R ES EARCH
PO RTFOLIO
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R E S E A RC H Index
Narrative
Photography
Test Pages
6 Narrative
10 Stillleben
32 Test Photoshoot 36 Process 36 First Attempt 37 Ties tied 38 Covid- 19
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1 Narrative
6 Narrative
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Narrative A thousand lives. When I was growing up, we had what we called the memories box. A tremendous wooden chest packed full of childhood paraphernalia and family mementos dating back to long before I was born. I used to love spending hours rummaging in its depths as a child, inexorably drawn toward the strange items of clothing, each one telling its own story: black knee-high boots with a huge platform heel from my aunt, hats in all sorts of shapes and colours, my grandma‘s lace-trimmed wedding dress. These keepsakes allowed me to create versions of myself from another reality. While dressing up, I lived a thousand lives in these clothes and these clothes lived a thousand lives through me. I loved them as much if not even more as their previous owner, and in return, they gave me back so much joy.
Since my publication is a narrative told by my younger self, living a thousand lives in these clothes, my portfolio is a change in perspective. Hence, I will tell the story from the clothes‘ perspective, living a thousand lives through me. The garments will be presented in Stillleben, which symbolize their afterlife and, consequently, circular fashion by connecting their past purpose with the narrative‘s repurpose context.
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2 Photography
9 Stillleben
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The afterlife of clothes.
Stillleben
Photographed by Irving Penn, Shoe and glove 1947 10
Stillleben includes all kinds of human-made or natural objects, cut flowers, fruits, vegetables, fish, game, wine and so on. This can be a celebration of material pleasures such as food and wine, or often a warning of the ephemerality of these pleasures and of the brevity of human life. Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning ‚remember you must die‘. A basic memento mori painting would be a portrait with a skull but other symbols commonly found are hourglasses or clocks, extinguished or guttering candles, fruit, and flowers. Closely related to the memento mori picture is the vanitas Stillleben. In addition to the symbols of mortality, these may include other symbols such as musical instruments, wine and books to remind us explicitly of the vanity (in the sense of worthlessness) of worldly pleasures and goods. The term originally comes from the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: ‚Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.‘ The vanitas and memento mori picture became popular in the seventeenth century, in a religious age when almost everyone believed that life on earth was merely a preparation for an afterlife. However, modern artists have continued to enhance and modernise the genre during the last 100 years. By using all kind of artistic media, they have tackled the Stillleben in an incredibly inventive way, utilising the historical pedigree of the genre to mine all its symbolical, allegorical and formal qualities. The elegant and poignant artworks of photographers like Sebastian Lager, Zoe Ghertner and Chris Rhodes are recent examples for this. Hence the genre is still very relevant to portrait the currently most pressing concerns of our world. My photography work will take over the formal- aesthetic elements of the genre and combine it with the contextual implications of the modern Stillleben. I will apply the vanitas motifs of the transience of life and the upcoming afterlife to the topic of circular fashion. The useful life of a beloved garment does not necessarily end. Once an item of clothing has become tired, it should be repaired, recycled or redesigned, then- rather than being binned- rented, swapped or sold at second-hand. The new context of the textile offers the possibility of an afterlife which can be repetitive and is, in consequence, the essence of circular fashion. 11
Photographed by Sebastian Lager
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Photographed by Chris Rhodes
Photographed by Sebastian Lager
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Photographed by Chris Rhodes
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Photographed by Chris Rhodes 18
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Photographed by Riccardo Maria Chiacchio
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Photographed by Riccardo Maria Chiacchio
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Photographed by Zoë Gehrtner
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Photographed by Unknown
Photographed by Pie Sutithon, Styled by Isabel Bonner
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Photographed by Jens Ingvarsson
Photographed by Eugene Shishkin, Styled by Jenia Kim
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6 Test Pages
32 Test Photoshoot 30
36 Process
36 First Attempt
37 Ties tied
38 Covid- 19
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Process
First attempt
Development of one test photoshoot.
Ties and location.
Step 1: Looking for an old photograph and noteworthy clothing item in old photobooks Step 2: Ensuring that the clothing item of the chosen photograph still exists Step 3: Talking to the person who originally owned the clothing item about their shared past or about the moment photographed Step 4: Asking the original owner to borrow or use the clothing item for the new context photograph Step 5: Considering the styling Step 6: Looking for clothing items which I already own or friends and family to complete the look Step 7: Purchasing of additional second-hand clothing items to complete the look Step 8: Considering the location Step 9: Exploring the surrounding area for a location Step 10: Taking the new context photograph Step 11: Editing the new context photograph in photoshop
The previous pages show my first attempt to work with the ties and location. For the final shooting, I would have used more ties in contorted and winding positions to enhance the garland‘s impression. Another idea that came to my mind afterward was to dress up different tree branches in a human way, wearing the ties as a belt or headband. Unfortunately, there was no more time to improve this photo shooting.
(This a repetitive process of producing each photoshoot. The main narrative stays the same, leading towards the clothing piece‘s future life of a repurpose, but the clothing piece itself, and it‘s past will differ each time.)
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Ties tied
For every occasion. The ties presented in the Still Lives are initially from my grandpa. He owned a textile company producing children‘s shirts and blouses. His choice of ties was always matching the shirt that he was wearing, on fairs, and at meetings with customers. Ties were an essential item of clothing and meant a lot to him. But, what did these ties experience together with my grandpa? The cigarette and the ball pen represent this history. My grandpa smoked a lot in the past while working and smoking was a signal for a break from the stress. The ball pen accompanied him for 40 years in almost every customer meeting. The ties experienced these short rests with a cigarette, every customer meeting, the inspection of a length of material, and more. But, what is the next life for these ties? A young girl who finds these ties in a big wooden chest sees more than just an item of working clothes. She recognizes a silk scarf, a patterned belt, or a long headband. The flower buds and the many ornaments of nature symbolize the start of a new life. The tree branch in the forest on which the ties are hung up and arranged tells a story of a child playing in the woods. The Still Live is a combination of my grandpa‘s old ties and nature ornaments found outside. I looked at styles from previously mentioned stylists, and contemporary fashion looks inspired by Still Lives before displaying the ties and the nature ornaments on the floor. After that, I started to combine them in different Still Lives options until I found my final look. I did not collage my outfit beforehand as I had to work with my grandpa‘s available ties. The location is a forest near my house, which I knew would go along with my research of arcadian landscapes.
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Covid-19 Guidelines for photoshooting. Step 1: In the event of another lockdown, I will be able to execute the photo shootings because I‘m working on my own and I don‘t depend on clothing items I will have to shop
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BY PAULINE LIS CH KE