Recreation 2

The Original

 Margrethe Mather, Pierrot (1917)

Biography

Margrethe Mather, born in 1886, was the daughter of Scottish immigrant, John Mather. Affectionately called “Maggie” by her father, Mather gleaned an early interest in photography from him.

In 1913, Mather began her work with Edward Weston, a famous photographer of the era. In addition to serving as his studio assistant, Mather also became one of his models, a muse of sorts. Together they formed the Camera Pictorialist, a group modern photographers based primarily on the east coast. Over the next decade, Mather appeared in several of Weston’s risqué photographs, and honed the craft herself.

Mather, who specialized in portraits, focused on manipulating light and form in her photography. Her interest in Asian aesthetics rubbed off on her work, adding an air of simplicity and serenity. Natural lighting and dramatic shadows were common threads between most of Mather’s photographs.

The photograph, Pierrot, was taken in 1917 during her time with Weston. Depicting what seems to be a sad clown, Pierrot, is one of her most famous images.

After parting with Weston, Mather teamed up with William Justema, who goes on to reference her in his memoir. She hosted her final exhibition in 1931 in M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. The exhibit featured a bunch of random objects (seashells, beads, glass eye, etc.) organized together in patterns and photograph. She attempted to show that those object could be put together to form pattern line those on fabrics.

In December 1952, Mather passed away from natural causes.

Composition and Method

The framing of this object is quite odd.  In the upper left corner is a sort of tassel, and in the bottom right is a sort of sad clown. The two are spaced far apart and would seem disconnected, if not for the shadow that makes a straight line toward the tassel. The shadow emphasizes and draws the eye toward the tassel. Lighting is a key player in creating such a dramatic shadow. The lighting seems to be quite harsh, yet slightly spread out, forming a kind of cone shape.  Contrast is evident as well. The tassel and the clown’s dark eyes and shadow, stand out against the white background.

Concept and Motivation

I believe that the idea behind the image is to depict a sad clown. Pierrot was a troupe of performers from the 17^th century. They were always putting on a show, so it is odd that the performer would be sad. The darkness of such a bright character coincides with the contrast of darks and light in the image.

 Opinion

Initially, this photograph turned me off. I didn’t particularly care for the vast separation between the tassel and the clown, in fact I wasn’t sure why the tassel was there in the first place. After looking at the image a bit closer, I realized that the light created a shadow leading up to the tassel. I thought this was a great way create emphasis within the image.

RECREATION 

Composition
For this image, I chose to create contrast by manipulating the dark and light areas. Particularly the area around my subject's eyes. I also did some cropping on the bottom and right side of the image to cut back on unnecessary space. For lighting, I used a single household lamp, and pointed it directly at the wall to brighten the whiteness of the wall and darken the appearance of the subject.

Concept
This image is quite different form, Pierrot, but mimics some of the same elements. I chose to have a scarf hanging from the wall, to imitate the tassel hanging in the original. I made the subject wear a large scarf to resemble the collar worn in the original. Make-up was used to darken the eyes as well.

Compositionally, I strayed away from the original. I started by using a blank and expansive stretch of wall, but I liked this angle much better. In the original image, the shadow is used to guide the eye up to the tassel. I chose to guide the eye to the tassel by making the subject grab for it. I'm pretty happy with the results.