'Not Natasha' Exhibition Review

The image that I have chosen to analyse from the exhibition shows a girls arm spread out on white bed sheets. The image is in colour and has simple and plain colours and tones. The frame of the photo only includes the arm and the sheets and it has been cropped so that the arm is centered in the frame and is the main focal point. By doing this she has instantly created a strong line across the composition of the image which captures the viewers attention. The rumpled lines on the sheets contrast with the straight lines on the girls arm and they look as if they flow from her hand outwards. In reference to her self-harm marks, these lines on the bed sheets could represent her pain flowing away from her body, the release that she gets from hurting herself. The red lines of her arm contrast with the clinical white bed sheets, which could connotate purity. A contrast to how her life was previously, It captures the girls entire past in one small frame.

The photograph is a documentary photograph but is not in the classic black and white like a lot of documentary photos are. I feel the use of colour strongly heightens the emotions and message of the photograph and makes it more realistic whereas if it was in black and white I feel this may make it less intimate.
As in all her photographs from this series there is no identity shown, im not sure if this is mainly to protect the identity of the girls and because they didn’t feel comfortable but it also suggests the message of women been used as objects- to the sex traffickers they had no identity.

On Dana Popa’s website she has placed this image after a photograph that is completely different. The photograph shows a bedroom door with a picture on it- the picture has a girls name written and hearts have been drawn around it. This photo does touch on identity, as there is a name. And the hearts almost appear ironic. The girls name and the hearts almost gives a sense of hope, but then this photo is then followed with a shocking contrast of the girls arm, Which is a very interesting way to have them as a series and it took me by surprise.

This image is simple in composition. But the message is strong. And emotional. The arm been the center of the photo leaves no room for other emotions or messages to distract it and it is a realistic and shocking image. The series as a whole is upsetting and I think this was the photographers intention and was also to show the truth and make people aware.
I chose to look at this image as out of all the series I felt it spoke the loudest- it is the least subtle out of her photographs, This is mainly due its obvious subject matter, but I also felt it was the most honest and truthful photograph I had seen in a long time and was shocked that such a soft, empty and silent image in tone and colour could scream pain so loudly.




Holly Saxton