Name: Dora Maar, Originally named Henrietta Theodora Markovitch Birth/Death date: November 22 1907 Paris France -July 16th 1997 Paris Photography Style: Dora Maar is most known in the photography scene for her portrait, nude and advertising photography, however she began to be more well recognized for her surrealist photography which increasingly became dreamlike. She had also had close ties with André Breton, Paul Éluard, and Georges Bataille, who were some of the co founders of surrealism. She had made her mark when she photographed an armadillo (fetus?) up close called Pere Ubu, which had become an icon of the surrealist movement. Sadly, when her affair with Pablo Piccaos initiated she had been more known as his mistress rather than an artist. Special Techniques: She had always found ways to sneak in surrealism into her work, even when she was photographing for advertisements. She often played around with photomontages, which is the process of cutting and process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. This is a technique that was often used by surreal photographers but what made her work stand out was how she edits the photos in such a way that makes it look like a real situation that has been slightly altered. she had also been known to merge the studio with the art itself, basically merging interior(the art itself) with the exterior (the studio) Place of Work: She opened a photography studio with her fellow artist friends Pierre Kéfer at 29 Rue d’Astorg, in Paris and had worked there for years till it was closed and there now stands a sushi bar Materials/Equipment: Though you could see the innovations of photography technology through some of her works she most often preferred her Rolleiflex to the new, small, 35mm Leica. She had used the Rolleiflex camera to take photos quickly. Type of lighting: She often used multiple lamps to create dramatic lighting to create big contrast in photos. Early Influences: Maar was born a rich woman, and during the economic depression and nearing the fascist regime, she had Barcelona and London to photograph the depression's effects on the people. Her seeing this had triggered her involvement in politics and she had begun to work with many other artists to come together and talk about the political issues, and till the age of 25 Maar was very politically active. She had also been influenced by her many surrealist friends and used the technique of photomontage that many surrealists used. Interesting stories: One of Picasso's biggest and most political pieces was influenced by Maar! In the piece Guernica you can see her surrealist influence with Picasso's merging of the interior and exterior, which is a technique often used by Maars. Maars was also the first photographer to record the actual process of the painting which had been revolutionary in the art scene. What I Like About Her Art: I love the artists rather simple approach to how she does a surrealist piece. Her idea of merging the External with the internal creates a closer connection from the audience to both the artist and art piece. It also confronts the viewer with reality, but since it's surreal, the reality that we're faced with is altered and the sense of familiarity is warped once again and we are now faced with a different feeling when looking at her art compared to other types of art. I also really enjoy how a lot of her photos had an underlying political message that made the viewer rethink what their stance on the particular political situation was. I also really enjoy the lighting she uses and how much it has to do with the piece itself.
Man Ray, Portrait of Dora Maar, 1936. Image via The Red List.
“Untitled (Shell hand),” 1934.Photograph by Dora Maar / Courtesy Centre Pompidou / Philippe Migeat / RMN-GP One of her most famous photos, where she used a technique called "photomontaging"
Dora Maar, Le Simulateur, 1935, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA This is another one of her famous political pieces meant to show the abnormalities and deformations of the social conditions during the 1930's. the boys strange pose and the upside down room preludes to social conditions during WWII.