Artist research - Jo spence

Jo Spence is a photographer that I discovered during my third year of my degree, whilst carrying out the project 'These Four Walls'. As well as being a photographer Spence was also a writer, cultural worker as well as a photo therapist. Throughout her life her work took a variety of paths, from commercial photography to documentary, often referring to topics such as politics as well as socialist and feminist themes. The work that I was most inspired by was her self portrait work, specifically the project ‘Crisis Project / Picture of Health? (Property of Jo Spence?). I was drawn to the image shown above for the use of how she chose to display her text, using her own body as a canvas, giving what at first looks like a statement, saying that her body is her own, but then when looking more closely you can see she has questioned whether it is in fact her own, making you as the viewer look more closely to try to determine what she could be referring to.