Abstract

The Specter of Nature is a photographic series that examines the tenuous boundaries between culture and Nature. Through this thesis, I address how, within culture, Nature is defined, distorted, fantasized and then realized through various forms of representation. To this end, Nature historically serves as a backdrop in culturally constructed fantasies and storytelling, as well as historically playing a role in the development of a female identity. The Specter of Nature,examines these concerns through staged photographs of settings created from fabrics and cutouts of decorative papers. By cutting along the patterns embedded in materials such as wrapping papers, wallpapers, scrapbooking papers, and costume fabrics, then hanging the pieces in the studio and photographing them, I shift between two spaces; thus paralleling the shift between the real and unreal, between the conscious and unconscious. By constructing settings that merge fantasy and reality, I attempt to reconcile the complexity of a recognized history with a realized desire.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Photography, Artistic--Themes, motives; Staged photography; Fantasy in art; Nature in art; Women in art

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (CIAS)

Advisor

Vogel, Allen

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: TR655 .C53 2011

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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