Essay: Provide a detailed, critical analysis of a cultural text.

Name: Amber Prince     Student Number: 12025462

Introduction to Visual Culture: Contextualising Practice [UA1A8P-20-1]: 2012-13

Provide a detailed, critical analysis of a cultural text.

In this essay I will be looking at what makes Alex Prager’s portraits so immediately identifiable in relation to other cultural texts by analysing the large format digital C-Type print Barbara, a photograph that was part of the exhibition Weekend by Alex Prager in 2010. Throughout her work she continually references notion’s taken for granted in our current social climate; transcending medium in her bright, eerie interpretations to create works inextricably embedded within her time and position. Her images are undeniably born from a varied wealth of visual language and manipulated into her own recognisable style.

Alex Prager- Barbara 2010

She translates and represents “Hitchcock’s undercurrent of fear, Cindy Sherman’s themes of female identity, Gregory Crewdson’s nightmarish suburbs, the cartoonish drama of Roy Lichtenstein’s women.” Michael Hoppen told Photo District News’. (British Journal of Photography. (2010) pp. 42-43.) Taking a post-structuralist perspective on the self-taught photographer’s continual interweaving of texts, I am going to examine the aesthetic results of these multiple sources.

                 Prager’s culturally rich outputs, (both photographs and moving image), interest me because of the complex range of influence she manages to channel eloquently through her chosen medium. Her work is accessible and relatable through its familiarity, but this vast array of reference makes it quite a specific cross section of a culture and time. “Authors are not individuals but characters manifested or exemplified.” (Nehamas, 1986, p. 685) Meaning that subsequently the photographer can claim only part ownership of the image, as it was pre-determined and fabricated by an unfathomable amount of contributors- William Eggleston, David Lynch and Charles Laughton through to Pulp Fiction have all written a little of the narrative, aesthetic, concept, subject or approach. These patchwork myriad authors bless the photographs with cultural depth and secondary information not seen but assumed. What Prager does, is to mediate a story with the viewer and grant it life, acting as a channel through which the universal tension, fear and seduction may be explored.

She is known for scale of production, often using elaborate stages, monumental set ups and copious amounts of fabricated detailing. Prager plays set designer, director, photographer, stylist and more, wigs and retro costumes transform her friends and family into a story of femininity and drama. She claims that ‘on some level ‘all women are actresses’.’ And peering into this fictional, highly saturated picture of strange perfection we can try to understand the stories at work.

 Her photographs can often combine many elements; however I have chosen this text in particular because of its simplicity. Very stripped back, this portrait manages to communicate its position, influences and reference numerous other texts through very few rudiments and I’d like to further understand how this is achieved.

The physical properties themselves directly reference cinema, the size, orientation and ratio of the print, (particularly when viewed in exhibition) forms a screen rather than a frame. It is a large landscape print, simply framed and hung at standing eye level, so at an average viewing distance it would occupy your entire field of vision to invite the viewer into the story. When I look at the photograph I almost anticipate movement, tremors of action hide just out of sight inducing the desire to pry and an ache to know more.

The whole exhibition follows suit, and collectively the photographs were designed to feel like a selection of stills taken from a film you’ll never get to see. The audience cannot disentangle a linear, comprehensive narrative, but that level of understanding is superfluous to the experience. The cinematic sense of drama, the transient intangible scene before and after each exposure is what we covet.

There is that same feeling of apprehension hyper-present in Barbara, in a way reminiscent of Hitchcock there is a quiet, unspoken, but potentially malevolent atmosphere warning the viewer that the scene should not be taken and accepted at surface value. There is a conscious alert of fear written into a simple if dramatic studio portrait and the main source of this unease is the lighting. Almost certainly shot in a studio, the smooth rich navy backdrop would often neutralise the set, designed to clarify the scene and commandeer attention towards the model, but in actuality it conflicts with the light source to complicate the cinematic tableaux. The engulfing blue alludes to an outdoor night scene; however our lead is inconsistently lit by a bright, warm glow positioned low down and bluntly in front of her, which suggests car headlights. Her gaze is fixed, engrossed deep within a hidden off screen narrative, and her expression is blank with concentration- Therefore Prager entrusts the viewer to write a large part of the plot.

Prager has a tendency to manipulate the B-movie heroine into an updated, redefined character. She is stronger, and capable of overcoming fear to place herself firmly in control. The results are mysterious as the characters become unreadable, but they are wrought with desire as femininity bewitches the scene. It is difficult to judge her expression, fear, acceptance or something else? Whatever her feelings we have been positioned blind as we are thrown into a specifically selected moment in the narrative and given this portrait as our only point of reference.

Stan Douglas- Shoes, 1947

Even the title of the piece, Barbara triggers a sense of confusion. The viewer is on a first name basis with this individual, it is so casual and anti-climactic; which is what makes the work more engaging- the complete lack of description. As P. Prayer Raj said when discussing The Death of The Author by Roland Barthes: “He views author and the text working concurrently where the cultural inclinations of the author is a pre-existent kind and transpires as the text comes to existence. Therefore it is the reader who generates the meaning and occupies an important place in the literary context.” (Raj, p. 9, 2012)

In this manner of alluding to but never fully explaining a storyline she echoes one of her predecessors Stan Douglas; Natural storytellers, they both stage imitation film stills that withhold context and reason. A comparative review of the two photographers claims that "Douglas often presents his work in such a way that there is an element of chance and random ordering, meaning that the viewer can enter the narrative at any point and create their own understanding" (O’Hagen, 2012) Which seamlessly chimes with the sense of being abandoned amidst the tale without explanation we experience when viewing Barbara.

                When discussing the author’s role in determining interpretation, I believe it is true that “Their nature guides interpretation and interpretation determines their nature.” (Nehamas, 1986, p. 685.) Prager is defined by our personal versions and understanding of classic film-noirs, our preconceptions of that red-lipped, Newton’s cradle heel clicking femme-fatale. Which (playing a credit to her success), she thrives upon “I like the full curves of the classic female lead. These are strong things that the viewer instantly understands. They can bring their own references and memories." She says (Prager, 2012). Our immediate recognition and willingness to succumb to the illusion is integral and thus she intentionally leaves each culturally loaded photograph open to interpretation. We are invited to look in on Prager’s manufactured world of Tarantino escapism, experience her vision of a colourful past without having to necessarily form an opinion, the viewer is quite free to simply visit and indulge in that place for a while.

                The styling of the subject talks to ideas surrounding taste and class. The symbol of a fur coat signifies glamour; it implies the woman is classy and wealthy as she sports a luxury item. Her hair and make-up are immaculate; she has had (up until this point) no need to do anything strenuous and has taken time over her appearance. The styling is currently in vogue, undertaking a rise in popularity through shows like Mad Men, whilst channelling Tippi Hedren in classic vintage fashion- a typical Hitchcock blonde.

Gregory Crewdson. Untitled from the series 'Twilight',

2001-2, Digital C-type print, Sanders Collection, Amsterdam

© Gregory Crewdson

Although, unusually for Prager she is still styled quite neutrally, aside from the beige coat her clothes are masked and the colour palette is more muted than most of Weekend. I think the blue contrasts beautifully with the gold hues to create an attractive, compelling version of a dark moment impregnated with tense possibility. The colour-way, indicating a dark night with suspiciously warm lighting is consistently used by her peer Gregory Crewdson who- just like Prager- documents a fictional space inspired by the underbelly of Los Angeles and its perfect shiny exterior.

                For a deceptively simple image, Barbara is the photographic embodiment of intertextuality and the perfect example of post-structuralist theories surrounding authorship. Practically a film still in its cinema reference and endlessly comparable in aesthetic, this image proves that simple, carefully selected elements in a frame can saturate the piece with assumed information and aspiring to be the sole originator of something as a mark of greatness is a fallacy.

Works cited:

Hoppen, M. (2010) Cover story, new talent. British Journal of Photography. 157(7760) pp 42-43.

Nehamas, A. (1986) “What and Author Is.” The Journal of Philosophy. 83 (11), p. 685. Print.

O’Hagen, Sean. (2012) The Guardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/apr/22/stan-douglas-alex-prager-review [Accessed 18 December 2012]

Prager, A. (2012) The Telegraph. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9217494/Alex-Prager-Photographys-heir-to-Hitchcock.html [Accessed 19 December 2012]

Raj, P.P.E. (2012) Author and Text: Reading Michel Foucault’s What is an Author. The criterion [online]. 3 (3), p6 . [Accessed 02 Jan 2013].

Raj, P.P.E. (2012) Author and Text: Reading Michel Foucault’s What is an Author. The criterion [online]. 3 (3), p.9 [Accessed 02 Jan 2013].

Bibliography

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O’Hagen, Sean. (2012) The Guardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/apr/22/stan-douglas-alex-prager-review [Accessed 18 December 2012]

Raj, P.P.E. (2012) Author and Text: Reading Michel Foucault’s What is an Author. The criterion [online]. 3 (3). [Accessed 02 Jan 2013]

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British Journal of Photography. (2010) Cover story, new talent. British Journal of Photography. 157(7760) pp 42-43.

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