On... Francesca Woodman

A review of Francesca Woodman, Corey Keller (editor), Distributed Art Publishers, 2011, 224 pages  ISBN-10: 1935202669 ISBN-13: 978-1935202660

A beautifully produced book, rich burgundy cloth, quality paper, the dust jacket even has one of Woodman's diazotypes reproduced on the inside, a place most people would never even look. The text does tend to be a bit dry and academic but is not unreadable. The somewhat obtuse debates that surround the 'proper' interpretation of her work are  probably best left to those who find such things important, after much analysis (during which I had to look up the definitions of 'limning' and 'oneiric'; no prisoners are taken here) the conclusion seems to be that it is not, in the end, possible to fully understand Woodman's work or motivations. Hardly surprising. 

Such minor criticisms aside, the book allows the reader to appreciate the fine body of work Woodman produced in her sadly curtailed career. Yes, some of the pictures could have been a little  bigger on the page, but they were well reproduced and that is what really matters. I had not come across Woodman before but her influence can be seen in the self-portraits of contemporary photographers such as Natalie Dybisz (Miss Aniela). For example picture 128 (Untiltled, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire) in which she wraps her arms in bark against a background of thin tree-trunks can be seen as a pre-Photoshop thematic precursor to Miss Aniela's “The Fourth Soil”.

One of the best photographic books I have read this year, thoroughly recommended. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Francesca-Woodman-Corey-Keller/dp/1935202669/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340615933&sr=1-1 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Woodman  


http://media.artfinder.com/works/r/pi-artfinder/l/l/e/fwuntitledmacdowell_full_570x568.jpg 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndybisz/6700498903/in/photostream 


http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/jan/24/long-exposure-francesca-woodman/