In the remote farmlands near Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alessandra Sanguinetti produced a series of photographs entitled On the Sixth Day that centered on the symbiotic relationship between the farmers, their animals, and the land. While working on this series she first met Guille and Belinda whose families lived and worked on these farms. The two cousins were ten and nine years old when Sanguinetti began to photograph them. Sanguinetti sought to portray the psychological and physical transformations of these girls as they matured into adults. As opposed to a more traditional documentary narrative of these two girls growing up in this rural environment, Sanguinetti instead focused on the desires and dreams of their active imaginations. Sanguinetti writes, "I have attempted to interpret the ending of their childhood by entering their imaginary spaces. The time when their dreams, fantasies, and fears would fuse seamlessly with real day-to-day life are ending, and the photographs I have made intend to crystallize this rapidly disappearing very personal and free space." The resulting series of images, presented here under the title The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, represents not only an elaborate collaboration between photographer and subject but an intimate relationship cultivated over a five-year period.
Questions:
- How does this group of photographs differ from the previous two examples, Tina Barney and Richard Billingham?
- What do the photographs of these two girls tell us about the nature of adolescence?
- How do you feel these images match Cotton's ideas (see below) of the relationship of intimacy between the photographer and the subject?
8 comments:
I beleive the phototgrapher had to be pretty close to these girls to capture these moments. If not they would have looked at the camera alot more. Compared to the last two photographers these seem much more innocent, and the lighting seems to have been positioned. They don't look like snapshots at all. These girls show that innocence all children have, but also that craving for more that I think we all had whch was the beginging of the end of childhood.
I think this photographer seems to have a better relationship with her subjects. The two girls are obvious close with her and comfortable enough around her to “play” the way they do. I would like to know how many of these photographs were set up and which ones where they were just caught in the act. Clearly some were set up because of the lighting used but others look like it was more like a “snap shot”. How many of the themes were the girls idea?
Sanguinetti's project captured the nature of the end of childhood pretty well, to me. The transition between childhood and teenagers are funny in a way and pretty hard at the same time. They already have dreams, and they do not have the right age yet to make them become true. At the same time, they act, pretend, and see themselves as a reflection of parents, older people, or even rich and famous ones. However, they still have the innocence of a child on them. I like the artist's work because she was able to capture and frame the girls special dreamy life period in natural a very nice way.
I think the photographs tell us that adolescence is full of ever-changing dreams, wishes, and hopes for the future. There is something kind of whimsical about these images as well.
I agree with what everyone else has already said. I can see the transformation as the girls begin to mature. Are these images in chronological order? I think the first one is so much different from the last one. The last image is much darker, more somber and grounded. It's like they've left childhood forever, whereas the first one is very whimsical and freeing. I would like to be able to capture this much emotion in my images.
I think i would have undetood these images better if they were in chronological order. As your progrss you can see the childhood innocense start to fade. The relationship between the artst and the subjects must have been strong that she could gain their trust and document so much of their lives.
The girls are playing roles that they have been introduced to, you wonder if she gave them props and dessed them up, or if it was thier idea. It is not clear from the reading, it just says that she focused on their dreams and hopes and stuff. Were these dreams influenced by her and her arrival?
I love these photographs and the thought put behind them. How trusting these young girls were! I'm amazed how comfortable they were to dance/play/walk around in there undergarments in front of the camera. I love how this photographer did photograph the typical "skinny minny" blonde hair, blue eyed babe. I love how the photographer looked at a challenge and did extremely well on it.
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