I’ve chosen a collection of images that use strong contrast and value to create and emphasize shadows and negative space. I find the initial ambiguity and anonymity of these figures, places, and designs to be elusive of the real subject being represented.

10 Items in this Learning Collection
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object

Copyright
All Rights Reserved ()

London

Accession Number
1990/2.32

Title
London

Artist(s)
Bill Brandt

Artist Nationality
British (modern)

Object Creation Date
1952

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
20 1/16 in x 16 in (50.96 cm x 40.64 cm);22 1/8 in x 18 1/8 in (56.2 cm x 46.04 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
This image is part of a body of work in which Brandt explored nudes. Brandt is perhaps most known for these series', published in Perspective of Nudes (1961) and Bill Brandt: Nudes 1945-1980 (1980). In these publications, he collected and carefully arranged images from previous decades in which he photographed abstracted nudes from unexpected angles, elongating and distorting parts of the female form. Brandt did his own cropping, printing, and retouching, further altering and dramatizing the unique perspectives. For these series, he used both a conventional camera and a wide-angle fixed-focus Kodak.

Physical Description
A high contrast portrait of a woman. Shadows fall over half of her face creating a dramatic and graphic chiaroscuro. Her arm extends from the bottom left corner, comprising the majority of the compostion.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
abstraction
modern and contemporary art
nudes
nudes (representations)
portraits
seated
shadows
women (female humans)

2 Related Resources

Photographic Portraiture 1949-1969
(Part of: Identity and Self-Understanding)
Surreal Photography
(Part of 2 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved