MASKING
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Photographers can either collaborate with their subjects with the ‘masking’ or find ways to show the vulnerabilities that these subjects possess. “It asks the viewer to have compassion and be open to empathy” (Lampe 2014)
Introduction Representation is the portrayal of somebody or something in a particular way, representation is seen in all aspects of society. Such as in politics, politicians represent a group of citizens in public policymaking in the interest of the citizens that they represent. Another key area in society that representation influences society is celebrity’s life within the media, ‘celebrities can stand as a spectacular representational version of aspects of societies realities. Society uses these two groups of people as role models. After all, they are seen as leaders or better than “standard society” because they have money and or attract media attention. The problem with society looking up to politicians and celebrities as role models are that they create a filter in society and an idealistic view of perfectionism from these individuals, this is because these individuals are seen as being better than standard society and they are then forced to “mask” any weaknesses or vulnerabilities that they may possess. This is because if these people don’t create an image that is approved and appeals to their audiences, they will become disliked by the very people that look up to them as role models. Politicians and celebrities are the main culprits to masking their true persona from society, but this is societies own doing. Standard society does the same just on a smaller scale as they hide their true persona from their friends and family for the same reasons that they fear being rejected from the society that they are exposed to. Celebrities and politicians just mask on a larger scale due to being escalated by the rest of society to provide role models to standard society and the millions of people that they are exposed to. 5
Unmasking portraits of power
The portrayal of power People in power whether that be in society or politically tend to ‘mask’ any weaknesses, vulnerabilities or disabilities that they may have. This is due to how these are perceived in the eye’s of society. This means that individuals that have large influence or power in particular political leaders feel if they were to reveal these “weaknesses” they would not only themselves be open to attack but also the country that they represent. Due to the social representation that country is only seen to be as strong as the people leading said country. For example, Franklin. D. Roosevelt frequently had to use a wheelchair due to a childhood infection of polio but refused to allow the public to see him using his wheelchair.
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Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian – Canadian photographer who captured many high-profile portraits such as Queen Elizabeth II of England, Franklin. D. Roosevelt, Sir Winston Churchill, and many more over his career. His portraits were best known for his dramatic use of lighting but was also highly regarded by his subjects due to how he treated every person he photographed with the exact same respect no matter of their social or political position. His breakthrough as a photographer was when he captured portraits of Franklin. D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1941. In which the roaring lion a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill was captured which now features on the British £5 bank note that was released in 2016. In 1947 Yousuf Karsh was made a naturalised citizen of Canada and awarded the Order of Merit which is the highest award of government at the time in 1955, This was elevated in 1991 by Queen Elizabeth II for his ability to capture the true humanity of an individual in his portraits. In 2000 he was voted in the Who’s who top 100 most influential individuals of the 20th century, he was the only photographer that featured and had captured over 50% of the individuals that also featured.
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Franklin. D. Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United states of America and served as president for five and half years of World War II. He is also the only President to have served more than two terms. In 1921 he contracted an infection of Polio and frequently had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. In this portrait captured by Yousuf Karsh, Franklin. D. Roosevelt (F.D.R) is being portrayed as attentive, benign, and steady on his feet. The overall impression within this portrait is one of authority and power. However, closer inspection of the photograph shows F.D.R holding onto his son’s arm, as if for support, and as if the son were there with the purpose of supporting his father. There is also a certain stiffness in F. D. R’s bearing, while it seems everybody else in the portrait is relaxed and smiling. Thus, we see a paradox between the image projected of the subject and the image actually captured. Throughout his life Roosevelt sought to conceal his disability that was caused from a childhood infection of polio “Roosevelt was careful never to be seen using his wheelchair in public, and great care was taken to prevent any portrayal in the press that would highlight his disability” (Ward and Burns 2014) Karsh quoted in Tippett (2007) commented on this photographic session in these words”. Later in the afternoon President Roosevelt appeared with his son James, Lord Tweedsmuir and the Canadian Prime Minister. They had come out for a breath of air and were quite willing to be photographed again. They proceeded rather self-consciously, standing stiffly erect, side-by-side, like soldiers at attention. I pretended to click the shutter and said, “Thank you, very much.” The ordeal over, Tweedsmuir began to tell one of his Scottish stories and everyone relaxed. This time I did click the shutter.” Karsh, 1936. Mackenzie King (Canadian Leader in the Yousuf Karsh portrait of Franklin. D. Roosevelt is quoted as saying he “could not help thinking of what a terrible thing that the fate of the world should rest so largely in the hands of two men that to either of them anything could happen at any moment” this is a strong comment on the fragility of power. This statement further shows why FDR and many other influential individuals “mask” their weaknesses. 11
Winston Churchill was an award-winning author an also served as British Prime Minister twice, his first term was from 1940 until 1945 and he led Britain though World War II. He then served a second term as Prime Minister from 1951 until 1955. Churchill suffered many illnesses during his lifetime, most notable during his first term as Prime Minister, where he suffered from a mild heart attack which he kept hidden from the British media so that it was not known to enemy forces that the British leader was incapacitated during a World war. Like F.D.R, Churchill always attempted to disguise any infirmities or weaknesses he possessed to perceive himself to the Public eye as a strong and healthy leader. For instance, just before this photograph was captured also by Yousuf Karsh. Winston Churchill hadw suffered a mild heart attack after addressing a joint meeting of the United States congress. His physician ordered him to rest, but Churchill ignored the advice and travelled to Canada by train to address the Canadian parliament; he would not concede to this illness and allow the world to see his weakness. This portrait of Winston Churchill captured by Yousuf Karsh in 1941, is a perfect representation of “masking” As Tippett (2007) points out, the newspaper editors were looking for a “Reassuring smile” from Churchill; even when caricatured as a bulldog by Strupe in 1940, Churchill retained a certain benign sternness. Karsh was thinking during this session of the two previous photographs he had captured: one portraying defiance, the other joviality; in both cases, the subject shows authority. However, in this image featured we can see some vulnerability in Churchills appearance. His smile has been replaced by a frown (although this does still show sternness) but no benignity. The fact that Churchill is grasping the back of the chair, as if for support, shows a sign of weakness and emphasizing a vulnerability being portrayed in this portrait. The fact that this situation came by chance emphasizes the vulnerability. Karsh himself had deprived Churchill of his cigar, claiming it would look to much like a prop. Churchill who was taken aback, then reveals his more vulnerable side revealing what is beneath his stern exterior. His comment to Karsh, as reported by Tippett (2007) was, “You certainly can make a roaring lion stand still to photograph him” The quote shows Winston’s view on himself
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Richard Avedon Richard Avedon was an American fashion and portrait photographer who started his career as a photographer in the army in 1942 during World War two, after serving two years in the army he left to pursue a career in fashion photography. He loved evoking the true personality from his subjects as he once said, “my photos don’t go below the surface; I have great faith in surfaces a good one is full of clues”. Avedon quit his first job at Harpers Bazaar after facing criticism for using models of colour in 1965 and went on to become the main photographer for vogue for more than 20 years, during this time her created some of the most famous advertising campaigns for designers’ brands such as Calvin Klein and Versace. During his career he published many books from 1959 up until 1994 and he later died in 2004 while on an assignment for The New Yorker.
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Ronald Reagan was a famous actor before becoming the 40th President of the United States of America he served two full successive terms in office from 1981 until 1989. This portrait of Ronald Regan captured by Richard Avedon is a typical example of Avedon’s style in his unadorned approach to photographing the powerful. The plain white background, lack of props or other subjects and an unsmiling expression makes this image of Ronald Reagan seem quite forbidding, almost in the style of police mugshots. Isolating the head and shoulders in a way that also reduces the cues and messages that can be read through body language such as Yousuf Karsh’s portrait of Franklin. D. Roosevelt being supported by his son and showing signs of stiffness in his body while the other subjects are seeming relaxed within the portrait. “They knew what they were doing with their faces” Avedon once lamented to the Washington Post about politicians, ‘These where people who acted more than actors’, who had turned themselves into walking, talking, living advertisements for certain points of view which they represent. This portrait reveals everything that could be considered “weak” it reveals a sense of old age and confusion and has been stripped of his authority in which as President he would mask over to appeal to the people of America. Avedon took great pleasure within exposing floors within a “perfect figure” in which at the time Reagan was the leader of one of the biggest countries in the world. Avedon received a lot of backlash for his portrait of Reagan as it was seen as Avedon taking advantage and exposing him in ways that he did not want the American people to see, Therefore Avedon stripped him of his public ‘mask’ and revealed him as an ageing man gazing into the distance with a sense of somewhat confusion or concern to his facial expression rather than a strong and authoritative figure. Avedon’s style of a plain white background with no props took away all distractions and pointed the finger towards Reagan’s face and gave the viewers nowhere else to look other than his face with no distractions other than his flaws. Further to Avedon’s comments to the Washington post about how ‘they acted more than actors’. This portrait of Ronald Reagan was captured while he was President of the United States of America, which followed his almost 30-year career of being an Oscar award winning actor. If anybody was to relate to Avedon’s comment about how politicians act more than actors, then Ronald Reagan was a living embodiment of his comments to the Washington Post.
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One example of masking outside of the political world is Marilyn Monroe, she was highly photographed by many photographers including Richard Avedon and Arnold Newman, both of which managed to capture her unlike any other photographer by taking her public facade away from her and showing the world what she is like away from the public eye. Marilyn Monroe was an American actor, model, and singer during the 1950’s and 1960’s who became a major sex symbol and the symbol for body positivity in the fight against societies idealistic view of the “perfect body”. In this portrait featuring Marilyn Monroe captured by Richard Avedon according to MoMa, Avedon had ‘managed to capture one of the most photographed stars with her public façade (mask) taken away.’ Producing an image that provides a rare glimpse of her inner life. It is true that her attention is not fully directed towards the camera as if it would be if she were being photographed at a public event or a film set. However, there is also a feeling that she was caught off guard. In fact, Avedon confirmed that he caught her off guard himself. On the evening of the portrait, Monroe has been singing and dancing, later that night Avedon saw her sitting quietly ‘without expression on her face’ and although he did not capture the photograph without her knowledge, Avedon admits he could see Marilyn saying no to him taking a photograph of her. Therefore, he took the portrait with her knowledge but without her consent. This leads to a similar unmasking like that of Churchill where a powerful figure is caught somewhat off guard, and a certain vulnerability is shown through the individual compared to their normal public persona. Although this portrait of Marilyn may have been captured without her consent, Avedon has managed to create an image that is similar to his typical portrait style. He has a solid neutral background, Marilyn is only seen from the chest and above and she is gazing off into the distance which is seen throughout Avedon’s work
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Arnold Newman Arnold Newman was an American Photographer most famous for popularizing his famous style of environmental portraits of artists and politicians which were mainly captured in black and white. He was also known for his abstract still images. He believed that in many portraits of famous people that ‘there are many things that are false about photography when it is accepted without question’. Newman aimed to place his subjects surrounded by representations of their professions in the aim to capture the individual’s life and work. This is a common practice in the 21st century but in the early 20th century this was extremely unconventional. his portrait of President Lyndon. B. Johnson was chosen as the white house presidential portrait for his presidential term for 1964 until 1968. Newman also captured portraits of other influential figures such as John. F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, and many more of individuals with large social or political power, He in fact photographed so many of the world most accomplished men and woman it seemed there was no public figure his lens had not touched but he did tend to stay clear of celebrities because he hated people that they were “famous for being famous”.
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This portrait of Marilyn Monroe captured by Arnold Newman in March of 1962, a matter of months before her death, is like that of which Richard Avedon captured of her where her public façade is taken away from her. Resulting in her being “unmasked”. Both portraits where captured while she had been attending parties where she had been seen to have been singing and dancing in the company of her closest friends. In this portrait of Marilyn Monroe she is isolated and surrounded by darkness as if she is alone, her hair is all over the place as if she had just gotten out of bed, her eyes seem as if they are weighted showing that she maybe tired, her mouth is showing no emotion. The overall story that is painted in this portrait is one of tiredness and the feeling of her being fed up and simply does not want to be there, now that is not the full story because this portrait is a cropped version of the original which features her and Carl Sandberg who she is talking to at a party at the Beverly Hill home of Henry Weinstein. While attending the party Arnold Newman noticed that Marilyn was “dressed casually with minimal makeup and appeared thin and rather fragile” Newman later said “it’s the real Marilyn you know? She was just pouring her heart out, she was miserable” The fact 6 months later she died because of a suicide attempt, further emphasises the emotion that is seen on her faces and creates a deeper meaning behind her raw emotion featured within the portrait. Newman’s portrait compared to Richard Avedon’s is different in many ways, such as Avedon’s is taken in somewhat typical Avedon portrait style of which is subject is visible from the chest upwards with a solid neutral background behind the subject compared to Newman’s where after the cropping the image it seems as if you are on top of Marilyn almost as if you’re in her personal space. In Avedon’s portrait she seems to be more caught off guard rather than physically emotional and this is further emphasised in how she is glammed up in Avedon’s portrait whereas in Newman’s portrait she is casually dressed.
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John. F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States of America. He is the youngest president to hold office and due to his assassination in 1963, 2 years after his election to office he is also the youngest president to die. This Portrait of John. F. Kennedy is less formative of that of Winston Churchill and Franklin. D. Roosevelt, JFK is captured almost as if he is taking a selfie, as if he were a tourist visiting the white house. His whole ethos was world peace and people being friendly with one another. This portrait is laid back and puts the president across as if he were a standard American citizen visiting the white house rather than the US President. This creates a different sense of power and authority, it almost strips him of all his power and shows him being overpowered by the white house, showing that it is not him who holds the power but the house itself that is the overseeing power and authority. JFK once said, “A man may die, nations may rise and fall but an idea lives on” This is evident in this portrait the white house is a symbol of the American people not the president, the president only occupies it while he is allowed to by the people of America, this shows that the white house is the superpower in America, and a president is simply a human puppet that is elected by the people of America to carry out the official duties of the white house. John. F. Kennedy’s selfie style portrait capture by Newman makes this evident but making JFK look like a tourist visiting the white house. This portrait of Kennedy maybe the only portrait featured where the subject is not actually being unmasked for his personal persona but rather unmasking the United States presidency and showing that he is the face representing the white house when the portrait was taken. By capturing the portrait how it is the focus is taken away from Kennedy and creates a different environment exactly how Arnold Newman chose to style his portraits.
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The power of representation is important for the development for Society, as Priyanka Raha a Indian American mother of two said “When my kids watch a leader on national television, I want them to see themselves reflected in the leader.” It is important for children and young adults to have role models that look like them in the places that they aspire to as Marian Edelman once said “you can’t be what you can’t see” and this is why so many individuals of political or social power mask their vulnerabilities because if the public can’t see those weaknesses that means to the rest of the world that those vulnerabilities do not exist because to the public eye ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. Photography allows many people the opportunity to manipulate their audiences view of themselves by created a visual persona that appeals to the people they wish to impress. Photography allows these people to mask their true persona and remove (mask) anything that in the eyes of society maybe perceived as that person being weak or vulnerable, therefore undermining the position in society they wish to represent. Politics is a platform in society where 1 person or 1 group of people (party) can represent an entire nation. Social representation is key to politics this is because if the leader of a political party is seen to be weak or vulnerable it is then assumed in the eyes of society that the whole party is weak or vulnerable and if said party is the elected party of said nation then that nation could be weak or vulnerable and could open the country up to attack. Two recent examples of this are Sir Winston Churchill (former British prime minister) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd president of the United States of America) They masked their own health issues to the eyes of the public and in Churchills case hide a mild heart attack from the entire British population. They both masked their health issues to help perceive a sense of stability during World War II as Former Canadian Leader, Mackenzie King said, “He could not help thinking of what a terrible thing it is that the fate of the world should rest so largely in the hands of two mean too either of whom anything could happen to at any moment”.
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Although masking could be seen as deceiving society for the personal gain of the politician or celebrity’s own agenda, it is societies own fault for creating an environment where these important individuals feel the need to have to mask their true persona just to be able to live the life they wish to. Sometimes masking can be used for the greater good for example when Sir Winston Churchill had his mild heart attack in 1941 during World War II, he and Queen Elizabeth II concealed this information from the media so that Britain wasn’t seen as vulnerable and weak because its leader was incapacitated. Yousuf Karsh, Richard Avedon and Arnold Newman all had completely different styles that were seen to be conventional during the time they where upcoming photographers they also all captured their subjects differently, but they all aimed to dig beneath the surface and show their subjects for who their true persona truly was rather than their public façade (mask). Coincidentally these portraits captured by these artists are some of the most famous portraits of these powerful individuals.
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References Blythe, W. (2012). A New Look at Richard Avedon’s Portraits of the Powerful [Online] Available at: https://www.popphoto.com/american-photo/new-look-richard-avedons-portraits-powerful/ Accessed: 10 December 2020. Lampe (2014) Human Nature [Online] Available at: https://cueartfoundation.org/catalogueessays/human-nature-by-lilly-lampe Accessed: 28 October 2020. MoMA (2020) Marilyn Monroe, Actress, New York. Available at: https://www.moma. org/learn/moma_learning/richard-avedon-marilyn-monroe-actress-new-york-may-61957/#:~:text=Actress%20and%20pop%20culture%20icon,that’s%E2%80%94she%20did%20 Marilyn%20Monroe.&text=Richard%20Avedon%20portraits. Accessed 28 January 2021. Russo, F. (2018) The costs of camouflaging autism. [Online] Available at: https://www. spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/costs-camouflaging-autism/ Accessed: 17 November 2020. Tippett, M. (2007) Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh. Yale University Press. Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ken (2014). The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-385-35306-9. Rebekah Bastian (2020) The power of representation in leadership roles: Available at: https:// www.forbes.com/sites/rebekahbastian/2020/11/09/the-power-of-representation-in-leadershiproles/?sh=2d3816716266 Richard Avedon Artwork: Available at: https://www.avedonfoundation.org/the-work Yousuf Karsh Artwork: Available at: https://karsh.org Antwaun Sargent (2017) Revisiting Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s Ground-breaking 1964 Collaboration: Available at: https://www.galeriemagazine.com/hilton-als-revisits-richardavedon-and-jamesWendy Mead (2020) 7 facts about Franklin. D. Roosevelt https://www.biography.com/news/ franklin-roosevelt-biography-facts (Accessed 09/01/2021) Jesse Greenspan (2020) 10 Things you may not know about Winston Churchill https:// www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-winston-churchill (Accessed 09/01/2021) MARINA72 (2019) Arnold Newman’s Environmental Marilyn: http://blog. everlasting-star.net/2019/06/art-and-photography/arnold-newmans-environmentalmarilyn/#:~:text=Newman%20was%20one%20of%20many,her%20talking%20to%20Carl%20
Sandburg. (Accessed 09/01/2021) Simon Schama (2008) Players and contenders https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/ sep/27/photography (Accessed (09/01/2021) Frank Van Riper: Avedon The roar of an aging lion https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/ photo/essays/vanRiper/021121.htm (Accessed 09/01/2021) Karsh of Ottawa (2020) https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yousuf-Karsh (Accessed 10/02/2021)
Illustrations Front Cover: Richard Avedon and James Baldwin; Available at: https://www.galeriemagazine.com/hilton-als-revisits-richard-avedon-and-james-baldwins-groundbreaking-1964-collaboration/ Page 8: Yousuf Karsh by George O’ Neil; Available at: https://karsh.org/a-life-in-images/#42 Page 9: Frankilin. D. Roosevely by Yousuf Karsh; Available at: https://karsh.org/franklin-delano-roosevelt-2/ Page 12: Sir Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh; Available at: https://karsh.org/photographs/winston-churchill/ Page 15: Ronald Reagan by Richard Avedon; Available at: https://www.avedonfoundation.org/the-work Page 18: Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avedon; Available at: https://www.avedonfoundation.org/the-work Page 20: Arnold Newman; Available at: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/arnold-newman?all/all/all/all/0 Page 21: Marilyn Monroe by Arnold Newman; Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/events/the-most-honest-picture-ever-taken-of-marilynmonroe-is-being-au/ Page 24: John. F. Kennedy by Arnold Newman; Available at: https://viewpoints.iu.edu/art-at-iu/2013/11/19/collections-at-iu-art-museum-lilly-library-honor-president-kennedy/index.html
MASKING
Chris Hammett-Hull 18047955