Rineke Dijkstra – Beaches – Critical Analysis

 

Rineke Dijkstra is an contemporary photographer that is well known for her ‘Self Portrait, Marnixbad, Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 19 1991’ and her series ‘Beaches’. In this particular photo titled ‘Kolobrzeg, Poland – July 26, 1992’ as part of her ‘Beaches’ series stands an awkward looking subject in the middle of her adolescent stage, on a beach during a cloudy day.

At the time Rineke was shooting as a commission to document adolescence, in this image the model is posed in a Contrapposto posture which would normally be used to glamorise or beautify a subject. Using other compositional elements such as leading line and rule of thirds, Dijkstra confuses the viewer immersing them into a feeling of social awkwardness and uncertainty.

From a technical aspect, Dijkstra uses a fill flash to make the subject ‘pop’ from the background, using a mid-range full length body shot to centre the subject within the image,

the tones are cold creating contrast to the pose itself whilst giving the image a harshness that awkwardly compliments the model.

Using the rule of thirds she has placed the frame so the horizon sits below the subjects torso creating the stance and feeling of power and confidence which is directly contrasted by the awkwardness of the aesthetics and tones.

It is important to relate that even though the Contrapposto pose used in a lot of paintings was to signify natural beauty, the pose itself isn’t natural and I feel Dijkstra brings this across tremendously in this image.

I feel Dijkstra wanted to focus on that crucial moment of our lives, when we all had to go through adolescence. It creates a relatability that not many viewers can ignore, it gives us a sentimental memory of finding ourselves as individuals and discovering our identity.

 

Everything about this photograph screams ‘awkward’ towards the reader of the image, even the title. The title of the photograph is merely a location and date which brings across a certain degree of documentation which creates a cold atmosphere towards the subject in the likes of missing the subjects name. Dijkstra boldly draws attention to the subject in search for her identity, while we as viewers remember when we searched for ours, similarly to us as readers searching for the identity of the subject.

I feel that this image and the series it was involved in utilises powerful key elements within the aesthetics and design to create an abundance of uncertainty, confidence and overall relatability. Dijkstra was in my opinion successful in her attempt to document adolescence whilst creating a piece of contemporary art that signifies messages of purpose and strength.

 

 

References:

1. Artnetcom. (2018). Rineke Dijkstra | artnet. [online] Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/rineke-dijkstra/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
2. Popphotocom. (2018). Consent Form | Popular Photography. [online] Available at: https://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2008/12/conversation-rineke-dijkstra [Accessed 15 Aug. 2018].
3. Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller. (2018). Rineke Dijkstra: Beaches by Rineke DIJKSTRA, Birgid, UCCIA on Vincent Borrelli, Bookseller. [online] Available at: https://www.vincentborrelli.com/pages/books/106644/rineke-dijkstra-birgid-uccia/rineke-dijkstra-beaches [Accessed 15 Sep. 2018].