Postures: The Studio Photographs of Marsha and similar items

cover rub marks, dents, crease marks, and small chips. some cover and some page corner tips bent and worn. a few page margin dents. no marks on photos. These images dominated by a concern for gesture form an evolutionary series of photographs that began with nudes and with a group of reclining figures. As burns explored the creative possibilities of working in her studio she began to manipulate the natural light that fell on her models , to use clothes and other props to increase the complexity of meaning in the images. In these photographs the studio environment functions as a constant. Distinctive cracks in the plaster, a horizontal molding that ends abruptly, heavy metal braces on the floor a shallow corner formed by a jog in the wall's surface - these elements form a structural thread through the entire series of photographs. By working repeatedly in the same space she has illuminated the variables of exposure , lighting and space in a way that allows her greater freedom to explore the complex relationship between model and photographer that is the source of her imagery.