Week Twenty Three Jo Spence (1934-1992) Remodelling Photo History (Revisualization), 1982 (Jo Spence and Terry Dennett), Jo Spence is a key figure in photography; working across feminist, political and social agendas, and best known for her work using ‘photo-therapy’ reclaiming and re-presenting her own body and of a self with cancer. She began her career as a studio photographer, but shifted towards an interest in the political and documentary possibilities of photography in the 70s. She met Terry Dennett, a lifelong collaborator, and in 1974, they set up the Photography Workshop (1974), as an educational resource. Aged 46, she went to college to study the theory and practice of photography; a few months after graduating, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Picture of Health? (1982-86) documents the journey through her illness and treatment. It is her attempt to find herself ‘seen’ within the detachment of the medical gaze. In one image, she stands before a mammogram, her breast laid out on its shelf – flesh and technology combined. In 1984, with Rosy Martin, Spence developed Photo Therapy, borrowing techniques from co-counselling and psychodrama. Here, the person in front of the camera is both the subject and author of the image; in control and able to represent their often previously unexpressed feelings and ideas. In 1986, she produced ‘Putting Myself in the Picture: A Political, Personal and Photographic Autobiography. Jo Spence saw herself as an educational photographer; and disliked the term ‘artist’, wishing instead to be a “Cultural Sniper, capable of appearing anywhere, in any guise”. After surviving breast cancer, she died of leukaemia in 1992, leaving an archive of around 10,000 negatives, diaries, notebooks and correspondence What she said: “One morning, whilst reading, I was confronted by the awesome reality of a young white-coated doctor, with student retinue, standing by my bedside. As he referred to his notes, without introduction, he bent over me and began to ink a cross onto the area of flesh above my left breast. As he did so a whole chaotic series of images flashed through my head. Rather like drowning. I heard this doctor, whom I had never met before, this potential daylight mugger, tell me that my left breast would have to be removed”. “Two elements make up photo-therapy – photography and therapy – and each word has come to have a number of meanings for me, both as a former professional photographer and as a cancer person. I arrived at these formulations mostly through actual practice, so my ideas may not be the same as those of an academic or professional therapist.” Why I like her: Jo Spence remains a strong influence on many artists working with their bodies and representation of self. She used photography as the language, as a means to an end, to explore the self, the body, the mother /daughter relationship. She gave us that which is taboo, or invisible: a woman’s real body, big breasts, a diseased body. She celebrated process, collaboration, and was often very funny. Working against the norm at all times, she was a true pioneer. jospence.org
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 20:15:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015