8oberL WesL

Man 8ay was born ln 1890 by Lhe name Lmmanuel 8adnlLzky Pe grew up wlLh hls 8usslan/!ewlsh
famlly ln 8rooklyn new ?ork 8ay was an arLlsL from a young age aLLendlng local arL exhlblLlons and
evenLually re[ecLlng a scholarshlp ln archlLecLure Lo pursue a career as an arLlsL Pe began produclng
phoLographs ln 1918 and qulckly embraced Lhe new movemenL of uadalsm Pe began
experlmenLlng wlLh new ldeas whlch ulLlmaLely provoked hlm Lo move Lo arls whlch aL Lhe Llme
was a culLural eplcenLre for modern arL Pe conLlnued Lo work wlLh hls frlends ln arls creaLlng
many phoLographs and '8ayographs' whlch ls a phoLographlc Lechnlque lnvolvlng phoLograms Pe
had Lo leave arls durlng Lhe war Lo escape Lhe nazl parLy and llved ln Los Angeles lL ls durlng hls
Llme ln Callfornla LhaL he meL hls wlfe and goL marrled AfLer Lhe war he reLurned Lo MonLparnasse
(a dlsLrlcL of arls) clalmlng LhaL lL was 'home' Man 8ay dled ln 1976 of a lung lnfecLlon ln arls and
was burled Lhere along wlLh many of hls frlends and arLlsLlc colleagues from Lhe MonLparnasse arL
scene of Lhe Llme Pe has gone on Lo be consldered by many as one of Lhe leadlng conLrlbuLors Lo
Lhe uada and SurreallsL movemenLs of Lhe early 20
Lh
cenLury l can relaLe hlm Lo my Lheme of love
because Man 8ay llked Lo Lake voyeurlsLlc and provocaLlve phoLographs as well as porLraylng a
meanlng ln hls arL whlch ofLen consldered Lhe soclal and sexual conformlLles of Lhe Llme










1hese are Lwo lmages by Man 8ay '1he klss' ls a '8ayograph' of hlmself and anoLher woman 'klkl'
who was hls lover aL Lhe Llme 1he lmage was made ln arls durlng Lhe 1920s and represenLs Lhe
ldea of lusL overcomlng Lhe convenLlonal relaLlonshlp 1he facL LhaL nelLher person ln Lhls lmage
holds any sorL of faclal feaLure glves Lhe lmpresslon LhaL who Lhey are ls lrrelevanL Man 8ay wanLed
Lo deplcL a klss wlLhouL glvlng Lhe people an ldenLlLy so LhaL lL doesn'L draw away from Lhe klss lLself
Also Lhe lncluslon of a hand on each face holds furLher lmpllcaLlons Lo lusL as Lhey represenL Lhe
grasp each person has over Lhe oLher 1he lmage holds many lmperfecLlons mosL obvlous of whlch
belng a black dlvlde beLween Lhe skull and [aw 1hls seems lnLenLlonal ln order Lo show how messy
and unorganlsed lusL can be
1he second phoLograph ls called CoaL SLand and deplcLs a femalelooklng sLand wlLh a woman
poslng behlnd lL 1hls could be a commenL on Lhe soclal dlvlde beLween Lhe sexes ln Lhe early 20
Lh

cenLury as he porLrays Lhe woman as a coaL sLand or somewhere for Lhe 'domlnanL' men Lo place
CoaL SLand (1920) 1he klss (1922)
8oberL WesL

Lhelr belonglngs 1he use of Lhe female carvlng on Lhe Lop Lakes away Lhe ldenLlLy of Lhe woman
behlnd and sLops her belng seen whlch furLher hlghllghLs her soclal ln[usLlce Also Lhe naked body of
Lhe woman LhaL lsn'L concealed behlnd a 'mask' adds Lo Lhe humlllaLlng and demeanlng ldea of uslng
a woman as a coaL sLand
Cregory Crewdson was born ln 8rooklyn new ?ork durlng Lhe early 1960s Pe grew up wlLh a greaL
lnLeresL ln muslc [olnlng a unk rock band as a Leenager LhaL found mlnor success ln new ?ork ClLy
Pe dldn'L begln hls phoLographlc career unLll Lhe mld 1980s where he galned a MasLers ln llne ArL
from ?ale unlverslLy Pe ls known for hls phoLography deplcLlng a Mlddle Amerlcan Lown ln
amazlngly deLalled seLs and sLages deslgned much llke a fllm seL 1hls helped Lo creaLe a surreal
aLmosphere ln hls work whlch parodled Lhe everyday llfe of famllles embedded ln our wesLern
culLure uue Lo Lhe greaL amounL of deLall Lhe phoLographs Look a long whlle Lo seL up and requlred
acLors Lo fulfll roles much llke a fllm yeL all Crewdson glves Lo us are slngleframe gllmpses lnLo Lhe
llves of Lhe people he porLrayed WlLh LhaL ln mlnd Lhe lmages seem Lo provoke an almosL
suffocaLlng feellng LhaL someLhlng ls noL rlghL and blurs Lhe llne beLween Lhe dreamllke and Lhe real
Lo a polnL where lL ls someLlmes hard Lo guess whaL ls ouL of place or 'wrong' wlLh Lhe lmage
Crewdson ls a member of Lhe faculLy aL ?ale and ls a professor of arLs Lhere as well as Leachlng aL
many oLher arL lnsLlLuLlons around Lhe uSA l admlre hls aLLenLlon Lo deLall ln hls phoLography and
some of hls lmages have con[ured ldeas abouL love whlch are relevanL Lo my Lheme such as Lhe lrony
ln belng Lrapped ln a marrlage LhaL nelLher person en[oys because Lhey do noL communlcaLe Lhelr
feellngs Lo Lhe oLher and so sLay LogeLher ouL of convenlence raLher LhaL genulne affecLlon

8oLh of Lhe phoLographs above are unLlLled accordlng Lo Crewdson buL lL may be because he doesn'L
wanL Lo glve Lhe lmage a conLexL and leave Lhe lmage open Lo Lhe audlence's lnLerpreLaLlon 1he
flrsL lmage subLlLled '8eneaLh Lhe 8oses' shows a woman slLLlng alone on a bed surrounded by rose
peLals 1hls lmage holds connoLaLlons of a sexual encounLer gone wrong perhaps she was noL
always alone on Lhe bed and Lhe roses seem Lo lead ln as a Lrall from Lhe oLher room Lo Lhe bed
suggesLlng LhaL a momenL of passlon was rulned by someLhlng and now Lhe woman slLs awkwardly
and compleLely lsolaLed from whoever else was Lhere She ls looklng downwards whlch shows she
may be feellng sorrow or even gullL 1he greaL Lhlng abouL Lhls lmage ls how many dlfferenL
scenarlos Lhere could have LhaL lead Lo Lhls momenL ?ou can see she ls cradllng a plle of roses whlch
may be Lhe woman holdlng onLo someLhlng or someone who has lefL her
unLlLled (8eneaLh Lhe 8oses) unLlLled (Awake)
8oberL WesL

1he second lmage subLlLled 'Awake' shows a woman lylng up aL nlghL whllsL her husband or parLner
sleeps Lhe woman seems Lo have been dlsLurbed by someLhlng posslbly a dream or posslbly a gullLy
consclence/ 1he small amounL of llghL LhaL shlnes ln Lhrough Lhe wlndow glves a phoLograph a cold
aLmosphere LhaL helps Lhe surreallsm of Lhe plcLure Cnce agaln Lhere are many dlfferenL ways you
could read lnLo Lhls lmage whlch ls whaL Crewdson lnLended as hls phoLographs generally hold
some sorL of narraLlve LhaL lsn'L explalned buL lnsLead ls lmplled by Lhe sub[ecL maLLer and Lhe
seLLlng