Poignant Pics no. 56 - On Katia Dermott's "Justine"
Welcome to no. 56 in our series Poignant Pics where our editor, Diana Nicholette Jeon, discusses Katia Dermott’s "Justine"
“The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.–Henri Cartier-Bresson
Almsgiving
Katia Dermott is a Maine College of Art & Design student, expected to graduate in 2022. I doubt I would have found her work at this time had it not been for a 'controversial' post she made in Flak Photo Network on Facebook. It was a simple question about pricing work for a charity sale as an emerging artist. The assumptions that colored how several people replied made it 'controversial.' I was saddened to see that several respondents treated Dermott's query with patronizing responses without inquiring for any contextual data about her reason for asking. I googled her name to see if maybe I was the one with the off perception. That brought me to her Instagram, which I found has some gorgeous platinum-palladium work. This is a skill set I wish I had but never had the chance to learn, and I probably cannot afford to do it even if I knew how.
Dermott began this series of platinum-palladium portraiture work in 2018, after studying the work of Sally Mann. Her attraction to Mann was twofold; Dermott, like Mann, had also photographed her family. But even more importantly, Dermott was interested in the qualities and beauty Mann brings out in the photographic print itself.
Her portraits seemed to capture something, perhaps a moment of psychological conflict or existential youth angst. I don't find that discomfort of the sitter with the photographer, but rather Dermott showing something about who her sitters are and how they relate in the world. The work is somber, direct, and confrontational, showing hints of Nicholas Nixon from his original image of the Brown sisters, made in 1975.
Bay Area Figurative Movement painter Nathan Oliveira famously stated, "I am an abstract painter who finds the figure.” He created figurative works inside spaces within his canvas or paper with no visible beginnings or boundaries. Dermott told me that she positions the sitter as the frame by stripping away elements of spatial cues via her use of a plain white background. Though not as pronounced as within Oliveira's works, I believe Dermott uses that isolation to show psychological states such as disenchantment. Additionally, in the same way that Olivera brilliantly used color, Dermott used the warm glow inherent to her chosen medium to create tension within her portrait images.
She stated, "The physical presence of these subjects references the history of photography. As a woman myself, the very act of photographing another woman pushes against the practice of objectification and heightens the subject not as something being viewed by a male photographer, but as a person who holds her own power."
It seems that many women in the generations who followed the feminists of the 1970s take their advantages for granted and seek to characterize themselves as "not feminist" without realizing the sacrifices their predecessors made to give such a choice to them. Combined with the current political climate within the US, hope for us as women citizens is fading fast, and life lived within the confines of The Handmaid's Tale seems imminent. Painter Kehinde Wiley said, "Art is about changing what we see in our everyday lives and representing it in such a way that it gives us hope." As a woman, I view what Dermott intends to show, i.e., women holding their power, as a cause for hope.
Thank you, Katia, for giving me hope that some women of your generation care enough about the generation's sacrifices that came before mine to try to make others see their worth. I know I will see much more of your work in the future as you emerge from your degree program.
I look forward to it. Bravo, Katia!
Artist Bio
Based in Maine, Katia Dermott uses photography, book making, and prose to create windows into worlds adjacent to where a viewer resides. Katia grew up on an organic vegetable farm; as each summer began, she found herself surrounded by a new crew of seasonal hands who sometimes lived as close as the room next door. Katia learned from and grew with the land as much as the people who farmed it.
In 2022 Katia will receive her BFA for photography from Maine College of Art & Design.
Author Bio
Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.