Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
School
School of Communication and Arts
Faculty
Faculty of Education and Arts
First Supervisor
Dr Panizza Allmark
Abstract
This creative inquiry is grounded in my maternal experiences and situated within a feminist approach to photography that develops a discussion of maternal passion and acknowledges the conflicting dynamics of the maternal relationship. The research includes a book of photographs of my children, Georgia and Henry, titled Uncertain surrenders, and a written component explicating the theoretical imperatives that motivated the project. I suggest that the coexistence of beauty and menace within the photographic portraits exquisitely represents the complexity of maternal passion. Julia Kristeva (2005) says, “we lack a reflection on maternal passion” in Western culture because it is an ambiguous passion composed of negative and positive aspects that are difficult to understand. I propose that by accommodating the uncertainties arising from the ambiguities of maternal passion in the photographic portrait, it is possible to strengthen mutual recognition between mother and child. These photographs are intimate collaborations between my children, Georgia and Henry, and myself that represent our mutual connection. The climate of fear that surrounds images of children in contemporary culture has introduced restrictive practices and protocols for maternal photographers and threatens to limit the production of images that represent the complexity of the maternal relationship. In this research I acknowledge the ‘mother photographer’ to broaden the scope of female subjectivity, increase the status of motherhood and to agitate conventional restrictive notions of maternity that persist in the twenty–first century.
Access Note
Access to Chapter 2 of this thesis is not available.
Recommended Citation
Wilkinson, T. (2012). Uncertain surrenders: The coexistence of beauty and menace in the maternal bond and photography. Edith Cowan University. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/458