DÉBUT.
Prologue A portfolio by Isabella Reid, a communicator, film-maker and photographer with a keen interest in capturing male youth culture within a contemporary society.
Special thanks to all the street-cast models involved, and collaborations within the sub-books with photographers Ash Renshaw and Harrison France. This portfolio is split into five chapters.
Chapter one -’Being Boy’, a small film and photography based project delving into male friendships. (Film included) Chapter two - ‘Old but gold’, displays the concept of age in relation to fashion.
Chapter three- ‘Go on, kill it’, a competition entry (film) for Fur for animals. (Film included) Chapter four- ‘Isaac’, a small comission based project showing a male creative in Leeds.
Chapter five- ‘Little boys’, an exploration of male youth culture in relation to insecurities and self-esteem. (Film included)
CHAPTER ONE
Being boy
‘Being Boy’ is a small film and photography based project, looking into the insecurities and struggles for male youth in a contemporary society, focusing on the vulnerability and beauty within malefriendships and relationships. Delving into topics such as hopes and dreams, reality and future, this project tells four young boys tales, from boy to man.
Using four creative youths; Samir, Theo, Jake and Matt, I delved into their personal lives and photographed what it’s like growing up in today’s society, with constant pressure to be something- but at the same time wanting to be nothing. Within ones work, a relationship is formed between model and photographer, which allows one to have no boundaries or limitations, using facial expression, body language and comfortable settings to create an emotion or tell a compelling narrative.
Whilst working on ‘Being boy’ I met Al, a youth who showed hopes and dreams, wanting to move to London and study again. His story had to be told.
Inspired by Ian Kenneth Bird, Jaime Hawkesworth and Tyrone Lebon, my photography is more about the muse themselves than any styling or lighting.
being boy
Piecing together both disposable photographs taken by the boys and my own film/digital shots, I created a publication to show the journey from boy to man in a contemporary society. Mixing tactile with minimal, the publication includes quotes and stories told by the boys, showing a relationship between photographer and muse.
My main technique when photographing my muses is to capture hidden moments, creating an image where the model is completely unaware of the lens. In order to do this, I am often in conversation with my models, asking them questions about their hopes and dreams or their individual views on alien life and politics, creating an image that is authentic and true. I often put quotes or comments from our conversations above or below my image, to show the relationship and realness between photographer and muse.
“Death”
“dying, the thought of dying and the fact there’s nothing after death sends me into a spiral of panic.”
Jake Kaye 19 years old likes leopard print and skating
“I believe your identity is defined by the people you love, and the people who love you. i believe that you only exist based on the people and the relationships that you have in life.�
“erm, I think in my nearer future I want to be doing the same things with the same people, aaanddd in the long term future, yeah I dont know I dont actually think about the future that much if im honest, im just enjoying where I am at the moment, and Ijust hope the people there are still with me and i hope the journeys fun.�
Jake Kaye on film 2017 Test shoot 1 Pentax
Are We There Yet?
A short series of photos exploring gender within fashion in adolecents. Styling & creative direction- Isabella Reid Photography- Harrison France
‘Are we there yet?’ explores the concept of gender within fashion in adolescents. This is a project I have wanted to explore for a long time now, growing up with role models such as princesses, barbies and bratz dolls, without many masculine influencers (god forbid I wanted to be like the princes!). As my little sister grew older, I noticed it was near to impossible to find any items that were not pink or fluffy, and she often felt like she did not fit in because she didn’t conform to societies stereotypes, which I believe to be a huge shame. After speaking to peers, I noticed this was a constant issue in todays society. Are we there yet with gender stereotypes? I decided to use my own little cousin Imogen as a model, and I asked the very talented Harrison France to photograph/ collaborate with this vision, because although I enjoy doing my own photography, his crisp style works perfectly with my concept, and collaborations are great fun. I styled using myself and Harrison’s own clothes, getting inspiration from menswear that I love and my own little sisters interests.
CHAPTER TWO
OLD BUT GOLD I-D x diversity now competition entry, displaying that age is limitless, and whilst our skin may age, our minds and memories remind us of our youth and happiness.
Model- Tony Verbeken
We are old, but we are gold.
CHAPTER THREE
FUR FOR ANIMALS Short film hilighting the truth about the fur industry.
With this short, i really wanted to show a conceptual twist on anti-fur campaigns. I wanted to show a juxtaposition between a careless, care-free protagonist, and the harsh reality of the process of killing an innocent animal for a materialistic gain. Although subtle, the film is supposed to be ambiguous and interesting to the point where a younger audience would click it and question what the film is about. In the end of the short, it all comes together in a noisy and almost uncomfortable way, with the model, still carefree, dancing to the sounds of rabbits, foxes, and grass moving.
GO ON, KILL IT.
J U X TA P O S I T I O N
Exploring African-American subculture within a western society. Photography- Ash Renshaw Styling- Isabella Reid
CHAPTER FOUR
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Isaac on film, test shots March 2017 Studies at Leeds College of Art, enjoys smoking and fashion.
CHAPTER FIVE A small film and photography based project exploring male self-esteem and subculture.
“ I could say this cliche shit like take care of your family and like be the man and take responsibility and whatnot, but i also don’t know what it takes to be a human ”
“ my mum breaking up with my dad after like 25 years that’s like, i guess that has changed my view on love and relationships, and for example meeting ray in the hood when everybody was in some hood shit dressing like road man and i don’t know i was just different and when i met him i was like shit theres a couple of niggers out there that like the same shit that i like and that changed my life cause i knew i wasn’t alone in the hood ”
LITTLE BOYS.
‘ One of the things i am most proud of is if one of us has a problem, we can talk about it. I reckon that ability to talk things out has saved my life, and a lot of men don’t have that
“I was brought up with not my biological father, i think because i didn’t really like him much going through adolences so i kinda rebelled to everything he liked like he’s macho and stuff. He’s a massive man, he’s like super uber man”
FIN.