Iconology can be defined as the study of visual art meanings by way of analyzing the image used, the subject matter of the art, and the types of symbols used in the artwork in historical contexts (Muller & Marion. 2011). Catherine Opie, an American fine art photographer, uses iconology to study the connection between society and the mainstream by taking a unique look into portraiture, photograph studios, and the landscape of photography (Naime et al., 2006). Through this study, Catherine Opie is able to make photographs that talk about sexual identity as well as documents that primarily speak about the individual citizens and the space they inhabit. This has resulted in American citizens’ ability to realize their identity, hence recognizing the diverse cultures among themselves. Opie’s work of art combines traditional photographs with typical subjects. Opie uses identities associated with traditional pictures in her art mainly to promote the current gender identity. She goes ahead to use her portrait to present herself as a lesbian; this alone speaks to a wide range of audiences that associate with the culture of lesbianism among Americans (Naime et al., 2006).
As a photographer, Opie continuously works through her subject matters by first conducting thorough investigations. She managed to convince people through her photographs, which were well-colored portraits of identity construction. For instance, she displayed thirteen portraits of her lesbian friends under a single heading where the sitters put exaggerated hair on the face. In one of her most known works, named “Being and Having,” which was mainly featured in the year nineteen ninety-one, Opie was able to showcase a series of photographs of her friends who were members of the LGBTQ+ family; here, they were wearing masculine stereotypes such as having tattoos on their bodies (Guralnik., 2013).
Similarly, the use of the portraiture technique in Catherine Opie’s work promoted the general understanding of gender in all dimensions. For example, she was able to help us understand the complexities of traditional gender in both the political and personal spheres, as well as gender construction and the systems of power that fall in their space.
Queer theory, on the other hand, is a collective term that addresses all the conflicting views revolving around the sex of an individual, the gender of an individual as well as the sexuality of an individual (Ramey et al., 2014). This theory came into being in the year 1980s when several scholars started to write about theories of sex and sexual identities and how they affected the culture and scientific assumptions. Following the developments in how people socialized, queer theory was considered essential in giving views about sexuality and sex of the traditional gender identity.
Queer archivists mainly relied on the feminine theory works, historians as well as studies from gays and lesbians in order to argue their stories about the past. This study shows a lack of political neutrality as well as an uneven power hierarchy that is presently being witnessed. Catherine Opie uses her self-portrait as a queer theory as she addresses the issue of lesbianism among Americans and the representation of traditional gender identity. Opie produced her self-portrait to show people the trauma she had to go through due to her failed relationship. The portrait in itself had Opie’s back with a drawing of a very well-colored, well-focused, and well-detailed print of a person. Moreover, it gives a complementary contrast of pink and red colors on the skin. The female picture and a symbol of the house she drew on her back to her was a show of her wanting domestic peace.
Opie’s photographs are gender-based, as they address both masculine and feminine sides. The ambiguous part of it is that both the feminine and masculine are in the same image; hence, this is subjected to gender identity, among others. This, according to many, is an unconventional type of portraiture, and hence, this is what was believed to help the image viewer figure out how identity was constructed among individuals.
Color, on several occasions, have been used to underpin women in society and even to discriminate against women, as it is predominantly used to differentiate between gender. Some specific colors have been associated with a specific gender. Queer theory, for instance, works in a way to break down the gender distinction in association with different colors. This is in particular related to the work that Catherine Opie was doing; Catherine’s current focus is mainly on gender identity, which is emphasized in her use of complex colors in her drawings (Ramey et al., 2014). For example, we see her draw a picture of symbolic girls and a symbolic house on her back as a queer element of color. This in itself shows us some ambiguity. Her choice of colors undermines modern purity ideals and hence works to challenge conventional disparities of gender and targets traditional belief of feminizing some colors through altering the masculine ego.
Additionally, Opie created herself as a male alternative through unique performance, and she felt free to have domains believed to be for the male gender. This makes her present herself as a flexible but disconnected, temporary male-altered ego. In her work ‘Being and Having,’ more postmodern activities of gender are shown and amplified. Theories for discussion of colonialism, as well as inquiries of racial discrimination, are parallel through her work of ethnically distinct constituents. Both gender and racial oppression among individuals are linked through different friends she had from different communities. The whites and those believed to be lesbians of the middle class made up the initial composition of feminists.
Opie worked contradictory to learn more about communities by using repetitive modes that were mainly visual but uniquely represented each sitter as a whole individual. The similarities in color, facial expression, mode of cropping ,and mustache conceptualize the series and make little special identities (Hurtado et al., 2011). One can even claim that these repetitive images and their features are more obvious. Furthermore, using cameras close to each of the model’s faces gives more detailed information and a much clearer distinction between them. In as much as each of the sitters had distinct face attributes, and emphasis was made on each nameplate with male ego, they still have community repetitiveness; hence, just one individual needs to be emphasized.
Opie’s self-portrait photograph showing her back with a particular wound that seems to have been done using a scalpel is striking. This depicts a gruesome method and somewhat childish performance, and the scene is very emotional to see. Furthermore, the drops of fresh blood that trickle and her skin that is traumatized show that the reality of the action was depicted. Therefore, the feminine gender is symbolized by the cut with a triangular skirt as they are playing under the hot sun. That symbolizes the theme of love and even companionship for each other. This act is intimate because the act of her drawing on her skin using a scalpel is seen as a malicious sexual practice.
Similarly, this act is seen as political since it requires strong political attention and urgency. It simply shows that there is no need for male viewing or for a male artist to turn the female body that is naked into art that is nude. However, in her country’s history, such kind of photography will constitute a very important chapter in the autobiography section. In her case, again, cutting her body is seen as subversive because it will disrupt her body system, which should be self-contained. That is the creation of a taboo on the body that should at all times remain closed. This is because an open wound on the skin is perceived to be body contamination, and given the fact that the nineties is the year when HIV/AIDS epidemics were known as a major health concern. A hole in a body is seen as trespassing of the limits since it exposes the body to concrete danger of coming into contact with contaminated fluids (Reilly & Maura, 2001).
For a better environment of photography and artistic performance, Opie went beyond and diverted the fear of cuts on her own body. She went beyond the fear of cutting her own body and even the pain and bleeding that she would undergo when she cut her own body. She overcomes the fear and accepts to cut her own body for the pleasure of loving arts (Hurtado et al., 2011). By cutting her body to show the lesbian couples, she creates a much more metaphoric relationship between homosexuality and blood. That is, blood should always remain under the skin, and in the same way, homosexuality should also remain as an arrangement that is acceptable and respectable.
Besides, given the AIDS epidemic that was on the rise and rising health concerns among Americans, homosexuality and blood, as well as contamination, will be linked together. Opie using her fresh blood on the elf portrait reminds us that the gay community is at risk in society (Reilly & Maura, 2001). However, she further states that that is a form of self-expression and a form of self-representation in arts. Moreover, that it should never be silenced into shame.
On the other hand, Queer theory has been drastically used as a way of critiquing sexual identities, gender, and even the sex of a person. Queer theory seeks to determine how individuals have gone through sexual or gender suppression in the past (Erickson & Camille, 2014). As such, several past feminists and sexual and even gender organizations have been achieved through this theory. She took a photograph of her “Bo,” the male alter-ego, to be part of her work called “Being and having” in her images, by so doing, she overstepped the criticism from other sensational and even the LGBTQ+ family and showed her belongings (Guralnik, 2013).
Opie has greatly succeeded in creating a visible contradiction in terms, one in which faces that were perceived to be unsmiling can now accept themselves without necessarily faking their appearance or looks. She entirely depends on portrait reputation tradition in presenting her sitters as acceptable and worthy in mainstream media and audiences. The photographs are continually leaving viewers with a feel of ambivalence about how complex they are and the different perceptions that can be derived from them. She, in fact, uses the portrait photographs for their original intended purpose, which is mainly to enlighten her community, given the fact that this group of people has been marginalized in the past communities (Naime et al., 2006). Historically, such subjects have dhad ignity accorded to them ,lsuch ashaving a portrait or photographs of themselves.
Iconology has been of immense help in places where text is not needed, but only visual elements are required for message passing and recognizability. This is because iconology especially uses symbols to show ideas and to represent some specific concepts. For instance, a simple dustbin icon can be used to mean deleting or discarding something. And since such an icon is simple to understand and recognize, there should be no need of writing a text on it. In the same breadth, a house icon can as well be used to represent a home.
Similarly, iconology is very important when it comes to recognizing a brand. Because it assists you virtually to distinguish one brand from other competing brands. Hence, iconology is an important tool in identity. Just the same way, Opie was able to use iconology to pass out the message on sexuality, sex identity, and gender of different individuals in society. Iconology is more compelling since icons are more memorable and recognizable. When one notices a brand’s iconography, it usually makes it simple to associate the icon with a certain brand or business. Iconology can, therefore, be said to be an interpretation method that arises from a blend of things rather than an analysis of something.
Queer theory, on the other hand, focuses on sexualities that are performed by human nature and fluids. However, it also serves to critique and analyze both political and societal norms and how they relate to the gender of an individual and sexuality. Queer theory creates an inclusive self-supporting environment that has assisted in dealing with the feelings of isolation and has also helped in the mental well-being of individuals (Erickson & Camille, 2014). Moreover, a person who is part of queer community feels accepted and validated to be a community member. With self-acceptance, one is able to develop self-esteem and can be empowered for the common good of the organization.
Additionally, opportunities of mentorship offered by the queer community can be a very good opportunity as it offers a very much supportive environment, such as creating access to LGBTQ+ role models. Queer theory also recognizes sexuality and even gender as social norms. It helps in shaping how they are publicly displayed, thereby reducing the distortion of information between blacks and whites. It also asses the notion that communities may find themselves at some points along the same economic and political path of development or adjust to norms.
To conclude, imaging something makes it easily digestible to the public, and hence, the acts that are regarded as taboo are undoubtedly normalized. Opie avoids complete visibility so that viewers of her portrait cannot empathize with it. She achieves this by stressing the relationship that exists between the visible and the invisible and knowing exactly how to attract the viewer’s attention.
Reference
Nairne, Sandy, and Sarah Howgate. The portrait now. Yale University Press, 2006.
Müller, Marion G. “Iconography and iconology as a visual method and approach.” The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (2011): 283-297.
Guralnik, Orna. “Being and having an identity: Catherine Opie.” Studies in Gender and Sexuality 14, no. 3 (2013): 239-244.
Ramey, Anamaria Clutterham. Portrait Paradox: Complicating Identity in Catherine Opie’s Being and Having. University of California, Riverside, 2014.
Erickson, Camille. “Toward a transnational queer futurity: The photography of Catherine Opie, Zanele Muholi, and Jean Brundrit.” (2014).
Hurtado, Laura Allred. Motherhood and Representation at the Sackler Center for Feminist Art: Judy Chicago, Catherine Opie, Canan Senol. The University of Utah, 2011.
Reilly, Maura. “The drive to describe: An interview with Catherine Opie.” Art Journal 60, no. 2 (2001): 82-95.
write