Chiaroscuro and the visual defamiliarisation of the corporeal form in photography

Wei, L

Chiaroscuro and the visual defamiliarisation of the corporeal form in photography

Wei, L

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Publisher:: Informa UK Limited
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Photographies, 2025, 18, (2), pp. 263-274
Issue Date:: 2025-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Wei, L https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0695-9856
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-06T04:35:38Z
dc.date.available	2025-08-06T04:35:38Z
dc.date.issued	2025-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Photographies, 2025, 18, (2), pp. 263-274
dc.identifier.issn	1754-0763
dc.identifier.issn	1754-0771
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189279
dc.description.abstract	This visual essay analyses the use of chiaroscuro in photography to reveal the uncanny, a phenomenon that occurs when the familiar and the unfamiliar intersect. Through an original series of photographs produced in a controlled studio environment, this essay demonstrates how chiaroscuro functions beyond stylistic convention. By manipulating light and shadow to create dramatic contrasts, it can disrupt conventional perceptions of the body, producing unsettling yet compelling transformations of the human form. Engaging with Surrealist photographic strategies and the Freudian uncanny, this visual essay highlights the interplay between concealment and revelation, positioning chiaroscuro as a means of constructing alternative visual realities in an era of increasing visual ambiguity.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Informa UK Limited
dc.relation.ispartof	Photographies
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/17540763.2025.2486374
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1901 Art Theory and Criticism, 1905 Visual Arts and Crafts
dc.subject.classification	3601 Art history, theory and criticism
dc.title	Chiaroscuro and the visual defamiliarisation of the corporeal form in photography
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	18
utslib.for	1901 Art Theory and Criticism
utslib.for	1905 Visual Arts and Crafts
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design and Society
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-06T04:35:36Z
pubs.issue	2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	18
utslib.citation.issue	2

Abstract:

This visual essay analyses the use of chiaroscuro in photography to reveal the uncanny, a phenomenon that occurs when the familiar and the unfamiliar intersect. Through an original series of photographs produced in a controlled studio environment, this essay demonstrates how chiaroscuro functions beyond stylistic convention. By manipulating light and shadow to create dramatic contrasts, it can disrupt conventional perceptions of the body, producing unsettling yet compelling transformations of the human form. Engaging with Surrealist photographic strategies and the Freudian uncanny, this visual essay highlights the interplay between concealment and revelation, positioning chiaroscuro as a means of constructing alternative visual realities in an era of increasing visual ambiguity.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189279