Humanity As Seen Through Photography
Humanity as seen through photography
By Tara Giddings
Judy Dater is a Bay Area woman who has been working as a photographer for around 20 years. The California native is known for feminist work and personal portraits. She currently has an exhibit at the de Young museum in San Francisco. The exhibit is titled “Only Human” and is a collection of her lifetime’s work, portraying her collection of black and white photographs. Her love for photography grew from viewing films in her father’s movie theater as a child.
Dater was born in 1941 in California and grew up in Los Angeles. She attended the University of California Los Angeles to study art. Later she decided to go to San Francisco State University where she got her bachelors of art degree and proceeded to get a masters degree as well. While living in San Francisco Dater resided in the Haight-Ashbury district during influential “hippie” era of the the late ’60s and early ‘70s.
Her work focuses on people, and showing the commonality in humanity. In a recent interview, by Jessica Zack, that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle about Dater’s current exhibit she said “People are totally, centrally important to me, and still every bit as interesting”. The interview described how Dater works to capture a “person’s essence” in every photograph she takes. This is very apparent in the photographs that in her exhibit. Each one reveals a different emotion, looking like a vision into the subject’s inner mind.
She photographs people of different gender, age and ethnicity. Her work depicts people often in nature or in a familiar setting, many times taking people’s portraits in their own home. These settings help to provide the intimate and realistic feeling expressed in her photographs.
Her portfolio also includes self portraits. She took many of her self portraits in rural areas of the Southwest. In these she is portrayed nude in the natural landscape. This setting implies the natural state of the naked human body, allowing the audience to see a naked woman as simply another part of nature instead overly sexualizing or objectifying the female form.
In addition to these photos she has a variety of her subjects pose nude. Most of these are women and due to the artistic value and non-traditional images Dater is considered an important feminist figure. Her work from the ‘60s and ‘70s era has a strong impact of the forming feminist movement.
Her photos, along with being beautiful images often act as methods to challenge social constructs. Many of those photos in support of feminism act as a method of portraying a different version of women than typically offered by the media. In an article by blouinartinfo Dater was quoted saying her outlook was “the nude body—women, men, and myself—became an important vehicle for me to express ideas about sexuality, gender politics, freedom, vulnerability, strength, and character.”
The de Young displays Dater’s work in a smaller back room, the shadowy ambient lighting allows the viewer just enough light to focus in on the photos. The set up allows the viewer the walk around and connect with each of the large black and white portraits. The faces of a wide assortment of people stare back from the wall.
Each face represents a layer of personality, revealing a side of the person’s character. The photos capture only a moment but appear to tell a story of each individual’s life. They range from a women closing her eyes, hand on her chest, to a couple sharing an intimate moment to simply being able to look into the faces of some people who appear completely open and honestly themselves.
By Tara Giddings
Judy Dater is a Bay Area woman who has been working as a photographer for around 20 years. The California native is known for feminist work and personal portraits. She currently has an exhibit at the de Young museum in San Francisco. The exhibit is titled “Only Human” and is a collection of her lifetime’s work, portraying her collection of black and white photographs. Her love for photography grew from viewing films in her father’s movie theater as a child.
Dater was born in 1941 in California and grew up in Los Angeles. She attended the University of California Los Angeles to study art. Later she decided to go to San Francisco State University where she got her bachelors of art degree and proceeded to get a masters degree as well. While living in San Francisco Dater resided in the Haight-Ashbury district during influential “hippie” era of the the late ’60s and early ‘70s.
Her work focuses on people, and showing the commonality in humanity. In a recent interview, by Jessica Zack, that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle about Dater’s current exhibit she said “People are totally, centrally important to me, and still every bit as interesting”. The interview described how Dater works to capture a “person’s essence” in every photograph she takes. This is very apparent in the photographs that in her exhibit. Each one reveals a different emotion, looking like a vision into the subject’s inner mind.
She photographs people of different gender, age and ethnicity. Her work depicts people often in nature or in a familiar setting, many times taking people’s portraits in their own home. These settings help to provide the intimate and realistic feeling expressed in her photographs.
Her portfolio also includes self portraits. She took many of her self portraits in rural areas of the Southwest. In these she is portrayed nude in the natural landscape. This setting implies the natural state of the naked human body, allowing the audience to see a naked woman as simply another part of nature instead overly sexualizing or objectifying the female form.
In addition to these photos she has a variety of her subjects pose nude. Most of these are women and due to the artistic value and non-traditional images Dater is considered an important feminist figure. Her work from the ‘60s and ‘70s era has a strong impact of the forming feminist movement.
Her photos, along with being beautiful images often act as methods to challenge social constructs. Many of those photos in support of feminism act as a method of portraying a different version of women than typically offered by the media. In an article by blouinartinfo Dater was quoted saying her outlook was “the nude body—women, men, and myself—became an important vehicle for me to express ideas about sexuality, gender politics, freedom, vulnerability, strength, and character.”
The de Young displays Dater’s work in a smaller back room, the shadowy ambient lighting allows the viewer just enough light to focus in on the photos. The set up allows the viewer the walk around and connect with each of the large black and white portraits. The faces of a wide assortment of people stare back from the wall.
Each face represents a layer of personality, revealing a side of the person’s character. The photos capture only a moment but appear to tell a story of each individual’s life. They range from a women closing her eyes, hand on her chest, to a couple sharing an intimate moment to simply being able to look into the faces of some people who appear completely open and honestly themselves.
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