Ryan McGinley is an American photographer, currently living in New York, who's work focuses on photographing both models and friends, predominantly naked, in various situations. He has won a string of awards including, but not limited to, the Young Photographer Infinity Award given by the International Center of Photography. A sense of freedom and youth is apparent in most of his work and tightly coupled with a level of intimacy that many other photographers fail to convey.
In order to discuss his work and the way it challenges the given conceptions of the portrait and the nude we must first define these terms; we must bare in mind that a portrait, in its simplest form, is a “a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of a person” as stated by the Oxford English Dictionary. A strong starting point for this discussion, and others alike, is that of John Berger's Ways of Seeing and his own discussions on nudes and portraits in which he stated that 'nakedness was created in the mind of the beholder'. (Berger, 2008, pg42) By saying this he is presenting the idea that the subject themselves may intentionally be only naked, whereas the reception of the image is what makes it a nude. Kenneth Clark, in Ways of Seeing, also states that 'to be seen naked is simply to be without clothes, whereas the nude is a form of art'. (Clark, 2008, pg47) Again this is proving the distinction between a person being naked and being nude, being naked is nothing more than a lack of clothes, here he is arguing that to be nude is to be presented in that way and thus an art form. Both of these statements are fairly generic and straightforward, essentially implying that to be nude is a state of mind or something to be presented as opposed to something that is stumbled on. This is backed up further by Berger in the way he writes that 'A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become a nude' (Berger, 2008, pg48), this is elaborating further on the previous statements and confirming that a nude is an object and presented as an art form and thus we can safely say that a person can be naked, without necessarily being nude.
Due to this distinction we can also argue that photo may be taken of a naked person and still be seen as a portrait as opposed to a nude due to the focus and presentation of it. Historically nudes have been examples of bodies to be admired or even shamed, whereas Mcginley's work seems to feature people that happen to be naked. This may sometimes be in a snapshot nature and reflect the person as they were at the given time, and thus a portrait, or may be actively naked but in a way to reflect purity and intimacy as opposed to a study of the human figure.
It is also important to notice that most writings on portraits or nudes are written in relation to painting, in The Nude Clark goes on to explain that the invention of photography in portraiture results in an exact representation and that 'we are immediately disturbed by wrinkles, pouches and hoer small imperfections which in the classical scheme, are eliminated.' (Clark, 1960, pg2). This is to say that these imperfections show a person as they truly are and not as they want to be presented, this is an example of photographic practice challenging the previous conceptions of nudes and portraits within painting.
However McGinleys work takes this a step further and often focusses on these items such as missing teeth, black eyes and scars etc, and outright presents and even celebrates them as opposed to hiding them, this is apparent in the photo Laura, 2010. This conflicts directly with Kodak's How To Take Good Pictures, a somewhat dated and rigid source that reels off various hints and tips explaining the basics of photography from choosing a camera and a lens to lighting and composition with pretty much everything in between. It states that 'a portrait calls for soft, even lighting that will play down wrinkles/or other complexion irregularities.' (Kodak, 1984, pg69) This is and interesting statement and again a point at which McGinley's photographs start to challenge the rules, his series Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, from which our example is taken, is very softly and evenly light but this not to draw attention away from these irregularities. It is these irregularities that are actually central focal points of his images and in turn the soft lighting actually results in complimenting these elements and showing them almost as a different kind of beauty. This is a direct example of how his work challenges preconceptions, of both nudes and portraits, as he ignores the idea of capturing a persons best side or favourite features and favours more of a candid or snapshot ethic that people would normally choose to avoid or disapprove of.
This manual continues with explaining that 'your subject will be more relaxed and comfortable if involved in one of his or her normal activities' (Kodak, 1984, pg69) and again I think this is where McGinley's photographs start to differ. For most of us it is not a an everyday activity to run naked through a field or jump up and down in a brightly lit studio for the purpose of taking photographs, however the expressions shown in the faces of his subjects often portray happiness, excitement or a sense of freedom that seems to frequent his work. However this can go both ways and I feel that due to the specific subjects he chooses he is also curating a group of free spirited people that will comply to his ideals and therefore are people that are comfortable and relaxed in these otherwise outlandish situations. This brings to my next point of photographing an identity as opposed to an individual.
Gerry Badgers states that 'In the celebrity portrait, we acknowledge an individual, in the social portrait we study a type.' (Badger, 2010, pg58) This train of thought implies that the subject of a portrait becomes devoid of individuality unless they are in a position to be recognised by all and thus seen as their own person. This in turn this bring us to the function of a portrait, Arts in Society states that 'the function of the portrait painting was to underwrite and idealise a chosen social role of the sitter. It was not to present him as 'an individual' but, rather, as an individual monarch, bishop, landowner, merchant and so on.' (Berger, 1977, pg47). This confirms my previous statement and although it is written specifically in relation to paintings I feel that it still applies as it obvious that McGinley is presenting a certain youth culture in his images as opposed to individuals.
This certain type of youth is present throughout his work, past and present, and shows both males and females running wild, climbing trees, jumping of cliffs and appearing somewhat feral on occasion. This is even still present in his series of black and white photographs Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, although the sitters are presented in a much more sombre manner they are still directly noticeable as a certain collection of people and not a cross section of society. This is apparent in the way they wear their hair, their tattoos and or piercings and the expressions they convey, we get the impression that these are young adults that still and want to be young.
This presentation of a particular crowd brings me back to another of Berger's points in the way he states 'We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves' (Berger, 2008, pg1). This train of though applies to McGinley's subjects in that we categorise them and either identify with them or separate them from ourselves. This is our way of seeing and links directly again with another of Berger's points, 'an image is a sight which has been recreated or reproduced. It has an appearance, or a set of appearances, which has been detached from the place and time in which it made its appearance and preserved - for a few moments or a few centuries. Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph.' (Berger, 2008, pg2). I would argue that this should end saying especially a photograph, as opposed to even, as the exact documentary of photography shows an event or person exactly as they were at the given time and not as they are always. By photographing and showing his subjects in the way that he does McGinley is presenting a very linear collection of people, detaching them from their individuality and forcing them into a collection where they are seen together, as mentioned earlier in a certain class or category.
This confirms that the way we relate to a picture is reliant on the way it was created, due to the exact nature of photography we are not relying on a painter's skill and as is suggested in The pleasure of Good Photographs 'we gaze not at the painter's work but at the photographer's subject.' (Badger, 2010, pg57) This is to say that the photographer is presenting a certain subject, and as previously mentioned we do not present individuals but types, and this is a point at which McGinley definitely conforms to the conceptions of portraiture. However he conforms to this as much as he challenges this in the way that his portraits of types happen to be of naked people, thus making them fall into some kind of middle ground between portraits and nudes. The nakedness of his subjects is not accidental and they are neither in their own environments or presented as individuals, however they are relaxed and appear to be free of any anxieties and at peace with themselves. Individually his photos can be seen as a celebration of an individual, however as a set we know that they are part of a certain group that he has chosen to portray.
Essentially we have come to a conclusion that he conforms to some conventions while simultaneously ignoring elements of both trains of thought, logically this brings us to how a photo is presented. A strong example of this is that of Paul Strand's Blind Woman in which we have a photo of a woman that is not obviously blind to look at but is holding a sign that reads 'BLIND'. Between this and the obvious title of the image we are not simply shown a portrait of a woman, we are shown a portrait of a blind woman because she is presented as this. This is a very simple point but I feel that if McGinley's works were presented as portraits of people then they would be that, in the same way that if they were presented as nudes they could well be that too. However I feel that in his work the definitions of these words can become somewhat irrelevant, for instance a portrait in its simplest form is an image of a person and a nude is the naked subject of an image. A nude and a portrait are fundamentally different by definition, however the title of nude portrait allows for room to manoeuvre and means that we don't have to follow such rigid trains of thought.
This brings my discussion full circle to the definition of both words, it seems they can easily be manipulated to apply to a given image and thus the border between the two may seem seem hazy at times. Because of this I feel that McGinley's photographs can be seen in either light and thus defined as either one, there is nothing to say that a nude cannot be a portrait and vice versa and I think this middle ground of disambiguation is ideally where his photos sit. Overall I would argue that he still complies with traditional techniques but does this in a different way to present something new, but by doing this he is still presenting a certain type regardless of wether his photos are received by the individual as nudes or portraits. Therefore I would argue that he challenges and accepts conceptions from both of these types of photograph resulting in refreshing but still classic themes that give his photographs a distinct visual style and sense of intimacy in terms of both portraits and nudes.
Bibliography
Books:
Arts In Society – Reynold Benham, John Berger, etc
Berger, J. (1977). No More Portraits. In: Barker, P Arts in Society. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. 45-51.
Berger, J. (1977). Sight and Sex. In: Barker, P Arts in Society. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. 51-57.
Berger, J. (1977). The Worst is Not Yet come. In: Barker, P Arts in Society. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co. 66-73.
Kodak (1984). Hot To Take Good Pictures. Glasgow: Berger, J. (1977). The Worst is Not Yet come. In: Barker, P Arts in Society. Glasgow: William Collins Sons & Co.
Gefter, P (2009). Photography After Frank. Hong Kong: Aperture Foundation.
Badger, G (2010). The Pleasures of Good Photographs. Hong Kong: Aperture Foundation.
Clark, K (1960). The Nude. Great Britain: Pelican Books.
Berger, J (2008). Ways of Seeing. 6th ed. London: Penguin Books.
McGinley, R(2009). Moonmilk. United Kingdom: Morel Books. 00.
McGinley, R (2010). Life Adjustment Center. New York: Dashwood Books.
McGinley, R(2010). Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. New York: Dashwood Books.
Websites:
Oxford Dictionaries. (2012). Portrait. Available: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/portrait?q=portrait. Last accessed 25t January 2012.
Ryan McGinley. (2011). Ryan McGinley. Available: http://ryanmcginley.com/. Last accessed 25th January 2012.
Team Gallery. (2010). Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Available: http://teamgal.com/exhibitions/171. Last accessed 25th January 2012.
Wikipedia. (2012). Depictions of Nudity. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depictions_of_nudity. Last accessed 25th January 2012.
Wikipedia. (2012). Portrait. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait. Last accessed 25th January 2012.
Wikipedia. (2012). Ryan McGinley. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_McGinley. Last accessed 25th January 2012.
Images:
McGinley, R (2010). Laura, 2010. Available: http://ryanmcginley.com/Everybody_Knows_This_Is_Nowhere. Last accessed 25th January 2012
Strand, R (1916). Blind Woman. Available: http://www.all-art.org/history658_photography13-15.html. Last accessed 25h January 2012
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