Dreamy black and white photo of a door propped precariously against a wall. A figure crouches beneath, a pale arm and leg visible. Light streams in a window at left.
Dreamy black and white photo of a door propped precariously against a wall. A figure crouches beneath, a pale arm and leg visible. Light streams in a window at left.
Dreamy black and white photo of a door propped precariously against a wall. A figure crouches beneath, a pale arm and leg visible. Light streams in a window at left.
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Francesca Woodman

Untitled (figure and door)

Maker

Francesca Woodman (American, 1958-1981 b. in Boulder, Colorado), (RISD BFA 1978, Photography)

Title

Untitled (figure and door)

Year

1977

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Sheet: 25.2 x 20.5 cm (9 15/16 x 8 1/16 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Purchase with funds from The Judith Rothschild Foundation

Object Number

2002.71

Type

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 16: Intimacy

RISD Museum’s Manual 16 Embraces Intimacy

Intimacy reveals something deeply human in us. We need each other on a practical level, which means having to trust strangers. It’s analogous to what I understand prayer requires and what writing poems requires: an openness to the unknown, coupled with trust, a belief that we won’t be hurt. It’s at once akin to and the same as devotion.
-Carl Phillips

The RISD Museum’s sixteenth issue of Manual touches on the bonds of intimacy and its many expressions. This issue complements the exhibition Any distance between us, co-curated by Stephen Truax and Dominic Molon, on view at the RISD Museum through March 13, 2022.

Exhibition History

RISD and Photography
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

Francesca Woodman created a remarkably original and influential body of photographs during her short life, largely while she was a student at RISD in Providence and in its Rome program. As the daughter of two artists, George and Betty Woodman, she came to RISD able to incorporate a mature personal investigation into tasks designed for the understanding of fundamental photographic principles. At a time when few exhibiting photographers staged imagery for the camera, Woodman fabricated haunting, psychologically charged scenarios. She frequently posed for her own pictures, saying she knew best what she wanted from them. Her photographs are less self-portraits than fictive worlds for her characters, who might appear vulnerable or daring.

Photography and Place
Contemporary Works from the Museum's Collection
Jan 23, 2004 – Apr 04, 2004

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Francesca Woodman (American, 1958-1981 b. in Boulder, Colorado)
Untitled (figure and door), 1977
Gelatin silver print
Sheet: 25.2 x 20.5 cm (9 15/16 x 8 1/16 inches)
Museum Purchase with funds from The Judith Rothschild Foundation 2002.71

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