Camryn Smith
Artist Statement


My work explores identity politics through photography and the moving image; primarily focusing on the placement of women in society from a traditional gender role standpoint and circumstances of displacement and poverty. I am working toward visualizing these events that I have been indoctrinated and forced to contend with throughout my life. These circumstances should not be forgotten nor glorified, but should be shaped in a way that is constructive and compassionate, for those that fit into these confines.

The Gaze series encompasses the ideology of scopophilia, which is the pleasure involved in looking at other people's bodies as objects, without being seen (either by those on screen or by other members of the audience) and the power that resides in seeing. The images work to establish ways of seeing and interpreting an event between two people. Through differing viewpoints, whirlwinds of thoughts and emotions transpire in an amalgamation of feeling that causes animosity and power struggles through various ways of seeing. This is done either through the conflict itself, or through one’s processing of the event. These photographs show two individuals’ forethought and afterthought that occurs during the conflict. This is achieved through an account of the events that transpired, and in what ways these two recollections communicate with one another, as well as the gendered dialogue and objectification that was enacted by the male counterpart. Gaze is inspired by Laura Mulvey’s essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. While making these images I referenced Mulvey’s interpretation of sexual difference which controls ways of seeing.

Similar to the Gaze series, Intervention showcases my internal conflict with how I view women and my personal struggle coming to terms with the ways I view myself through an inequitable standpoint. Intervention depicts myself being an onlooker to my faults, and working towards my awareness of what conditions and experiences cause the objectification of myself and others. Through this project, I aim to visualize my feelings of guilt and shame from my own internalized misogyny and objectification of women. A passage (and novel) that clarifies internalized misogyny, as well as pushed me to visualize said internalization, was written in Kate Manne’s, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. The passage is as follows, “Her humanity may hence be held to be owed to other human beings, and her value contingent on her giving moral goods to them: life, love, pleasure, nurture, sustenance, and comfort, being some.” This visualization of complex feelings is done through layering photographs that seek to display my unclear sense of self, and the resistance of my own thoughts towards women.

The short film Voyeur is another piece that ties into my own objectivity of self, and understanding the gendered conditions in which I was raised. My direct influence for this work was a passage from Margaret Atwood’s, The Robber Bride. This passage claims that women are their own voyeurs that appeal to male fantasies, even while they are not aware, they are doing so, you place an objectifying gaze on yourself from an outside point of view. This film invites a narrow look into a woman’s desire to appeal to the male fantasy as well as the male gaze. This film directly displays being your own voyeur and viewing yourself through an objectifying magnification glass; even while alone, you are accompanied by your internalized objectification.

In my series Nikolayev's Leftovers, I reconnect with my family's roots through imagery that reflects rural Russia. Images showcase the stillness: and frigidity of growing up in bitter cold most of the year, complicated by unstable housing situations, and displacement. Once my parents came to the United States, they found it difficult to embed themselves within American culture. Consequently, they were often at ends, and eventually split; throwing us further into poverty and constant relocation due to eviction. As a result of these circumstances, I often found myself aimlessly seeking a place that I felt I belonged to. While looking for these places, I found some sense of home in fragmented locations and various objects that reflect Memoriam and cultural normalities. These nine images are printed on handkerchiefs recovered in my Babushka’s home in rural Northern Russia, and all of the photographs were taken on my Dabushka’s camera that he carried while on his endeavors around the Soviet Union, and later was gifted to me after his passing. Upon completion of Nikolayev’s Leftovers, I was reminded of the writings of Franz Kafka, specifically The Metamorphosis and the overall themes of alienation and the absurd within the text. These prints invite you to place yourself within these unknown places, and reflect on which spaces you feel you belong in, and which spaces bring about a sense of alienation.

My plan for the rest of my time at Minneapolis College of Art and Design is to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can from those around me who have been in the industry. I have learned more than I ever could have fathomed by attending this University. I am hoping to refine myself and my art practice through constructive criticism and new information that will prepare me for my professional endeavors outside of my undergraduate education.

Resources
Atwood, M. (1995). The Robber Bride. Louis Braille Books.
Kafka, F. (1915). The Metamorphosis. Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig
Manne, K. (2017). Down Girl: The logic of misogyny. Oxford University Press.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (Vol. 16). Screen





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