Approaching spirituality with the help of artistic embodiment: A case study

Year 2023, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 23 - 36, 30.03.2023

Maja Jerrentrup

Abstract

In the scene of staged photography, in which ambitioned amateurs stage topics that are of relevance to them, spiritual topics are chosen again and again. This research was designed in accordance with the case study method, which is one of the qualitative research types. With the help of artistic embodiment, it is aimed to describe this subject in depth through the observations and interviews made by the researcher about the approach to spirituality in art. Interviews with members of the scene have shown that certain familiar motifs or motifs anchored in the collective unconscious are particularly popular, including the good, the evil, the ambivalent, and the foreign. For the photo team, these motifs imply work on personal identity, as well as the reassurance of their cultural identity. Furthermore, the photographs often deal with the conditio humana – what makes us human and what values we want to live by. Thus, these images often provide a creative setting for discussions, for the negotiation of values, both in the photo team, as well as among and with the recipients.

Keywords

photography, ambivalence, discourse, good, evil, identity

Thanks

I would like to thank my interviewees for the open conversations.

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