francesca woodman

Francesca Woodman was making photos around the same time Mendieta was preforming actions. Both artists were using her own body. Woodman made a photograph of a print of her body in the snow. Half of her body is in the photo. She leaves the viewer with everything he or she needs to know about how the work was made. Where as Mendieta's photos leaves more untold.

Woodman used her body to make black and white photos. Mendieta uses her body to make actions and documents the actions with photos. Woodman is also preforming an action but her emphasis is on the photo. Woodman's composition of her body makes the photo strong. Mendieta's concepts and ideas are sometimes stronger then the photos that are taken.

Woodman committed suicide in 1981 by jumping out a loft window in New York. Mendieta supposedly commited suiside four years later in 1985 at the age of thirty six. She was said to have jumped from her appartment window in New York. She fell from the thirty fourth floor. Her husband Carl Andre a minimalist artist was tried for her murder but found not guilty.