DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/543H-2B52
Defense Date
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Art History
First Advisor
Michael Schreffler
Abstract
American photographer Catherine Opie combines portraiture and documentary photography in her photographic series titled Domestic. At the center of this series lies the idea of community and the question of how community is constructed, a theme which unites Opie’s seemingly disparate bodies of work. Domestic depicts lesbians from across the United States in scenes of domesticity, living as couples, families, and housemates. Using formal portrait conventions to aestheticize the images, Opie photographed her subjects in and around their actual homes to create images that are documentary in essence. The series works to represent the lesbian community, which Opie felt had been underrepresented in American fine art photography, as well as present an alternative to the heteronormative view of domestic life in America.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
May 2013