"Seeing Sherrie Levine" - Lauren

Although Singerman’s bit about gender and the artist and their affect on their work based on their gender completely flew over my head, there was one part of his essay, “Seeing Sherrie Levine”, that really began to help me understand this affect of gender. While reading Singerman’s essay, I found it quite difficult to understand the troubles he experienced in viewing Sherrie Levine’s work probably because I have never seen them. From what I understand, they resemble, almost identically, the works she rephotographed, whether they be Walker Evans or Edward Weston.

The controversy over authorship aside, what really interested me was Singerman’s point about viewing these pieces, which were originally the works of men, as photographed by a woman. I found his point remarkably viable when I turned the page and looked at Walker Evan’s “Alabama Tenant Farmer’s Wife” in the light of a woman’s camera. In other words, when I look at this photograph as Evan’s work, I picture the subject as a weathered and worn woman, but one who could also stand up to Evans if she didn’t really want her photo taken, one who is a stern wall that is unmoving to the pressures of man or nature. If I were then to look at the photograph as Levine’s (original) work, the subject takes on an entirely different persona. Now, I picture her as on the verge of collapse, looking to Levine—another woman—for sympathy and support. She is no longer stern but rather distressed and torn between herself and her responsibilities.

Before now I have never considered the different effects an artist has on their work based on their gender, but now that I realize how prominent this aspect is, I think that it should be taken into consideration with every image viewed, alongside that of the piece’s title and the content of the image itself.