carlagirl photo.

practicing the arts of cogitation since the late 1900s.

late freight

Posted on | December 1, 2005 |

I finally finished watching all the episodes of “Being Bobby Brown” this evening. Am I the only one who thinks Bobby and Whitney are a normal, well-adjusted couple? I really came to think by the end that they were a lot like folks you know, you know? A little bit crazy, tacky, make mistakes, but undeniably in love (and yes, I do know so-called reality TV is scripted). Although Whitney, what were you doing defending George Bush???

My new favorite saying that I learned from celeb blogs? H.A.M. (hot ass, or azz, mess) and its derivation, H.A.M. sammich. If you know me, be prepared for me trying to work it into conversation even when only marginally appropriate, as in, today up at work I looked a straight H.A.M. You don’t want to know.

I’ve become very interested in this notion of dress and appearance since starting my corporate gig and actually having to leave the house dressed each morning. I grew up in a family of seamstresses, so clothing and adornment has always been very important in my life, even when I was consciously choosing to subvert/deny its importance. Suddenly I’ve found myself spending a lot of time buying and making clothing, trying to figure out what coordinates, what’s age-appropriate, and what suits my sense of style and individualism in a world that does not recognize me as an artist or writer, which is how I define myself professionally. Wanting to integrate the way I’ve been spending much of my time with my interest in women, history, and self-portraiture, I asked women close to me—family, friends, partner—to lend me an article of clothing or outfit which I don and in which I have been photographing myself, allowing the dictates of the garment—how it feels, how it moves—and my knowledge of the owner to determine how I present myself in it. Unlike earlier work, I intentionally subvert my particular identity. One woman sent this statement along with her clothing, which perhaps best articulates the way in which we conceptualize clothing:

Since I moved here I wear every day a blackout curtain of black stretchy material to make my body disappear. Then I wear a colorful scarf to further distract with accessories. That’s my uniform. No one here has ever seen me in anything different. They think it’s me.

Category: photowork
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Comments

One Response to “late freight”

  1. Kelly
    December 3rd, 2005 @ 1:21 am

    I simply LOVE this project, Carla! I can’t wait to talk with you in depth about it and see more of what you’ve been working on.

    What we wear makes a powerful statement to the world about who we are or who we may feel the need to be at a particular moment. We may not like this concept or be conscious of it, but it’s valid nonetheless.

    I have a love/hate relationship with clothing, with hate being the dominant emotion. This is because I don’t feel that I know what my style/taste really is and I wonder if this therefore means that I don’t know who I am.

    Like you, I now have a corporate job even though I don’t want to identify myself that way. Does the image I project at my job through my clothing reflect part of me at all or is it a completely made-up persona? How would my clothing choices and therefore my projected image be different if my weight was less, for example? Would I still err on the side of more conservative attire or would I be more willing to be creative and experimental? In other words, would my clothing choices become more in line with how I represent politically, spirtually, socially and as a lesbian?

    This is a very thought-provoking project (as are all of your projects, Carla). Thank you for encouraging me to question myself about this. I look forward to great conversation over dinner one of these days. :)

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