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.

 

 

   

I found this editorial actually quite disturbing, and far from anything remotely fashionable in terms of image. However, the deeper concept of how cosmetic surgery can be seen as a fashionable item or trend now pours through these unsettling images. The photography style reminds me of an early Helmut Newton reference, maybe because of the nude women but also how they are quite androgynous and gloss/ gelled like. This image on the left i found quite interesting because of how happy the model is made to be seen as, although the smile looks so false. Could this be a meaning for how surgery can only alter you for a certain amount of time and will not actually change the insecurities or your happiness inside? I loved this review comment i found which stated “Just a reminder that we live in such a vain society where cosmetic or plastic surgery is so widespread it shows up regularly in editorials”. This really made it apparent of how common surgery is now and especially to younger women, it is an open product for conversation and something that is now commonly spoken of and admitted by many. Its interesting to evaluate if it is a positive or negative that cosmetic surgery is so open for discussion between young women!

Overall, cosmetic surgery could be a helpful starting point for breaking down the areas of ‘what makes a woman beautiful’ because surgery is literally re-constructing a person. Physically showing these needles or legitimate surgery procedures is probably a different path for what i am aiming for, however it was beneficial to study.

 “PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN”

 

The painting by Botticelli depicts the woman named Simonetta Vespucci, who is said to be the entire beauty of the 15th Century, commonly recognized as the real version of the Venus painted in Birth of Venus. This painting in particular is meant to be one of Botticelli’s most ‘idealized’ portraits of the series surrounding the woman and is majorly over sexualized with the appearance of her large bust and flowing hair. For painters to depict women with their hair long and flowing is a common Renaissance painting aspect of showing sexuality as it was improper at this time to have a woman pose with her hair down. The way the braids spread across her body and finish below her bust is also another element of how Botticelli has tried to eroticize the woman. Additionally, the woman is painted looking away from the viewer, which could be seen as her becoming even more attractive because it is a sign of being possibly unattainable within terms of the male gaze.

The lack of detail in the background of the portrait is evident of how the woman is meant to be of this high beauty and virtue and be the complete focus of the image. This idea is a very unique part of Botticelli’s work as most of his paintings and the ones I have studied throughout this project in particular, he places his figures in even more important architectural settings. But here, the woman is by herself and kept as the main focus.

I love this idea of how she is the real version of the nymph, Venus and how she has been painted with pearls and gold running throughout her hair. Pearls are always a symbolic element of the Renaissance period and an accessory or item that I always find myself being drawn back to in my own styling techniques. I especially am interested in this construction of a perfect woman and how it is used constantly throughout this historic period, maybe more so than many other movements. Although I have already depicted this concept in an earlier shoot, I think re-using the concept of examining beauty within my work would be beneficial to really highlight the importance of this notion throughout the Renaissance. Earlier on, I looked into deconstructing fashion through terms of my styling but maybe for this idea I could base it more on physical beauty standards instead and the techniques or motivations women have for representing themselves as their thought ‘best’ or ‘most beautiful’.