Miles Aldridge is a British fashion photographer, who a lot of his work surrounds this similar block colour aesthetic. He is best known for depicting at first glance a glamorous but very surreal world, then looking deeper; hidden messages confronting themes of religion, pop culture and 1950’s Americana. This depiction of a retro America is possibly why these chosen images look like this, the vision of old cinema and having a story line. Looking into how Aldridge positions the models in his screenprints to be seen so mannequin like and focused. The images, although they are now screenprints, seem so story-like, almost like the characters have been pulled out of a 60’s film. The posing of the model is the element i will take from these as i found it so inspiring for my own working techniques and this cinematic idea is completely different to how i typically work.

 

I loved the aesthetics within this video, especially how the lighting is made up of various orange tones that are then reflected with colour made by the sofa or table. Another aspect im interested in taking away from this video is how the composition seems quite parallel. Im unsure as to why this really drew me in at first, however now examining the images all over, i think this idea of parallel compositions helps create a really retro feel and would help me achieve this in my photography too. I will need to see how i can manipulate my bed space to reflect this aesthetic but it should definitely be a qaulity used. Lastly, this has inspired me on how i can show beauty and the techniques that make up beauty for women. The front of these screenshots where all the variety of food is thrown around is how i want to now have my props such as hair rollers, make up, money maybe – anything that will reflect a retro era but still be very obvious of beauty standards or techniques. Remembering how the Renaissance painting highlighted pearls as a flowing accessory in her hair, i will also use these as an obvious prop too – within the styling and setting.

“PRINCE CHARMING”

  

 

I thought this editorial was quite relevant to my study of this theme not only because of location and how i feel a bedroom setting could enhance a retro feel, but because of how it is shot. The model is shown eating, however seems so unnatural and again, sitting on a bed but like a mannequin. The entire editorial reminds me of a scene from a Gregory Crewdson’s series, of which as a photographer, he aims to showcase such a morbid, unnatural setting that looks as though it has been taken out of a thriller flm. However, it is obvious that Crewdson depends on this idea of cinematic photography, similar to this editorial. I also like the dark lighting in this setting and i think if i was to use my bedroom area, the lighting is quite dark and retro-like anyway so it could easily be achieved.

 

 

It has become evident that i want to maintain a pop, 60’s vibe for my shoot and this mac campaign highlights the aesthetics i aim for completely. The use of all pink as a colour scheme helps create this pop art visual along with how the model almost seems so cinematic that she becomes part of a still life shoot, like a mannequin. This use of continous colour could be fun to play around with, but maybe with a strict selection of 4 vibrant, block colours which will overall help me create a strong retro mood. I also will take the posing of the model into consideration and how she is so still and unnatural in front of the camera. Doing something similar to this will additionally reflect a retro feel for my images as it was a very common technique of this period in fashion photography to almost seem so unrealistic, like a mannequin.

 

 

Not only do women use standard beauty technqiues such as make up to create an image for themselves that may be false just to be able to live up to society’s measurements of beauty, things like money also contribute. Being fortunate enough to have money or sit in the brackets of a higher class role also seems to be an aspect in modern society for women to maintain to be seen as successful or beautiful. I could definitely use the element of money in my shoot to highlight that make up isn’t the only strategy women find themselves using to help them succeed in maintaining society’s ‘beautiful’ stereotype. I wouldn’t make it so obvious as the likes of the make up routine etc, but it could be a subtle visual aesthetic used throughout the series.

  

 

Jacob Resichel uses a strict aesthetic towards his photography that encounters block, pop colour which creates this retro type theme. His beautifully compositioned images are so visually strong that although they must be for advertisment towards brands shown within them, you are almost completely pulled in by the colours and layouts. To me, these images could be seen as having a hidden concept of how beauty is consumed by women, for example in the image on the left. It shows various examples of beauty techniques as women we find ourselves using religously, there almost consuming them like the need we have for food. Although still life isn’t the idea i want to for my shoot, this has inspired me to concentrate of these beauty techniques (make up, perfume etc) in my own work. Now i need to develop an idea or aesthetic for how i want it to be portrayed.

 

Although cosmetic surgery plays a key factor in modern day beauty standards and is probably one of the biggest reasons as to why many women have insecurities about their appearance, making this concept more creative and less morbid almost is what i really want to achieve. I could still contribute cosmetic surgery in some way maybe through really subtle styling techniques or accessories, however overall i want to ideally stay away from this powerful use of needles and filler in the previous editorials. This picture i came across and unfortunately cannot find any info on it, but it spoke out to me as showing a sense of modern day beauty through make up and hair. Although it is a modern day photograph too, im intrigued as to why they set the location as a very 60’s landscape. Was this to highlight how women have always experienced the same problems and they will keep on evolving through every era? Im not too keen on the styling here, but i am interested in experimenting with the items such as hair curlers to highlight the techniques women use to maybe make themselves appear up to standards with beauty of this time. I will continue to look into this block colour, 60s sort of theme for this shoot because not only does it reflect many aspects of my typical styling techniques, but i can make the images much more cinematic and realistic to support such a deep concept.

Arvida is a feminist photographer / model with much similar qualities to Petra Collins; aesthetic, concept, colour scheme. The photographer understands the ins and outs of feminism and the affects the male gaze, especially in contemporary traditions, has on growing teens. She reflects on matters such as puberty, womanhood and beauty so i feel that conceptually, her work fits in with this theme and is another great starting point for me. Arvida focusing on female issues like these relates to my idea of how women construct their beauty because she pulls apart every aspect of womenhood and photographs it in such unusual ways. For example, the left bottom image is meant to portray puberty and periods, but instead of very obviously visualizing this, she has used a crushed piece of fruit which to me showcases maybe an image of the pain from a menstrual cycle or insides of a uterus! I also am interested in the top right image, where she has used string to separate fragments of her face. This could be showing links to cosmetic surgery or ideas on breaking up her face and beauty – then it becomes what is beauty? I obviously want the styling and direction of the shoot to be a main focus of my work so using formats similar to this probably wont get my point across as well, however it was interesting to see how she photographs elements within feminism using supporting aesthetics such as careful play on colour schemes or photography style.

  

 

Diesel revisited their AW/16 campaign of ‘for succesful living’ where they show the most powerful and iconic messages percieved in their past ads. The idea is to promote positivity and give various ideas of advice surrounding being positive and true to yourself. I absolutely love this idea and living as a woman working in fashion in the present day, positivity seems to be becoming less common and negativity much more so seeing this campaign i felt was really powerful. The casting helps reinforce this message as it shows a complete spectrum of gender, race, size and just overall image. It is a global casting and to me, completely joins different social groups or general people together to become one force. Although this campaign doesn’t speak of beauty specifically, i thought it was relevant to my theme because of how Diesel have reacted to modern day society issues, like how women feel the need to construct themselves to the public as the best they can be, constantly. Overall, it was just really great to see a campaign like this and made even myself want to be much more positive.

“THE NUDE ATTITUDE”

        

 

Becoming quite fond of the idea of cosmetic surgery i didnt want to completely dismiss the topic for my potential shoot ideas. So, i decided to look further into how through editorials, cosmetic surgery concepts have been achieved. I found this one really interesting because of how the idea of natural beauty has been shown instead of the directness of needles. The colour palette is of a spectrum that i typically love to use especially for subjects such as this and additionally the use of nude tights that create a layering of colour and a new dimension within the photography.

I imagine the tights were used to highlight places of which had cosmetic surgery, for example here the eye area has been torn apart and the use of black make up almost resembles bruises and pain. Maybe it would show how is the pain really worth the procedure or even highlighting the extent of which women go to so that they live up to society’s standards.