Sexuality Wmn's & Gndr Studies 375 - Self/Subject/Photography

Before the oft-reproduced social-media mechanism of the selfie, there existed (and still does) the artistic self-portrait.  Utilized in the photographic realm to create a representation of the artist as both subject and object, self-portraits can be whimsical, grim, tantalizing, performative, or combative.  In this course we will examine gendered constructions of self-portraiture photography existing in the contemporary realm.  Specifically, our task will be to examine the registers of possibility present when women use their own bodies to claim visual space.  Our goal during the semester will be to think through all of the mechanisms of the self that are deployed in the context of photographic practice.  Some of the photographers we will examine include Carrie Mae Weems, Renee Cox, Francesca Woodman, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Joy Gregory, Ana Mendieta, Miru Kim, Cindy Sherman, Nikki S. Lee, and Stacey Tyrell.  Students will produce their own self-portraits, and write an analytical paper on a contemporary self-portraiture photographer.

Recommended: Prior course work in SWAGS. Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Visiting Professor Brown.