism, obesity, poverty and violence.

This would not be real or true. The fact that Billingham’s work of his parent’s is so

honest is what’s so captivating about it.

“Acknowledging his family’s self-destructiveness, Billingham also celebrates its

vitality.”15

I’ve been shocked, grasped and enlightened by Billinghams work. He hides nothing,

and has laid his parents bare. The work is so original and inspirational with human

character I feel I’ve connected strongly with it. So I find his quote about exploitation

very accurate and succinct. His work connects with people, as it bluntly portrays

working class people living their lives on the poverty line, and displays their natural

emotions and actions as people. It is just beautifully raw. An honest account of

human behaviour cannot exploit as it is just real. It is the viewer that has the choice

to exploit these people by choosing to view the images in the way in which they do.

Sally Mann is another artist who caused wide spread controversy with her imagery of

her nude children in her book ‘Immediate family’. Sally Mann, born in 1951,

Lexington Virginia has lived and worked on her family farm throughout her life and

continues to do so. Between 1984 and 1994 Sally Mann photographed her children

growing up living on the farm in a very intimate fashion. She worked in black and

white large format, photographing everyday common occurrences such as her

children dressing up, asleep or swimming in the river.

I find that Mann depicts a heavenly place, tranquil and serene, a place full of

childhood freedom and innocence. They are calm and peaceful scenes. The farm is

a great place of natural beauty with grassy fields, trees and rivers. These images

hold no sense of time; it is like time stands still; the work reminds me a lot of the

connotations of Peter Pan. The farm seems so idyllic, so open and free. There are

strong fantasy connotations in the work. There is little to date the images in terms of

clothing, technology or buildings. This only magnifies the fantasy element. It is like a

lost paradise, trapped in time where the children are free. The fact that the children

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are nude and pose serenely adds to the atmosphere of the idyllic paradise. The

children being nude are the ultimate display of innocence and freedom. It is beautiful

to see displays of not being self-aware, conscious, ashamed or awkward whilst being

naked in the natural form. I find it liberating and enlightening to see the portrayal of

being so at peace with one’s self.

The Alligator’s Approach, 1988 16 Night-blooming Cereus, 1988 17

Both of the above by Sally Mann

The picturesque images hold vulnerable connotations. Children are vulnerable by

nature; to display a child naked heightens this. “Her images deeply affectionate, are

no simple celebration of innocence.”18

Her children pose in ways that when taken out of context could be seen as sexual.

The children pout and eye the camera with occasional maturity beyond their years.

The dead pan faces and serious tone to some images could come across as

borderline seductive when viewed with the children’s nudity and confidant body

language. The images with these elements are a few throughout the whole book.

Much controversy was caused as people claimed Sally Mann’s images boarder

lined on child pornography. Some felt the children looked far too adult and that the

artist was exploiting her children. It was widely questioned as to whether what she

was showing the world of her children was morally right as a mother. I do not share

the same view as the critics who found her work of her children distasteful. Had Sally

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Mann produced a book solely consisting of images of her children in adult poses,

gazing seductively at the camera I would have found this questionable and probably

inappropriate. The fact is that she documented all aspects of her children’s lives,

from cuts and scrapes, to pouting and wet beds. She just naturally documented what

a Mother sees.19

Blowing Bubbles, 1987 20 Jessie at 5, 1987 21

Both of the above by Sally Mann

“These are photographs of my children. Many of these pictures are intimate, some

are fictions and some are fantasies, but most are of ordinary things every mother has

seen. I take pictures when there bloodied or sick or naked or angry. They dress up,

they pout and posture, they paint their bodies, they dive like otters in the dark river.”

– Sally Mann22

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Sally Mann – The New Mothers, 1989 23

Sally Mann produced a natural documentation. Children do pout, pose and try to act

like adults as they copy what they see in order to learn. Showing the children naked

whilst copying adult traits some people misunderstood to be vulgar, and took the

book out of context. The children were often naked as the summer heat was

extremely hot.

Sally Mann – Emmett and the White Boy, 1990 24

The above image is an example of the children’s familiarity with posing for the

camera. Emmett, confidence in this image holds a strong pose with an adult stance.

While the white boy looks worried with frightened eyes and hand covering his mouth.

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Emmett’s upbringing and the style of nurture from his mother leads to him choosing

to pose in this mature way. Firstly Emmett has grown up in a place where children

are free to be themselves. A liberal easy going lifestyle, free of the pressure to

conform to modern ‘normality’. Secondly he is confident in front of the camera, he

has been photographed regularly by his mother throughout his child hood. Being

older here he has learnt what he wants to look like in photographs as Sally Mann’s

photography was a family task.

“As we were putting the work together over the years they would say ‘Ohh I don’t

want that one in, I look stupid’. They refined there vision and there way of seeing

how photographs work. So in a certain sense doing that work sort of raised my stock

with my family.”25 – Sally Mann

From this I can see how the children would have refined how they wanted to look

and be seen; this could be another contributing factor as to why the children appear

to have slight adult mannerisms in some of the images.

There is a sense of unease in some of the images in ‘Immediate Family’. There

seems to be a common vibe of impending doom and danger; such as a child

blissfully unaware asleep alone outside. It is almost like the quiet solitude and

peaceful freedom of the farm holds the underlying tones of vulnerability and lurking

danger. The element that makes the children’s world so idyllic is the same very thing

that makes it so vulnerable.

Sally Mann – Fallen Child, 1989 26

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“Sally Mann’s photography exists somewhere between pastoral idyll and southern

gothic.”27

I don’t feel Sally Mann has exploited her children. It seems to have been an intimate

family project. Her images hold great beauty. The treasured element of being

completely free and innocent as a child. It is so pure and liberating that I find it holds

grounds for this mother to share it with the world.

Richard Billingham and Sally Mann subconsciously became my main focus due to

my interest in the moral issue’s surrounding their work. Another artists I focused on

in research was Larry Sultan, he works in a different dimension as he constructed

images whereas the other two artists I have looked at purely document. Larry Sultan

produced constructed family images using his parents. He disliked how the family

album was full of fake smiles and social occasions. He felt the album was a lie with

people looking happy for the camera; he felt the family album did not portray

accurately how people had felt at the time of the picture being taken. He set about

recreating the family album and used his parents to construct images to portray how

they had been really feeling; with no fake smiles to keep up appearances.

Larry sultan – American. B, 1986 28 Larry Sultan – Dad on Bed, 1985 29

He often showed his parent’s relationship as frosty and the people themselves as

withdrawn, and unhappy. Upon knowing the method behind the images he created I

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thought how the images could be from a child’s perspective. Like snapshots from a

child’s memory of moments with adult atmospheres that a child cannot understand;

such as the shot of his dad on the bed; I assume after a day at work. His father looks

sad, contemplative and almost condemned. This shot reflects the child’s view. The

child sees father alone, looking worn, and thinks dad is not happy. Whereas an

adult’s view of this would be he is tired and grumpy, leave him alone to rest and he

will be back to normal. In an interview of Larry Sultan and his father I found the

following quotes of particular interest.

“I remember that picture so distinctly, sitting on the bed, all shirt and tie dressed up.

And I look like a forlorn lost soul. I look at that picture and say that’s not me!” 30

States Irvin Sultan (Larry Sultans father), Larry Sultan takes over speaking. “In fact

you went even further; you said ‘that’s not me sitting on the bed, that’s you sitting on

the bed. That’s a self-portrait’ and I thought that was right, you said ‘anytime you

show that picture you should tell people that that’s not me sitting on the bed looking

all dressed up with nowhere to go and depressed. That’s you sitting on the bed. I’m

happy to help you with your project but let’s get things straight here.” 31

I very much share this view and find it very astute of Irvin Sultan to pick up on this.

The psychological behind why Larry Sultan chose to portray his family in this way is

of interest. It is unusual how he was determined to show his family life as a lot more

miserable than how the rest of his family found it to be.

Larry Sultan - ‘Mom Posing By Green Wall and Dad Watching TV’, 1984 32

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Through this essay I have noted that what really sparked curiosity in me was the

motivation in the artist to produce the work that they did. It was the artist’s personal

interest in a particular element of their family and the history to the work that they

created that captivated me. The history, motivation and method interlink so closely to

produce work that depicts the element of family. Through this the artist’s portray a

sense of their family; the dynamics, morals, and values, but ultimately they portray

themselves. They show their own personality and in depth psychology, their logic,

family values and individuality as an artist. As individual and as unique as the in

depth components that they portray in their work. They show all this through the

medium of photography, in how they photographed their loved ones in the way in

which they did.

Word count – 2747

Word count including quotes etc. – 3503

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Footnotes

Spencer-Wood, S. Family Photographers photograph their families, London: Phaidon Press Limited,

2005

2 [online] http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/richard_billingham_untitled2.htm [17th

April 2013]

3 [online] http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/richard_billingham_untitled4.htm [17th April 2013]

4 [online] http://artnews.org/richardbillingham/?i=22 [17th April 2013]

5 [online] http://nationalmediamuseumblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/richard-billingham-in-the-blink-of-an-eye-media-and-movement/ [17th April 2013]

6 ‘BBC The Genius Of Photography – We Are Family 5/6’ [Online] http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2F77CDDF084E5DB [4th February 2013]

7[online] http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gs_rn=9&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=11&gs_id=16&xhr=t&q=richard+billingham&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,d.d2k&biw=1366&bih=667&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=03huUbe9FIjw0gWL0YCwBg#um=1&safe=active&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=richard+billingham+book+rays+a+laugh&oq=richard+billingham+book+rays+a+laugh&gs_l=img.3...5168.9324.0.10170.17.16.0.1.1.0.174.1743.5j11.16.0...0.0...1c.1.9.img.j0W45eEQyAU&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=92fc21c02069a371&biw=1366&bih=667&imgrc=vSTXopayhVR4YM%3A%3BxLnHYlLRjS3dJM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fd.gr-assets.com%252Fbooks%252F1346762844l%252F2358509.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.goodreads.com%252Fbook%252Fshow%252F2358509.Richard_Billingham%3B318%3B428 [17th April 2013]8 [online] http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gs_rn=9&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=11&gs_id=16&xhr=t&q=richard+billingham&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,d.d2k&biw=1366&bih=667&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=03huUbe9FIjw0gWL0YCwBg#um=1&safe=active&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=richard+billingham+book+rays+a+laugh&oq=richard+billingham+book+rays+a+laugh&gs_l=img.3...5168.9324.0.10170.17.16.0.1.1.0.174.1743.5j11.16.0...0.0...1c.1.9.img.j0W45eEQyAU&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=92fc21c02069a371&biw=1366&bih=667&imgrc=BX7jcLpsZAI5YM%3A%3BLP-JzLVdu7Cq3M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F3brepetitionofthemes.wikispaces.com%252Ffile%252Fview%252F4.jpg%252F331260372%252F4.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F3brepetitionofthemes.wikispaces.com%252FDirty%252BRealism%3B500%3B324 [17th April 2013]

9 [online] http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=667&q=richard+billingham&oq=richard+billingham&gs_l=img.3..0l10.987.5892.0.7136.20.11.1.8.8.0.174.1652.0j11.11.0...0.0...1ac.1.9.img.KWpCU_k5Lmk#imgrc=iemnHVoOchkH4M%3A%3B9Mnk1NfSDprIVM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F4.bp.blogspot.com%252F-oI5jOGW2BAE%252FTjXD9bikdcI%252FAAAAAAAAB64%252FMFH4X7mvGgI%252Fs1600%252FRichard%2525252BBillingham.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fameenanil.blogspot.com%252F2011%252F07%252Frichard-billingham.html%3B1600%3B1084 [17th April 2013]

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10 [online] http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/artpages/richard_billingham_untitled18.htm [17th April 2013]

11 Spencer-Wood, 2005, P199

12 [online] http://www.firstpages.com/hauschild/photography/AIB/AIB/PVC.htm [17th April 2013]

13 [online] http://ncsgraphicsrachael2.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/12/ [17th April 2013]

14 ‘BBC The Genius Of Photography – We Are Family 5/6’ [Online] http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2F77CDDF084E5DB [4th February 2013]

15 Spencer-Wood, 2005, P199

16 [online] http://photobookclub.org/index.php/2012/03/18/sally-manns-immediate-family-and-the-physical-landscape/ [17th April 2013]

17 [online] http://trouvaillesdujour.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/sally-mann-matter-of-time.html [17th April 2013]

18 Spencer-Wood, 2005, P203

19 [online] http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gs_rn=9&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=11&gs_id=16&xhr=t&q=richard+billingham&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,d.d2k&biw=1366&bih=667&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=sahuUcDaJrCN0wXL0IGwDA#um=1&safe=active&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sally+mann+immediate+family&oq=sally+mann+im&gs_l=img.3.0.0l5j0i24l5.3054.3610.2.4804.3.3.0.0.0.0.151.435.0j3.3.0...0.0...1c.1.9.img.g3u68kjXCsE&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45368065,d.d2k&fp=92fc21c02069a371&biw=1366&bih=667&imgrc=oR-84UHESVIUaM%3A%3B1VijH7hx47gsjM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhelenkuchta.files.wordpress.com%252F2013%252F03%252F6-sally-mann-immediate-family.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhelenkuchta.wordpress.com%252F%3B2904%3B2408 [17th April 2013]

20 [online] http://lamblegs.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/sally-manns-immediate-family/ [17th April 2013]

21Mann, S. Immediate Family, London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1992

22 [online] http://imageobjecttext.com/tag/sally-mann/ [17th April 2013]

23[online] http://dcornelius-babylon.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/pictorial-sally-mann.html [17th April 2013]

24 ‘BBC The Genius Of Photography – We Are Family 5/6’ [Online] http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE2F77CDDF084E5DB [4th February 2013]

25 [online] http://www.artnet.com/auctions/artists/sally-mann/fallen-child-2 [17th April 2013]

26 Spencer-Wood, 2005, P203

27[online] http://archive.mocp.org/collections/permanent/sultan_larry.php [17th April 2013]

28[online] http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2011/02/family-pictures-close-to-home-smithsonian-american-art-museum/ [ 17th April 2013]

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29 [online] https://replay.exe-coll.ac.uk/Play.aspx?VideoId=1726 [17th April 2013]

30 [online] https://replay.exe-coll.ac.uk/Play.aspx?VideoId=1726 [17th April 2013]

31 [online] http://badatsports.com/2009/photographer-larry-sultan-dies-at-63/ [17th April 2013]

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