Lesson Three Notes.

Critical Studies Lesson Three: The gaze and voyeurism.

John Berger- Naked/nude.

A mans presence is dependent upon the promise of power whereas a woman’s presence expresses her own attitude to herself; her presence is manifested in her own gestures voice etc. Mans presence is what he has outside of his body whereas a woman’s presence is literally just her body how they appear to men. Men generate an image out of a woman’s presence (painter) beauty. Women must generate presence out of men’s judgements.

To be naked is to be oneself, to be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become nude, nudity is like a part of clothing as you are not truly naked. If you paint a naked body is becomes nude as the painter is judging her, only painting what he wants to see i.e. not painting pubic hair. The surveyor of woman in herself is male; she turns herself into an object of vision, sight.

Objectification: Pornographic imagery offers women as available for male sexual fantasy, in a restricted range of roles. It is the practice of treating another person as a commodity or as an object for use.

The Gaze: The power to look upon others. It has been suggested that men possess the gaze and look upon women. This operates at a social level and generates a culture of image production in which women are continually viewed as objects for men to look at, forcing women to internalise this gaze to the point where they survey and monitor their actions in relations to a perceived on lookers.

Voyeurism: Sexual interest in observing other people engaged in sexual practices. Linked with the term scopophilia, sexual pleasure from looking at others bodies as objects.

Larry Clark creator of ‘Teenage Lust’ and ‘Tulsa’ wanted to capture teenagers in the moment, wanted it to feel as if we were there with them.

Jeff Burton more subtle than Clarks but still nude images. Very suggestive by the colour etc.

Nobuyoshi Araki Women in rope bondage very explicit. Objectifying women, camera embodies the male role.

Cindy Sherman her images imply that the very construction of identity is built upon a representation.