Bill Brandt

D.O.B-  02/05/1904

Place of birth- Germany

D.O.D- 20/12/1983

Place of death- London

Occupation- Photographer

• Had a German father and a British mother.
• Grew up in WW1 in Germany.
• Contracted Tuberculosis shortly after the war and travelled to Switzerland for treatment.
• Moved to London, England in 1933 and began to document London life in a way that was unusual at this time.
• Two books of his work at this time were published "The English at home" 1936 and "London at night" 1938.
• He published his collections  "Camera in London" in 1948 "Literary Britain" 1951 and "Perspective of Nudes" in 1961.

Denotation: In this image Brandt uses negative space to create different shapes in his image.  Brandt uses lighting techniques to create the negative space which provides the viewer with an element of mystery regarding the female subject.
Connotation: The naked form of the subject carries connotations of objectification of women.
Context: This image is culturally relevant as it shows that the sexual objectification of women can still be valued as art by some.

 Denotation:  In the image bellow Brandt uses the female form as a part of the landscape in his photograph.  The use of black and white photography helps to blend the female form with the surrounding landscape and to enhance the curves and shadows of the image.

Connotation:  The connotations of this image are the elements of the woman that are not visible in this image are Brant's sexualisation of the female form.

Context:  This image is socially relevant as it shows that people are still unnecessarily sexualising and objectifying women.

 Denotation:  In this image Brandt uses the female form to draw the eye across the image from one side of the room to another.  The black and white photography and the lighting used helps to enhance the curves and shape of the female form as well as adding dimension to rest of the image.  Dimension is also added the the image through shadows.

Connotation: The blatantly sexual pose featured in this image carries connotations of the sexualisation of the female form.

Context:  This images context come from the fact that the female form is being sexualised for the pleasure of others.

Sexual objectification

Many of Brandt's pieces have inherently sexual themes which leads many viewers to pose the question is Brandt's work centred around the sexual objectification of women?  In reality the images are designed in this way to draw out emotions in the viewer and the response to the above question will differ between whomever is asked depending on their background and the context in which the image was shown to them.

Influence on my work

I have been influenced by Brant's work in that I am exploring ways of featuring the human form in my work but am not sexualising or exploiting it.