MADISON JAMES
Elene Usdin
French photographer Elene Usdin obscures her subjects’ faces and instead finds other ways of expressing their identities, some of which we would naturally rely on in social situations. This photo series is called La Rose Des Vents and it was created for an individualist French theatre which shares the same name. It was created in 2010, but Elene, being born in 1971, and growing up in France in the 80s, was greatly influenced through her youth by Parisian Pop Culture and the vibrant, extreme fashion of the era. Her predominant fashion photography background is visible as she places a greater focus on using fashion to present identity in her faceless portraits whilst also making use of backgrounds, props, patterns and colour. However, her past as a set decorator for cinema and an illustrator are also prevalent in her work particularly given that she explains that her inspiration is found in her dreams and nightmares. In her photo series La Rose Des Vents, which shares both the name and playful qualities of the theatre it was created for, Elene strategically places props so that they obscure the subject’s face and yet reveal so much more. It is an interesting concept that we are able to discover so much about her subjects despite their faces being obscured- we are told more than we would be from a simple portrait that prioritises the face. Storytelling is a priority in Elene Usdin’s work and she states that she enjoys to “tell these stories through the use of fashion”.
The first image emits a mythical and surrealist aura- ideas of mythology, fantasy and women are key themes in Usdin’s work. The image depicts a lady sitting in nature, her face obscured by a lamp shade and is simply titled ‘Femme AbatJour’ meaning ‘Woman lampshade’. The title slightly changes the way the image is perceived: it almost normalises an abnormal activity; this is one of the motives of my project. Despite the fact the image strays so far from reality, the lack of editing Usdin has opted for, once again, normalises the image. Where other photographers who focus on editorial, fantasy style photography, ‘over edit’ their images in terms of vibrance, colour and background, Usdin has chosen a more simple and minimalistic style. The background is advertently natural, with the subject being surrounded by flowers and shrubbery and the lines created by the subject and props compliment this. The curves created by the antique style chair, alongside the flowing texture of the dress and the curved lines of the lampshade, create an ingenious and natural scene. A range of textures are present in the image which help in obscuring parts of the subject. The way the model’s feet are covered by the plants and her face is obscured by the lampshade, a man-made item creates an interesting juxtaposition that reveals significant information about the lifestyle of the subject. Despite the fact we cannot see the subject’s face, Usdin is able to express a lot about their identity. The dress, chair and lampshade are all aged in design and yet they appear almost new in appearance, perhaps implying, alongside the subject’s slumped position, that they are tired and worn by the modern world, hence they have gone back to nature where they seem to ‘blend’ in more and find a sense of belonging. Additionally, this influences the mood of the image, building up ideas of being at ease.
The fact the subject’s face is obscured and parts of her body are concealed by the environment conjures up the idea the nature is omnipotent to mankind- the subject’s face becomes unimportant as her identity can be found in her environment and background. Usdin successfully uses the composition to express the omnipotence nature has over humanity: nature fills the majority of the space in the image and whilst in works in tandem to frame the subject with the symmetry created by Usdin’s use of the rule of thirds, it still remains the focal point of the image, simply due to its abundance. The photo seems to be predominantly lit with natural lighting, emphasising the idea that the subject feels they fit, without force, into nature. The background is darker than the foreground and the white colouring of the lampshade is so bright that it almost mimics a fully lit lamp, implying the subject is perhaps bright in terms of knowledge and presence. Furthermore, Usdin uses the natural background to emphasise the subject’s feminine identity: she draws on ideas of ecofeminism and the idea that “Women and nature share a powerful moral connection” (Mitra-Das, 2020) It is significant that from the photographer’s use of fashion and composition we are easily able to understand the femininity of the subject. Usdin’s work illustrates that the face is not fully responsible for depicting one’s social identity in photography and that we, instead, can rely on the fashion, setting and lighting of the image. In turn, Usdin uses line, shape and colour to strive to normalise the abnormal, whilst also presenting the healing qualities of nature.
In her ‘Stories 3’ project, Usdin has created a series of images that present a female model whose face is obscured by a painting. There once again is a focus on female identity in the faceless portrait which depicts a woman sat using a grand portrait to cover the majority of her body. Unlike the previous image I spoke about, this illustrates the art of mankind, rather than the art of nature. The image, following suit with the rest of her series, has the simple title of ‘Hotel De Nice Selfportrait With Monsieur’ and this once again, seems to normalise the abnormal. The image contrasts light and dark colours- with the darker colours being reflective of the past, in the interior and the painting, and the lighter colours reflecting the present, with the sunlight. In order to express the identity of the model without relying on the face, colour symbolism plays an important part in photography. The model wears red shoes, with red typically symbolising love, anger, courage or war. This, alongside the regal red background, illustrates a certain air of passion about the model. There is a contrast of line and shape in the image, from the harsh lines of the wallpaper and portrait to the curved lines of the model’s legs, and these compliment the symmetry of the photo in framing and elevating the model. I particularly like Usdin’s use of natural lighting as it hones the idea that this occurrence is normal. I think if artificial lighting had been used to a greater extent, the model would look overly warm toned and almost yellow, taking away from the symbolism of the dark red shades. Usdin blurs the lines between fantasy and reality; she stresses both the parts of the model’s identity that we would deduce in reality but also creates a whimsical image that gives us the opportunity to understand more about the model without seeing her face. Whereas the previous image offered little texture in the hard walled background, Usdin creates a greater dynamic through her use of texture here, with the patterned wallpaper particularly. I think this use of background, colour and texture is one of the key ways that Usdin suggests aspects of the model’s identity instead of purely relying on her face. It illustrates just how effective faceless photography can be in depicting social identities, for example, in this image, the subject’s femininity and relationship with nature.
