Browsing by Subject "Photography"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Borderlands and Political Ecology: A photographic exploration of the environment, territories, boundaries and power near the imaginary line of the equator
    (2020) Meyer, Garth; Josephy, Svea
    For several years I have photographed primary hardwood forests along the imaginary line of the equator to communicate, persuade and warn of the continued ecological destruction that is occurring along this line. My plan was to capture arcadian visions of equatorial hardwood primary forests before they are destroyed and to show how this arcadian vision is disrupted by a more dystopian one. The images in this project were photographed in three areas that circle the equator: Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, where over half the world's rainforests are concentrated, and which I visited to follow the line. Line is an attempt to understand the current pressures on the equatorial environment and create a photographic exploration of ecology that highlights and foregrounds land, space, territories, boundaries and power. For this, myfield of study and research considers ecology through the theory and lens of photography.
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    (De)Constructing worlds: high Modernism, architecture and photography
    (2018) Pelser, Suraya; Josephy, Svea
    Since the last decade of the twentieth century, there has been renewed interest in photographing high Modernist structures and architectures. A significant portion of these images has tended towards the autotelic or spectacle, with far fewer functioning as social commentary or critique. However, the need for an independent and critical photography of architecture remains. Such a practice furthers our understanding of the lasting legacy of architectural modernity and its ongoing impact/s. This dissertation investigates the critical representation of high Modernist structures, architectures, and urban planning in specific works by contemporary artists and photographers, Andreas Gursky, Filip Dujardin, David Goldblatt, and Beate Gütschow. However diverse their practice, each of these artists and photographers engages with the authoritarian impetus of high Modernism: a drive towards social order and control enacted through its structures and architectures. Through investigation of a range of photographic projects produced with a view to critique the social expression of high Modernism, I argue that contemporary photography which takes architecture as its subject has the ability to communicate wider notions about society. These artists and photographers reveal the degree to which humanity has been elided by high Modernist architectures and planning. By discussing these projects I contribute to a relatively under-researched area of study.
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    Memoria : an exploration of longing, desire and transcience in the everyday
    (2001) Simon, Janet; Inggs, Stephen
    This is a very personal body of work from a specifically feminine perspective. I have felt enormous pressure for most of my life to try to maintain what I believe to be an acceptable appearance. I have struggled with my weight and with acne for many years. As a result, I have constantly feared being photographed or being seen without my usual mask of makeup. This has caused me to feel a disjuncture between my inner self and my outward appearance. I have become acutely aware of the face as a mask that can be manipulated in many ways, and of the illusion that lies beneath appearances. As a reaction to what I perceive to be an enormous emphasis on flawless appearances and beauty, in, for example advertising, magazines and film, I have been drawn to the overlooked, the discarded and the decayed in the everyday When sourcing material for this body of work, I have wanted to explore that which I habitually overlook in my everyday life; which has become so familiar that it is rarely noticed. I have particularly wanted to examine the significance of the everyday.
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    Photographic measurement of upper-body sitting posture of high school students: A reliability and validity study
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2008) van Niekerk, Sjan-Mari; Louw, Quinette; Vaughan, Christopher; Grimmer-Somers, Karen; Schreve, Kristiaan
    BACKGROUND: All the reported measures of sitting posture, as well as photographs, have one flaw, as these measures are external to the body. These measures use calculations from external bony landmarks to estimate spinal posture, on the understanding that what is being measured externally reflects the shape, health and performance of structures of the underlying spine. Without a comparative measure of the relative position of the structures of the spine, the validity of any external spinal posture measure cannot be established. This paper reports on a study which tests the validity of photographs to measure adolescent sitting posture. METHODS: The study was conducted in a laboratory at the Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town. A random sample of 40 adolescents were recruited from the Cape metropolitan schools, to detect differences of three degrees or more between the repeated measures of upright, normal or slouched posture (photographs) and between the posture photographs and LODOX measures. Eligible participants were healthy male and female subjects aged 15 or 16 years old, in Grade 10, and who were undertaking Computer or Computype studies at their schools. Two posture measurement tools were used in the study, namely: Photographs were taken using the Photographic Posture Analysis Method (PPAM) and Radiographs were taken using the LODOX (LODOX (Pty) Ltd) system. Subjects' posture was assessed in simulated computer workstations. The following angles were measured: the sagittal head angle, cervical angle, protraction/retraction angle, arm angle and the thoracic angle. RESULTS: Data from 39 subjects (19 males, 20 females) was used for analysis (17 15-year-olds (7 boys and 10 girls), 22 16-year-olds (12 boys and 10 girls)). All but one photographic angle showed moderate to good correlation with the LODOX angles (Pearson r values 0.67-0.95) with the exception being the shoulder protraction/retraction angle Pearson r values. Bland Altman limits of agreement illustrated a slight bias for all angles. The reliability study findings from repeated photographs demonstrated moderate to good correlation of all angles (ICC values 0.78-0.99). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that photographs provide valid and reliable indicators of the position of the underlying spine in sitting. Clinically it is important to know whether a patient is showing true progression in relation to a postural intervention. Based on the results of this study, the PPAM can be used in practice as a valid measure of sitting posture.
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    The vampire inside my camera: an exhumation of gender, monstrosity and queer worldmaking through photography and video
    (2025) Carosin, Gem; Josephy, Svea; Huigen-Conradie, Stephane; Brundrit, Jean
    Gem Carosin's MFA project The Vampire inside my Camera: an exhumation of gender, monstrosity and queer worldmaking through photography and video uses the vampire character as metaphor investigating shame and desire through a queer lens. Examining how the vampire has taken shape in the public imagination, this text discusses folktales, art- historical and literary influences. Through a historical revisionist approach, monstrosity and the example of the vampire are parallelled to the negative assumptions about queer lives. By recontextualising the compositions and lighting of paintings, Gem draws the past into the present. Temporality, chronopolitics and the disruptive capacity of the undead immortal are of interest to Gem as they explore the limits of heteronormative structures of time-keeping. They break down how and why queer people may use troubled temporality and fluid depictions of gender to imagine utopian futures and queer worlds. This is pinpointed in the horror genre of film and various contemporary artforms that displace linearity. Gem's photography and video art portrays them as the monstrous vampire character, positioning their project as specific to them and their orientation to the world. Using their queer chosen family as photographic subjects, Gem explores what it means to be a monster among monsters in a safe-haven of eternal night. This body of work emphasises the importance of storytelling and imagining in creating queer spaces. Prioritising humour, joy and pleasure in their video work highlights how queer history is often defined by queer suffering. Gem hopes that their photographs will reach other queer individuals and provide comfort and kinship.