Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography

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dc.contributor.advisorRichards, Colinen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorJosephy, Sveaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHiggins, Josephineen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-06T14:17:26Z
dc.date.available2015-10-06T14:17:26Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis focuses on the aesthetics of the photographic representation of the actual dead body in Elizabeth Heyert's The Travelers (2004), Pieter Hugo's The Bereaved (2005) and Walter Schels and Beate Lakotta's Life Before Death: Portraits of the Dying (2004). The use of portraiture in each of these artist's series is crucial as it suggests an interest in the 'subjectness' of the corpse. Katarzyna Majak's (2011) theory of socialization as an attempt to lessen the scandal of the corpse through representation is central throughout this thesis. Majak argues that for the viewer the corpse is a scandal, because it discomfortingly presents the transformation of a body from subject to object. For Majak, socialization is essentially the taming of the dead body, achieved by re-presenting the corpse as an individual. Socialization emphasizes the subject-ness of the deceased individual, rather than the object-ness of the corpse, of pure unadulterated matter. The use of portraiture in each of the above series socializes the corpse by presenting the individual identity of the deceased as a subject, in varying degrees. Death is approached through the recognizable conventions of portraiture itself, thereby to some extent taming or domesticating the corpse. This thesis expands on Majak's valuable theory by establishing a continuum of socialization from subject-ness to object-ness. Importantly, this continuum reveals varying degrees of socialization within the three series. Socialization is used here as an analytical tool with which to explore the photographs, drawing out similarities and differences. I argue that through various aesthetic techniques, these three series encourage the viewer to look at these different images of the corpse with varying degrees of comfort.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationHiggins, J. (2013). <i>Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationHiggins, Josephine. <i>"Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHiggins, J. 2013. Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Higgins, Josephine AB - This thesis focuses on the aesthetics of the photographic representation of the actual dead body in Elizabeth Heyert's The Travelers (2004), Pieter Hugo's The Bereaved (2005) and Walter Schels and Beate Lakotta's Life Before Death: Portraits of the Dying (2004). The use of portraiture in each of these artist's series is crucial as it suggests an interest in the 'subjectness' of the corpse. Katarzyna Majak's (2011) theory of socialization as an attempt to lessen the scandal of the corpse through representation is central throughout this thesis. Majak argues that for the viewer the corpse is a scandal, because it discomfortingly presents the transformation of a body from subject to object. For Majak, socialization is essentially the taming of the dead body, achieved by re-presenting the corpse as an individual. Socialization emphasizes the subject-ness of the deceased individual, rather than the object-ness of the corpse, of pure unadulterated matter. The use of portraiture in each of the above series socializes the corpse by presenting the individual identity of the deceased as a subject, in varying degrees. Death is approached through the recognizable conventions of portraiture itself, thereby to some extent taming or domesticating the corpse. This thesis expands on Majak's valuable theory by establishing a continuum of socialization from subject-ness to object-ness. Importantly, this continuum reveals varying degrees of socialization within the three series. Socialization is used here as an analytical tool with which to explore the photographs, drawing out similarities and differences. I argue that through various aesthetic techniques, these three series encourage the viewer to look at these different images of the corpse with varying degrees of comfort. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography TI - Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationHiggins J. Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Michaelis School of Fine Art, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentMichaelis School of Fine Arten_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherFine Arten_ZA
dc.titleSeeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photographyen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMFAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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