Barbara Astman and Janieta Eyre

Janieta Eyre and Barbara Astman are two Toronto-based photographers whose individual works are similar, as well as different, in many ways. Touching on the similarities, both Eyre and Astman enjoy having a pre-setup area, where they can strategically place objects and models to take very precise pictures. They dislike the practise of bringing a camera around with you on your travels and taking pictures of random things. Astman’s “Red Series” demonstrates how she took everyday household objects and set them up in a specific pattern, then painted them red. Almost all of Eyre’s work demonstrates the trait of deliberateness – she has models dressed up in costumes (sometimes even naked), peculiar props which include severed animal heads, and special effects put into the photographs. Both of these artists use their bodies/the human body as a subject matter. In Astman’s “Dancing With Che” series, she intentionally placed the camera facing towards her and began to dance for the camera, in order to get the blurred movements of Che’s face “dancing”. In Eyre’s pictures, it’s obvious how much she relishes in the act of using the human body as a prop. From almost disturbingly unreal outfits to intense editing, bodies are definitely a huge part of her works. Now, looking at the differences, Astman doesn’t really use a lot of bright/vibrant colours in her work. The lone exception to that would be her Red Series. Eyre, on the other hand, uses a wide range of all colours from the colour wheel. Although Eyre uses these bright colours, I didn’t really get the feel of happiness that would usually entail when one thinks of bright colours. I think it’s the use of props in Eyre’s work. In the first picture of her “What I Haven’t Told You” album, the one entitled “Eating Meat”, you see this lady in a very beautiful, colourful dress, but what irks us is how you cannot see her eyes. It’s often said that the eyes are the windows to our soul, so basically with her eyes covered; you don’t know what she’s all about. Then you look to the left, and BAM, there’s a severed cow’s head on the table. Not your average family-friendly photo. Astman however, her pictures are very light-hearted. You can tell that she’s having fun dancing in her Che pictures, and in her Red Series, it emanates a very interesting vibe, one to get the onlooker thinking about the idea behind the picture. Both of these photographers’ photos are beautiful in their own way. They don’t follow beauty in the usual sense; rather, they incorporate hidden messages into their works to spark our attentions, to have us try and guess what they were trying to do. Personally, I like Barbara Astman’s photos. Even though I love all things scary and creepy, I found Eyre’s work to be too gruesome and much for me. It was the album with dead animals that put me off; I’d not like to see my food before it’s on my plate.