For my first shoot my initial influence was fashion photography from the book “20 years of Dolce & Gabanna” by Franca Sozzani. Shoots from Winter/Fall 1992-1993 by Steven Meisel are of woman wearing suits. Their outfits and poses reflect power and control which is the image which I want to communicate in my feminism magazine . I am going to style my model in a suit jacket, leather trousers and boots.
On the 8th of February I went to London to visit the exhibition “You Say You Want A Revolution?” showing at the V&A. I have never found a exhibition so enjoyable. The exhibition gave you a tour around the 60’s of music, fashion, war and peace. There was a specific feminism section which I found very relevant to my research. It showcased books and magazines which as “the ladder lesbian review”, “shrew”, “the female eunuch” and “the feminine mystique”. I found a quote from ‘ the feminine mystique” particularly inspiring which I plan to incorporate in my zine.
“Strange discrepancy between the reality of our lives as women and the image to which we are trying to confirm.” Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique.
I have decided to look at different artists and their approach to collage for inspiration for my zine. Firstly I looked at Ben Giles, and his “flower collection” collages. I really like the contrast between the mood of the emotionless black and white photos to the vibrant gush of colourful flowers which are emerged amongst them.
Secondly I looked at John Stezaker. I was drawn to Stezaker to the way he plays on juxtaposition as a theme regularly in his work. Women are collaged against men, landscapes against love, angry against happy. He also uses repetition in his collages which have a modernist edge. The way his photographs fit together like a puzzle is endearing.
The third artist I looked at was Linder Sterling. Sterling is a well known feminist and her collages are mostly of women, often cut out of pornographic magazines and images from women’s fashion and domestic magazines, particularly those of domestic appliances, making a point about the cultural expectations of women and the treatment of female body.
These are my outcomes from my life drawing sessions. I’ve never done life drawing before and found it was a concept that improves with practice. The first drawing that I did was average, however after I was taught to look at the person in small singular steps, rather than as a whole I found my sketches much more detailed. Throughout the sessions I learnt that when drawing people, you should push away the image we have in our heads of how a person stereotypically looks, and just draw what you see instead.
We then developed this concept using different mediums and also used a grid to draw from one of our chosen photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed the life drawing sessions and feel they have been very beneficial.
In todays graphic session I learnt the 5 design principles which I will use when creating my zine,
We then looked at different fonts and when they are most suited to be used. Then looked at the colour wheel, learning what the primary, secondary and tetority colours are. This will be useful to me when I’m editing my zine, so that the colours used are complimentary and relevant and the text is clear and professional.