Photographer Research: Dash Snow -

Photographer Research - 

Name: Dashiell Snow
Born: 27 July 1981

Death: 13 July 2009

Birthplace: New York, America
Occupation: Photographer, artist

(Untitled, LA Drunk on Cart)

Connotation: This photograph connotes the fast paced lifestyle of youth and the rejection of societal norms and values. The rebellious and nihilism of youth is often represented in Snow's work who lived a fast paced lifestyle himself and the photographs are meant to capture the moments of his life with his friends. 

Denotation: There is one subject who is in the left third of the documentary photograph instead of posed centrally. There is rubbish in the foreground that creates a leading line to the subject. The colours are somewhat muted due to the polaroid development process. 

Context: Dash Snow had said in an interview that he wanted to capture photographs of nights that he would not otherwise remember. Alcoholism is a feature of Snow's work who depicted his life through the drug abuse and chaotic nights in polaroid pictures. The majority of Snow's work depicted the "complex notion of American freedom" and how different people would define it through their life choices and actions and Dash Snow decided to capture these fleeting moments with a camera which now serve almost as a memoir to his life and his status as one of the great youth martyrs in photography. 

(Untitled, Jesus Loves U)

Connotation: This image is more explicit in its meaning yet it addresses the issue of gangs and violence often associated with them. It uses the idea of religion to combat the gangs. The connotations of this image however may be deviant from this as the subject of the photograph is not necessarily the belief system of the photographer. 

Denotation: This image is a polaroid which depicts a wall with graffiti that conveys a message. The colours depicted are bold and of a high saturation which contrasts to the highlights and lowlights of the image. Lines are used to direct the audience towards the central third of the photograph where the main subject of the image is shown. 

Context: Multiple references are made to religion and god in Snow's work whether because he held religious beliefs or because he was critical of them and example being the photographic book titled "God Spoiled a Perfect Arsehole when He Put Teeth in Yer Mouth". Moreover, Snow had prior rebellious behaviour associated with graffiti. When he was 15 years old he started the Irak graffiti crew whose main skills were tagging walls and stealing. 

(Untitled, Pillow Fight)

Connotation: This image is variant from the majority of the works within Dash Snow's portfolio in that it depicts the fun side of youth opposed to the darker nihilism and hedonism of images depicting drug use, sex, bloodied wounds. The subjects are mostly obscured by the foreground feathers and thus are almost anonymous and could be representative of all youth. The scene is relatively intimate in that it depicts a close friendship and this is not usually depicted in most photographers works. The scene is more photo documentary and not posed yet the possible connotations of white feathers are extensive; white feathers are seen as a symbol of cowardice due to an old ideology that cockerels in cock fights with white feathers were an inferior breed and hence they became a symbol of cowardice in the second world war. This cowardice could be extended to Snow's inability to face his demons and instead find methods of trying to escape them or instead his inability to integrate into societal expectations of him brought on by family. However, the white feathers are often spiritually seen as a symbol of angels who look down as a guardian upon someone. Snow spent a lot of time capturing the fleeting moments in life and depicting mortality through blood and such and thus could have captured that moment solely for the fun of it or more implicitly because it reminded him of mortality. Moreover, it could also be seen more simply as a link to the youthful fun of childhood and acting in a way that could be seen as playful yet rebellious such as play fights and pillow fights. 

Denotation: There are two central subjects who are obscured by a wall of feathers in the foreground of the image. The image itself is very monotone and deals in muted colours and a few simple hues which work well with the polaroid paper and as an aesthetic choice. This image works well in cohesion with Henri Cartier-Bresson's, a fellow documentary photographer, theory about the decisive moment as the above photograph tells the entire narrative in one frame at the perfect point of capture. 

Context: This photograph may have been captured during one of the high points of Snow's life as it depicts a happier subject than most images and shows youth as fun and trouble instead of as self-destructive. 

(Untitled, Fear the Darkness)

Connotation: This photograph depicts one or possibly more subjects who are collapsed in the street after some events likely involving alcohol and drugs. The main focus of the image is the writing on the back of the subjects jacket which says "Fear the Darkness" which could be a reference to the book published under the same title or instead as a slogan representative of the self-destructive youth ideology that understands mortality and a fear of it. The darkness could also be a metaphor for Snow's anxiety and paranoia. There also appears to be a liquid on the floor that is either alcohol or blood and the ambiguity further stresses the lifestyle led by Snow and his many friends. 

Denotation: The main subject is offset to the right of the square compositional image and is framed by a large empty space within the photograph. The lighting is darker and the colours more vibrant in this photograph with the cobalt bus wall also aiding in the framing of the subject. 

Context: This image conveys the photojournalistic style of Dash Snow whose photographs were  described by Annka Kultys as a way of coping; "Making art by recording his life was a form of both communication and catharsis" which links strongly to the purification of his emotions relating to anxiety and paranoia which is depicted in the above photograph. 

Influence -

Dash Snow has been influential in my project more so for his technique of photography and his idea of depicting himself through his work. The use of polaroids is a technique used throughout my photoshoots as it is a nostalgic medium and provides an aesthetic that I find pleasing. Moreover, it links with my beliefs that polaroids and disposable film photographs are more cherished as they are physically held whether in photo albums or photographic installations in art galleries; the technological and digital copies loose their meaning as they are captured quickly, lots can be taken at once and are often never looked upon again. This ideology is shared with Snow in his dislike for the online and technological mediums.

Summary - 

 

I have been influenced by the photographic works of Dash Snow in that I have payed attention to particular subjects that I may have disregarded previously. For instance, the bloodied plaster appeared to me to represent the recklessness and self-destructive, but also the fun and troublesome, nature of youth and the collective identity of the subcultural group. Moreover, I also studies the graffiti in my local area specifically in shoot 4 where the above polaroid shows a quote on the wall much like the "Jesus loves u" image captured by Dash Snow. Despite this, my work is not intended to be anywhere as extreme as the images depicted in Snow's work but I still consider him extremely influential in aspects such as the technique of polaroid photography but also smaller details such as consideration of colourisation and his ability to capture the moment.