By: Jacob Yang

4 decades after her death, Woodman’s photographs continue to fascinate – and stump – many individuals. It seems simple enough, the objects and characteristics of her images are recognizable; they don’t feel out of the ordinary. However, upon closer inspection, a creepy feeling can be felt in all of them. Some sort of humanoid shape can be seen in the shadows of one, and another contains three eel-like creatures sprawled on a table and floor. What do any of these pieces of art mean? What was Francesca Woodman trying to say?

Woodman made her first well-known piece at the age of 13 – a portrait of herself. By the time she graduated college, she was pretty much a professional artist, according to “Francesca Woodman: The eerie images of a teenage genius” by Andrew Dickson. However, being forced to move countries, she gradually fell into a deep depression and took her own life at the age of 22. This might explain the eerie feeling that each painting has.

Her bold example in her artwork also plays a role. In a famous photo called “About Being My Model,” 3 young women stand in a line with the face of Woodman in front of their own. This shows her courageous and brave ability to be, as the name suggests, a model.

Before her death, she stated: “much as we may wish [photographs] to show reality, telling us things straight, of course it doesn’t.” This may hint at her leaving her photos vague on purpose.

However, even with all of this evidence, we still cannot be sure what Francesca Woodman meant in these paintings. As Dickson said, “We cannot know what sits outside the frame any more than we can know what happens before or after the shutter snaps open then shut.” There may be a vague idea, but not enough to decipher any images for certain.