At the beginning of my final major project, my ideas were very broad and I had planned to focus my project on the theme of feminism. The intention for this project, was to produce work that wasn’t revolved around the stereotypical areas of feminism such as: body hair, periods, etc. I wanted to focus on global issues that didn’t just affect Western culture such as, child marriage etc. My first initial research was around these areas, and I brainstormed some ideas to do with this theme. As my research progressed, my interests and ideas started to change. I found myself watching a lot of
documentaries, and started producing ideas around this aesthetic. As well as this, my topic started to change and I wanted to focus my project on something that was personal to me, which is my reason for chosing culture as a theme.
As I originated from Portugal, I was very aware of the beautiful traditions that we have that are exclusive to Portugal. I also wanted my project to be something that I would enjoy doing and connect with. My research at this stage was focus on looking into documentary style photographers, and exploring the traditions that Portugal has. Towards the end of the project, I found that my work was mainly inspired by Dafy Hagai’s concepts, and Tito Mouraz’ style of connecting with his subjects in a documetary style. I also looked at current issues and things that are happening, which would give my project a “purpose”. I concluded that in time full of chaos and dispare, I wanted to produce something that was happy and uplifting. From there I decided to propose a series of books that would celebrate the women and the culture of different countries. I decided to start with Portugal as it’s close to my heart.
My process to produce my final major project involved flying to Portugal, and doing a series of shoots over 2 weeks. I shot mainly friends and family, and made sure to portray the main traditions that Portugal has. I found this experience very positive and inspiring because I got to experience these traditions that I hadn’t experienced since being a child. I feel that my work tells a narrative with every shoot, and does a good job of showing a few select different traditions that Portugal has.
Overall I feel that my work progressed and changed a lot since my statement of intent at the beginning. I am happy with the outcome, and I feel that I was able to produce something that is different, and celebrates the culture of Portugal. In terms of this project fitting into the world of fashion, I feel that the shoots give a different style of editorial shoots by being in a documentary style, and featuring mainly older women. I also feel that it could be a feature in a culture section of a fashion magazine such as i-D and Dazed.