Photographer Research - Nancy Hellebrand

Nancy Hellebrand

Nancy Hellebrand’s early interest in photography was almost entirely motivated by a sense of social justice. Over time her photos became less content-dependent and more abstract, though they continued to be driven by her hunger for human understanding and intimate beauty.
Hellebrand's work inspires the most simple interpretation possible to take with the topic 'writing', she presents the literal presentation of writing and it's different styles from Hellebrand's teaching years at Yale University.

Photo One

This piece presents what I can only assume to be a symbol; since it doesn't appear to be any letter. There is no other forms of writing around this symbol, leaving a lot of negative space, but there is some inky border around the frame of the photo; this creates a more authentic appearance of natural writing. The symbol appears to be written in biro, suggested by the fainter areas of ink being patchy where the person has obviously had to slightly lift the pen while writing; this can create a formal atmosphere, associating biro with business themes typically in societal norms. Furthermore, the link with formality, the symbol itself could suggest an intellect, linking the symbol with maths, or science, academic subjects that people invest in; the symbol could represent a certain formula, or a value. This suggestion creates a power change, making the viewer intimidated by the lack of understanding towards the symbol, like they are inferior to whoever wrote this. The texture created by the faint ink patches in corners and slight static appearance from the appearance, makes the photo eye-catching; if without this texture, the photo would appear more digitally made and would be more bland.

Photo Two

This piece presents a few what I can assume words in joined together handwriting; the words are so simply curved that it is almost impossible to make out what they say. There's a lot of negative space around, but there appears to be writing on the paper behind also, revealing the worlds faintly, almost like shadows. The words behind the paper suggests history, since it shows the paper that's written on is worn out, revealing things behind, also suggesting that this paper is used a lot; possibly interpreting this piece as a section of a diary. The handwriting appears elegant and conveys fragility with its simple curving and perfection of joining the letters, suggesting this is a women's writing since women are typically linked with beautiful handwriting because they were raised to be elegant in presentation. The two words next to each other appear similar, suggesting they are the same word, just repeated; this can convey distress to whoever wrote this, or practice and focus, like they are trying to remember this word. The lettering hidden behind the paper adds a shadowing texture that suggests the paper is old and worn out, this creates a natural, comforting atmosphere since people can link this to nostalgia, a bittersweet feeling. The lack of faint areas of ink in the writing conveys the writer was hard on the paper when writing, which can suggest an aggression or urgency when writing these words.

Photo Three

This piece presents what I once again assume is symbols. The paper is smudged with I can assume ink, suggesting the paper to be used heavily which can link with hard work. The first symbol (left) appears rushed due to the very faint ink area above it that links with it and how patchy the ink is on the symbol in general, suggesting there being a speed when the pen was dragged across the paper. The other two symbols (middle, right) are a lot more fine lined, suggesting they were written in a slower speed or more heavy handed. These symbols seem less mathematical and academic than the symbol in the first photo, the curvature in the line makes it appear more artistic and more like scribbles rather than symbols. There doesn't seem to be any formality within this photo due to the messy presentation overall in this persons writing and quality of paper. Nonetheless, the photo appears educationally linked, and that suggestion is supported with Hellebrand explaining this was during her teaching years.

Photo Four

This piece is a heavy closeup of simply letters written on lined paper. The handwriting in this photo is very messy, shown in the disproportions in how the letters are written. This appears to actually be written in pencil rather than pen due to the faint ears being less patchy and more rough like pencil lead would present. The writing is heavy handed also, shown by the dark chalky appearance on the letter 'R'. The 'R' is presented twice in this photo, and a letter 'D' is also cut off, Hellebrand has presented four different closeup sections in this photo and window arranged them, almost masking it as one full photo. It is unclear on why Hellebrand did this, she could of just wanted to present specific letters this person has written because they present the most character, and believed the other letters weren't necessary to present. The messy handwriting and heavy handed way, while with a pencil, suggests a child wrote these letters, since pencil writing in most cultures, is considered to be for children and they then move onto writing in pen when their handwriting has improved or they move into high/secondary school. The letters are also not aligned with the lines given on this paper, removing any formality and suggesting really abnormality; breaking out of the social norms metaphorically. 

Overall…

I believe the simplicity of Hellebrand's work is very powerful for interpretation, Hellebrand seems to just give you these markings on paper and lets you take it in anyway you want. The use of writing allows an artist to be very abstract if they wanted, and you can be simple in your composition while still enticing the viewer and making them think, rather than just looking at a 'powerful' photo. I believe Hellebrand's work will inspire me to further my presentation of literal writing and gain a better understanding of saying 'less is more' with my work.