Love her work, Manuela! While I was in school, a good friend of mine gave me 3 women photographers’ work to look at and I instantly fell in love: Francesca Woodman, Sarah Moon, and Deborah Turbeville. The school library had their monographs and poured through their images!! Similar to Francesca’s style is Ann Arden McDonald but she has expanded her practice branching out to mixed media. I would imagine, if Francesca were alive today, she would’ve explored in this arena too. Oh and how she would’ve continued inspiring us all with her innovative approaches and vision.
Because her images are haunting (self, often naked, uncomfortable environments, fragmented bodies and views, unconventionally juxtaposed elements, direct camera gaze) and she committed suicide, there is an unavoidable tendency to conflate these facts affecting our response to them.
Looked at simply as images without any the meta facts of her depression and suicide, they become more open questions for the viewer by the maker. All else seems immaterial.
Were I around her when she was making images, I would have loved a discourse with her on her intent, even if she couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about it. So often the urge to create imagery lurks in the subconscious, and the image really is all.
I come away wanting to know more about what in Woodman’s work spoke to Manuela, and why it gave her the inspiration to create something of her own, whether in emulation or not. How did it allow her to tap into that urge to create and how did it shape it? What was her intent when doing this work?
The pathos and questions around Woodman’s life don’t really interest me; she already gave us all we need to know in the images alone.
How the images speak to and move others, however, seems profoundly interesting.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I so appreciate it!
I am still quite fascinated with her life and would love to know more, but I really appreciate you saying that you are interested in how she is influencing other people's work.
What I can say about myself is that I, from the first moment I saw her images, was struck by them. I felt a connection to the person in those images and in some weird way felt seen by her. It gave me comfort to look at her work and helped me realize that "I wasn't the only one" to feel this way about the world, to feel drawn to this particular aesthetic (haunting, mysterious, vulnerable, etc.). That said, that was years ago and as much as I still admire her work and love her images, I feel like I have grown in my own vision and work. I would say that she helped me find my voice when I needed it.
I'm going to admit I hadn't heard of Francesca Woodman before Manuela, but her work is truly beautiful - what a tragically early end to her life. Thank you for introducing her to me. Your self portrait work is also beautiful - I love the long exposures and the ethereal feel they bring.
Thank you so much, Lin! Her work is worth spending time with. There are a lot of resources our there and also books with her work. Absolutely stunning!
You ask some wonderful questions and I love seeing how Francesca inspired your earlier work and helped you find your artistic voice. I saw her photos in Paris in 2016 at the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation. It was a wonderful exhibit! I had heard of her before that, but it was something else to see her works in print. The prints were small, which I found to be interesting and intimate. It suited the work well. She was so brave, and that inspired so many of us to be brave as well. We all wish we could have seen what she created as a more mature person, but alas, that's only left to our imaginations.
Oh, I would love to see her images in person. That they were small makes it all the more appealing to me to spend time with them. She was indeed very brave!
"Would she have been as famous if she hadn't died from suicide?"
I think she was ahead of her time. I don't think anyone quite knew what to make of those images in those days. I like to think that over time she would have become more well-known, although likely very slowly. But then, would she ever have hit that tipping point where anyone at all knew of her work?
I think you have a good point. This is the third time that someone says that she was ahead of her time, and I totally agree. And I also agree that no one really knew how to respond to her images.
I hadn’t heard of Francesca Woodman before, but what you share and say about her work is lovely. So are your photographs too, by the way. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful tribute Manuela. I actually have never heard of Francesca, but I have heard of similar stories. I was holding my breath, waiting for the story to turn out differently but then when I read, she died of suicide, I couldn’t help but wince. Why do so many amazing artists die so soon? I guess it’s because of their intense sensitivity and vulnerability for which they clearly need so much support yet, it was not available. Thank you for introducing me to her work. We all have a little bit of Francesca in us. I can see why you admire her so much.
I hear you. Why? I think the world is not cut out for the sensitive ones. That, and depression was probably nit recognized and there was no help. It is just so sad.
Amazing, Manuela and what a fantastic source of inspiration!
It puzzles me how many still don't know about Francesca Woodman but hey.
Last year in Rome I met a curator/collector who was part of the gallerists who did her first exhibition over there, it was fascinating to see his notebooks and everything he collected from those days.
Thanks for shining a light on her work and congratulations on your self portraits, they're stunning!
Thank you so much, Xavi! I was a bit surprised myself that so many people don't know her. I thought everyone is inspired by her work. :) I am glad I was able to introduce her to more people.
Worth trying to seeScott Willis' film 'The Woodmans'. on DVd. I've loved Francesca's work for a long time, seeing the film helped understand her better and also gave me the feeling that having grown up in a creative family she would eventually have gone around this feeling that she had done her best work, it always feels one of those terrible 'if only situations' , if only someone had called round that day etcetera. i know that dying young with a body of work often attracts attention, but think the interest her work generates around 'disappearance' trancendentalism, , blur and self portraiture would have kept her in people's awareness, but that's just my hope and feeling.Thank you for this appreciation of her, it really cheered up my morning!
Thank you so much! I have heard of this documentary. I also read some things about her family and parents and it does help to understand her work better.
I also want to believe that she would have become famous regardless and that she would have created much more outstanding work had she lived. My guess is that she would have eventually moved away from self-portraiture and explored other genres, but, of course, we will never know.
Her work is absolutely stunning. She is on my list of female photographers I want to write about. You did a wonderful job here. What I find most amazing about her is how much ahead of her time she was and how artistic and unique at this young age. I wonder how her work would have developed hadn‘t she died so young…
I know it is. And you put it so well saying that has was ahead of her time. So true! I don't think there was anyone like her with this particular style and aesthetic. However, I do think she continues to inspire so many artists, especially self-portrait artists.
Manuela, it is almost surreal that I keep finding connections and inspiration from your images and what you write and also what you share of others that has inspired me. A few years ago a friend gave me a book of her photographs from 1975 to 1980. I did not know of her before. Her work deeply inspires me and challenges me. Her work pierces me in a whole different way.
I will respond to you more personally to sharing this and the questions that you ask of it.
I plan to share more. I started on an email to you yesterday, then I left for grandkids soccer game. When I came back, I couldn’t find it, so I will start over.
I thought I was going to email you because what I have written is not really for whoever else might read. So what I thought was your email came back undelivered. I have written to you now. Perhaps if you email me then I can email you back with what I wrote.
Love her work, Manuela! While I was in school, a good friend of mine gave me 3 women photographers’ work to look at and I instantly fell in love: Francesca Woodman, Sarah Moon, and Deborah Turbeville. The school library had their monographs and poured through their images!! Similar to Francesca’s style is Ann Arden McDonald but she has expanded her practice branching out to mixed media. I would imagine, if Francesca were alive today, she would’ve explored in this arena too. Oh and how she would’ve continued inspiring us all with her innovative approaches and vision.
Thanks for mentioning the other photographers! I have to check them out.
I do know Sarah Moon but not Ann Arden McDonald.
Because her images are haunting (self, often naked, uncomfortable environments, fragmented bodies and views, unconventionally juxtaposed elements, direct camera gaze) and she committed suicide, there is an unavoidable tendency to conflate these facts affecting our response to them.
Looked at simply as images without any the meta facts of her depression and suicide, they become more open questions for the viewer by the maker. All else seems immaterial.
Were I around her when she was making images, I would have loved a discourse with her on her intent, even if she couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about it. So often the urge to create imagery lurks in the subconscious, and the image really is all.
I come away wanting to know more about what in Woodman’s work spoke to Manuela, and why it gave her the inspiration to create something of her own, whether in emulation or not. How did it allow her to tap into that urge to create and how did it shape it? What was her intent when doing this work?
The pathos and questions around Woodman’s life don’t really interest me; she already gave us all we need to know in the images alone.
How the images speak to and move others, however, seems profoundly interesting.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I so appreciate it!
I am still quite fascinated with her life and would love to know more, but I really appreciate you saying that you are interested in how she is influencing other people's work.
What I can say about myself is that I, from the first moment I saw her images, was struck by them. I felt a connection to the person in those images and in some weird way felt seen by her. It gave me comfort to look at her work and helped me realize that "I wasn't the only one" to feel this way about the world, to feel drawn to this particular aesthetic (haunting, mysterious, vulnerable, etc.). That said, that was years ago and as much as I still admire her work and love her images, I feel like I have grown in my own vision and work. I would say that she helped me find my voice when I needed it.
I'm going to admit I hadn't heard of Francesca Woodman before Manuela, but her work is truly beautiful - what a tragically early end to her life. Thank you for introducing her to me. Your self portrait work is also beautiful - I love the long exposures and the ethereal feel they bring.
Thank you so much, Lin! Her work is worth spending time with. There are a lot of resources our there and also books with her work. Absolutely stunning!
And, it is so, so tragic that she died so young.
Stunning images- both hers and yours. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much!
You ask some wonderful questions and I love seeing how Francesca inspired your earlier work and helped you find your artistic voice. I saw her photos in Paris in 2016 at the Henri Cartier Bresson Foundation. It was a wonderful exhibit! I had heard of her before that, but it was something else to see her works in print. The prints were small, which I found to be interesting and intimate. It suited the work well. She was so brave, and that inspired so many of us to be brave as well. We all wish we could have seen what she created as a more mature person, but alas, that's only left to our imaginations.
Oh, I would love to see her images in person. That they were small makes it all the more appealing to me to spend time with them. She was indeed very brave!
"Would she have been as famous if she hadn't died from suicide?"
I think she was ahead of her time. I don't think anyone quite knew what to make of those images in those days. I like to think that over time she would have become more well-known, although likely very slowly. But then, would she ever have hit that tipping point where anyone at all knew of her work?
I think you have a good point. This is the third time that someone says that she was ahead of her time, and I totally agree. And I also agree that no one really knew how to respond to her images.
In any case, we will never know.
I hadn’t heard of Francesca Woodman before, but what you share and say about her work is lovely. So are your photographs too, by the way. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much!
What a beautiful tribute Manuela. I actually have never heard of Francesca, but I have heard of similar stories. I was holding my breath, waiting for the story to turn out differently but then when I read, she died of suicide, I couldn’t help but wince. Why do so many amazing artists die so soon? I guess it’s because of their intense sensitivity and vulnerability for which they clearly need so much support yet, it was not available. Thank you for introducing me to her work. We all have a little bit of Francesca in us. I can see why you admire her so much.
I hear you. Why? I think the world is not cut out for the sensitive ones. That, and depression was probably nit recognized and there was no help. It is just so sad.
And, yes, we definitely have some of her in us.
Amazing, Manuela and what a fantastic source of inspiration!
It puzzles me how many still don't know about Francesca Woodman but hey.
Last year in Rome I met a curator/collector who was part of the gallerists who did her first exhibition over there, it was fascinating to see his notebooks and everything he collected from those days.
Thanks for shining a light on her work and congratulations on your self portraits, they're stunning!
Thank you so much, Xavi! I was a bit surprised myself that so many people don't know her. I thought everyone is inspired by her work. :) I am glad I was able to introduce her to more people.
Worth trying to seeScott Willis' film 'The Woodmans'. on DVd. I've loved Francesca's work for a long time, seeing the film helped understand her better and also gave me the feeling that having grown up in a creative family she would eventually have gone around this feeling that she had done her best work, it always feels one of those terrible 'if only situations' , if only someone had called round that day etcetera. i know that dying young with a body of work often attracts attention, but think the interest her work generates around 'disappearance' trancendentalism, , blur and self portraiture would have kept her in people's awareness, but that's just my hope and feeling.Thank you for this appreciation of her, it really cheered up my morning!
Thank you so much! I have heard of this documentary. I also read some things about her family and parents and it does help to understand her work better.
I also want to believe that she would have become famous regardless and that she would have created much more outstanding work had she lived. My guess is that she would have eventually moved away from self-portraiture and explored other genres, but, of course, we will never know.
Her work is absolutely stunning. She is on my list of female photographers I want to write about. You did a wonderful job here. What I find most amazing about her is how much ahead of her time she was and how artistic and unique at this young age. I wonder how her work would have developed hadn‘t she died so young…
I know it is. And you put it so well saying that has was ahead of her time. So true! I don't think there was anyone like her with this particular style and aesthetic. However, I do think she continues to inspire so many artists, especially self-portrait artists.
I would love to read a post from you about her!
Definitely gone too soon. I’d never heard of her, her work is stunning and ahead of her time. What a loss and a gift to have seen some of her vision
Ahead of her time is exactly right. Her vision, especially being so young, was amazing!
Compelling images, hers as well as yours. Many thanks for introducing your readers to Francesca Woodman.
Thank you so much!
I was not aware of Francesca Woodman. Thanks for the intro! Your work is always great, and the ones you shared here are no different!
Thank you kindly, Dan!
I didn't know this photographer. Thanks for sharing her work, Manuela. I like how you interpreted her themes.
Thanks so much, Connie. You should check out more of her work. I wanted to share so many more images, but felt like I had to cut it down. :)
Manuela, it is almost surreal that I keep finding connections and inspiration from your images and what you write and also what you share of others that has inspired me. A few years ago a friend gave me a book of her photographs from 1975 to 1980. I did not know of her before. Her work deeply inspires me and challenges me. Her work pierces me in a whole different way.
I will respond to you more personally to sharing this and the questions that you ask of it.
Dwight, I knew you would connect with her work. I think you are putting it well when saying that her work pierces you. I definitely feel the same.
Would love to hear more of your thoughts!
I plan to share more. I started on an email to you yesterday, then I left for grandkids soccer game. When I came back, I couldn’t find it, so I will start over.
Sounds good. :) No rush!
I thought I was going to email you because what I have written is not really for whoever else might read. So what I thought was your email came back undelivered. I have written to you now. Perhaps if you email me then I can email you back with what I wrote.
drholden@mac.com
Thanks
Just sent you an email!