This shoot was inspired by both initial idea’s 1 & 2 as I thought it would be quite difficult to draw a line under them and make them look very separate. I decided the braid the long 24″ hair as I thought the long hair represented the celeb aspect and the fact that it had been tied up with a concept made me relate it to catwalk. To make it more interesting and less simple- I started decorating the hair with earrings and hoops to create a very urban, layered and unusual look. The way I took the images also meant that I was not simply looking at the hair straight on; but in many different angels and seeing how far I can take it. 

I started wearing the hair unusually; like wrapping it around m y neck and wearing it as a scarf. I think it’s ideas like that; that would really link it back to cat walk because of how out of the ordinary and unusual it is. I started knotting, twisting and wrapping the braids- simply to see what kind of outcomes I would come out with, some being very interesting. I took these images in the ‘selfie’ manner which again related back to the idea of self obsession from the celebrity idea. This was actually very hard to do as it was difficult to capture all the hair without being really forced and posed- I wanted it to look relatively ‘natural’, the way I moved.

This was also my first experience of feeling and wearing extensions. I wanted to record my feelings as I think this too could push myself and ideas forward or even steer me in a completely different path. It felt quite uncomfortable; not like myself and actually really pointless. While I liked the length; I don’t think they gave me a massive confidence boost or anything. I do however think this look with decoration hoops wouldn’t have been as effective on shorter hair.

The denim workshop was actually such a fun experience. It was workshops like this; that I thought we would be doing a lot of, so I really enjoyed getting stuck in. Having to communicate ideas and responses to my group was really interesting as you got to see what peoples initial visions were and how different they all are. This task was definitely to get us prepared for the deconstruction part of our object for the main project. However I think that this whole idea of deconstruction/reconstruction is quite limited with what you can do to synthetic extensions. I would want to look at it differently and maybe destruct the object literal meaning instead of the aesthetics.My group wanted to go ridiculous double denim; different shades to create a patchwork almost look. There were some conflicting opinions with what direction we could take. For example I wanted to look more into Buffalo fashion as I thought it would be really fun to create a modern all denim Buffalo style. Others simply wanted some of the pieces we made to look different or have different features; I think we all decided as a group which one to go forward with, but others created back up garments so that we had second looks to see what kind of different effect would be given off.

We took images on both a digital camera (which gave a much more feminine, delicate and sophisticated look), and also an iPhone which had a much younger and rough look to it. I am really happy with the look we churned out- I think it has some really interesting components. While we wanted the look all denim, I think the white shirt really breaks it up and look much more normal and wearable.

I think my favourite part of the look was either the distressed denim because of how versatile the ways to wear it are; or I made small denim hoops which really illustrates the concept of me wanting all denim as a look. I think the small added details is what turns this shoot from a garment, into a look.

Now that I think I have gained a good insight to what I think hair extensions mean, their origin and where they have come from in society- I thought it would be a good idea to formulate some initial ideas to explore what I am thinking of right now.

The first idea I had was ‘Celebrities’ which was one that immediately came to mind when I got the project. I wanted to explore how they use extensions to follow trends very carelessly, they do not think about where the hair comes from. I wanted some element of shock factor; whether that be the . length, colour or style. This look would have to be perfected and seamless so that it really does look effortlessly pristine, like celebrities do. I had the idea of taking these set of photos on me; almost to enforce the idea of ‘selfies’ because I want to portray this section as very self obsessed, self indulgent and glutinous. 

INITIAL 1

I then thought about how I could make this idea more interesting and layered. I . thought about the opposing side; of ‘botched’ celebrity hair or celeb bad hair days.

…CONTINUED

I looked back and thought about some of the biggest names of the moment; falling in the eyes of the public and visualising their mental struggle with their hair. The most iconic celeb for this would probably be Britney Spears when she suffered a mental breakdown and shaved her head- this being months after a series of awful paparazzi images of her “birds nest” on her head. I think that this is a really conceptual way to twist the idea on itself; however it may be very hard to capture and not just look like a bad photoshoot.

INITIAL 2

The second initial idea was Catwalk hair. I thought that there were some similarities between this idea of the first; as the most ‘on trend’ hair is likely to be seen on both celebs and models. I think the same idea about ‘shocking’ people with the length, style or colour ect would be even more present in this category. I think some of the most intricate work I have seen has come from the runway. I thought about how creative and imaginative I could be with this; it would be one of the most fun ideas out of all the initial ones. Researching into more about hair on the runway; I saw how much backlash the Marc Jacobs SS17 ‘pastel dread lock’ hair was getting. Labelled as cultural appropriation; I knew that to make this task interesting I would have to also do something controversial. I wouldn’t want to go this far at all; and would not want to offend people- but I feel as though for the hair to not just blend into the background, it would have to be something quite different and unseen.

INITIAL 3

My last idea would be to focus in on drag culture. This is the main thing I thought of when I was given the object. Being a fan of RuPauls Drag Race means I have seen many transitions from male to female; the wig always going on last and completely changing the identity of the queen. This would by far be the most interesting and fun paths to go down. From the research I have undertaken I could take the best things from my favourite past queens; and ideas and concepts based around hair to create my perception on what I think hair extensions and weaves mean to modern day drag queens. 

I think people often really look past the hair in drag and more think about the make up, gluing down the brows, tucking and stuffing the ‘body’. People always want controversy and shock factor; but often it’s one of

the most basic parts of the look that can be the most sickening or interesting.

I had my darkroom induction which really showed me the basics of how to develop film and create photograms. Because I had experience in the dark room I wasn’t too scared of what we were doing. I have always enjoyed making photograms because of how different they are every time. I found it really fun working with opacity; as this is something I don’t always even consider in normal photography. Knowing what my project was; I decided to do some photograms of my silhouette to hopefully capture the natural movement of my hair. I really didn’t like the way the images come out; one however was more of an abstract piece made up of sharp lines from the strands of hair- making quite a chaotic and conceptual image. 

I’m quite happy that I’ve started to get into the habit of using my workshop knowledge with my outside projects. I think this really shows that you’re always thinking or conscious of the project. This was the first time that I had ever seen a dark room processing machine. In the past I have always had to do the develop, stop and fix myself- which for me usually took a very long time. This machine did that all for you in a matter of seconds, and gives it to you completely dry. I feel as though I enjoyed going through the processes as it is much more interesting seeing the photo come to life in the solutions; however for quick results or churning out work- the machine is amazing. While I did get a cool effect out of experimenting in the dark room; I don’t feel as though it has enough depth in it to do more hair extension work with photograms ect. Also I believe that the effect it gives of would feel very dated and dreary, giving off an effect that I don’t think would suit the now quite modern object.

Being given the object of hair extensions ;I felt really overwhelmed because of how little I know about them. Whenever I hear extensions I would think of celebrities like the Kardashians that have very dramatic changed to their hair in short spaces of time (long to bob, back to long. I have started my research by creating mood boards on websites such as Pintreset. I like this website because it is really easy to navigate, find similar work and also easily referenceable.

I was advised to collect images of people wearing hair extensions; but I didn’t have much luck finding anyone. I either felt very awkward asking people if they were wearing hair extensions (it sounds like I’m saying it looks obvious), or they just didn’t want me to take a picture of them. I thought the next best thing I could do would be to get opinions from people. I asked a variety of people (different ages, races, styles ect) and there really were a mixture of responses. A lot of people labelled it as ‘fake’ and ‘plastic’, but quite a lot didn’t see an issue with it and were quite desensitised by me asking their opinion on this object.

Once I got to grips with what the public thought of extensions; I thought the next best thing to do would be to research into the history of extensions and weaves to fully understand what I was de/reconstructing. I came to find that there is actually a lot of history behind them from when they originated back in 3400BC. Things like King Louis XIII prematurely balding and Christina Jenkins new weaving method means that extensions have been modernised and revolutionised and turned into a highly desirable accessory with a constantly growing market. Of course this led me on to discover where we get this hair- and unfortunately it is from LEDC’s that have such traditional beauty standards that they are willing to give up for money.

vid (1)-se7azr

I actually really enjoyed the seminar this week; about how to create a Vox Pop, as it is something I had never made or even heard about. I do believe that it’s a really fun, clever way to gain opinions or answers- and it has an easy to watch, inviting feel to it. Having some practise with how to work my way round iMovie and how to put some videos together- I felt pretty comfortable getting suck in. Having some previous experience with Premier Pro; I know how to make a basic film. I started collecting and selective videos and photos which represented my Freshers experience.

I had to chose a variety of things to portray my film in the right way. For example how I wanted a shot to end (fade out, straight cut or merge together ect); my experience was quite manic and lively so I went for the straight cut to make a jumpy, unrelaxed transition. IMovie was much more easy to navigate around; however it was also less accurate so had a less professional finish.

Once I had all of my videos in the desired order and lengths; I thought that at the points where still images were playing- the swap from music to silence made the video look really off. I chose ‘Neon’ out of the iMovie music which I thought was the youngest, most ‘club’ style music to go with my party freshers experience. As you can see from the green bar in the image (Neon); but when I export the video the music does not play out for some reason. This really confused me and I tried many different ways to try keep the music in the video; but I had to settle without it.

Although this task was not informative like I originally was shown that a Vox Pop should or could be; I did have fun looking back over my memories and putting it together in a fun video that sums up what my first two weeks at Uni were like!