My next experiments will be a development on from my first thoughts stated in the blog post before this one. I have decided that I want my work to be reflective on the times that we are currently living through. The arts industry has faced a huge battle this year and I think collaboration is key to survival, as stated in my research on WGSN future innovations 2021.

Musical theatre is one of the most publicised area of the arts in the news at the moment. I have friends that are studying in this field so I thought it would be a great collaboration opportunity. Again, because of Covid I am not allowed to shoot them where I would like. To solve this I sent a disposable camera into their studios and asked them to shoot the behind the scenes to what they are going through. Once reflecting on this I found that actually I might get the unpoised natural images that I wish for. The fact that they dont have the pressure of someone alien coming into their space and that they can just get on like normal will create honesty.

As I have previously discussed I decided to do a Covid friendly shoot with disposable cameras. This year has bought many challenges to us students, so I decided to adapt working practices to allow me tom produce content that was interesting. With current restrictions I would struggle finding models and locations and this would reflect in the outcome. My idea was to utilize disposable cameras and bring them to places that I would never have access to.

I am happy with my original plans and ideas although I think in the timeframe that I was given it is hard to communicate with others to get my goals achieved.  It also took a lot of control out of my hands, which meant I had to trust people I did not know and trust that the camera not be under exposed (which it was).

I encountered problems with working with people that I did not know so I decided to refine my original thoughts. I decided to investigate sending cameras to people that I would trust more and therefore have more control and a greater likelihood of success.

 

When experimenting with bleaching photographs I realised that the negative space left behind from the bleach could be an interesting layout for a publication and articles. Below are some of my experiments with laying out text. I really liked how these turned out and would like to continue this idea forward to my final major project.   

Whilst waiting for my disposable camera series I decided to experiment with digital photos and attempting to make them look as if they were taken on disposable cameras. The Photographer Matt Irwin often created photographs to look as if they were taken on a disposable camera. I started by fully submerging photographs in diluted bleach, which removed dark colours and brings forward red tones. The imperfect images looked as if they were taken on old film cameras which I liked. Although I did not have much control over how the end result turned out. To counteract this I decided to be more precise when placing the bleach onto the image. This meant I could decide myself what was removed and what was kept. I painted on straight bleach which fully removed pigmentation creating an interesting image as the bleach removed some context. I decided to further refine this skill by experimenting with pouring bleach down the image and using clear nail vanish to protect the bits I wanted to keep. These images are some of my favourite experiments. There is something nice about removing the predictability in which we get with digital photographs. Removing parts of images changed the narrative of the photo which allows a viewer to pause and look at the image a little longer. I would like to develop these experiments further by introducing text and layout themes. Below are some of my experiments, the full series are in my sketchbook.    

After researching Jo Spence’s work I came up with a plan to experiment with her thought process. I want to showcase imperfect imagery that has a much more interesting narrative to the over posed content we see on social media.

I like the idea that with a disposable camera you cannot pose for the perfect picture. The user has no screen to view themselves and no way of checking the photo back. The photos produced from disposable camera are usually much more candid and imperfect. I decided to contact Instagram influencers and ask if they would help me with this project. I sent them a disposable camera in the post and asked them to shoot the times of the day that they usually wouldn’t post. It is completely up to them on what they shoot but I asked for the content to be related to the reality of being a women in todays society.

I think the results will be an interesting juxtaposition to their Instagram pages and I hope to inspire them to post raw content. This is acting as a test shoot and idea for my final major project so I can change any variables that maybe do not work.

I have not received any cameras back yet so I do not know the results.

Following on from my idea for creating a magazine that empowers women I decided to look at the photographer Jo Spence. I managed to access an archive of her work from the University of Birbeck in London. Spence did not use the word feminist to describe herself but instead called herself a ‘cultural snipper’. She used her camera to shoot and expose issues in culture. I am particularly interested in her work which targets the medias representation of women where she discovered that females are always coded as “young, plucked and perfectly made up” – Jo Spence.

I admire how she challenged the norms of representations and produced work which was relatable and does not hide the truth.

“I think the problem with photography as it stands now is that when we look at a picture of ourselves we try and make it do too much work. I think the whole of our society tries to push us to a notion of coherence in who we are” – Jo Spence.

Spence started to look at family albums and open the album to things that are normally excluded. She added bad photos, photos taken late at night when she’s tired and a photo that had been used for an insurance claim where her face was singed in an accident at home.

I was immediately hit with the thought that in our society we are extremely photo and selfie obsessed. Now more than ever we are able to pose to get the perfect image which can be retouched and positioned to imply we have a perfect life. Spence hated the way the media represented women but I can relate this to how Instagram uses pose for their ‘perfect’ image.

 

After my first tutorial I quickly realised that I was not happy with the idea of workwear as a main theme for my project. I have built on this idea by researching how the fashion industry has been effected by Covid 19. Initially I was interested in how workwear had changed since the pandemic hit but I am now building on that idea into other aspects of change.

Throughout my research I investigated how publications are producing work with strict government restrictions. I found that professionals were investing in fashion illustration, creative bubbled households and socially distant photoshoots. I truly admire how magazines have changed in the last few months, they have managed to stay relevant by showcasing what really matters in this new world and have created content that is sensitive to the current pandemic.

I think it would be interesting to bring to light the struggles that we faced as women throughout the pandemic. I envision a magazine of some sort that openly addresses issues such as mental health, body image and highlights the reality and craziness that this past year has brought.

Going into my first group tutorial I hoped to bounce ideas off my classmates and tutor to expand on my existing plans.  I expressed that I was interested in Stylist magazine and that I valued their beliefs and the way they speak to their audience. I love the way that you can pick up a copy of this magazine for free at a particular time of day for some light and uplifting reading on your commute home from London.

I communicated that I wanted to look into women’s workwear and how much that had changed in the last few months as a reaction to Covid and the work from home rules. I started to look into how lounge wear is becoming the new workwear. Chris told me that the timeline of wearing workwear is interesting, how you wear these clothes for only certain hours of the day. We also discussed that I could interview professional women over zoom and take screenshots to create content. I could ask these women how they feel about their workwear, how they style themselves and if they feel their workwear reflects on their ‘non-professional’ personality. I am particularly interested in the sudden change that 2020 has bought to working women. I want to produce a piece of communication that shows the reality of what we all went through this year.

Chris gave me ideas to use physical pieces of workwear to stich, write or print on as a piece of work. I think this is a really interesting idea to show the juxtaposition of professional workwear and the craziness that this year has bought. We also spoke about combining different pieces of workwear and how denim was traditionally created for the purpose of working.

After discussing these new ideas it has inspired me to research women’s workwear pre, during and post Covid. I want to look into fine artists, graphic designers and search Pinterest to see if there is any interesting imagery already created on this subject.

In February of 2020 I was lucky enough to be able to visit London Fashion Week, with my final year of university looming I wanted to learn more about the fashion industry. I had never been to a London Fashion Week event before so I knew I would gain knowledge by attending. I managed to see the Temperly London SS20 fashion show and attend a talk by Stylist Magazine.

Although the fashion show was great to see I wasn’t particularly inspired by what I was seeing. After the show we were escorted into a room where we would meet Georgina Holt, Executive Director at Stylist at the time, and Billie Bhatia, Fashion News Editor at the Stylist Group. Their talk about comparison culture shocked me and has inspired me research into this field.

Before attending this talk I understood how comparison is such a huge part of our day to day lives. Personally it is something I have experienced and could relate to all aspects of this talk. The talk made me realise that I am not alone and that many others struggle with comparison especially when it comes to how women are presented in the media or on social media.

Whilst working in London on my placements I found a new love for Stylist magazine. I would look forward to picking up a copy every week and reading it on my commute home. Once completing my placement it is something that I have missed, although they do release digital copies I never found these as for filling. I appreciate how they have such a strong brand identity and target audience. They clearly identify their brand values as reality, inclusivity, positivity, educatory, accountability and advocacy. I think the reality of the magazine is what draws me in, I know that I will see real people and real stories that I can relate to and can be uplifted by.