My gifs
My Film Imagery
The new trending theme #filmsnotdead inspired me to use film photography for this project. Analog photography has been an essential part of our culture and therefore my zine supports its use and will be part of the campaign to bring back film photography to our society.
Akala on ‘British Values’
The video has given me some inspiration on how to move forward from my ideas
A great British mess
The article expresses that the governments design into all great things British is vague and unsuccessful. I found this article really powerful and a big issue in our society. Old traditions that celebrate evil seem to be praised but new ideas and those who have fought for change in society to get us to where we are now are forgotten once agin.
Concept exploration
My research has given me themes of identity and how photography has given us a ability to document subcultures around us. NW1 introduced me to the idea of of capturing surroundings that are most venerable to him living in Primrose Hill, and how wealth has silently transformed its state into being one that unrecognisable. The upsides being the raise in property value and government funding, but forgetting the community that once stood and what this meant for them. The Taylor Wessing Photographers Prize exhibition allowed me to understand that power of imagery, and how it can speak to its viewer; the portraiture becoming art, and speaking with such fluidity about todays cultural society. Finally, Malik Sidibe capturing a beautiful insight into a community lifestyle in Africa with such life and movement was refreshing.
The Trump protest I found to be really empowering; as a young woman I understand the pain so many are suffering due to the 45th President of Americas words of wisdom he so freely makes public and fear that many could be about to endure. The moment reflected movements of an artist, creating something and standing up for what you believe in peacefully yet powerfully manor. In the same way the photographers have captured a moment that reflects its society, the protesters coming together had reflected ours. Society seems to be divided into two, far right and left wing. The decision two leave the EU has affected much of the British youth and is something much of us feel was unjust, in the same way the election of Donald Trump has seriously affected many young Americans and their future. Something we perceived as impossible in our minds became reality and its consequences lie in the primary next years of our lives. In the same way the generations before us have risen from ashes of a society, the youth cultures ability to be positive in this period, creating beautiful art and music out of the dismay allowing us to become a more together nation than this. Society gets its character from its citizens, and we are starting to see this disappear due to large amounts of wealth profiting of it instead of being enjoyed and profitable for those who actually need it. For imaging I have produced a series of collages that express how Big corporations strived to achieve things like Brexit and Trumps presidency, however claim to disagree or stand for the people. The imagery is based on that of the fashion industry and its take on issues most sensitive for us.
summary
When creating a concept for my zine I felt like all four options would have interesting roots for me to explore and carry forward into imaging, however I have decided to combine the conception of the subcultures in current society with the idea of a new passport designed for the youth. Thinking back to my research and how I concluded this, the revolution of youth has inspired me to think about rebranding ourselves. As we live in such a diverse community with barriers built to separate us, I want to explore how we deconstruct society and are open to collaborate with one another. The idea behind my zine will focus not on subcultures separately, but how we come together and see past these boarders.
By examine a group of close friends, I want to see how they have collectively formed friendships that hold a large amount of diversity.
Life Drawing
Sian Davey
Sian Davey has the ability to portray her subjects in such a naturalistic way; she sums up youth culture and the diversity of what this entails. I love how the images look as if they were taken in rural America for there connotations with american hippies in the 1960’s, and this is evident that the culture of the teens photographed takes reference from this. Davey photography follows the transition that females make when transitioning from childhood to adolescence and the emotions this brings from the immense and scary changed this brings.
‘‘Why don’t you photograph me anymore.’ This is what Martha said to me in response to my camera being focused so often on her sister Alice. It took me by surprise. I wasn’t aware that she would care, but clearly she did. The work began when Martha was 16 years of age, a time when a child is on that cusp of being and becoming a woman. It’s a particular period of time, when for a brief period you are both a young woman and child in the same body, before the child leaves and the young woman stands on her own to meet the world. It’s a complex and potentially confusing time. During this period of transition, there is a very short human space when a person can behave free of the weight of societal expectations and norms. Before long that window closes and we can easily forget how it felt to be ‘untethered’.
But the work is also, inevitably, about Martha and myself. I am always there as the photographer, as her step-mother, mentor and friend, but where I am and where I place myself become a more questioning issue as she grows and moves further away from her childhood. The exchange of looks between us, that complex reflected gaze, begins to shift as she tries to define her own sense of self, to decide who she is becoming. Though it is through the process of working together in this series so far, we have journeyed into each others psychological landscapes as we explore what our relationship means. We both mirror each others maternal wounding, both our mothers loved us but were felt as absent, this became the common ground to move forward from. And then there is the young woman shaping herself as a social being. Her group of friends are a safeguard, a source of protection as she moves into this new world. But this new family is also a new learning ground where she first begins to make sense of how she understands the psychological and existential territories of intimacy, love and belonging. And here, too quickly, the idyll becomes infused with all the tensions of adulthood.’
Source- http://www.unveild.photography/sian-davey/
Trump March
I was aware of the marches that would be taking place on Saturday 21st 2017, however was not prepared for the immensity of the demonstration. Upon arrival to London, I initially noticed a few posts sprayed with anti Trump rhymes and feminist expressions amongst the London crowds, but was surprised by there sporadic appearances and lack of organisation. As I approached the National Portrait Gallery, I was stunned by the vast accumulation of women, men and children who had gathered around to stand up for there rights and express how they feel about the politics of 2016.
I was amazed to hear that the the protests that took place across America prior to Trumps inauguration were the largest in history, and millions shared there opinions on the matter across the internet and social networking. The movements purpose to display their anger to the President himself and remind him of his unsatisfactory tone towards females and the movement of equality. The work that women have rendered over the past century to develop rights to education and freedom of speech have resulted in the communities we live in now; for American woman it is important that these rights remain the same and are not jeopardised by a new President. The protest also speaks for immigrants who flee from there countries Wars, those from different ethnicities and the poor, all of which were not considered when the election took place by American civilisation
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“No African artist has done more to enhance photography’s stature in the region, contribute to its history, enrich its image archive or increase our awareness of the textures and transformations of African culture in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st than Malick Sidibé.”
Robert Storr, art critic & former MoMa curator
‘Sidibé is celebrated for his black-and-white images chronicling the lives and culture of the Malian capital, Bamako, in the wake of the country’s independence in 1960.
The exhibition presents 45 original prints from the 1960s and 1970s based around the themes of: Tiep à Bamako / Nightlife in Bamako, Au Fleuve Niger / Beside the Niger River, Le Studio / The Studio.’
Source –https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/malick-sidibe
Malick Sidibe’s gives a refreshing interpretation of West Africa during the 1960’s. Through a series of images, he summaries his experience of the culture and how this impacts the surrounding lives. He uses a soundtrack curated by DJ, Rita Ray that replicates the atmosphere of the nightlife that nurtures his subjects. The ambience recreated the movement and gives a burst of serotonin as the viewer observes the imagery. He successfully grasps the viewer and allows them to understand a lifestyle other than there own.
The composition of the subjects in there surroundings is complimentary yet posses reality throughout then insinuating that they are not composed. The black and white photography is also an interesting outlet as the regions photography is known for its vibrant colour palette, by doing so he leaves much of this to the viewers own interpretation and interacting with the viewers.
