Catherine Opie's Domestic Series

American photographer Catherine Opie combines portraiture and documentary photography in her photographic series titled Domestic. At the center of this series lies the idea of community and the question of how community is constructed, a theme which unites Opie’s seemingly disparate bodies of work. Domestic depicts lesbians from across the United States in scenes of domesticity, living as couples, families, and housemates. Using formal portrait conventions to aestheticize the images, Opie photographed her subjects in and around their actual homes to create images that are documentary in essence. The series works to represent the lesbian community, which Opie felt had been underrepresented in American fine art photography, as well as present an alternative to the heteronormative view of domestic life in America.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Harney, Sara

Contributors dc:contributor

• Michael Schreffler

• Catherine Opie
• Art History
• Photography
• Documentary
• Portraits
• Domestic
• Lesbian
• Community
• Family
• Arts and Humanities

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/471

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1470