Month: January 2019

Final Shoot

Keeping along with the same themes as explored before but incorporating a new element to focus on, we formed the basis of our next shoot. “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger has influenced this shoot because the text struck me and my partner very hardly initially, we were shocked at how Berger described women before realised that this wasn’t his opinion, it subtly was a fact that we refused to acknowledge yet related very strongly to. With elements of watching yourself and themes of having to wear a mask and cover who you are because of the way men view and how you are represented to them without even doing something. This allowed us to continue with our acetate as a mask idea with illustration inspired by the playful qualities of Charles Jeffrey’s work as well as the concept influenced by Berger and the style o the natural lighting creating a beautiful abstract glare on the camera inspired by Petra Collins and her softer style of photography.

The styling was influenced by Moschino’s September 2016 collection which was showing underwear as outerwear, not by wearing underwear on it’s own or layering it over clothing, but by creating garments where the underwear was sewn carefully and placed on the outside, giving a very intimate and delicate styling approach. We took inspiration from this and literally placed underwear over the top of my clothing to create the same effect. We liked how this gave a similar effect as shooting a photograph of  a woman in her underwear but this way the image isn’t sexualised in the slightest and therefore we have control on how the viewer is viewing the person in the image.

Other styling approaches that we used were inspired by Tatiana Cinquino who uses the same sort of colour pallet we did, the pinks and deep colours while balancing it with whites and muted shades as well as lots of layering and balancing structured styles with non structured styles; hence why we paired the heavy checkered skirt with the button up, long shirt as well as Nicole Vernon (both of these stylists from the new generation magazines that inspired us; Contributor Magazine and Teeth Magazine) who uses a lot of flowy and delicate clothes as well as some with harsher styles like rips and tears which is why we paired the bralet with the top with the holes over it and the colours she uses are fully neutrals too.

Third Styling Shoot 2

This shoot was a small one to test out the props which i found out to be very effective. I preferred when the glare of the natural lighting was on the acetate as it looked very dreamlike and abstract which is definitely something to focus on for the final shoot soon. Maybe we could have a range and experiment with some actual makeup on the face as well as the acetate for a variety of different shots otherwise they could look a a bit repetitive which i feel like this shoot did. However, the purpose of this shoot was to experiment with props and makeup which is what we did with the different makeup illustrations allowing us to figure out what worked and what didn’t work.

Therefore, reflecting on this shoot, which I feel has been successful, I have learned that the acetate provides and interesting element to my photography and allows the viewer to see something a bit more interesting as we have added a prop. I think the images got a bit repetitive until we changed the lighting which created a beautiful quality inspired by Petra Collins and her softer approach to female representation within her art.

 

Third Styling Shoot 1

We wanted to mainly focus o the idea of using props, illustrations and designs as a way to influence and develop our photography to another level and add another element to it. The main style of these photographs were inspired by our own drawings of illustrating over our own photography from our previous photo shoots as well as Charles Jeffery who is known for his illustrations which add a jolly and high spirited personality to his work.

We wanted ours to have that same quality while being inspired by photographers like Petra Collins and Chloe Sheppard who create a completely different aesthetic within their photographs to Matty Bovan and Charles Jeffrey. Collins creates beautiful, conceptual and feminine pieces of photography usually by post production and the use of soft, natural lighting, calm and peaceful facial expressions of the models looking down, closing their eyes, looking natural and not too posed with a colour pallet of pinks and muted shades of neutral colours. Sheppard takes portraits of women in natural environments, a lot of forest and tree based backgrounds with women posing in the centre of the image.

The elements we have joined to create our shoot were the playful illustrations of Charles Jeffrey which we related back to the themes of femininity and representation of women by creating heavy contour and covering the face of the model like a mask over her identity as well as heavy and exaggerated makeup with red lips and cheeks to disguise her natural face underneath. We complimented this with Sheppard and Collins style of photography by fining a direct source of natural light and placing our model in a way where the acetate over her face creates a beautiful glare which looks very dream like as it makes the picture look slightly abstract.

Second Styling Shoot 2

This whole shoot was really important for all of us to progress and photographers and stylists, especially in relation to our new generation project because we were honestly having fun and relating with the process of the shooting as this helps us to embody the designs of Charles Jeffrey who, as I watch his interviews, has a very calm aura about him as he speaks about his work which you can therefore tell is very authentic and comes naturally from within to project what he wants onto his designs instead of being over the top. The main themes that come across as I watch his interviews are about identity and having fun while being authentically himself which he can finally do by finishing uni and fully exploring the depths of fashion design without anyone or anything stopping him.

I felt like the idea of having women posing in a strong yet playful way was very relevant to the theme of new generation and progressing the way us women want to represent ourselves especially after researching photographers like Guy Bourdin and Juergen Teller, we want women to have control over the way we are viewed in terms of fashion photographer and being looked at as an object or a person that wearing a garment.

This is definitely a theme I want to explore further within my photography which i am excited to do for the future of my project.

Second Styling Shoot 1

After researching a range of designers like Charles Jeffrey, Matty Bovan, Graces Wales Bonner, Harley Weir and Prue Stent and Honey Long, I’ve taken elements from all of them to inform this next shoot with my group that I am doing.

Charles Jeffrey

-Colour; yellows, architecture designs including props and structure as well as pattern, personality and playfulness

Matty Bovan

-Layering and patterns; checkered prints and more neutral toned prints paired with bold colours.

Grace Wales Bonner

-Women representation, even though she’s a menswear designer, women buy her garments and feel empowered by them and their structures but tight fits.

Harley Weir / Prue Stent and Honey long

-The representation of women photographing women and how she wants women to be seen for artistic purposes.

We were heavily inspired by wanting to showcase women in a strong yet playful light, we chose poses and photographic techniques that focused on the character of the shoot, the person who is being photographed rather than creating a story with the setting, we wanted the person to give off all the emotion which helped as we were doing a studio shoot therefore the poses had to be emphasised as the setting was being taken away.

 

 

First Styling Shoot 2

These images we created are effective because we took our styles and transformed them and pushed them one step further by seeking out a setting for them instead of just thinking of the styling which is important as eventually we’re going to have to create a final shot with a location that matches our work. I feel like the images in the canteen look effective with other people in the background although it does take away from the fashion slightly and looks like a different kind of shoot.

The most effective in my opinion are the ones outside in the trees and the plants as this is a natural setting where we have placed our interesting looking model in unconventional clothing where they stand out nicely and contrast with the background. I definitely want to play around with using a more natural background with trees and plants in contrast with my styling.

However, one of the very first images I took with the t shirt on saying “Vote” in flash photography is one of my favourite images because of the flash and the t shirt, it makes it look like an older more political based images taken on a  disposable film camera which captures the aesthetic of a lot of new generate of designers.

There was a definite theme of empowerment and playfulness going on which i believe is what the new generation of designers are trying to portray.

 

First Styling Shoot 1

My first collective styling shoot was inspired mainly by designers like Matty Bovan and Charles Jeffrey who both use a similar colour pallet within their designs, with Jeffrey focusing especially on block colour and bold, interesting and unconventional shapes of primary colours paired with black and with Matty Bovan using similar colours but slightly more muted and incorporating a few more colours at a time. Overall, both very colourful thus creating a playful quality to their designs, almost childlike and free as primary colours are used especially with infants at a young age when they’re taught colour mixing and their first painting lessons.

In terms of physically styling, we brought in clothing with bold colours and interesting materials like a woven knit, similar to Matty Boavm’s designs to layer, as another thing we noticed with the new generation of designers, especially these two that we were focusing on, had frequently layering up their pieces and created bold statements by mixing up materials, shapes, weaves and knits together with other items that wouldn’t typically compliment each other yet the colour palettes of them as well as the overall aesthetic of these two designs made it work.

To fully embody the personalty of a new generation designer, we took inspiration from designers like Molly Goddard who take their designs and place them in a new context, or create a new environment for their designs and their maybe a new meaning. Moly Goddard has had her models walking down the runway while doing bizarre things such as creating a picnic ad buttering sandwiches which is an element we attempted to embed in our work. We took one of our favourite and most effective looks, with the material around our model’s head and placed her in the university canteen while looking at people’s different reactions who were confused and finding it amusing, which was essentially the goal.

We placed our model doing mundane things like Goddard had previosuly done which emphasises our styling in a room full of people who are dressed fairly conventionally.

NEW GENERATION

My chosen fashion culture is the “New Generation” of designers, I was immediately drawn to this group and mainly this group because of the diversity that this collective of designers and artists bring to the fashion scene today. The increasing desire for representation on the catwalk and within the fashion industry showcasing people of all genders, sizes, races to push boundaries of societal norms as well as having fun and a dynamic personality. This is clearly represented within the designs of these young pioneers and resonates with me because i am a young creative myself who is interested and passionate about these topics as well. Therefore this is a very suitable direction to take this project in as I could see this progressing in a way where I relate to my work, creating a more personal outcome.

I recognised all of the designers on the new generation sheet such as Matty Bovan, Charles Jeffrey, Grace Wales Bonner, Craig Green as I had studied all of these previously, along with other mainstream and more popular designers, but these ones stuck with me more due to their very unique approach to fashion design.