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B6: Snapshots in Time

A Taste of the Biscuit Content

Black text over a faded image of a retro camera. Text reads: "B6 - Snapshots in Time. The largest biscuit to date! We started to consider representation and impact through photography, which took us back in time looking at work created before critical laws were passed in terms of freedom. A key exercise asked members to submit a photo that was significant to them, whether it be a person or from an event. This topic gave the group an opportunity to take their own photos, as well as a discussion hour about queerbaiting and asked; can we identify queerbaiting in photography?"

Members Content from this Biscuit

Significant Photos

Claude Cahun Inspired Photos

Liminality Photos

Final Projects

Photographers we studied

  • Holly Revell (they/she): An artist photographer who makes collaborative portraits with fellow queer folk exploring transforming identities. They have been working on their current project ‘People Like Us’ since 2017, exploring trans and non-binary identities and experience. They received an Arts Council project grant to develop this work in 2021 and have plans for it to become a photo-book in 2024. A zine featuring a series of portraits and quotes from the project was commissioned by Shout Festival in 2020. https://www.hollyrevell.co.uk/
  • Claude Cahun (they/them): Claude Cahun was a Surrealist photographer whose work explored gender identity and the subconscious mind. Cahun was also a poet, essayist, critic, translator, actor, and political activist. They used a wide variety of means of expression to convey their obsession for the themes of identity and self-image. Their work was forgotten after World War II, and rediscovered after being widely circulated in the 1990s. The cross-dressing experiments they documented in their self-portraits have since become of considerable interest beyond the history of photography, in the field of Gender Studies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Cahun
  • Cecil Beaton (he/him): A well known photographer, but also an illustrator and a costume/set designer for both theatre and film. This included My Fair Lady (1956). He is known for his ‘elegant and unusual photography’ In the 1920’s, Beaton staff photographer for Vanity and Vogue magazine, in which he developed a style in which the subject became one element of a portraiture, using decorative patterns around them. This would then be combined with unusual materials such as aluminium. Before moving into war photography, Beaton adopted a surreal approach. Beaton described himself as a ‘terrible, terrible homosexualist’ and had bisexual relationships throughout his lifetime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Beaton
  • Dani Coyle (she/they): A UK based intersex photographer, creative, and activist. She has a masters degree in gender studies from the University of Oxford, and won an award for her advocacy for the intersex community. She has been named in the Dazed 100 list in 2020. Their latest series ‘Inter_face’ aims to “humanise and depathologise the discourse” surrounding intersex people, their bodies and their issues. https://www.instagram.com/inter_sexy/
  • Wolfgang Tillmans: Born in Germany, he was the first photographer and first non British person to be awarded the Turner Prize. His work spans across street photography to landscape and still life. Tillmans began using a digital camera in 2008, which was the same year he took one of his most famous and recognised photos. https://tillmans.co.uk/
  • Mariette Pathy Allen (she/her): A well known photographer of trangender, genderfluid and gender variant communities for over 40 years. Originally born in Alexandria, Egypt, she graduated from the School of Fine in Pennsylvania with a masters in Fine Art and Painting. Whilst on the course, she took a photography class and found that she could transfer her skills. This direction gave her an opportunity to travel all over the world, with “to photograph misunderstood communities in the daylight of their everyday life”. https://www.mariettepathyallen.com
  • Mary McCartney (she/her): (Case Study: Twelfth Night): A collection of photographs taken backstage throughout a production of Twelfth Night at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway. Oscar award winning actor Mark Rylance features heavily in the photographs, but asked Mary to stay for the duration of the play to capture other acts and candid shots. https://marymccartney.com/shop/twelfth-night/

Text on a faded image of a DSLR camera. Text reads: The PHOTO Acronym. Coined by Ellie Snow. How can we analyse a photo effectively? With each letter, consider what information we know, and what is open to interpretation and discussion. Performance Aspects. History. Origin. Themes. Opinions."

PHOTO acronym

Meaning: How can we analyse a photo effectively? With each letter, consider what information we know and what is open to interpretation and discussion.

  • Performance aspects. Does the photograph look candid, or staged? Do you think this photo could be used as a stimulus to devise a story?
  • History. What is the outer context? Does anything about the photo itself suggest when it was taken, or are there any techniques being used to make it look older?
  • Origin. Is the image part of a wider exhibition or collection? Where did it first appear? For example, a gallery or a magazine spread. Would this photo have been published publicly at all?
  • Themes. Does the photo contain any themes that we’ve identified in other biscuits? For example; Nature, autobiographical aspects, Queering.
  • Opinion. A great one to start with if you’re struggling! Do you like it, what was your eye drawn to first? What would you change, if any?

Photography in Radical and Queer Spaces

A stage. In the foreground is a free standing cabinet unit. It has LED lights underneath it. On the top of it rubbish is visible, including two half full glasses. In front of the unit is a mess on the floor. On the left of the unit is a stool. Behind the unit, in the background, is a larger part of the set, a kind of large alcove. There are more LED looking strip lights inside the alcove. Also inside are steamer trunks open and other items of luggage.

What Are Radical Spaces?

  • Spaces that abandon societal norms.
  • A place where activism takes place.
  • A positive space for new ideology and a new direction.
  • A space outside of cultural norm, where the part of ourselves we may need to hide can be unashamedly visible.
  • Spaces that are both open and intersectional, that seek to hear out bias and issues.

Liminality

A path which leads to a large hill or embankment, covered in greenery. There is a tunnel through the path, unlit, with the other end visible, showing the bright sunlight at the end. A sign informs you that the embankment is an ancient fortification.
Liminality is a term used in many disciplines and fields, but in theatre and performance it is described as: “an in-between of potent but dangerous formlessness. It denotes the social non-space in which transformation is experienced and achieved”.

In this sense, we can describe workshops, rehearsals, and backstage as liminal spaces.

When specifically looking at queer photography linked to theatre and performance:

“I would argue that backstage is one of the queerest spaces in a performance setting, whether it be in a professional theatre or behind a divide in a community hall. When we have the ability to witness a snapshot into the emotions, the preparation, the bonds between performers and the moments leading up to performance, this is a queer moment in itself. Therefore, it’s important that the liminality of this space is recognised. Seeing transformations, costumes deconstructed, and scene lists that give credit where it’s due in the steps that are not publicly seen to form a piece of art. Backstage photography has the radical potential to tease, invite, encourage, and document the safe space that is the behind the curtain, regardless of whether the production itself has queer themes or content.” – Ellie Snow

In what ways can liminal spaces be created whilst making theatre and performance?

A white person, Vox, is looking at a dressing room mirror, and seems to be screwing in a light bulb. They are dressed in a blue dress with a floral pattern and are wearing a headscarf in a vintage style. On the table in front of the mirror are props and makeup. In the reflection you can see Vox, and their smile. You can also see in the reflection a number of colourful costumes hung up on the wall behind Vox.

  • Dressing Rooms
  • Backstage
  • Rehearsals
  • Costume Changes
  • Workshops
  • The space between the stage and the audience
  • Constructing the stage/scenery eg: scene transitions and changes

Discussion Hour: Queerbaiting

Questions posed in the discussion hour:
An edit of the “is this a pigeon” meme. An anime character labelled “straight people”, gestures to a butterfly labelled “Queerbaiting”. The subtitle text reads “is this good LGBTQ+ representation?”

  • Does Queerbaiting have a place in queer photography?
  • Can queerbaiting be confused with coming out?
  • What do you think some of the photographers we’ve looked at would think of Queerbaiting?
  • Why is this term so prevalent right now?
  • How does queerbaiting make you feel personally?
  • Do you know of any other examples, be it photos or people that have been accused?
  • What negative and positive impacts can it make?
  • Can we truly decide if someone is queerbaiting based on a photograph?

 

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