Individual Identity

Sophie Calle is a French writer, photographer, installation artist and conceptual artist. Her work frequently depicts human vulnerability, and explores identity and intimacy. The photographic work she produces often includes panels of text of her own writing. It is Calle’s use of text, more specifically the French language, and exploration of identity that has inspired me. I’m particularly interested in her piece Take Care of Yourself and have done some research into it.

Take Care of Yourself is named after the last line of an email her ex boyfriend sent her. When asked to explain the piece, she said “I received an email telling me it was over. I didn’t know how to respond. It was almost as if it hadn’t been meant for me. It ended with the words, ‘take care of yourself.’ And so I did. I asked 107 women, chosen for their profession or skills, to interpret this letter. To analyze it, comment on it, dance it, sing it. Exhaust it. Understand it for me. Answer for me. It was a way of taking the time to break up. A way of taking care of myself.”

The work from this piece is difficult to access online and so I have been somewhat limited to two images that I can study. Nonetheless, I plan to look at these images in detail and allow them to inspire and influence my final piece.

Image One is a mid-shot that frames the model from the waist upwards. There are several different variations of this image on the internet but I chose this one as it was the highest quality one I could find. Other variations of this image were in colour while this one is black and white, but I like the black and white as I feel that it makes the image more ambient as the model is wearing a bright pink top that distracts the viewer away from the model’s facial expression and the projection. I also feel that the black and white image is more relevant to the motif of heartbreak and confusion that is prominent throughout the Take Care of Yourself collection.

Image Two is the image that is used on the cover of the Take Care of Yourself book of the collection. The frame is much closer than that of the previous image, and focuses on the phrase ‘Take care of yourself’ in the projection of the original email received by Calle on the model. The image appears to have been carefully composed so that the line of text that is the title of the book and the collection is placed along the model’s collarbones, making it more prominent. The model’s neckline provides a frame for the text and this allows the viewer’s focus to remain here.

Calle’s work is very personal, and has inspired me to strive to make my own work as personal as possible as this will also allow me to better relate my work to my title ‘Individual Identity’.