Viviane Sassen
Viviane Sassen is a photographer from Amsterdam, who also works in fashion. Which is another reason why i specifically like her work, as i want to interlink fashion photography into my work. In her work she uses a lot of geometric shapes, abstractly created through the use of bodies. She has taken part in many campaigns, such as ones for Miu Miu, Stella McCartney and Louis Vuitton. She also introduced the use of ink and paint into her photographic work, which created more surrealist and sculptural elements in her imagery. She also enjoys experimenting with shadows, and landscapes which have a dream- like atmosphere. I really like her experimentation and movement of the body in her images, which is something which I am going to use within my own images as I want to experiment with abstract movement and the body creating more intriguing and/or humorous positions.
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Polly Braden
Polly Braden is a documentary photographer from Scotland. In her photography she focuses on the people she photographs and the environment that they are in. She has said she enjoys long-term, in depth collaborations which create intimacy in her work. One of her projects is called 'holding the baby', which consists of photos which creates a portrait of the impact of austerity measures on families across the UK. This project was inspired by a United Nations report , which states that single parents had been the most effected by austerity measures. I love this project as I think the images are very powerful and represent a topic that many may overlook the impacts of, however Braden teaches us through this project and her images, as they in-still so much emotion. What I am going to take from Braden's work, is the idea of taking more candid images of models in a setting, as I feel as though it could bring more genuine reflections of models and fashion images, within my photography, making fashion images more relatable.
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Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter is a photographer who also uses film, who is living and also working in London. He is known for some of the images he has taken which have referenced classical paintings. His work often comments on social realities of specific sub-cultural groups. He creates formal compositions produced with richly coloured cibachrome prints. I like Hunter's work because of the rich indulge in colour and the angle that he captures his subjects from being very connected to the true representation of their lives and character. Allowing that focus onto the people and a connection with the story. I also want to indulge into the representation of my model's within my images, and focusing on them as I am thinking about looking into fashion images for my investigation, where i believe the models hold so much power. The model's in fashion photography act as a mirror of the consumer, as the consumer see's this dreamt of item, life, vacation, in a magazine image and they are presented with a message that if they buy that item, they will have that dream.
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What do photographs mean?
We then read a piece of text written by Tod Papageorge, about his friend Garry Winogrand and the image i showed above. They were both photographers. In this piece of text, Papageorge spoke about the day that he first met Winogrand, and he mentioned that "Garry and I found ourselves walking through the Central Park Zoo", which provides us this idea that they did not go there purposely for their pictures. Whilst in Central Park Zoo, these two photographers came across, what Papageorge described as "A New York City piece of strangeness, it seemed to me, strange enough to take a picture". It was a White woman, and a Black man, both dressed quite smart and upper class, in what looks like a couple, holding chimpanzees as children, dressed like children. In the text, Papageorge mentioned being "Pushed in the back away from this odd little group. A real shove..", and then also says, "of course, it was Garry". I thought this was interesting, as by saying that, he must be implying, that of course Winogrand has also seen this opportunity, however it is interesting he would shove his friend for it, maybe Winogrand did not believe Papageorge would know how to take the most advantage of this opportunity as Papageorge stated, "he was seeing something that i hadn't seen". This is of course how we notice the photographer had analysed the problems with this couple and scenario.
From this whole text my favourite quote is "I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed". This quote by Garry Winogrand to me means that reality/ what is being photographed, is completely different to a photo of it, in many ways.
From this whole text my favourite quote is "I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed". This quote by Garry Winogrand to me means that reality/ what is being photographed, is completely different to a photo of it, in many ways.
Studium and Punctum
We read excerpts rom Roland Barthes' 'Camera Lucinda', 1980. It is a short book focusing on an inquiry into the nature and essence of photography, as well as the sections about Barthes' mother, who unfortunately passes, and he takes the journey to search for an image that represents/ reflects his mother to him. At the beginning he starts with describing with a few images he has seen such as images by Koen Wessing.
Experimenting with a family photograph
We were instructed to bring in a family photograph from home into our lesson. I chose this image of when I was younger, with my grandma from my mum's side. I chose this photo because I used to spend every summer in Lithuania with my Grandma, and I enjoyed every bit of it and was also quite close to her. They are times I miss a lot every day, as sadly she passed away before Christmas in 2020, after her tumour removal operation due to kidney failure among other things. This image to me is very special as it sparks many memories with her and is a very clear image of her. It is exactly how I remember her, as this was also the robe she wore around the house every single time I saw her. |
We then experimented with the image we brought in, however we wanted. I was not really sure on what to do. I just started by cutting out pieces of the picture, which was sort of odd because it was such a special image, that sparked lots of emotions. However, I decided to print the image in both colour, as well as black and white, where I then cut out pieces of my grandma out in black and white, and then stuck those pieces onto the coloured version. This to me sort of symbolised the loss of my grandma. I also cut out some other bits in the coloured version, like my top. I then printed another colour copy, which I cut pieces out of and stuck upside down onto the other one.
I used a black felt tip to draw around some of the objects in the image, as well as my Grandma's features. However, I was not fully keen on the tracing of my Grandma's features (on the coloured version that is upside down), therefore stuck back on a section of her face from the image. Overall I quite like my outcome as I feel like it allowed for me to make an image that is quite serious to me, more fun and reminded me of the fun I had with her, which felt quite nice. I also like the contrast of the black and white and the colour sections, I feel it allows for my grandma to stand out as she is the only bit in black and white. This task allowed me to explore manipulation experiments with old images. There are many other things I could do using old images, like using the dark room, which I may want to do within my investigation.
'Keeper of the hearth'- Odette England
This book by Odette England was created on the 40th anniversary of Barthes' work- Camera Lucinda from 1980. This book was about the nature of photography as well as talking about the loss of his mother. In the book he explains his journey of looking for a picture of his mother that is the perfect image, he goes through many family images and just cannot find this image. Then he discovers it, he finds the image, it is a picture of his mother, with her brother, by a garden house, and she is 5 years old in the image. He calls this his 'Winter Garden Picture'. The most fustrating, yet interesting bit though, is that we, the audience, never see this image, as he never includes it.
Odette England decided to ask 199 of the world's best known contemporary photographers, writers and critics, curators and art historians to send her an image or even a text that to the individual, reflects on Barthes' 'Winter garden photo'. The instructions she left were:
"The main criteria for the photograph you contribute is that it echoes, suggests or reflets Roland Barthes' Winter Garden photograph. It can be an image you have made or a snapshot of your. It can be a found photo. It can be colour or black and white. It can be made with an alternative process. It can be a contact print , a test print, a polaroid."
The book is filled with many of the contributions, and I think it is an amazing book as we get to discover how each individual interprets the rules set by Odette and the idea of this Winter Garden photo, differently.
Odette England decided to ask 199 of the world's best known contemporary photographers, writers and critics, curators and art historians to send her an image or even a text that to the individual, reflects on Barthes' 'Winter garden photo'. The instructions she left were:
"The main criteria for the photograph you contribute is that it echoes, suggests or reflets Roland Barthes' Winter Garden photograph. It can be an image you have made or a snapshot of your. It can be a found photo. It can be colour or black and white. It can be made with an alternative process. It can be a contact print , a test print, a polaroid."
The book is filled with many of the contributions, and I think it is an amazing book as we get to discover how each individual interprets the rules set by Odette and the idea of this Winter Garden photo, differently.
My winter garden photo
I know this image is technically 2, however there is a reason for this, and why it is my winter garden photo. I find a lot of joy in sitting down to look at old family photos and baby photos of myself. However, one thing I always had missing was images of my dad when he was younger. I had seen many images of my mum, grandma, but none of my dad as a child. One summer, when I was in Lithuania, my grandma showed me these two photos that she had, of my dad, and I took a picture on my iPad. I have had this picture for many years, and when I was looking for my winter garden image, I knew that this was it, because it was exactly what I was missing from the images I was looking through. This images shows me an insight of half of my own identity.
'THE UNFORGETTING' - Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins is a visual artist, who is based in London. His phonebook 'The unforgetting' is based around his mum, who committed suicide when he was young. It is a culmination of several years of work which examines his German side of his family heritage, the trauma surrounding his mothers death, time, memory and history. It is a group of images attempting to explain a family history. In his images, there are some images of objects, people, places, contact sheet/polaroids. All the images are black and white, which I think is powerful as it constitutes this idea of the past, history and death. Also, the use of black and white sets the atmosphere to be quite sorrowful and memorial. The image of the dress, I believe is his mothers, and I found this image to be so personal and special, as it is like a part of his mother in the image, and I could imagine her smell lingering around him. In his set of images, the objects he took pictures of suggested that an important aspect of life was music or sound, such as the tapes, accordion.. He explained to a interviewer that his mother was a linguist, who used to teach herself languages by recording her own voice onto a recorder, and check back on it.
In this photobook, Watkins allows the audience to meet his mother, and understand his life, allowing himself to also connect closer as well as the audience. I personally see his images like a recreation of memories through intimacy.
In this photobook, Watkins allows the audience to meet his mother, and understand his life, allowing himself to also connect closer as well as the audience. I personally see his images like a recreation of memories through intimacy.
Mark Cousins- 'Story of looking'
Mark Cousins is a Northen Irish director and also is a writer, who lives in Edinburgh. He created a movie called 'The story of looking', and this was based around the fact that he was getting surgery on his eye, on the following day of when he filmed this. He visited this idea of looking, and what it is, what is it we look at and see. From the film I learnt how special the sense, to see, actually is. Seeing Cousins' fear about his surgery, emphasised this, as one day your sight could change or even go, and therefore what you look at, does too. This film has made me realise that what we see can cause so much inspiration, and that I should look more often, especially in situations like on the bus, where I would normally be on my phone.
Since watching the film, I have begun to look more, and think about where my eyes are attracted to most, when I am looking. Surprisingly, this actually helped me to discover aspects i could investigate for my project. An example of something that has developed as an idea for my investigation, after hearing Cousins talk so in depth about looking , is that I have noticed my eyes paying close attention to people. My eyes examine closely what they are wearing and their position, movement, how they walk or sit, and then I think about their stories.
As homework, we were set to screenshot 5-10 important moments, to us, during the film.
Since watching the film, I have begun to look more, and think about where my eyes are attracted to most, when I am looking. Surprisingly, this actually helped me to discover aspects i could investigate for my project. An example of something that has developed as an idea for my investigation, after hearing Cousins talk so in depth about looking , is that I have noticed my eyes paying close attention to people. My eyes examine closely what they are wearing and their position, movement, how they walk or sit, and then I think about their stories.
As homework, we were set to screenshot 5-10 important moments, to us, during the film.
I screen-shotted this first, which is a moment at the very beginning of the film. Here he talks about his granny, this last image he had of her in her casket, on a phone. He mentions how although the phone he no longer has access too, he still has access to this image from his eyes, in his memory, because he has seen it ,and this image has been stored. I think it is so interesting how we keep a massive album of images, situations, landscapes we seen, all stored in our head, and it may feel like we are there or a person is still there, because we can close our eyes and see it, almost like our eyes our time machines.
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This was an image that was shown in the movie. It was an image that was sent in by Laura Cumming, from a postcard, that she kept looking at, trying to figure out why she found the image is so modest, magnificant, limited, exhaustible. I thought this was interesting because it is a moment we realise how much we can analyse an image, by looking, how much we can see and what stories we can create. Made me feel as though a camera/photo was just another albumn for our eyes. |
There was a part of the film where Mark Cousins was explaining his past conversation with a women he had met, who challenged him about colour. The women was colour blind, and could only see in black and white. She was speaking about the yellow brick road in wicked, and how she saw it. Upon request, Cousins watched the movie in black and white, to realise how the change of the colour you can see can really affect the atmosphere, and music becomes what sets the atmosphere most. I thought this bit was so interesting as I never realised how different we would interpret things if cannot see colour. I think it would be an interesting experiment to take images and then have them in colour, as well as black and white, and see how the meaning and analysis changes, of the image.
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My photography project idea
What is it within your photography that you are really interested in?
Fashion photography, but including my sense of humour and abstraction. I love colour and glossy images. Contemporary photography, including people, but a diverse cross-section of society. I believe I want to focus on Fashion photography however make it more real and break the social norms within fashion photography, as I believe that in our society everything has become so staged and set an unrealistic standard. I think fashion is about expressing your identity and our true selves, therefore the images should be more true and unique.
What is it about your project that you want to know?
I am interested in learning how to brainstorm new concepts for new images to take, so that I have a larger variety of photos. I also am interested to investigate within my project how a change in where I am or the age of who is in my images, may affect the kind of image I get and why.
What is it that you want to document?
The fashion of both the young and the old. The uniqueness of reality.
How much do you want to document what you see?
I want to take pictures if I see a chance, as personally I really enjoyed taking images by chance. Therefore I am going to constantly observe the world around me and the fashion around me. However, I also want to arrange interesting shoots at least once every two weeks, where I will arrange a theme for the images I will take. I think taking images by chance from what I see in my day to day life is important as it can strike more inspiration.
What do you want to share with the viewer?
I want to share my journey of exploring my project as I have a basis idea but want to explore this world of fashion photography, however include my own aspects into it, such as humour.
What do you want the viewer to experience?
I want the viewer to have fun and engage with my images. I want them to see a new side to fashion photography, being more odd, unique and fun.
What kinds of emotion/experience do you want the viewer to have?
I want the viewer to experience being part of the photo, not just staring at it. Fashion is something that everyone takes part in, even without realising, and it is a non-verbal form of communication. We are also surrounded by images and advertising due to the inflammation of media, therefore the viewer is able to relate.
Have you documented in great detail a photographer or groups of photographers that have also photographed similar theme/story/subject?
I have looked at a few photographers that I quite like, like Viviane Sassen and Matt Stuart. I want to look into some photographers that do fashion photography. I do also really like Mario Testino's photography because of all the colours.
What were your findings within their work?
I really like Matt Stuart as his work is very humorous and realistic as he catches these images with chance. Sassen's work I particularly like because of the abstract movement of the models in the images.
I then decided to take some of my time to research some photographers and look at their work for inspiration, these are some that i found:
Miles Aldridge
Aldridge is a fashion photographer. He is most known from the images he produced in the mid-nineties, as they were high in colour and style with inspiration from films, art history and pop culture. His images use a palette of vibrant acid hues. His images constantly reflected society's idealised notions of domestic bliss. I like his images because of the the use of vibrant colours, and the vintage appearance of them. The main reason I was attracted to his work is the way his images are being taken, to break social norms of women. They are posing in a way that would be thought to be quite unladylike, breaking society's norms of women just sitting and looking pretty as well as being part of cheap labour. This relates to the message I want to achieve through my photography, breaking the social norms of what is thought to be Fashion photography. I want to make fashion photography more humorous, unique and realistic, through the use of abstract, contemporary images.
Ksenija Dobrinina
I found this Russian photographer on Instagram, this is her page. I was drawn to this photographers work because of the poses she captures off the models. It seems as though the photographer just captures the movement of the model. The fact that the position of the model is quite odd and unique, I really like as it is more creative.
I made a mood-board of images I have found on Pinterest for initial inspiration for my investigation:
Personal investigation questions (inspired by Luke Saxon interview)
Growing up in London do you think this has strongly affected your photography? Or have other people/places influenced the direction it has moved towards?
This is hard to answer because London is the only place, I have really explored my photography and where I have taken most of my images. However, I feel like London has because it is full of inspiration, and a variety of people which have inspired me.
The use of colour comes across very prominently in your work, almost painting Esquea. Is photography your sole background or do you have other art influences?
My use of colour is mostly inspired by other photography. Photography is my main creative outlet.
What inspires you to shoot?
My inspiration to shoot comes from constantly looking at magazines and the images in there, as well as movement, movement of people, trees, time, wind, all changes the situation, and that inspires me to take image.
Let us touch on a subject that I am positive has never been discussed before: do you prefer shooting on film or digital?
I prefer taking my images mostly digitally, as the colours are more vibrant and I prefer to take multiple images and find the right one. However, when taking pictures of my friends and for memories, I prefer film and this is because I like my images connecting with ones I have of my mum when she was younger, and I think the look of them is cool.
How is this decision relevant with your photography?
Because I then take all my images on a digital camera, and can take multiple images, of the same thing, capturing different angles and the movements of that moment.
Who are some of your favourite photographers?
Matt Stuart, Viviane Sassen
Tell us about your first photo-book? What was the idea behind it?
My first photo-book was about a series of images that were quite unique and random, but mostly of my family that I live with. The sequence of images had no narrative behind it as I wanted to be a group of images that allowed the receiver to arise questions. I paid attention to colours and movements, especially when pairing the images on the pages.
Do you feel your images capture your theme as they are?
Most of the images I take I do not edit, as I aim to capture the true representation of reality and colours of our world. However sometimes I may brighten some colours if picture is darker.
What is happening next?
I am going to start my next investigation. I am going to start exploring fashion photography with humour. I want to set up more photoshoots and start gaining more inspiration from around me
'Face a fear' photoshoot
We were assigned to take a set of images, relating to our personal investigation, starting to explore it, whilst facing a fear. A fear I faced for my work was asking people to stand in front of the camera and do silly things. I went to Peckham Levels, as it has a variety of colours walls and staircases, which I thought is a good start towards my investigation as I want colour. I also asked for my models to put in headphones where I played jazz music and asked them to just 'move to the music'.
I think this photoshoot was successful as I had an idea and created it. I really like the bright colours from the walls, as I prefer more vibrant images. My favourite image is the one where both the models are reaching to the camera, close up. As I enjoy using flash with my images, I like how the flash in that image is really embracing the features of the faces and brightening up the faces, and contrasting with the vibrant pink in the back. In this image I feel the models faces are so clear, compared with the hands in the camera, making their faces the subject of the image. I think I successfully caught the movement of the individuals, and created images of the odd postures, as during this photoshoot, I watched the models through the camera lense mostly, and just took many images, whilst they moved, to catch everything. One thing I could do to improve these images is edit them a bit better, as I did try to edit the images a bit, to make them brighter and more vibrant, however I do struggle with editing and is something i could improve on.
Half- term photoshoot
I had two photoshoots, the images of Yasmine in a red jumper are the result of a photoshoot I did around Central London. For the second set I took in Greenwich Park, I had the idea of using the columns by the Maritime museum because after the photoshoot I did in Peckham level (Face a fear photoshoot), I wanted to have the dancing to abnormal music but in a different setting. Sadly the other dancer model had to cancel but my photoshoot still worked out fine. I wanted to capture the comparison in size of Yaz and the columns and have this sort of empty, but not empty, space. One of the images I edited on photoshop was to add a few images of Yaz in-between the mass of the columns and played with the opacity of each to create this representation of her movements to the music. Initially, I thought that the one thing I would have done to improve this photoshoot with the images at the beginning of the last row was that I would ask Yaz to be more in the centre to really aline the image well with the chandelier and Yasmie in line and also position the camera perfectly. However, then I thought about how I am trying to investigate exactly that, that there shouldn't be a perfect and we should play more with the composition of images to make them more interesting.
Looking at photobooks for inspiration towards my investigation-
One minute sculptures- Erwin Wurm
Wurm began the 'one minute sculptures' series in 1988, which is a series of images that is constructed using individuals like anonymous participants, curators, artists etc, to participate in engaging in physically challenging interactions with objects like toilet paper, doorways, flowers etc. and taking an image of them in different locations around the world. Most of these images are very questionable and have a funny scenario going on, there are many ways people have interacted with objects, which I can use as inspiration for ideas of how I Could maybe ask for individuals to participate in a photoshoot, give them a piece of clothing or object and see all the ways they will utilise them or what they will do with them, and photograph it.
Laughing camera-
This photobook is constructed from sets of diptychs, made from black and white images. The images are very silly, humorous, and the images that are paired into the diptychs tell a sort of story. I personally felt inspired by the images in this photobook, because it is the sort of humour i want to run through my investigation as it is the kind of fun I want to embark on my idea of a good magazine image, breaking the seriousness in images. I would guess that majority of these images were taken by chance, therefore I may need to start carrying my camera with me more to capture images like so , or when setting up a photoshoot, to really capture every move.
Performing for the camera
I read through the book 'Performing for thew camera' , which is a book published by the Tate. This book explores the audiences understanding of performance within photography as well as documentation. It investigates the serious side of photography as well as the more humorous and improvised. One section that really stuck out to me in this book was the section called 'Documenting performance'. The use of photography as a way to document performance, has actually been one of the most dominating ways in which the history of performance has been understood. With a performance, the only traces left of it will be the documentary images and the audience who witnessed the performance. From the book, I learnt that there were artists whose concern to document, was not a primary concern, although found themselves confronted with images that represented their actions to them. An example is Yves Klein, and his 'Anthropometries Of the blue period', from1960, this was a performance he organised where he directed models to become his living paint brushes.
The models pressed their naked bodies against a canvas. As an analysis of the actual performance that Klein planned, I do not agree with it as the work is sexist as Klein only used women to be the human paintbrushes, as if reinforcing the idea that women are objects, and reintroducing patriachy, because a male has constructed this piece, and a man is controlling these women.
However, I like the image results of this performance as Shunk-Kender used cropping and blurring to capture the theatrical nature of the work, during the performance. The images created were a documentation, and although the performance was set up, the images were natural and true. The images caught each moment and sort of collaborated with chance. The final images assisted Klein in his review of his conceptual work. This idea of creating images from a documentation of performances has inspired me with an idea towards my own investigation. I could create a performance, such as a fashion catwalk with clothes I have made specifically for it, have an audience and document it. The only evidence I would have left of this performance would be the pictures created and the audience , other than that it would not exist anymore.
However, I like the image results of this performance as Shunk-Kender used cropping and blurring to capture the theatrical nature of the work, during the performance. The images created were a documentation, and although the performance was set up, the images were natural and true. The images caught each moment and sort of collaborated with chance. The final images assisted Klein in his review of his conceptual work. This idea of creating images from a documentation of performances has inspired me with an idea towards my own investigation. I could create a performance, such as a fashion catwalk with clothes I have made specifically for it, have an audience and document it. The only evidence I would have left of this performance would be the pictures created and the audience , other than that it would not exist anymore.
Danny Treacy- 'Them'
Danny Treacy is a photographer who is interested in issues of land use and social invisibility. Treacy appreciated going into terriotories where people would resort when they had nowhere else to go during his work. 'Them,' is a project by Treacy that piqued my curiosity. The project consists of life-size photographs of Danny Treacy dressed in strange costumes constructed from salvaged clothing that he collected from remote locations such as woods and parking lots. He repurposed the garments he discovered into 'junk monsters.'
What drew me to his work is how he re-used garments he had found in abandoned places, and re-used them in an artistic way. I like that he created funny costumes which were photographed infront of a black background, like the sort of images you would spot on a fashion brands website. It inspires ways I could create humour within fashion photography, by playing with the actual clothes. This also relates to what is seen on many runways and in magazines recently as layering has become a trend.
Danny Treacy inspired photoshoot
During my making day, i set up a photoshoot, where i brought a bag of clothes, set up the backdrop, and asked my friend to model for me. My instructions to my model were 'Just put on the clothes, in weird, interesting ways'. I wanted to also incorporate aspects of documentation from Yves Klein's work which i read about in 'performing for the camera' , within this photoshoot, so I filmed when my friend was dressing herself, and took pictures as well. My model layered lots of clothes onto herself and created a humorous outfit. This fits well with my investigation as i want to explore my connections to fashion photography and incorporate my humour into it.
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I also made a video of myself dressing my mannequin, who is a model. I wanted to be abstract, imaginative, and experiment with layering in order to achieve a humorous result utilising fashion. I was happy with the outcome of this shooting since I was able to include video in addition to photographs. I developed shots in which the model's 'fashion' appears weird and more like a mess of clothing on her body. I really enjoyed using documentation of a performance within my work, as it takes a new approach to fashion photography, as rather than asking her to pose and directing the model, I documented every move that the model wanted to make. This contrasts with what I learnt from models about what fashion photoshoots are actually like, where they are directed to perform a specific movement/pose. Therefore, through this photoshoot I am investigating the conventions of photography and my opinion to them . During this shooting, one constraint I encountered was that capturing a shot while the camera was filming resulted in a freeze in that area of the video. Next time, I'll use two cameras: one for filming and one for photography.
Photoshoot in Angel
Yaz and I just chose a random location to go to and looked for a place to do a photoshoot. We passed across a green space with blocks near a little shopping centre, which we chose to use because the blocks could be incorporated. I like these photographs since some of them are more serious, similar to the images we see in magazines, which I'll include in my final work as a contrast to the 'funnier' images I would use in magazines. I also shot photographs with only Yaz's feet and arms showing through the holes in the blocks; I like these images because they are rare in that they focus on something other than the face, such as her bare feet; it is a more artistic image, which I enjoy. I also took some images inside of Angle station, as there was this bare rock wall ,where I accidentally took a blurry image, which I like and will be using as the blurry image ties in well with my investigation of the conventions of photography such as blurry images and objects in the way.
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Collaborative experimentation on a Half- frame camera
Yasmine and I were given an opportunity by Mr. Nicholls, during our lesson, to use the rest of the shots on his half frame camera. A half frame camera uses a film format , but at half the usual exposure format and fits twice as many photos on a standard roll of film. We took it outside and experimented by taking some images. |
From looking at the results of the images there were some results which I was very happy with and I believe most of the images turn out very well, however as with any film camera, you are never able to see the image you just took and have to wait for them to be developed. Therefore, there are sometimes 'mistake' images which do not turn out as well as expected. Some of the results from the half-frame camera did not turn out as we planned, however I actually thought the results were more interesting and abstract.
Some of the images that I got from this experiment I think fit well with my investigation, for example the use of bodies. I may use some of the images as extras when creating my final piece, slotted in like when you get ads and perfume samples in magazines.
'Jamais je ne t'oublierai' - Carolle Bénitah
I was looking through some photobooks and found 'Jamais je ne t'oublierai' by Carolle Bénitah. It struck out to me because of it's book design as it is like a scrapbook design with a spiral bind. Inside, were images which use a combination of film images layered with this textured gold paper. I thought the design of the book was brilliant because it sort of reflects like a scrapbook, as the images inside are handmade. The context behind her photobook is that when she was working through her archives, she came to notice she had quite few images of her parents before their marriage, who lived through the difficult times in Morocco, during 1920. There were images that her grandmother kept very close and away from others due to the sad tragedy of her loosing a son. She comments 'I found myself orphaned by images from the past'. Bénitah enjoys buying and collecting anonymous photos from flea market, of people who she does not know, but knows they once existed. She used these images to create imaginary family albums to repair oblivion and to rebuild the memory of family which she missed. Using the images she buys from the markets, she also uses gold leaf, which is a stainless metal, where gold has been hammered into thin sheets. She masks the image using the gold leaf, mostly on the faces within the images. She decided to specifically use images which evoked a sense of 'deja-vu' which reflect similar stories told by ancestors.
'But like these photographs, which express the impossibility of identification, i construct 'absent' memories'.
'But like these photographs, which express the impossibility of identification, i construct 'absent' memories'.
-------My response to Carolle Bénitah-------
What I was inspired by most from Bénitah's work, was the use of different textures, combined with her images. Therefore, I wanted to experiment with using different materials with images I have taken, creating textures and layers. This is effective within my investigation as a lot of fashion brands now are extending into video games and graphics fashion.
This was the first response i created. I used some pink card, cut out the shape of Yaz's shirt, in the image, using a scalpel, then i stuck the pink card behind it, so the cut out area exposed the pink card. I like the result of this experiment as it looks quite natural, and sort of allows more focus on the model. One thing that could of worked better is as the paper that my image was printed on was quite thin, it did not cut as neatly, and so there are some rough areas . I like the idea of layers within my photography as it links well with my investigation as is taking a more fun approach to fashion photography.
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This was my second experiment, very different from the first and Benitah's concept with her work, but layering of materials inspired me to experiment layering with different images of mine. I used an image of a train that i photographed in my Angel station shoot, and the pictures of legs and hands that I took during that shoot, as well. I cut out the window sections of the train, and underneath placed the leg bit of the image, through one of the images, and then the hand through the other. I even flipped the legs part upside down for it to be more abstract.
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With both experiments, one thing that i did not like was how rough and uneven the cut edges looked so I tried to do this layering technique using photoshop. This does take away the textured layers idea that i originally followed from the inspiration of Carolle Banitah, however that is okay as seeing her work and responding to it in my own way, has helped me develop more ideas for my investigation. Within the fashion industry, many brands have branches into video game fashion and graphic fashion, and i feel like my experiment of Yaz and making the top pink, kind of reflects that sort of rising fashion.
I then also tried to further develop the experiment with the train, to use for my online exhibition. I wanted to use the image multiple times and join it together to create a long train. The idea behind this was to have like a train with bits of Yaz's body, passing through my page on the online exhibition, however the edges of the train do not reach the edges of weebly. I also need to further refine it because there are bits where it is still noticeable that the images are not merged well.
Experiments with my first film camera images
I finally got my film developed, from my first time using a black and white film camera. I tool images on multiple occasions, some in Greenwich, some at the home of my mum, some more strange body ones of Yaz in school. What I enjoyed about using the film camera was that even though you look through the viewfinder, to frame the image, and can control the light settings a bit, you never get to see how the photo turned out, whether it was blurry, etc, until you develop the film. Therefore, it leaves some room for chance and surprise in the final image. A difficulty I came across with the camera was that it missed quite a few shots, and so from a roll of 24 exposures, I only got 16 images. Also, even though I was able to adjust the settings of the camera, some images still came out either too low or high exposure.
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I then created a contact sheet of all the images from the film. I chose one of my favourite images from the set, one is the one of the man driving. I then did an experiment where I used a small bit of photographic paper and exposed a new section after each section. I covered the piece I did not want to be exposed to the light yet, with my hand. I did this to see how many seconds I should expose my paper under the light, for the perfect result of the image on the paper. Once done, 4 seconds, and 5 seconds turned out the best, so decided my image should be exposed for 4.5 seconds under the light. I grabbed a full-size sheet of photographic paper, and placed it under the light, with the image from the film in the filter, exposing the paper for 4.5 seconds. I then placed the paper into the developer for 1 minute, then into the stop bath and the fixer.
This was the result of the first try. For the bottom half of the image, 4.5 seconds of exposure is the perfect time, however, from this experiment, I realised that the top half of the image needs longer under the light, as that part of the image has a lot of bright exposed light. Therefore, for the second try, I used the dodging and burning methods. What I mean by this is that I exposed the whole image under the light for 4.5 seconds, and then covered up the area that did not need any more exposure to the light with my hands ;dodging. I then exposed the uncovered bit for a further 4 seconds, to the light ;burning. This was the result:
The result of the dodging and burning technique created me the perfectly exposed image, with more darker exposure on the top half of the image, and also keeping the well exposed bottom half. When the top half was exposed for just 4.5 seconds, there was not even anything in the rear-view mirror, however with more time under the light, it revealed more details from the image. I highly enjoyed using the dark room to expose my images and experimenting, and definitely plan to take more image on a roll of film, more closely related to my investigation, and maybe create some sort of layering experiments , creating unusual bodies etc.
John Stezaker
John Stezaker is a British conceptual artist, who is best known for his contemporary collages that he creates from images he found from postcards, film stills and commercial photos. With the images that he finds, he conjoins and overlays them, to create personalities and scenes. What I like about his work is how he combines shapes he notices in the base image, with a similar shape formed in another image, creating an abstract layered image. I want to use this as inspiration within my own work by taking images of 2 different people's bodies, on a film camera, and experiment with the idea of combining images together based on shape.
Swapping magazine faces with my own images
One idea I had to experiment with fashion photography, and making it more silly was to edit my own images of people's faces, onto bodies of models, I found in Vogue magazines. I really enjoyed creating these as they turned out quite well, as through the editing, they look real, and look serious, until you realise I combined a face with a body of someone else.
'The city is a choreography'-Melissa Shriek
Melissa is a photographer based in Amsterdam. When she was little, she wanted to be a detective, and so used her camera as a form of investigating. She has an eye for small, intimate details, in work. Throughout her work she explores relationships between individuals and the environment around them, she does this through staging as well as observation. There is an obvious performance approach in Shreik's work. |
One of her projects is called 'The city is a choreography', which was photographed between 2017 and 2020, in different cities around the world. Through the images in this project, she explored the urban environment, through her eyes and bodies.
'It was the boredom of walking the same route every day, seeing the same objects and the anonymous faces in the crowd, that made me start to see the city as a choreography.'
For some images she even asked strangers to interact with the environment around them. I really like her images because of the strange shapes and movements created by the bodies in the image, and making use of different settings around the city. This inspires my photography and my investigation as I which is what I want to explore with bodies in fashion photography and more funny and abstract body movements.
'It was the boredom of walking the same route every day, seeing the same objects and the anonymous faces in the crowd, that made me start to see the city as a choreography.'
For some images she even asked strangers to interact with the environment around them. I really like her images because of the strange shapes and movements created by the bodies in the image, and making use of different settings around the city. This inspires my photography and my investigation as I which is what I want to explore with bodies in fashion photography and more funny and abstract body movements.
My response to Melissa Shreik
For my response inspired by Melissa Shreik, I took images of my friend Eliza, who is a dancer, which was very beneficial when taking these images, as she was freely moving with things around her outside. I was satisfied with the outcome of these images as I like how my friend interacted with the objects around her. I took a few of the images on a film camera, meaning I could not see the results until developing the roll of film. This meant I did get a few blurry images, however I still like them for my personal investigation as they undermine the common conventions of fashion photography such as clear images.
Shooting with DK
DK is a model, who me and Yaz asked to do be in our photoshoots, as Yaz is a friend of his. We walked around Fulham, until I found this black gate, which I thought fit perfectly for my images as a background, as it also matched to his outfit. I asked Dk to move around in abstract ways, and I captured the images of his movements. I also got some images of DK covering his face. The images with his body creating more performative positions, really embraced my experimentation of positioning of the body creating more artistic and interesting fashion photos.
As experimentation of undermining the fashion conventions of images, I experimented with flipping around the images of DK. In magazines, images are always the 'right way up', and i wanted to undermine this by flipping my images of DK upside down. I enjoyed doing this to my images as it makes the them more playful and reflects a more individualistic style.
Making images from my failed film
When I originally took images for my response for Melissa Shreik, I took them on a film camera. I also took images in a studio on black and white film. Unfortunately, when I went to develop the two rolls film, they ended up coming out blank. I later did find out that this was because the mirror within the film camera had fallen and stopped the shutter opening, not allowing the image in. It was quite a stressful time as I had lost 2 sets of images from 2 photoshoots.
However, I did not want to put this experience to waste and decided to make use of the failed film. I found this inspiration image on Instagram from Gab Bois Instagram.
However, I did not want to put this experience to waste and decided to make use of the failed film. I found this inspiration image on Instagram from Gab Bois Instagram.
As you can see in the image from their Instagram , they created glasses, bags out of film, which was my inspiration as it links well to my investigation of fashion photography and magazine images. I decided to create jewellery, I made earrings and also a necklace from my failed film, and recorded the process. |
My rough design sketch:
The making process:
I started by practicing making the earrings using plastic I cut up from a stud wallet and cut thin strips, which I then connected like a paper chain, using double sided tape.
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I then cut up the film into thinner strips of 1 cm, ready to cut into lengths of 6cm. However, after every 3 loops, I did make the strips a but thicker and longer for the design purpose of the loops getting bigger when moving down.
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As I had two rolls of empty film, a black and white, and also a coloured roll, I did use both and also cut the black and white to the same measurements. My design idea was to have one earring out of the coloured film and the other out of the coloured film. I also wanted to make half of the necklace from the black and white film and the other half from the coloured film.
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I used double sided tape to stick together the ends of the strips, and then looping each one through the one before. Double sided tape was the best to use as it is clear and so could not be seen and did not ruin the design of the jewellery.
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Once I created the jewellery from my failed film, I then created an idea for a photoshoot of the jewellery, like a commercial image that would be seen in a magazine. However I wanted the images to still fit into my investigation of working towards making fashion images which steer away from conventions within fashion photography such as serious poses/faces, clear images etc. I decided to do the photoshoot in my bathroom, with my mum in the bath tub with bubbles, wearing the jewellery. I also took some of the images from this photoshoot on a film camera.
This photoshoot was a huge success, the photos turned out so glamorous yet with some elements of my photographic humour. I was really glad that the idea for the image composition turned out well and I liked having my mum as a model, as it includes a wider age variety of models within my images. Also, having my mum as the model interlinks well with my personal investigation 1, where i created the photobook, as she was the main subject in that phtoobook. The image setting and idea itself turned out to look like commercial images that would be seen in a magazine, therefore my goal was achieved. I specifically like how the colours of the setting are quite light which contrasts with the dark colour of the jewellery, which allows for it to stand out, seeing as it is the subject of these images.
Making a mock magazine
I decided to create a mock magazine, to start thinking about my final piece and what images I would use and why. I had to create this at home as i did it during the Easter holidays, and therefore had to create it on A4 paper, and putting the mock magazine together was not the most efficient way.
I started by choosing which images I thought should be included, so what I did was, I printed my favourite images out and began to arrange them on my floor. During this I was looking at parings and orders I would place images in, and even cutting some pictures out. I paired images based on colours, shapes, and themes, all different characteristics of the images.
I started by choosing which images I thought should be included, so what I did was, I printed my favourite images out and began to arrange them on my floor. During this I was looking at parings and orders I would place images in, and even cutting some pictures out. I paired images based on colours, shapes, and themes, all different characteristics of the images.
I came back to re-arranging the pairs of images and the order a week later after the first time, to see how my ideas and opinions changed. I re-organised the images into new pairs after spending more time looking through images, and experimenting with different pairings. I decided to experiment with one of my images that I took in summer and combine sewing, by experimenting more with texture and abstract development to my images. I decided to sew around the lips of the model in the image below.
I used a needle and some thread to carry out this experiment, and printed off the image i used to experiment with, on some card, so it was thicker, and did not just rip. It was quite difficult as there were still white pieced of the card poking through from where the needle was poking through it. I just used an image from my summer 2021 photography, as i really liked the vibrancy of colours and the model (my friend Zain), with a serious face, however I incorporated the humour by sewing around his lips, which is unusual in fashion photography. |
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I do think the result looks funny and quite odd, which is what I was aiming to do as before the image was quite standard and would be a common image within fashion photography. I also like the contrast of the red from the stitching, from the colours of the whole image. The stitching allows for the lips of the image to stand out instantly, which is a random feature therefore fixating the image on a certain facial feature. |
After making the mock magazine, I looked through it, and I decided that I no longer want to make a magazine for my end product from this investigation, which was what I wanted to originally create. This was because I thought the magazine had too much going on, in terms of too many themes of photoshoots, therefore making the magazine quite heterogeneous. I wanted my end piece to focus on one theme so that I could really develop a high quality and detailed final piece. I started to then think about my favourite photoshoots and what I liked the most from all the work I have been creating. In my opinion, I believe my strongest work was off my mum and the film jewellery. The photoshoot that I did for the film jewellery with my mum reflected a fashion advert, yet still incorporated my humour through my photography, and the idea of undermining fashion photography. I also enjoy working with my mum, as she enjoys being in front of the camera, naturally acting silly, also, using my mum is useful as often you would not expect a mum to be modelling a fashion brand in the comfort of her own home. I also incorporated my mum in my project from year 12, therefore incorporating her into this investigation fits well with my journey in photography, as she has a connection to my work.
I moved on to think about my next steps through this investigation. I had decided to focus on the film jewellery, so therefore I planned to have a photoshoots with my mum and the jewellery again.
I moved on to think about my next steps through this investigation. I had decided to focus on the film jewellery, so therefore I planned to have a photoshoots with my mum and the jewellery again.
The film jewellery around the house photoshoot
As I decided to do a second photoshoot of my mum with my film jewellery, I wanted to incorporate my humour and also create images which would be seen as peculiar if where in a magazine, advertising my jewellery. I decided to ask my mum to wear the jewellery, and parade with around the house. I took images of her in quite unexpected locations for a fashion shoot, like the toilet and outside doing garden work.
This photoshoot turned out exactly how I had hoped it would, with comical, vibrant images that are advertising my film jewellery. My favourite image is the one where my mum is sat on the toilet, with toilet paper around her legs in a mess, whilst dressed so elegantly, in a silly pose. This is because of all the contrasts to the normal conventions of fashion photography, within this image. I particularly like the funny facial expressions which my mum is making as these are complete opposite to the images that I researched in magazines, however my images are much more playful, relatable and intriguing. All audiences of photography want to enjoy themselves, and immerse themselves, but when images are of tall, skinny models, I feel as though it is so not relatable that people feel are more immersed into thinking of the things they do not have, whereas with the images of my mum, the audience is able to laugh, and enjoy themselves , relating more to the images.
Making my final piece
I began the making of my final pieces by deciding what I was expecting to make by the end of the project, as already my idea had changed from a magazine. I decided I wanted to make commercial fashion adverts to advertise my film jewellery brand. I started to edit the most recent images I took of my mum with the jewellery, around the house, as those were some of the most successful images I have taken. As I decided that I will be making an advert for my film jewellery, I needed to decide on a name. One option I brainstormed was 'Dainty' because I thought it contrasted well with the actual jewellery, which was far from dainty. I then brainstormed some more humorous names for the brand, coming up with 'Sprocket', which are the holes found on the side of a roll of film. I liked this name as it was quite random, therefore making it a humorous name for a jewellery brand, as often, jewellery has connotations of words such as 'elegant' and 'classic'. I tried the names on one of my images, and experimented with size, placement, and colour, to start getting a feel for what I did and did not like.
I did end up deciding on the name 'sprocket' as I thought it was the perfect name to fit the humour of my photography, and really reflected my goals for this personal investigation, which is to ridicule the conventions within fashion photography, even the details such as colours, names etc.
I was then editing my images on lightroom, when I started to struggle with deciding what I wanted the images to be edited like. I felt was unsure of the overall atmosphere I wanted the images to adopt and weather I wanted more cool or warm images etc. I then decided to start editing them like advert images, with the same specific techniques which is found in fashion images. I edited these images using photoshop and below I have showed the process.
I was then editing my images on lightroom, when I started to struggle with deciding what I wanted the images to be edited like. I felt was unsure of the overall atmosphere I wanted the images to adopt and weather I wanted more cool or warm images etc. I then decided to start editing them like advert images, with the same specific techniques which is found in fashion images. I edited these images using photoshop and below I have showed the process.
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I went though the editing process again, where I used the process shown in the video above, on my three favourite photographs, which I selected to utilise for my final advertisements. I then used the same text, font, and brand name as before, but modified the colours and positioning of the text to match the colours in the photographs. I am really impressed with the final adverts as they turned out exactly how i had hoped.
I then wanted to further develop this billboard advert that I made, by actually editing it onto a picture of a billboard, so that it looks as though real adverts that have been distributed onto billboards. I used this image of a tube station. I used photoshop and inserted my images onto the top of the image of the tube station. |
I firstly sized my image to roughly the same size as the boards in the picture. Then I used the tools under the transform section of the editing tools for photoshop, mostly using perspective, as it allowed me to adapt the image to the same angle as the billboards are facing, as they are obviously not photographed straight on, but at an angle. |
Placing my 'Sprocket' advertisements on real-life billboards was a huge success, as it appears very authentic. When I finished, I sent it to my mother to show her the completed work and what I created with her photos, and her answer was, "Why are you not at school and at some tube station?" because she honestly believed these were real, until she looked closer and realised they were her photos. I believe I sized the photos to the boards properly, resulting in a really realistic installation. My favourite aspect of my finished project is that my humour in photography was still very prevalent. Using my mum as the model also worked out well, connecting back to my photobook, as she has been a re-occuring subject. Reflecting back onto my final advert, I am so pleased I was able to turn that failed film into a project, which has led me into investigation of fashion adverts as well as just fashion photography, and creating my own whilst ridiculing fashion photography. I think the colours of my images, with the filter technique that I used on photoshop, has provided such a realistic edited image, that follows the colours found in real fashion adverts, which combined with my own elements of the advert, allowed for me to re-construct the criteria of fashion adverts.
Making my advert
I had decided that i wanted to include video within my final piece, and the online exhibition as a more interactive form of media. I decided to create an advert for the 'Sprocket' film jewellery. I still wanted it to be humorous and ridicule fashion advert, therefore I decided to create the audio of my advert from a merging of sections of other brands adverts. I went onto youtube, and looked through many fashion adverts from over the years. I even looked at some car ones as I know they often make exaggerated, over the top claims, which I wanted to use in my advert. Below are screenshots of all the adverts i screen recorded, and then turned into audio filed to use on imovie.
I turned the advert video files into audio files from my desktop, and them added into imovie to start editing them together into one audio. Once I created the audio, I noted down ideas of what I wanted to film. to attach as the visual to the audios. I also included videos which I took from the photoshoot of my mum in the bath.
I decided to film my mum wearing the jewellery, doing silly things which are mentioned in the audio I created, for example, it says 'dress like a man', so we dressed her into a stereotypical male outfit, wearing the jewellery and she walked down the road whilst i filmed, using my camera. |
I worked on editing the sound loudness, and weather I wanted it to fade in at any moments for a softer change, and then also had to crop the video clips to the sections I wanted and transition them nicely into one another. It was a lot of hard work, however, as I have used imovie before for when I used to create youtube videos, it did come in very handy and aided me in creating this final advert.
I also recorded sounds on my phone, through a voice/sound recorder, of things such as a running tap, flushing the toilet, my mum sweeping etc. which I then imported into my imovie and i used a few in my advert. This allowed me to experiment with use of sounds more and created a funnier advert, as having sounds of toilets is unordinary in a jewellery brand's advert.
At the end of the advert, I wanted a sound which said 'Sprocket' followed by a catchphrase, as often, most fashion brands have a memorable catchphrase. Of course I had to make sure it was humorous and looked at some jewellery brands ones. I found one from a Pandora youtube advert, which was 'unforgettable moments'.
I also recorded sounds on my phone, through a voice/sound recorder, of things such as a running tap, flushing the toilet, my mum sweeping etc. which I then imported into my imovie and i used a few in my advert. This allowed me to experiment with use of sounds more and created a funnier advert, as having sounds of toilets is unordinary in a jewellery brand's advert.
At the end of the advert, I wanted a sound which said 'Sprocket' followed by a catchphrase, as often, most fashion brands have a memorable catchphrase. Of course I had to make sure it was humorous and looked at some jewellery brands ones. I found one from a Pandora youtube advert, which was 'unforgettable moments'.
This sparked me with an idea to ridicule this catchphrase completely by flipping it to 'Forgettable moments'. I thought this would be brilliant as you would not often see a fashion brand marketing their product as 'forgettable'. Also, the idea of moments, links well to the theme of film jewellery, as film captures moments. Therefore I used 'forgettable moments' as i believe it linked well to my aim for this advert and my project. |
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I then used the app Cinematic, to add edit a filter onto my video, to have crazy effects, like a fashion advert, but more over the top to fit into my investigation. The issue with the app was that you could only use it by filming the video through the app, and then adding a filter, there was not an option to import the video into the app. Recordings could only be 15/20 seconds long, so I had to set up a tripod for my phone to film the video well from my laptop. I had to film 2 different sections and then edit them back together on imovie, with the filtered versions.
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The final advert turned out very successful. I think the audio which I created from other adverts sounds amazing and is very humorous, and the videos match very well to the audio and also carry the humour. It completely is achieving my goal of ridiculing fashion photography through the unordinary audio and funny videos of my mum with the jewellery, however portraying the message that this jewellery turns you into your own model no matter where you are, how tall, or slim , or what your wearing, allowing for the advert to be more relatable to the audience and their actual lives. This making the advert like a more realistic mirror of themselves. The dramatic filter of the advert is also effective, and portrays a dream like atmosphere, which reflects to these ideas of dreams being sold, which are found in fashion photography
I began my project knowing that I somehow wanted to indulge into fashion photography, because i am a consumer of fashion and also fashion magazines, but found a real frustration with the images of the model's supposing to be mirrors to a consumer, however being so serious. I thought that more humour and silliness in fashion photography would be more attractive to consumers and so decided to base my investigation on the ridiculing of fashion photography and it's conventions. I think i was successful in doing this and the journey through multiple different experiments led me to my final idea and even the failed role of film. I believe all my humour as a photographer did portray well in my final adverts, and I ridiculed fashion photography, by creating adverts of film jewellery, of images shot in questionable, unordinary places such as on the toilet. My model was the most important sector for my investigation as I wanted a silly model, who will move in weird positions, and pull funny faces, and having my mum was perfect. She loved being in front of the camera, and posing. She produced high quality content for me to photograph, which was so natural, therefore helping me to create very real images, which I believe are much more relatable to consumers.
I really enjoyed including sound and video into my project. The only thing I did struggle with is where I was able to film, as this is just a small project I had to do with what I had access to, but if I was to create a real, paid for advert I would use a runway stage for when my mum was dressed as a girl, teen and man. I believe the used of other adverts, joined together as my audio was a great idea, and allowed me to show my skills with editing and using imovie, as well as creating an unordinary, comical audio. I really enjoyed filming for the advert and believe the video matched well to the idea for my project and the audio, there were no sharp changed from one clip to another, as it all flowed together smoothly. I think if a consumer of fashion watched it, they would be entertained, and laughing, whilst also being informed on this jewellery brand, and seeing this life with the items, which are advertised as achievable, which was my goal.
I began my project knowing that I somehow wanted to indulge into fashion photography, because i am a consumer of fashion and also fashion magazines, but found a real frustration with the images of the model's supposing to be mirrors to a consumer, however being so serious. I thought that more humour and silliness in fashion photography would be more attractive to consumers and so decided to base my investigation on the ridiculing of fashion photography and it's conventions. I think i was successful in doing this and the journey through multiple different experiments led me to my final idea and even the failed role of film. I believe all my humour as a photographer did portray well in my final adverts, and I ridiculed fashion photography, by creating adverts of film jewellery, of images shot in questionable, unordinary places such as on the toilet. My model was the most important sector for my investigation as I wanted a silly model, who will move in weird positions, and pull funny faces, and having my mum was perfect. She loved being in front of the camera, and posing. She produced high quality content for me to photograph, which was so natural, therefore helping me to create very real images, which I believe are much more relatable to consumers.
I really enjoyed including sound and video into my project. The only thing I did struggle with is where I was able to film, as this is just a small project I had to do with what I had access to, but if I was to create a real, paid for advert I would use a runway stage for when my mum was dressed as a girl, teen and man. I believe the used of other adverts, joined together as my audio was a great idea, and allowed me to show my skills with editing and using imovie, as well as creating an unordinary, comical audio. I really enjoyed filming for the advert and believe the video matched well to the idea for my project and the audio, there were no sharp changed from one clip to another, as it all flowed together smoothly. I think if a consumer of fashion watched it, they would be entertained, and laughing, whilst also being informed on this jewellery brand, and seeing this life with the items, which are advertised as achievable, which was my goal.
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I also posted the advert on my Instagram story, as brands often use social media as a way to promote their products and therefore I also posted the Sprocket advert, like other fashion companies do to promote the new jewellery to a wider audience.