SELF INITIATED
SELF INITIATED
‘WHAT PROJECTS I ENJOYED THIS TERM, ARE THERE ANY PROJECTS I WOULD LIKE TO REVISIT’ -I have particularly enjoyed the casting project. It really got me thinking about the opportunities to cast interesting people around me, models that aren’t mainstream. I liked shooting my sister at home it felt natural -I am inspired by the place where I’m from, I really enjoyed shooting alices parents on the moors the setting was relaxing and organic and that made me want to shoot in another idyllic location. I wanted to revisit this project and produce similar photos but with different models and outfits. -I liked creating garments when we shot with mercy, I liked styling an actual fashion shoot with props and accessories, as most of the other shoots I did were a more documentary style -In the lazy oaf I found I liked to creative direct. I wanted to continue growing my skills in styling and photography. and maybe create another zine for my final project. -These projects all together helped me to create an idea for this new project, taking elements I enjoyed and moulding them together, I want to do some sort of shoot, at home, with people I find interesting. I want to have more substance to my work, push to use more interesting models with more experimental styling, pick having an interesting photo over a nice one. -I will make this project a challenge by making my own accessories and pushing myself with styling and photography, I love styling myself but I’ve never tried properly on models. I’m not a photographer but need to be more confident with a camera to do more solo projects
Ive not produced as much as I thought I would at this point, I basically have nothing but research and planning. I have the idea, my casting and my locations set and I’m happy with them. Money has been a pretty big issue i have £0 in my bank. Im going to be making garments this week when I have some cash and I’m excited about it. I’m struggling to define my concept- why am I doing what I’m doing but I have lots of influences that fit together really well so I’m sure it’ll work out. I’ve had to simplify my garment ideas due to the deadline approaching and I will be concentrating on the up cycling element more than actually making things from scratch like I wanted too. I have recently taken more of an interest in sustainable fashion with the rise of extension rebellion and think its important to show elements of this in my work. Fashion is the second biggest polluter on the planet and I don’t particularly want to go into an industry which is killing the earth. Upcycling and ethical fashion is important so introducing it into my project without meaning to is not a bad thing. Hopefully I can produce relevant ethical fashion.
PROJECT PROPOSAL
I always have so many references, I’m always saving imagery that inspires me, I watch lots of films, follow interesting accounts and my research for different projects inspires me to open different books at the library which innovates me further. Because of this I am always drawn to practitioners that combine lots of different concepts into their own work, I am particularly liking photographers that use documentary photography combines with high fashion, which take inspiration from films and their own nostalgic memories. I want to create a set of photos that combine what I’m interested in at the moment. I’ve got back into heavily following fashion, but also love pure nostalgic documentary photography, I want to combine both of these things as well as elements of other things I enjoy. I want to combine some of the concepts from my casting project. I really enjoyed making garments for my first shoot with mercy, I liked shooting in a beautiful nostalgic place when we shot alices parents, I particularly enjoyed taking photos of my sister because I had a direct connection to the model which made the theme much more personal to me. Those things merged started to create my concept for this project. My proposal is, I want to photograph, style and make garments. I want to cast plymouth girls I find interesting in a place thats nostalgic to me. I love the combination of documentary juxtaposing with fashion. The images I create will include interesting faces of people I know shot in garments inspired by high fashion I love in a place that holds value to me. Plymouth is known as a dead end city and I would like my photos to give a new perception of my home because I am so inspired but it.
I have started to create these mood boards to show my inspirations for this project, fashion and documentary together on photographs of central Plymouth settings. I have hair makeup, and styling inspirations on these moodboards
-The background of this moodboard is a ridiculous Plymouth trip advisor review called jannergaddon -I have combined this with some styling references. -I want to use these moodboards to show a condensed view of what is inspiring me at the moment
I think Grey Plymouth settings contrasts nicely with all this fashion imagery
I’ve added a recent dazed beauty campaign which uses normal models. This campaign for me represents an important new trend within the industry. The normal face, models who are activists. I was inspired to carry on with this from my casting project and use the normal faces of people who inspire me, friends? family?
-the opinion of my hometown is that its dull and boring - “the grayest pace in the world� - I disagree, it may be ugly, but is home to all my favorite people. -I think Plymouth is a goldmine of interesting people and places and I want to explore that through my photography. -I want to contrast with these reviews with photos in beautiful locations featuring interesting people from the city, who dont look grey and boring at all.
-I think this book is really relevant to my research , prefabs are known to many as ugly and boring just like Plymouth but this book explores the beauty and the interesting people within them. -I like the way this book shows the people who live in prefabs, thier items, and them stood outside their home staring into the camera, the images are very still and calm and I like them a lot. I am not planning to do my photos in central Plymouth but if I was to take photos of bulidings I’d want them to look like this. -Personally, before reading this book I didn’t understand why you would want to live in a Prefab, this book humanizes the occupants and now I understand that they like the feeling of community or like the simplicity of their home.
INSPIRED BY THE PREFAB BOOK I HAVE ASKED ALL MY MODELS WHAT THEY LOVE ABOUT PLYMOUTH, I WOULD LIKE TO EVENTUALLY ADD THESE IN QUOTATIONS TO MY IMAGES.
“I LOVE THE SEA AND MY CAT LIVES HERE” “CENTRAL PARK, ESPECIALLY WHEN ALL THE FLOWERS ARE OUT” “THE BARBICAN MAKES ME NOSTALGIC BECAUSE I WORKED THERE WHEN I WAS YOUNG” “MOUNT EDGECOOME IS FAIRYISH IN THE SUMMER” “MUTLEY PLAIN BECAUSE ITS FULL OF PERSONALITY AND LIFE, ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO THERE, ITS THE GATEWAY TO PLYMOUTH FOR ME, INTO TOWN AND THE HOE” “THE GREY MAKES ME STAND OUT” ‘£2.50 DOUBLE RUM AND COKES AND 2 ESPRESSO MARTINIS FOR £5” “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IF YOU PICK WHAT PEOPLE TO HAVE AROUND YOU SMALL CITIES ARE WHAT EVER YOU MAKE THEM”
Is there any difference between documentary and fashion. its all about context. A smiles in the tiles picture in a fashion magazine becomes a fashion image. Is this because of the ever relevant glamorisation and fetishism of the working class in mainstream fashion which leads to the gentrification of poorer areas. OR Has fashion just become a little less elitist I think its probably both factors each fuelling one another
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOCUMENTRY AND FASHION
HOW CAN DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY IN FASHION BE UNHEALTHY http://gal-dem.com/puma-and-the-gross-fetishisation-of-working-class-struggle/
and there’s a really thin line between people profiting off less advantaged and people creating a platform for those people. Celebrating all people. I think its all about who is taking the photos, their story and who is being payed Martin Parr basically got rich and famous from photographing the working classes so you would think that he would make it more accessible for all people to take an interest in his work. student admission was £16. Is this elitist and wrong? I wont place models in front of tower blocks and take their photo even though I know they live in a 3 story house. There’s nothing wrong with creating a story for a character in other situations, but I think its always going to depend on the model or photographer, and the effect on people who view the image. In this project Ive put emphasis on the “documentary” and I want my images to be real for me. I’m using real girls I know, I still want to have that element of juxtaposition, and surrealism, placing someone in something where they wouldn’t normally be but , I think as someone going into the industry its important not too continue the glamorisation of certain cultures or groups of people. there are so many people in fashion profiting off less advantaged people in the industry
https://hypebeast.com/2016/1/fashion-british-working-class I feel a different emotion: pride. Pride that once again, despite the backlash from small minded middle England, we did our thing, we created our identity. While the decline of industry and changes in our social fabric may mean the Working Class has evolved into an unrecognisable entity from our grandparents’ equivalent, the youth are still a confident, creative bunch with our own heroes and ideas that don’t need the approval of the establishment to validate them. Equals, not victims. In need of nobody’s pity.
After all, whether you’re a kid from a sink estate in Birmingham spending your week’s wages on an Italian silk shirt, or a privately educated teenager from Royal Windsor dressing like a Leyton weed dealer circa 2005, we’re all just using clothes to push against our surroundings
CARRYING ON FROM MY CASTING PROJECT AND WANTING TO USE THE NORMAL FACE
CLAIRE BARROW Some interesting examples of fashion imagery, I’m drawn to the casting and surrealness of the images. I think these images show you can have more effective fashion imagery with interesting faces over “pretty” ones. I like the surreal effect the clothing has against the situation and I want to create a similar effect with my own clothing.
I really like the contrast of the clothes against the images, I would like to possibly edit my own photographs like this, have an image, then next to it something I made on a spread. With a quote from a
I like the layering of images
These pages contrast well together, to further my project I would like to recreate this.
STYLING REFRENECS AND INSPO
The models have messy strange hair which I can recerate with my own models
I love the starnge over the top shapes
GOOD WAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHING FOOTWEAR
I like how these images are not afraid of being unattractive, 90s vivienne westwood always picked people and shapes that were more unique
THE BRONX BEACH
Another book that the photographer decided to create because he was bored of peoples perceptions of this particular beach, praising the community and showing the interesting people within it. I love the diverse range of people photographed and the personality shown through their outfits. I am inspired by this method of casting.
I love this image, theres not much going on in terns of clothing but you see the bennifit of picking an model, her attitude just takes over the image making it endlessly
I really enjoy the detail of accessories, I want my images to be simple like these, but with lots of little things to look at. I want all my models to have accessories
I like the location contrast of these images, the photographer was on the same beach but every image looks like it was taken somewhere new, I can get the most out of a small location
LOOKING AT BOOKS WHICH EXPLORE BRITTAN TO HELP UNDERSTAND MY INTEREST FOR TAKING IMAGES OF THE PLACE WHERE I’M FROM AND THE PEOPLE WITHIN IT. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DRAWN TO EVERYDAY THINGS AND PEOPLE AND THESE BOOKS PHOTOGRAPH THEM
I relate to these quotes and agree that my hometown is full of inspiration and juxtaposi-
The every day images of Brittan provoke feelings of happiness and belonging for me as a photographer. The individuality of british people, these quotes relate right back to my views on plymouth
Discovering different methods of photographing girls in Brittan. I like how this girl is the main point of the image, its dark and she is well lit, I want to have my models as the vocal point in the image, with organic backgrounds so that they stand out but not obnoxiously as if they were stood in from of a backdrop or screen
The same but different, groups of friends always have that sort of effect, if I photograph friends who look different they’ll have those slightly different styles that will be interesting for the camera but also be effortless together which will make the images flow really well. I like the dynamic of friends together, picking out personalities of each one.
I like how you cant see the persons face but you can see jesus’s face, its funny.
MARTIN PARR
I particularly liked his photography in these 2 books because he zooms into peoples lives . He creates an atmosphere of the place with his book and you get an overwhelming feeling of what its like to be there. I want to recreate the feelings I have in Plymouth through interesting images to change peoples perceptions of what they call a boring place.
Honest reflections of what was going on in a place on that day. To further my project I would like to explore places within Plymouth
I like the obnoxious out of place brand.
`I like the close up images, throughout my research I have always been drawn too small details on the subjects of the image. I like looking at the jewelry people choose to wear, I find it interesting. Why do people wear expensive jewelry? Is it a power or style thing? did someone gift it to them? Is it even expensive at all? I like being able to create a story of a person through their accessories and I want to recreate the same effect through my own photos. Little details to look at in a close up image.
I like all the skin going on in these images, the contrast of different peoples hands placed together. I always forget to zoom in on people when I’m taking my photos and I don’t know why because thats always my favorite part of an image. I want to remember to get all the different angles of my models faces so I can after edit a page similar to this.
IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITION
-The exhibition was quite expensive, but was really good. I had seen most the images before but it was great to see all the auto portraits together. It was all recent works. -I like how Martin Parr tells a story of Brittan through images and the interior of the exhibition sometimes echoed his work, a disco room, a dated caff. -The exhibition has inspired me more to be interested in everything around me, see the beauty in the mundane every day things, start making collections of images or aspire to have a book and see how that would change what images I would be taking. -In regards to this project in particular I have been inspired by the range of ways Martin Parr has chosen to photograph Brittan, the people hes chosen to photograph and the wide variety of places. I like how each image is different but they fit together so well. I think this almost automatically happens when you take lots of pictures within the same country which I should keep in mind when photographing Plymouth.
My favorite wall
MORE IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITION
The disco room was humorous and reminded me of a bad school disco, there was that weird town hall carpet contrasting with the rainbow disco ball. Lots of people stood still moving slowly around the room really reminded me of discos I went to as a child where nobody danced for ages. I think this was a good interactive element and so was the caf.
ERIKA BOWES
I’ve looked at lots of inner cit images through my research but I wont be shooting in a place like that, I wanted to find a photographer who shoots fashion images in natural idyllic British places. I love Erika Bowes casting, she always picks really eye catching models with a natural face or interesting normality. I am inspired by her work because she photographs women in a way that makes them look calm and powerful, her styling is clashing, normally lots of brands and colours contrasting together. I am inspired by these pictures because of the greta combination of styling, casting and the lighting in photography.
I like the warm “golden hour” lighting in this image. I could recreate this in the future with an orange light . -excellent casting -nice accessories to compliment the face
Erika Bowes always uses the weather of each season to compliment her images, keeping the models head shiny really makes me feel the warmth of the day. The normal “imperfections� she chooses to leave on her models link her photography back to documentary style images and she is somewhere between documentary and fashion and I want to create images of a similar style
CASTING AND PHOTO POSITIONING INSPO
THE ITEMS I MADE WITH REFERENCE IMAGES FROM WESTERN AFFAIR AN MOWALOLA I chose to make my own clothes because I never like the graduate collections and wanted some more styling pieces for this shoot.
-Smiles on the tiles images from my casting project showing the interesting people within Plymouth nightlife. -These images represent the individuals I love to see in my home town.
-BUT CAN PLYMOUTH HAVE RELEVANCE IN FASHION?
BUT CAN PLYMOUTH HAVE RELEVANCE WITHIN FASHION?
YES!
I have made some fake magazine spreads to show how I would make Plymouth relevant in a fashion magazine if I was ever to take pure documentary pics. I am combining documentary and fashion to create a middle ground and inspiration for my own images.
TEST SHOOTS I have created some spreads showing my fashion influences which will inspire my styling on top of possible locations where I could shoot, they’re all places on Dartmoor. These images are testing whether the settings fit n with the concept and if all these random things look good together, I think they will. I am happy with these experiments and I think the moors is a good backdrop for fashion imagery.
TEST SHOOT -I have chosen to experiment with different accessories and make up looks together inspired by what I’m interested in at the moment , although they are all seemingly random, I wanted to create some visual tests that included incorporated my inspiration so that my thought process for the final images has been noted. -The test that include the boots and eye makeup are my favorite and on my final shoot I will incorporate these ideas. -I am really happy with the location tested against the fashion references and I am confident to shoot in this location
I was so inspired by this shoot and where we placed the models by the scenery, I am recreating this in my next shoot but with more fashion imagery
BECAUSE MY OTHER SHOOT FOR THE CASTING PROJECT WAS IN A VERY SIMILAR LOCATION I FELT AS IF I COULD USE THIS SHOOT ANALYSIS AS A PHYSICAL TEST SHOOT. I WAS HAPPY WITH THE COMPOSITION OF THE PHOTOS AND THE CAMERA I USED SO WILL BRING WHAT I LEARNT INTO THIS SHOOT
I really liked the model with the short hair she did really good, took direction well. I didn’t like the model with the dark hair up in buns, It was my fault I styled her wrong
final shoot analysis -my plans for my shoot fell through last minute and I’m really disappointed in how these images turned out. I was going to use my sister and her friend but they dropped out. -They’re okay as images I just don’t feel like they’re my style or fit with my previous concept, I’ve had to change some of the stuff I decided to research and now I’m completely lost at what to say about this whole project. -My whole concept was to shoot models I found interesting that I knew in clothes that I had made but because I did the the whole thing just seemed so basic and reminded me of my college work. -I liked the location a lot but I keep comparing these images to the ones of alices mum and dad which I think are so much better. I based them off these images and I don’t think they worked as well because some of the clothes were a bit top garish for the setting, they stood out but differently than I wanted too. -I liked the images a lot better when I started placing them together against other images, when I could zoom them in and put boarders on them. When I’ve shown the pictures to other people they’ve really liked them, I think I might just be being hard on myself because its a completely different concept to what I wanted to achieve. I see these images as unfinished
THIS PROJECT. I was really excited to start this project, I had a really strong concept idea and I really wanted to make my own clothes. I was going to combine some of my concepts from the casting project and create something that really interested me. I had planned to use my sister and basically revolved my project around her, I was going to continue the series of plymouth girls but going in a more fashiony direction. I was going to photograph my sister and her friend tiffany, but they fell out the week before the shoot and a couple days before my sister strait out refused to do it too. I re planned the shoot and changed the concept from glamorous girls to just plymouth girls, every type of girl, this was disappointing but its quite a good starting point for a new project, I could explore the people in my hometown, start with my friends. I got totally confused in all my research, nothing is linking up in my head and its probably pretty boring. I would have liked to do some more mood board and experimentation in this project because I really enjoyed it and it really helps with showing my concept visually because I am finding it hard to explain verbally and I don’t know why because its a pretty simple concept. I think leading on from my casting project was a mistake, I got confused when trying to further my research and felt that occasionally it would just make no sense and have nothing to do at all with the project. My time management for this last project has been bad. I think as soon as nobody else was relying on me in a group project I just stopped working for bit. I was stressed and confused at the last point of this year and its defiantly made me more conscious of how to keep up with my workload for 3rd year, I need to attend more tutorials.
second half of the year overall I have really enjoyed the second half of this year, the projects have been relevant to the niche areas of fashion I want to work in. I got to collaborate with Lazy Oaf which could provide important connections for me in the future. Time spent with charlotte and clementine was beneficial and inspired me a lot. I’ve finally started to produce more professional outcomes (I actually like) I’ve now got something to put into my portfolio, this was really important for me, it makes me a lot more confident knowing I can make content fast and have a bigger resume when applying to internships. I struggled with the amount of group projects this term, I felt creatively exhausted a lot of the time because I was the one coming up with the concepts and then doing the bulk of the work because I wanted it to be good. Coming up with all the links from research to create a concept for analysis is pretty time consuming, and then you have to explain it to someone and they just have it for their research folder without having to do much. Obviously it all depends on who you work with, I was excited to just do the last project completely alone. I think if you ever set a task where students have to set up an exhibition, be conscious that certain points in the year are better. When we did the exhibition most people had run out of money so nobody wanted to pay over £2 each for anything. If it was nearer a student loan payment I think the exhibition could have been better funded. The exhibition was a highlight and I would like to do another one. Overall I got pretty stressed at the end only because I’m just bad with time management I think we defiantly had enough time to produce the outcomes set. Good project briefs really inspire me to produce outcomes I care about and this has been my most beneficial time at university so far.