out themselves because everyone is too busy teaching Boys the rules. This philosophy of their

music parallels one of the core photographic principles that I am bringing forward to explain

Girl, Departed’s affected visuality. I consider The Slits’ unique sound as a departure. It is a

departure from the male rhythm, or the patriarchal-institutional rules that systemically rule,

evident in the misuse of a creative tool. I employ these gendered terms to reference and

acknowledge the patriarchal structure as it is rules society still, The Slits’ original ideas, and my

personal position as a woman, but it should be understood that the use of male and girl are

mainly to refer to the Standard and the Departure from the Standard, respectively. It is less about

literal gender identification as it is understood and more so about the experiential of the feminine

and how the feminine manifests in creative processes.

To expand on this further and transition to the realm of photography, I draw a comparison

between Nan Goldin’s and William Eggleston’s photos. Eggleston's emphasis on photographic

formalities articulates male rhythm in the way that he relates to a photograph, and prompts his

audience to relate to a photograph, through a set of rules of what makes a good image.

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Eggleston sacrifices a certain aspect of intimacy in his photos by following the prescribed

beautiful structure. These rules are in place so that certain people do not and will not ever have

access to it. I mean this in terms of who is looking, as in people who are not privy to the

formalities of photography, and more generally, as in there are rules and laws in place in general

for the sole purpose of gatekeeping based on socio-economic status, race, gender (apply to a

broad array of systems and it is usually true). He and his photographs are upholding and are

upheld by the rules. The Other finds very few access points into the emotionality of an Eggleston

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Hagen, Charles, and William Eggleston. "An Interview with William Eggleston: New Southern Photography Between Myth

and Reality, Summer 1989." Aperture Conversations: 1985 to Present (May 1, 2018), 132-137.

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