“The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” (Berger, Ways of Seeing. Pg8)

 

John Berger’s Ways of Seeing inspired me to think about why we think and act the way we do, how important the influence of those we trust is, and the impact of images on how we situate ourselves in society.

 

The evolution of science as a means to explain human existence and mass globalisation has proved that religion is a cultural phenomenon passed down to us over generations in an attempt to justify our existence. This is not to undermine spirituality, but to suggest that a believe system can no longer be inferior to another.

 

Religion has been used by governments to manifest fear in its people and create divides within society that justify their right to power. This creates an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ paradox that has formed every world war and justified every colonisation. The belief that other people are ‘bad’ or ‘dangerous’ was created out of fear of the unknown. If we understand the significance of communication in the way we interpret other cultures, we can clearly see where injustices still lie in society.

 

My project aimed to explore masculinity through photography, how has it been represented throughout history and how activists are trying to combat these stereotypes; my research has taken me through the history of men in art, literature and politics, and has resulted in my perspective on patriarchy changing forever.

 

Through talking to the men I photographed during this project, reading on both the feminist and the men’s rights movement and coming to my own conclusions about masculinity, I have understood the importance of representation and knowing where we come from in giving our lives purpose.

 

“A people or class which is cut off from its own past is far less free to choose and to act as a people or class than one that has been able to situate itself in history. This is why – and this is the only reason why – the entire art of the past has now become a political issue.” (Berger, Ways of Seeing. Pg33)

 

In the same way we need to provide greater representation of women and ethnic minority backgrounds, we need to do the same for men. If society is ever to reach equality, we need to except that there are injustices in both sexes and work together to build a society that accommodates for all.

 

In reflection of this project, and on the current state of global politics, the realisations I have had over this project have helped me to understand the injustices in our systems and how the personal responsibility of individuals to create work that is beneficial for the future. Something I regret during this project was not using enough representations of men from different backgrounds in my publication. In my shoots on Religious places of worship, I was planning on visiting a number of religious establishments to discuss masculinity and photograph cultures from all over the world that now call the UK home; this being said, I was only able to photograph what was directly around me due to Covid19 and was therefor unable to complete my documentary style photography project.

 

My FMP has resulted in my coming to a really positive ending to my degree even during such uncertain times. I care about real people, movements and cultures. How and why they exist. I have developed my photography skills extensively during this time and have learnt about what interests me. I am an activist, and hope that this will take me somewhere in the future!

 

final document FMP submission

 

If we understand that culture stems from religious and spiritual ritual practices of a particular place, it is important to look at religious iconography and places of worship to help us understand why things came to be. This practice can help us feel purpose with positive revelations, while also giving us areas to improve our society when foundations are built on injustices.

 

The collection of images was taken from test shoots before lock down began. For my project, I wanted to photograph a number of other establishments from a variety of other spiritual practices such as:

1. Buddhist temple
2. Synagogue
3. Mosque
4. Anglican
5. Methodist
6. Scientology
7. Cathedral
8. Evangelist
9. Quaker
10. Women’s ministry

 

Due to the lockdown restrictions, I am having to work only with my test shoot images.

These came from

1. St Marys church, Brighton
2. Buddhapadipa temple, Wimbledon
3. Buddhist Centre, Brighton

 

Discussing with my tutor the relationship between men and flowers.

 

Before lockdown I was able to visit the Amateur Boxing Club in Epsom to take some images of the training.

The idea of taking photographs of men fighting was how I originally wanted to capture men for one shoot for this project. Violence is a reaction that is predominantly thought of as a masculine characteristic, men defending themselves or to defend their people. Anger is an emotion that triggers the fight or flight response and causes the person to take immediate action to stop threatening behaviour.

When I started this project, I understood western masculinity in a very different way and through photography I wanted to create themes that criticise it.

These areas explored:

1. Aggression
2. Competition
3. Stress
4. Misogyny
5. The Apollonian
6. Power

 

The original idea for the boxing shoot came from my brother. He has struggled with mental health throughout his life and often this leads to angry outbreaks. As a result of this, it was suggested that he joined the boxing team to learn to channel the anger into something much more proactive. Initially, I thought this was a way for him to go and let out his anger to prevent lashing out in the home or around friends, however, the results have helped him in many aspects of his life.

 

Boxing for Joseph is learning to control your emotions. He has learnt to control his reactions when he feels threatened and not to let the anger ride over all reason. Talking to trainer Toby, this is what he experiences with most men who take part in these classes and what keeps them coming back.

 

If we understand that aggressive behaviour is not a masculine reaction but is maybe more common in men because they have less power over their emotions and are less willing to focus on the long-term problem of where these issues stem from, rather than the short-term solution of angry outburst that are immediately suppressed.

 

The images I have taken reflect this realisation too. The men do not appear aggressive and out of control, but are focused, using their mind to fight not their emotions.

 

Reflecting on my shoot:

I used 35mm camera to capture the boxers on coloured film. Using the film camera was challenging as I needed a fast shutter speed to capture the motion of my subjects, in a dark room lit with white light. Overall, I am happy with my images, however, if I could repeat the shoot, I would use a bigger flash on some of the images. I would also experiment further with using this in combination with a DSLR camera to ensure I had a diverse range of shots.

When Cassie Jaye set out to create her documentary, Meeting the Enemy, a film that follows the men’s rights movement in America, she was completely unaware of the lesson she would learn from the project, and the practice she would later teach.

 

It wasn’t until she sat down to edit the film that she realised that she hadn’t been listening to her interviewees at all, instead only listening for comments to argue against. One man argued, “everything you see was built by a man”. While this seems like a sexist unfair comment that implies women are unable to do the same thing, this is not what the man is arguing. Gender has naturally filtered men and women into different roles due to the fundamental different functions of each sex. Not to say that women can’t do the same, but gender roles developed through strength and environments. Cassie responds with, “every human was born from a woman”.

 

The important lesson to remember in both these arguments is that it is not a contest between who is more oppressed or worse off in society, both sides have valid points that should be listened to. Listen to the statistics to ensure that all needs are met, regardless of gender.

 

Actions that uniquely affect men:

1. Paternity fraud
2. War draft/ front line
3. Workplace deaths
4. Suicide
5. Sentencing disparity
6. Life expectancy
7. Child custody
8. Child support
9. Criminal court bias
10. Homelessness
11. Male genital mutilation
12. Lack of parental choice when child is conceived
13. Male domestic violence resources

 

Women often believe that men have all the rights because we had to fight for them, and through this battle, we can justify why we feel the way we do. Men however have not yet been entitled to this liberation. We know that sexism of any form, racism or discrimination is wrong, but why do people do it? These are the questions we need to answer, and through this, we need to consider the other side of the gender equality equation.

 

As a result of her documentary The Red Pill, she was criticised by the feminist movement for humanising the men’s rights movement and consequently she distanced herself from the feminist movement. She now calls the enemy the ego, not the men’s rights activists or feminists, and argues that we all need to engage with each other to create equality.

 

 

“We have to stop expecting to be offended.”

The controversial documentary on the men’s rights movement follows porn-star and men’s rights activist Philipp Tanzer to the International Conference of Men’s Issues held in Chicago. The group has been under scrutiny for its public doctrine that men are the disadvantaged sex in society.

Tanzer explains that “as a man, whatever we do is wrong”.

While parts of society hold on to old traditional accomplishments to gender (in Germany, to be a man you must plant a tree, build a house and have a child in your lifetime), others are trying to move on or create new, more liberating goals.

“men need representation on our side as well.” Phillip Tanzer

This is true. Men do need more representation in society to combat discrimination, and this can be achieved. The change then needs to come from them. If you need more representation, this must be pursued. This however should never come at the cost of less representation for women.

As an military officer, Phillip was surrounded by other men who enlisted and discovered what had driven them into the army was  they had lost their children in custody battles and were no longer able to see them. With this thought in mind, he came back from war to fight for change in mens custody rights before becoming an activist.

Graham Goulden is equal rights activist who is an experienced and committed leadership and violence prevention trainer. As a former police officer, he witnessed first-hand the effects of violence and fear in the community, now he creates programmes that help create conditions where good people can do good things when faced with challenging situations. An attempt to stop crime before it is done, rather than to punish those who commit crime. He believes that “men need to take responsibility for these issues, or they will still feel judged” . The same patterns will keep appearing if we do not try to understand why they exist.

Tracey Farrell works for the open university, and studies sexist attitudes online and defines three different types of misogynistic behaviours:

1. Belittling women
2. Stoicism
3. Flipping the narrative (men subjugated by feminism- they are the oppressed victims of society)

Their is no competition between the sexes, one will not have less rights if the other is fighting for injustices in their own. Women needed to create a platform to discuss how they were going to change the way they were seen in society, and through our entire ancestral history of education, we are evolving to understand that we are all equals, regardless of how we choose to display our physical body. Men however haven’t yet had a movement that suggested they were unhappy with their own representation in society.

We act like achieving equal human rights is an impossible battle, but are willing to rush straight into war over our ego.   Human rights equality is not celebrated in the way conquest was because there is no sides, the celebration is within ourself. Things are not just ‘how it is’,  we should question social restrictions, this is how we grow.

see documentary below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p088t1vr

Drawing my work to a close and thinking about how I can present my final shoot concepts, I need to consider what kind of platform or publication I want to create.

The theme of my project based around changing perspectives is something that interests me personally, that is becoming more relevant to our general understanding of the world and also something I feel has the opportunity to go much further, especially due to the current crisis. As globalisation informs us of every possibility of belief, and psychological studies let us understand how the people around us shape these beliefs, we can critically reflect on these theories to help us create a better and more fulfilling future.

A clear example of this is represented in the current covid19 epidemic. Shortly before the outbreak, the UK voted to leave the EU (our closest traders), reduce income tax and to cut public spending. Now, we see the UK is scrambling for resources, pouring all its funding into the National Health Service and state benefits for those who can no longer work to support themselves or their families. The exact opposite of what we voted for.

Unable to leave your house due to being unwell, potentially losing your job or your home, losing a family member or someone close to you, suffering with mental health problems or finding a lack of motivation for life due to your situation.

If we understand that those most vulnerable people and their families struggle with these burdens not just through covid19, but always, then we need to make sure we remember this reality into our future, as we remember other stories of triumph over suffering.

By creating a publication that exposes other realities, we ae able to consider how our actions affect other people.

 

Please see attached a link to my sketchbook containing my research on 4 publications, Hello Mr., True, Hard Ears and Flower Smuggler.

 

publications document copy

On the 40th day of lockdown, families and friends congregate at Telegraph Hill in South East London during isolation to watch another sun set over the desolate city.

Frensham Ponds were man made in the 13th century to keep fish to feed the Bishop of Winchester and his court fish while visiting Farnham Castle. The area is now an internationally important conservation sight for a number of rare and endangered wildlife species and plants. While being maintained, visitors to the beach are permitted to swim in the fresh water and lounge on the surrounding beach.

During the summer months, the ponds are swarmed with people from all across the south of England. Due to the current Covid19 situation, the area is virtually deserted, with a few local families using the ponds for leisure.

As I have been considering concepts around water, I wanted to take some experimental shots of the area. Although I cannot conduct a shoot as I would have before, I would like to go back to the lakes to take more images when it is busy for my project.

 

By using a macro lens to photograph the honey harvest, I was able to capture some detailed shots of the bees in their environment. Using the idea of exploring perspectives, I have focused on the image to see them individually rather than as a whole hive.