ME: I would say that your mindset is more of someone who has had great achievements and someone who is probably older than their 20s?

F: Definitely, the best way I can describe how I feel about myself, is to take a person, take a job where traditionally you would be in your thirties, late thirties, and then give it the title, youngest woman to… And that is how I see myself. 

Because a lot of the times, I am disappointed because if there isn’t another goal to get to, I am disappointed with myself. And part of that constant goal, what to achieve, how do I get there, what do I do, it drives me and not having it, it just makes me feel like i’m not really myself.

ME: You’ve put that into me as well, its something that if there is anything that I have picked up off you, its that. its the need for a goal, again and again and again, the next step, the next step, this is the next hoop were going to smash and its relentless. and its exhausting

F: it is, it is, but its also really worth it because like occasionally I take a step back and I’m like ok, so you know my friend is on £17000, and I am on 24K, people who are more trained than I am, the apprentice at Sheema was on half of my pay. half. and he’s been at Sheema for two years. He is on 12K I am on 24. Same hours, its ridiculous like i know that I have done well for myself. but there is also that missing thing, the name on that cv… that is missing and I know it is and I know that I have to push for it because it is much a part of who I am and it is part of how I dress. and i catch myself at work, they’ll be like oh um your top is nice where is it from?’’ oh its from BOSS, ‘’Oh I love COSS’’ No its from BOSS. 

ME: Hugo!

F: Laughs Hugo! Boss this ones £300!

Due to the interview being an hour long I fell short of time to type the whole transcript up, so I decided to type up one of the highlights of the interview.

These are two sections in particular of the interview that I was really inspired by, firstly when Freya talks about wanting to one day be a category of ”Youngest woman to…”. This was a statement that as a person who knows Freya, knows this to be absolutely authentic, as much as it could sound cliche to someone who does not know this person, it comes from a very real place in Freya, she loves to have the answers to everything, she likes to be highly driven, to work very hard and if she gets recognition for it, this makes her very happy. This part of the interview also got me thinking along the lines of painting Freya as some sort of figure to look up to, however I end up doing this, I would definitely like to experiment with it.

After the interview I started doing some visual research, and came across an interview with Nick Knight which I found very inspiring, as he says at the very beginning of the film ‘’There is subjective opinion, subjective desire, and that is what all good photographers and good image makers will bring to you, they will show you a world that you can’t see, if you want to see a world that is out there, then go look for yourself’’ Ref: (“Nick Knight” 2018)

This quote from him got me thinking that I may want to experiment with a more abstract way of approaching my concept, I then saw his collaboration with Alexander McQueen and Swarovski. I was immediately wowed by this and thought about how I could experiment with constructing Freya as a symbol, possibly a statue, an angel like figure possibly.

Some critical analysis that I would give myself at this point would be that I should try to take a more abstract experimental route, it can still be grounded with the same findings or similar findings but is sometime more interesting to take a solid concept and just make a bit more aesthetically unusual. Not to say that I don’t love the style that I have been practicing, because I do, but I also feel that I should learn more about how to take this approach with my styling and direction.

Ref: (“alexander-mcqueen-nick-knight-another-magazine-ss-2015-14” 2015)

‘’If we think of art as a form of personal expression, We all get up and whatever we have chosen to put on, is not by chance. We all express certain feelings about how we should look, there has never been a society since human beings have been able to express themselves that has not used fashion or self decoration in some way to put across ideas of power, sexual availability, sexual  availability, what it is, that has always been key, everyone makes choice about how they present themselves.’’

This snippet again from the same interview also agrees with my over all sentiment for the project.

Ref: (PORTER “YouTube” 2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-15HxJdyDQ

Ref: (PORTER “YouTube” 2013)

I found these great to watch, very easy to watch. Although they don’t go massively into detail as to why they dress as they do, they do cover a lot in each video. They build a clear concise picture of the subject’s character in each one. I think that is very inspirationally in how they have achieved this in such a simple format. I think that it is important to hear stories of why individuals dress in a certain way, I think that keeps fashion alive. I will attach a few more of these after this post.

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 89

References for all images:

1 Ref: (Helmut Newton, ‘riding crop and mirror’ 1976)

2 Ref: ( Helmut Newton, and Thierry Mugler

3 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Janice Wakely. 1959)

4 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Thierry Mugler. Harper’s Bazaar. 1994.)

5 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Sigourney Weaver. Warner Brithers Lot. 1983)

6 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Yves Saint Laurent. French vogue. 1975.)

7 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Thierry Mugler. 1998)

8 Ref: (Helmut Newton, and Yves Saint Laurent. French Vogue. 1975.)

9 Ref: (Helmut Newton, And Sigourney Weaver as a man. LA. 1983)

 Image 1  Image 2

References for all images:

Image 1 Ref:

Image 2 Ref:

(Gandy, Fussel, Lockonego, & Higgins)

 Image 1 Image 2Image 3Image 4 

References for the images used:

All images Ref: (“Huntsman and Sons, Savile Row and Jo Malone. S/S 2016.”)

  Image 1

  Image 2 

image 3

References for the images used:

image 1

Ref: (“Polo Ralph Lauren and Geoffroy A/W 2010.”)  

Image 2

Ref: (“ POLO Ralph Lauren and Richard Phibbs A/W 2011”)

Image 3

Ref: (Lauren “Ralph Lauren Home”)

From interviewing Tchad I have learnt some key factors in stages of how he has developed his style over the years, particularly over the past 6 years as this is when we both attended college together. As well as this we discussed his background and up bringing in a lot more detail than we ever had done prior to the interview.

Key points discussed in the interview include:

Sentimental and nostalgic items such as, the shark jaw, the watch, his belt, his mallard print shirt

The mallard print shirt – A nostalgic item given to him by a friend and it brings back great memories of working at Long leat, the friends that he made their and all that he learnt from being a tour guide at the house

The shark jaw – A very sentimental item given to him as a gift from his father, he has this since a very young boy

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Points of growth and crafting of identity such as, the braces, the blazers and generally dressing smart, and using these as symbols of seriousness and maturity. – Crafting an amour that made him feel more respectable and serious – Boy to man

Speaking of how sometimes he felt as though he was wearing a costume, I perceive this to mean that on some days probably when he was lacking some self confidence he needed to dress in a way that made him feel more mature and more respectable

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His up bringing, discussing how he felt about his dad very often being on tour for long periods of time throughout his childhood – The effect that this had on him

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How he has changed now, still dressing in a smart way but losing the suits and braces and only occasionally wearing the blazers, but often wearing trainers with smart outfits as he prefers to style himself in a more relaxed young way, when asked what his current style was he spoke of his struggle to objectively look at his own style at the moment

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PLAN AND FOCUS FOR THE SHOOT

On the shoot I would like to focus on Tchad’s Boy to man stage of growth.

To do this I have analysed each part of it and chosen particular points to focus on.

I would like to focus on:

How this look aligned with his goals. How he wanted to be seen and how he wanted to see himself

How it is drenched in connotations of academia, sport, luxury and respectability – These are all connotations that both align with Tchad’s goals and are self confidence boosting.

How it makes him feel – Confident, focused, strong.

His journey, his reason, scrutinising himself, self doubt, then moving forward and doing something about it. (This could possibly be the beauty shot/jewellery shot)

Tchad’s personality and ethics – Love of photography, good taste, art, manners.

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I have decided to shoot Tchad’s narrative from the point of view of how he wanted to see himself and how he wanted to be seen. This is informed by both my interviews with him and from what I have learnt about him over the past 6 years. I have also written an introduction to my case study (Tchad) to give a clear over view of my approach and why I have styled as I have, why I have chosen the model that I have, why I have chosen the location that I have and how I directed the shoot.

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An introduction to Tchad Findlay

Brought up in an upper middle class family, his dad is a music producer and was very often away for long periods of time, away on tour. This had a significant affect on Tchad as he wanted his dad to be more present in his life. This also I believe connects as a reason to why Tchad felt the need to grow up and dress more professional and in a more mature way.

He was brought up in the south-west of the UK, in an area that is largely upper middle class with some working class. He is very well spoken, has had a strong work ethic and sets his goals high. This is also understandable as most of his family have all achieved successful careers of some sort in creative industries.

He is mostly interested in art, fashion, sport, history, photography and having ‘’good taste’’

His reasons for dressing more professionally looking more serious and being taken more serious, in terms of academic life, in terms of getting more work as a photographer and in personal life also.

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The choice of model

I chose to book James Berridge from Rhed model management as I felt he fit Tchad’s narrative very well. A young gentleman turning into a more mature figure. His dark hair, strong jawline and traditional good looks.

Possibly wanting to craft this more mature and serious image in order to make himself feel more mature and powerful, this could relate also to the fact that he felt as though he did not get to spend enough time with his father, I perceive that the two could be related and if so that he could have felt that he needed to craft himself an older image to gain more confidence.

It could also be that the college environment could often feel quite polarising as they have felt that Tchad was quite different from them

Not wanting to please his fellow pupils but to be taken more seriously

Tchad – blazers and smart dressing

Clothing and Social Identity Richard A. Feinberg, Lisa Mataro W. Jeffrey Burroughs

Following my reading of this text I can conclude that when I am discussing this particular period of Tchad’s life and the garments that he was wearing I am aware of the fact that his choice of clothing speaks of particular elements of him and his personality, not of him entirely. This is a point made in this academic paper that I strongly agree with. ‘’when clothing is said to be related to the self-identity of the wearer, it is important to specify what aspects of the person his/her clothing is related to. It cannot possibly reflect all aspects of the person.’’ (Feinberg, Mataro and Burroughs, 1992)

I am in fact speaking of a particular stage in his life in which he felt the need to dress in much more mature and smart way through the use of blazers and smart attire. Everyday in an environment which it is not normally seen, college. Where in contrast his peers were dressing in a much more relaxed fashion such as sports wear and trainers, he was dressing in a way that was starkly different to this crowd. In my interview with Tchad he speaks of how the blazer was a way of him looking and feeling older ‘’Blazers! those are really important to me, particularly the cashmere one that I have because it was really a moment when I started seeing Freya and started hanging out with you and… Bath college and really kind of growing up out this very sort of childish version of my myself, and I guess blazers were sort of me trying to look older, to try and make myself feel older and so I still have them, although I don’t wear them as much I am still very attached to them, because they still represent a time when I was really changing’’

Clothing is a significant social symbol used by individuals in identity definition because (a)

clothing is used in daily activity, (Feinberg, Mataro and Burroughs, 1992)

‘’If the goal of research is to establish a relationship between clothing and identity, simply showing that clothing cues have meaning is not enough. It is also important to show that the meaning of the cues to observers is congruent to the identity/self of the individual.This paper reports two studies which were designed to explore’’ (Feinberg, Mataro and Burroughs, 1992) As discussed in this quote the importance of showing the meaning of not only the clothing to the wearer but also the meaning to the observer, even though Tchad states in the interview that this change was to make himself ‘’look older’’ so to make himself ‘’feel older’’ I will also be examining how the suit and the way that he was dressing is perceived in society. This is only to gain a deeper confirmation that how you dress effects the observers opinion on you.

In order to paint a more detailed picture of my subject and his narrative I have been considering how to show why Tchad was choosing to dress in this way, and how it made him feel. I feel that this is a very important part of image as I want my photos to not only tell a story of how Tchad’s clothing makes him feel but also his decision to walk away from his younger self and progress.

From looking at the personality scale that is pictured in (Feinberg, Mataro and Burroughs, 1992) I would like to use adjectives such as confident whilst also looking at the opposite, unconfident in representing this particular stage of Tchad’s growth.