Theme table of contents
VJIC table of contents
| Sarah Jabbari (Iran) is a visual anthropologist and photographer. She holds a PhD. In the history of photography. Her book “”Early Perso-Parsi Visual Encounter: A Dialogue with India” will be published in 2025. |
Introduction to the Main Theme
Identity is not a fixed concept—it is constantly shaped, challenged, and reshaped by cultural, political, and societal forces. Under the theme “(Re)shaping Identity: Resistance, Conformity, and Representation,” this series of three essays examines how identity is constructed, performed, and negotiated in contemporary society. Each essay focuses on the work of a different photographer, exploring unique perspectives on identity formation, from the homogenization of selfhood under consumer culture to acts of cultural resistance and reclamation.
Harald Woschitz critiques the mass production of identity in consumer-driven societies, using mannequins as symbols of power, conformity, and representation. Michael Michlmayr takes this a step further, replacing human faces with mannequin portraits in public spaces, challenging how visual culture dictates self-perception. Finally, Sarah Jabbari’s work shifts the focus from consumerism to political and cultural resistance, capturing how Iranians reclaim their pre-Islamic identity in defiance of imposed narratives. Together, these three essays explore the tension between individuality and societal pressures, questioning how identity is shaped—whether by external forces or through acts of defiance and self-reclamation.
© Harald Woschitz
Harald Woschitz: Identity and Power in Identities
Theme editor: Sarah Jabbari
Identity is a multifaceted construct influenced by cultural, political, and societal forces. Harald Woschitz utilizes mannequins to critique identity’s homogenization within global consumer culture. His photographic series Identities transcends conventional photography, using mannequins as powerful symbols to explore complex questions about identity, constructed realities, consumption, power, and representation (Woschitz, 2020). His photographs serve as mirrors that reflect societal ideals and trends while also prompting viewers to critically examine their own perceptions of identity and authenticity.
© Harald Woschitz
Using mannequins as a focal point, Woschitz raises critical questions about the nature of identity, the power structures shaping it, and the symbolic drama underlying modern representation. He interrogates whether the ideal images portrayed through mannequins align with real human desires or impose limitations on individuality. He also questions who dictates the standards that mannequins represent and whether these images reflect reality or construct a fabricated version of it. By raising these points, Woschitz encourages viewers to reflect on how visual symbols influence their understanding of self and society (Berger, 1972).
Woschitz’s mannequins highlight the tension between individuality and societal conformity. The mannequins, as “time-bound ideals,” embody how people relinquish aspects of their identity to fit into societal constructs. These static figures—faceless and genderless—echo Erving Goffman’s concept of the staged self, where authenticity is often sacrificed for the sake of social approval (Goffman, 1959). Trapped in rigid poses, they metaphorically depict the struggle of individuals seeking recognition while conforming to uniform societal ideals. This duality—the need to stand out and the pressure to fit in—is reinforced by the grid-like arrangement of mannequins, emphasizing a homogenized aesthetic.
© Harald Woschitz
Woschitz’s theatrical and curated presentations of mannequins challenge the viewer’s ways of seeing, compelling audiences to question the authenticity of the images they consume. This aligns with John Berger’s critique of visual culture in Ways of Seeing, where he explores how commercial imagery constructs desires and self-perceptions (Berger, 1972). The mannequins in Identities, designed for fashion and retail industries, symbolize the commodification of identity. Their interchangeable, faceless forms underscore the homogenizing effects of consumer culture, where individuality is often reduced to mass-produced ideals (Lasch, 1979).
Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish explores mechanisms of power and control in modern societies. The mannequin, as a symbol of societal ideals, reflects the “pyramid of power” that governs identity and behavior. These figures, created and manipulated by unseen forces, embody Foucault’s notion of surveillance and control, where individuals internalize societal norms and expectations (Foucault, 1975). This internalization is akin to Foucault’s concept of the “panopticon,” where the mere possibility of being observed compels individuals to regulate their actions.
Foucault’s The Birth of the Clinic further examines how power operates through the act of seeing. In Woschitz’s work, the mannequins’ faceless forms disrupt traditional dynamics of the gaze, challenging viewers to confront their own roles as observers and participants in the construction of identity. This disruption aligns with Foucault’s exploration of how visibility becomes a tool of power, where the act of being observed reinforces societal norms (Foucault, 1963). The faceless mannequins compel viewers to question the power dynamics at play in their own acts of looking, highlighting the interplay between surveillance, self-regulation, and the societal constructs of identity.
© Harald Woschitz
Furthermore, Woschitz’s work moves beyond feminist critiques of visual media, which emphasize its role in objectifying and commodifying bodies. His mannequins, stripped of gendered features, subvert this objectification, prompting viewers to reflect on the ways in which they perceive and engage with representations of the human form (Mulvey, 1975).
© Harald Woschitz
As constructed symbols, the mannequins invite deconstruction. By presenting them in theatrical settings, Woschitz exposes the artificiality of these representations, encouraging viewers to question their authenticity and purpose. The mannequins, as reflections of societal narcissism, highlight the diminishing expectations of individuality and authenticity in modern life. Woschitz’s work serves as a critique of this cultural phenomenon, urging viewers to reconsider their own roles in perpetuating these ideals (Lasch, 1979).
Woschitz’s exploration of identity through mannequins ultimately challenges viewers to reconsider the forces that shape self-perception in contemporary society. By highlighting the tension between individuality and conformity, his work critiques the homogenization of identity under consumer culture while exposing the mechanisms of power and control that govern social behavior. Woschitz’s Identities compels audiences to question not only the constructed nature of representation but also their own complicity in sustaining these visual and ideological frameworks. In doing so, his work serves as both a reflection and a critique of modern identity, urging a deeper awareness of how cultural and societal narratives dictate selfhood.
 © Harald Woschitz |
References:
- Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing. London: BBC and Penguin Books.
- Foucault, M. (1963). The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception. New York: Pantheon Books.
- Foucault, M. (1975). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
- Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.
- Lasch, C. (1979). The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
- Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6-18.
- Woschitz, H. (2020). Identities [Photography Series].