Dida Sundet-Photography | Image consultant

Dida Sundet-Photography

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25.01.2022 Portrait of Isis as Larme d'Or by Anne-Marie Zilberman, 5.April 2020. (Date of original unknown, but it is a contemporary painting.) Today's art remake took me down a very interesting rabbit hole. In fact, I'd say I'm still down it somewhere. Late last night I came across a painting very much in the style of Gustav Klimt, but not quite. It was one I hadn't come across before, and I'm familiar with most of his work, so today I started digging before shooting to find out e...xactly who made it. The internet though loves attributing this painting to Klimt so much it's actually quite hard to tell what's what. So far, I've found a couple of different versions of the story, but the one thing I have established is that this painting is NOT by Klimt, but rather by French artist Anne-Marie Zilberman in a Klimt style of painting, including the use of gold leaf and curls, yet it also lacks a lot of the Klimt characteristics. Anyways, here's our version. If anyone can tell me anything more about Anne-Marie Zilberman, I would love to hear about it. #massisolationaus #covidartchallenge #isolationcreation @ Wollongong, New South Wales See more

24.01.2022 When Covid isolation creative itch hits and you find this amazing series by @charlieengman and his mother. @gettymuseum challenged people to recreate an artwork using what’s available at home, we say #challengeaccepted This is based on one of Charlie Engman’s portraits of his mother (swipe to see a screenshot that does not do justice to the original.) I didn’t have the patience to wait for the deliciously red and orange afternoon light, but I reckon we managed to channel a bit of Engman and Warhol. @2020isolation @auswip @ Wollongong, New South Wales

24.01.2022 What if I told you that what you are looking at is not what you think you are seeing? July, 2020. Some words often used to describe narratives of sexual assault in historical art: ‘abduction’, ‘amorous adventures’, ‘pursuit’, ‘love’, ‘seduction’, ‘ravishment’, and so on. These are words that imply pleasure and consent, not ones that legitimately describe the trauma and violence of rape. Historically, rape has been presented as a man’s issue, not as a violation of women. Di...ane Wolfthal, in ‘Images of Rape’ (1999), critiques art historians and scholars for sanitizing and glorifying rape by focusing on formal, aesthetic qualities, and accepting ancient ideas about rape as a crime of ‘theft of property’. To be raped by a god in ancient mythology (and subsequently in centuries of artistic representations) was not a traumatic experience, but one of ‘heavenly ascension’ or ‘rapture’, an event of pure pleasure. Often it was an event left unseen, replaced by the moment of abduction, like poor Europa hanging off Zeus disguised as a bull as he races across water to take her to her impending assault in Titian’s famous rendition from ca.1560-1562. Yet the image’s title is widely accepted as Rape of Europa because we know how the story goes. It’s no wonder trying to decipher what you are looking at is increasingly confusing when what we see and what we know so often contradicts. This image is a play on exactly that. Does the title change what you perceive? We often say, or hear other people say, that ‘context is everything’. One of the big debates surrounding problematic art and artists over the recent years, particularly post #metoo, has been about how to handle the cultural heritage that comes with it. Should it be cancelled and removed, or contextualised and used to further educate current and future generations on our cultural heritage and societal constructs? I am a firm believer in the latter path, which is the entire basis of my PhD project. I’ll be sharing more of my thoughts and research into ‘heroic rape’ art (including what it means) and research practice in general moving forward, and I hope you’ll stick around for the journey. @ Wollongong, New South Wales

21.01.2022 Carvaggio, Head of Medusa, ca. 1598. I didn’t set out to study the history of rape art. I didn’t even know there was one when I first begun to research this project. Before it became a possible PhD, I was looking into the femme fatale and women who were somehow perceived as ‘dangerous’ to men. The obvious one to start with was always Medusa, the angry gorgon monster who could turn men into stone by looking at them, the raging, untamed woman. Medusa is known to most of us as... the epitome of female rage. Some versions of the myth tell of Medusa and her sisters being born gorgons, but in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a literary work from ca. 8AD and widely accepted as one of the most influential works of Western culture, she was born a beautiful young maiden. Medusa was turned into a gorgon by Athena after she was raped by Poseidon in her temple. Medusa was pregnant with twins when Perseus, the son of another victim of rape, Danae, beheaded her as she slept. Perseus became a hero of Roman mythology and Medusa a sexualised symbol of the femme fatale. From there the ball kept rolling down a very steep hill. I looked into other prominent female fictional characters, and what I stumbled upon was a side of art history and its scholarship that I had not been presented with before. In all my years in academia. Give that a second to sink in. Though this discussion has been present in academia for a few decades, we still centre our arguments on canonical representations through a lens and vocabulary of mystification. This rather shallow appreciation lacks critical engagement with the problematic subject matter of ‘the grand masters’ and the ancient cultural tropes they established. Much of Western culture was founded on the rape and violence towards women. While some people argue against the existence of rape culture, I will argue that our culture has always been a rape culture, and that the historical patriarchal structures of power have fundamentally shaped our current socio-political rhetoric around violence towards women. (And not only that, but we have domesticated these tropes to a degree that at they now exist on coffee mugs and tote bags.) While interrogating canonical narratives of rape, I’m also asking myself the questions; what makes images feel violent? And how can photographic temporality perform the presence of women’s experiences of trauma in representations of sexual assault? Thoughts to be continued. (Second image from recent experiment with blur as an expression of violence.)

20.01.2022 Portraits as self portrait by Frida Kahlo, 1948. This was the only painting she painted that year as her health was deteriorating. It was a bad year. (Special thanks to Isis for being extremely patient, and to @sellingsen for helping me get the shot of me.) @gettymuseum @hermitage_museum @ Wollongong, New South Wales

18.01.2022 I welcome the end of this week with open arms. I am ready for the next one. #sundayfeels #wollongongphotographer #uowcreative #keepingitreal

17.01.2022 She gave us superhero makeup and told me that she could keep us all safe so I didn’t have to worry. We took a walk in the sunshine and she made up a song called Coronavirus go away. It was beautiful and heartbreaking. We saw a white butterfly called Buddy. He’s better than all the other butterflies. She held my face at bedtime and whispered I Love You, mum. it’s the little big things that keep me going. (And yes, she might have found some scissors and done her hair by help of her sister too.) #isolationcreation @ Wollongong, New South Wales

16.01.2022 We're very proud to have our work included in the #massisolationaus project with Ballarat International Foto Biennale which is on display across NSW and QLD, in billboard format! This project is a collaboration between myself and my 5 year old daughter, Isis. The picture displayed is part of a diptych of a remake of Frida Kahlo's "Self-portrait, 1948", where both Isis and I pose as Frida.

16.01.2022 Self portrait as Pintura by Wladyslaw T.Benda-2020It’s like a strange kind of time machine this project. I much prefer the ones we do together, despite them being far harder to execute. I don’t aim for the portraits of us to be the same. Similar, but not the same. I don’t even edit them at the same time, because the differences hold just as much interest to me as the similarities. Swipe for side by side with Isis, and my portraits with Benda’s. (As always thanks to @sellingsen for being my extra hands and eyes.) @ Wollongong, New South Wales

15.01.2022 We’re a week and a half into self isolation. There are times during the day where it feels like the oxygen is being sucked out of the house. The mood crashes in waves, and it’s hard to see past the slaughter of emotions we find ourselves up to our knees in. The overall world has gone quieter, but not nearly quiet enough to feel confident that our measures will work. Neighbours are buzzing in their houses, suddenly everyday human activity has moved to a more intimate space. Th...e kids play Covid19 games, trying not to tear each others faces off. It’s hard to see the end, or even the middle. I try to give myself grace, to let deadlines be for now, but the pressure to still perform like normal is enormous. Except this is nothing like normal. To navigate this pandemic with three young children and a mental illness is a balancing act on thin ice. I’m only grateful I don’t have to go it alone. If you’re alone in this, my heart goes out to you. Please stay home. Stay safe. Stay connected. @ Wollongong, New South Wales See more

14.01.2022 I haven’t shared anything in a long time. The world is not in a good place, and it’s taking its toll on everyone and everything. I’ve found it hard to put words to images during this time, or just hard to put words on anything really. And so the days roll on. Here’s an image from a recent shoot I did with @the_rachael_rose. Because while the world may be fucked in many ways, there is still immense beauty, empowerment and growth to be found. And this is my reminder of that. #bodyinlandscape #femaleempowerment #shuttersisters #auswip #womeninphotography

12.01.2022 You’re so brave. Look, I’m not particularly brave. I’ve had this post sitting in my drafts for over two weeks waiting for the time I decide to jump. I don’t post nude or half nude self portraits because I’m oh so confident. I’m honest, and I suppose being honest is brave. My interest in my own presence and body is valid, and my interest in the photographic image is my life’s passion. I don’t need to be brave to embrace myself publicly. I just need to be honest enough to car...e more about how I feel than about how you feel. It’s somewhat confronting to watch the numbers drop every time I diverge from my ‘normal programming’ of photos of children. I could stop, but I just don’t care more about other people’s reaction than I do about me and my artistic expression, so I do it anyway. I do it knowing that some people I love will see it and judge me unfavourably. I choose not to care more about invisible judgement than I do my own truth. Just look at the way that light bends around my body, like an embrace. Now that, I care deeply about. That light is eeeeeeverything!!! Creating images isn’t a choice for me, it’s something I need to do to make sense of the world around me. It’s how I relate to the world, and to myself. Using my own body to explore light, presence and what it means to exist in an ageing woman’s body is part of the journey. I’ll carry no shame in that glorious morning light. See more

11.01.2022 I didn’t wait 8 years to start again so I could immediately return to full time motherhood. I didn’t work my ass off to get started on a doctorate with scholarships and work at the uni so that I could do it all while home schooling. I didn’t fight my way back from last year for this. I want to rage against it all. I know that I am privileged, but it stings, no, fuck that, it burns. It feels like a tonne of bricks on my chest, and there are days it all feels suffocating. And there is nothing to do but wait and let go of previous expectations. I don’t do uncertainty well. The emotional labour alone these days is enough to send me spinning. But I try to remember that this is not our new normal, this is a transition. One day at a time.

10.01.2022 Women’s lived experiences have been devalued for centuries. Though humanity was undeniably born from the wombs women, it has been conquered and ruled by the dicks of men. (Mini quote from my recent PhD rantings. Because I like it.)

09.01.2022 Hellion, 2009. Life feels like some absurd dream these days. It’s strange writing out image treatments for new work I have no idea when I’ll be able to shoot. I like the planning. It’s meticulous, and for every detail it becomes more alive. This new work will not reside in the world of dreams, but in the world of violence and trauma, both mythical and the all too real. It feels so appropriate for the times. Until then, I find my connection and inspiration in old work, books and art. As a creator, this time is equally testing as it is valuable. It forces me to look for opportunities within restrictions, and that is never time wasted. #lightpainting

07.01.2022 Isis as Eve, May 2020. (based on Eve,1896, by Lucien Levy-Dhurmer) @ Wollongong, New South Wales

07.01.2022 DISCOMFORT, JULY 2020; I was tasked with going out of my comfort zone to think of new strategies for my practice. I don’t do discomfort that well, but if I have to do it, I prefer to be in control of it as much as possible. Shake things up! I took it quite literally. Some thoughts; Blur is a disruption of the photographic process of dismembering, and fragmenting, time and bodies. It distorts the precise preservation of our existence promised to us by the camera. Photograph...y’s ability to freeze frame time, to capture and reproduce unequivocal likeness is the core of its mechanical triumph. Blur is a violation of the already (mechanically) violent. It is attached to a physical experience, we relate it to motion and action. It has a physicality to it. Blur points to an event of impact, leaving traces of a physical struggle that are not contained to the aftermath in the form of bruises, broken bodies and/or objects. Whereas much photography affords us a generally preferred detached knowledge of events, blur constitutes an embodied experience of it. I’ll be exploring blur as an embodiment and signifier of violence moving forward, and maybe I’m crooked, but I’m excited. #embracingtheedge #makemoreportraits See more

04.01.2022 Self portrait at 40. It’s that time of year again for the annual birthday portrait. After watching @crooked_images live ass class yesterday, I felt inspired to show myself some love, and to spend some time appreciating the woman I have become. She’s a firecracker, ya’ll. When I got up this morning I felt like a train wreck. Anxiety high, and vulnerable as fuck. Covid cabin fever on day 13. But I walked into this magical bathroom light we have in the morning and thought, fuck it, I’ll get naked and wear my exquisite birthday collar from @cera_beauvoir , and do my iso-sexy time in the bathroom while the kids scream outside the door. This is my 40. What some may call their midlife crisis, I call my prime. Bring. It. On.

04.01.2022 Goddess, earth mother, life whisperer. Our bodies are landscapes, stardust raised to consciousness, embraced by flesh, held by bone. my favourite shot from my session with @the_rachael_rose. #motherhoodrising #heaventhrumylens #auswip #womeninphotography #documentingwomen #wollongongphotographer #uowcreative #themonochromaticlens #fineartphotography

02.01.2022 The secret life of objects- I’ve had the absolute pleasure of creating some branding photos for @kattasche and the launch of her new website. Katja makes the most exquisite leather goods, all handmade, all sustainably sourced. Katja is also a theatre designer and costume maker... see why we’re such a good match?

02.01.2022 My husband and I had a very interesting (and nerdy academic) debate on adaptation, fidelity and medium last night. We discovered that we were holding a photograph based on a photograph to higher standards of fidelity than we were an adaptation of a painting. Initially, we both rejected my remake of the portrait of Meryl Streep by Annie Leibovitz as it didn't nail the pose, the white make up was different, and I was working with a natural light source coming from a different a...ngle. (And working with two kids as assistants for air and shutter while doing a self portrait is a challenge, to say the least.) "Remake!" we both agreed. But after some discussion, we agreed that we were holding a bias towards the adaptation of a photograph presented as a photograph and that the curiosity lies in the differences as much as it does in the likeness. While we easily accepted the differences between the painting adapted as photograph, we initially did not accept the differences between the two photographs. What’s your take? #photographersinisolation @gettymuseum @ Wollongong, New South Wales See more

02.01.2022 Isis as Pintura by Wladyslaw T. Benda -2020 (I’m unsure of what the actual name of the work is. Pintura means painting in Spanish, as far as I know. Benda (1873-1948) was a Polish painter, he may have called it Pintura, or it may also just have become the name the painting is referred to online. My research has not been able to determine this yet.) THE GAZE- have you ever noticed how a lot of classic portraiture of women have them looking away? Have you ever wondere...d why? Women who looked away were seen as more dignified than those who had a direct gaze. It’s easier to be comfortable in looking at someone who does not challenge your gaze, even if it’s merely through a painting, or image. Easy women would be more likely to be given a direct gaze back at the viewer, women who could, and often would, be held responsible for their fate at the hands of man. The preferred way to view a female has always been as the damsel in distress or the femme fatale, has it not? But let’s not forget the key to this type of gaze, it was more or less exclusively male. And it was the male viewer the paintings were intended for, unless it was in some teaching capacity for women. Most of what we call Western classic fine art is art made by men for men. These ideas about women did not come from the women in the paintings, nor the women in the lives of the artists. They came from the male desire to conquer, control and dominate. The women were, of course, mere objects. Benda is a more recent artist, and not one I am an expert on, but his women do seem to fall into the same ancient stereotypes. I’ve deliberately changed the model’s gaze in this remake. Would you say it makes a difference? @ Wollongong, New South Wales See more