Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography A comparative study between super heroines in film and the stereotypical portrayal of women in editorial fashion photography.
By Shanna Paxton
This essay will analyse the visual representation of power depicted in superheroine films and the stereotypical depiction of female models in fashion photography works, so as to apply the findings towards producing photographic images of empowered female models. In order to do so it will begin with an overview firstly, of why women in society seek role models in films and magazines; and secondly, the depictions of feminine ideologies present in previous fashion photography works. This will be followed by a study of how power is conveyed in the super-hero film, Watchmen, which focuses on the female heroines. Then an analysis of images, according to the Martin Lester Six Perspectives for Analyzing an Image (Lester 2006:112), will be applied to a set of movie stills from the film Watchmen and advertisements for the film done by photographer, Clay Enos. The findings will be compared to a set of fashion photographs from acclaimed fashion photographers, Annie Leibovitz and Elaine Constantine. To close, the thesis will reflect on the formal quality findings used in these images in order to establish what a visual representation of female power should or should not be.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
On the left, Image 1 taken by the first fashion photographer of Vogue, Baron Adolphe de Meyer. On the right Image 2 by fashion photography Annie Leibovitz. These images illustrate how the function and style of fashion photography has changed over the last 90 years.
The original function of fashion photography, in the 1920s, was to simply record clothing worn by women and serve as a visual guide on how women in society should behave (Delvin 1984:114). However fashion photography’s purpose and the visual representation of women have changed with each decade, according to the cultural, economic, social and technological advances. Fashion photography eventually developed into a medium which photographers were able to use to comment on specific elements of the current time. Polly Delvin showed that fashion photographs became visual representations of history, with each image conveying certain moods, manners, preoccupations, artistic influences, styles, trends and society’s expectations of how women should conduct themselves (Delvin 1984:27). Women would look at magazines when seeking role models.
This particular element of fashion photography still remains. Naomi Wolf proves it in The Beauty Myth. “Women seek role models from the pages of magazines and in motion pictures” (Wolf 2002:58). She explains that the reason for this is that the only media representing women are magazines and films, whilst, for example men have monuments to exalt, such as Mount Rushmore or the Lincoln Memorial. Therefore, the way in which women are portrayed by photographers in fashion and advertising photography will influence the way in which women will develop, act and see themselves in society. Many people in society do not realise that fashion photography works on the theme of idealized content (Sontag 1987:86), and although this is what women want to see (Wolf 2002:59), the problem develops when people base their whole life on the role model they see depicted in these magazines, without realising the fact that the photograph is often idealistic not realistic, even though the medium is photography. From this it is clear that the media have control over women in society.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Naomi Wolf’s running theme in her book, The Beauty Myth, is about how images in the media are used against women’s advancement, claiming that the more free women are from old feminine ideologies, such as chastity, passivity, domesticity or youthfulness, the more controlled these women are by the media (Wolf 2002:7). This is accomplished by applying pressure on women to look as young, as beautiful and as energetic as their role models. This often results in harmful emotional and physical behaviour when the ideal look cannot be obtained by the individual. The type of imagery that has this effect on women is demeaning and damaging to the female society.
Women who are looking into this medium for role models, or rather heroines that they might look up to and strive to be like, will instead find stereotypical beauties which are exactly the opposite of heroines. Heroism is all about “individuality, interesting character and is ever changing”, while beauty is “generic, boring and inert” (Wolf 2002:59).
The function of a magazine is to serve as a guide on how women should conduct themselves. This is achieved through the use of images portraying women in aspirational and ideological language. These run on the following themes: meritocracy involves getting the look you want; entrepreneurial spirit is all about making the most of your assets; personal liability is the theory of personal responsibility, you have the power to change your body; and open admissions usually involve a spokesperson admitting something positive related to the product. These are evident in advertisements and fashion spreads. See the images below as an example of these ideologies.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 3.1. Meritocracy, “Better than ever.” Getting the look you want via purchasing this product. British Vogue November 2008.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 3.2. Open Admissions “The kind of roles that I’m drawn to2.”, using this actresses experience is incorporated with the product. . British Vogue November 2008.
Female models have in the past and up to now, been portrayed in many roles, none of which convey the impression of power or strength. In the 1920s when fashion photography started, photographers such as Baron Adolph de Meyer, portrayed women within “caged studios” (Wells 2004:221), a technique used in order to keep control over the women in society. The models were treated as mere commodities forbidden to interact with the photographer. It was all about the photographer’s vision and a display of the clothing. During the 1930s, compact cameras were created which moved the photographer and model outside the studio to outdoor locations, but women were still treated as products. Their purpose was to display the clothing with none or little emotion.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
The 1940s brought about much change. During World War II men had left the workplace for the army. This caused a gap in the work market and thus allowed women for the first time to enter the work force (Wolf 2002:21). Fashion photography of this time reminded women to look good ‘even though there is a war’. Models were portrayed as living lives in a less than realistic way, as seen in image three, third photograph, by photographer Herbert Matter.
This development that allowed women to leave their domestic life for the work life, caused a reaction of men to see women as a “threat” (Wolf 2002:21). In order to minimise the influx of women to the workforce during the 1950s, domestic life changed drastically; it became a science. Knowledge and education were needed in order to have the perfectly run home. Thus women in fashion photography were depicted as prosperous, provocative, perfectly domesticated women, almost as if the war had changed nothing, just glorified the purpose of women within the domestic household context (Delvin 1984:92).
Image 4 illustrating the style and depiction of women in fashion photography.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
The 1960s were the first time fashion photographers’ portrayed creative fantastical scenes. They were the first time women were portrayed as eroticised models in a fashion photography context. The 1970s “brought a more realistic mood altogether” Women were portrayed as real people as regards the activities they took part in composed with what the 1940s had offered. This shift in style was the result after the world economic crisis that caused photographers to get rid of fantastical scenes. Activities depicted ranged from playing football with the guys to enjoying the night life. The next decade objectified women (Wells 2004:221). There was also an increase in the visual representation of sexuality. This becomes evident when looking at the work of Helmut Newton.
The 1990s saw a great deal of change in fashion photography. There was an increase in staged photography. The model became a “participant, rather than a victim” (Bright 2007:16); narrative style developed as a reaction to film noir; photographers such as Corinne Day experimented with a documentary style of fashion photography. The most important development was the “crossfertilization process” (Kismaric 2004:13) between photography and contemporary art. Fashion images were being shown in galleries as works that recorded a certain era in time, “and were an expression of cultural activity” (Kismaric 2004:31).
Due to an explosive development in technology, the late nineties and the new millennium welcomed the digital age and photographers felt a need to create work that would be memorable. Patrick De Warren states that photographers achieved this by digitally altering the image into something that seemed “super-realistic” (Dawber 2005:7) by retouching the models’ skin, body shape and hair, creating a different person that did not really exist.
This caused terrible psychological problems for a great number of women and young girls in society. Because post-production became such an important tool in creating the idealistic female models, the viewer was unaware that they were looking at something that did not really exist, and began resorting to
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
drastic behaviour to achieve that unattainable look. Campaigns towards the 2010s were developed in order to create awareness of these processes to young girls, a way to protect them from the onslaught of stereotypical mass media imagery.
The Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty (2006) is just one of the organisations attempting to change the depiction of women in magazines. “For too long, beauty has been defined by narrow, stifling stereotypes. Women have told us it’s time to change all that. Dove agrees. We believe real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes and ages,” said Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty website.
Image 5: Screenshot from a short film showing the way in which women are altered in the post production stage, the final image (on left half) shows an altered unrealistic version of this woman.
Up to the present, the role models found in magazines have been commodified, objectified, perfectly presentable, provocative, eroticised, happily active, interactive in narrative and currently shown as unattainable beauties. It seems that the evolution of how women are being portrayed has regressed, possibly due to photography’s technological improvements allowing photographers to experiment with the medium’s possibility as an art
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
form, but it is now time to portray women as strong confide empowered beings, free from the stereotypical feminine ideologies earlier discussed.
These feminine ideologies can be challenged by making use of different feminism philosophies. Writers Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson have written about the feminism philosophies portrayed by the three heroines in the Watchmen, super-hero novel and film, in an article entitled Watchwomen (White 2009:173). The manner in which these characters convey their power gives us of such feminism philosophies.
For the purpose of this document, the relationship between the first Silk Spectre and her daughter, the second Silk Spectre, with the feminism philosophies in them, will be looked at. As individuals they are crime fighters wearing provocative costumes. The second Silk Spectre, Laurie, is a result of the complex relationship between the Comedian and the first Silk Spectre, Sally. This event and the pressure the mother applies to her daughter in the course of her becoming a heroine strains their relationship. The synopsis is described by the Internet Movie Data Base as the following: "Watchmen" is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up, but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach, sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true power - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity... but who is watching the Watchmen?" (IMDB 2009)
As crime fighters the applied feminism is liberal feminism becomes “that all humans are equal because all humans are rational” (White 2009:174). This is achieved through legal and political decisions without using their sexuality to
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
advance. Laurie, second Silk Spectra, aims to achieve the androgyny liberal feminine ideal, the theory that all men and women have both feminine and masculine sides to them and can practices both without judgement. This means that sexuality is not needed in order to advance them, but Laurie feels that Sally takes her sexuality and uses it to her advantage, going as far as hiring a manager to sell her as a sex symbol to society.
Image 6: Film costume fashion, the first Silk Spectre on the left and second Silk Spectre on the right.
“The costumes that they wear contradict that liberal feminism” (White 2009:175). As seen in Image 4, their costumes are a result of Luce Irigaray’s take on postmodern feminism, based on the theory that if women challenge feminine stereotypes by exaggerating them, then this will push gender stereotypes to their limits, thus destabilising the hierarchical relationship between women and men (White 2009:176).
The combination of their hyper-sexualised fashion and masculine fighting techniques corresponds to this method. Fighting like a man is acceptable if you clearly appear to be a women, which can be expressed though the
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
costumes. The third heroine, Silhouette, from the same generation as Sally, fought like a man, dressed like a women, but was of different sexual orientation and was rejected by society and the vigilante ‘club’.
Similar to this theory is existential feminism, described by Simone de Beauvoir as a theory that opposes “biological existentialism”, one’s biology should not determine one’s social behaviour, but rather one’s self definition and awareness of one’s own condition defines one’s social behaviour (White 2009:181). Sally is an example of this, while Laurie is not. Sally made her own choices to define herself by becoming a heroine in the act of transcendence, an example of existential feminism. In contrast Laurie throughout the novel has choices made for her and relies on relationships with people to define herself in the act of immanence and the lack of existential feminism. Although, at the end of the novel she begins to make her own decisions.
These feminism philosophies represent what power for women means, how it can be achieved whether through legalities, exaggerating stereotypes or by individual’s own strength. This is what is needed in the conceptual construction of imagery that will be interpreted by the viewer as an image of empowered women. Another important factor affecting the rendering of an empowered female role is the formal photographic quality of the imagery.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Images 7 and 8: Posters promoting Watchmen movie, in their original framing, for the purpose of the thesis only the photographic aspects will be analysed.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 9: The First Generation Silk Spectre
For the purpose of this thesis an analysis of elements that represent power will be discussed. Silk Spectre is the centre of the image and most of her figure is shows, she is the largest element in the frame, becoming a strong focal point in the image. She stands above what appears to be a prisoner while considering his clothing. She holds a leash-type strap which is attached to him; his body language suggests cowardice and perhaps shame for what he has done. She has a happy expression on her face, hand on her hip, chin up expressing confidence in what she is doing. Her outfit has already been discussed in terms of feminine philosophy. If she were to wear something that
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
covered her completely something that only revealed her eyes, the image would read differently. The symbolism of her yellow top conveys cheerfulness and aggressiveness. She is happy with what she is doing and has the ability to fight like a man while appearing to be a woman. The red tones behind her suggest warmth, but also a warning of what she is capable. Evidence of what she is known for is displayed on her wall by the newspaper articles. The way in which the elements have been placed creates triangular lines, each leading back to Silk Spectre, making this image work powerful.
Image 10 on the left shows the way in which the graphic elements have been placed to move the eye in such a way that the eye always rests on the heroine. Image 11 on the right shows how depth was created through the use of colour and again how the heroine increased as a focal point being in the warm half.
In comparison with the previous image, the lack of power conveyed here is evident by due to the positioning of the elements, the heroine’s body language, the space the figure takes up, and the feminine philosophy here conveyed.
The camera angle is the same as in the previous image, straight and level with the ground, hardly making any contribution to the conveying of power. Although the second Silk Spectre is placed slightly off-centre to the left, and we see her whole figure, she is sitting and the amount of space she takes in
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
the image seems less; therefore she appears less powerful. When the figure is placed in a small space it will appear to be more powerful as it will occupy more space in the image, but in Image 12’s case, the space that Laurie takes up is much smaller than that of Sally in the previous image.
Image 12: The Second Generation Silk Spectre
Although the second Silk Spectre is placed slightly off-centre to the left, and we see her whole figure, she is sitting, and the amount of space she takes in the image seems less, therefore she appears to be less powerful. When
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
looking at the depth of field in the image she does seem to dominate, given that she is dressed in an advancing bright yellow colour, with the rest of the colour palette being composed of cool undertones, and therefore receding. Her outfit is similar in colour and styling to her mother’s, but different in that her costume covers most of her upper body. The latex fabric is heavier and more masculine than her mother’s, and it contrasts with flowing light by ruffled fabric and it conveys femininity. This difference in her costume could be evidence of her own belief of the androgyny liberal feminine ideal that was discussed earlier. She does not have make up on, not even lipstick, evidence that she is exercising her masculine side.
Her body language is very rigid; she sits up straight; supports her hands cautiously on the dressing table and looks straight into the mirror at herself. Her smile is also not a happy one; it seems forced; she looks very uncomfortable and unsure of herself. The graphic elements that have been used in this image are placed together in a powerful way; the attention is focused more on the elements than on the heroine. Rectangular shapes fill the exterior scene with circular sharpness in the interior scene.
The circular mirrors draw the focus away from Laurie, making her less dominant in the image. The viewer looks more at the mirror reflections rather than at the real heroine sitting. In the reflections one sees all the first Silk Spectre memorabilia and accomplishments; there is nothing on the walls or in the reflection that shows Laurie except for her own reflection. This image as a whole shows a much weaker heroine here then the previous image already discussed.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
On the left Image 13 on the left shows the graphic elements, how dominant they are and how the point in either triangle does not lead to the heroine but rather other graphic elements. Image 14 on the right shows the depth created with the use of colour one of the elements that creates the impression of a powerful heroine.
Image 15: The first Silk Spectre.
This screenshot from the movie, Watchmen, plays in the opening credits to introduce the super-heroes, while the alternate history of Watchmen is known for presenting an alternate American history. Silk Spectre stands holding a newspaper that features her on the front cover, she stands in front of several policemen who all seem to be pulling facial expressions that exhibit feelings of irritation, perverse thought, anger, disgust or uncertainty. Half of them seem to be staring down at her in an inappropriate manner. She seems happy to be there, but her sincere smile might be the result of the fact that she is again using her sexuality to advance her career.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
The men wear dark navy uniforms and according to Peter Coogen’s Theory of Superhero Costuming (2008), this expresses power, authority and approachability, to but the use of blue dilutes the power and authority element. These uniforms recede with their cool colour, while Silk Spectre’s warm yellow costume advances towards the viewer. This element contributes to making her the focal point. she is also placed in the centre of the image, and the camera angle is at a slight upward tilt. Although she is standing amongst many men she is the dominant one through the use of these elements.
Image 16 on the left show the facial expressions towards her. Image 17 on the right shows the advancing and receding of the colour scheme.
Image 18: The Second Silk Spectre.
The second Silk Spectre, unlike the first, is shown fighting crime in an action screenshot from the Watchmen movie. She is in the centre of the image and the illusionary perspective created by the walls on either side of her help frame her, and this makes her the focal point of the image. She fills two thirds of the image in height, so she is actually quite small, she is seemingly
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
overpowered by the walls, but because they are darkly lit and there are yellow flames behind her, she is still the more - powerful focal point. Her body language seems to be either recovering from a strike or getting ready to save someone, evident from the way in which her limbs are placed. Looking at the situation she is in, with flames nearly reaching her, wood falling and the building coming apart, the costume and long loose hair appear impractical. She would have had skin injuries and would have had to deal with everything that her hair would have caught on. However in the movie she carries on helping people regardless of the impracticality of her characterisation.
Women in society observe the visual portrayal of women in both films and magazines. The findings from this study of Watchmen conclude that the use of certain feminine philosophies will either portray powerful sexualised characters, like the first Silk Spectre, weak exterior reliant masculine characters, like the second Silk Spectre, or powerful yet alternate sexual orientation characters that are critized for their lack of the feminine ideal. Women in magazines are portrayed in a different manner, as photographs without film narrative. A although narrative fashion photography is popular, the difference is the lack of any apparent movement. Instead it is classified as graphical movement (Lester 2006:47). Naomi Wolf states that it is both of these mediums that are looked to for role models. Therefore, the stereotypical depiction of women in fashion photography spreads needs to be analysed in order to establish what it is that women are looking at.
The following image was taken by fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz. This image was part of a thirty image spread that was featured in fashion magazine Vanity Fair. Each image contains acclaimed actors and actresses playing a certain role. The issue is a yearly Hollywood special (2007), that was accompanied by a narrative and had on outstanding cast.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 19 Actresses Sharon Stone, Angelica Husten and Diane Lane.
The furnishings, fashion, styling and muted colours represent the 1940s era. During the 1940s fashion photography decade, women were being portrayed as taking part in life. This is evident in this image; they seem to be at a party or on their way there, their full-length gowns are accompanied by fur and accessories. The background is of an intricate pattern and the fabrics that make up their clothing are plain solid colours, thus creating a sense of depth with the contrast of the textures in the image. When taking into account the colours, the body language, graphic elements and narrative, the viewer can clearly see that there is a hierarchy here based on age and that the oldest actress in the black dress is the dominant, most powerful figure. Her head is above the other figures; she has been placed slightly off-centre to the right, in front of the other figures; the door frames her body and her body language expresses dominance, power and confidence. This is evident, with the use of hands on the hip, chin up showing the neck and a slight raising in the eyebrows.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Being the only woman wearing black in this colour palette makes her the focal point. The other two figures are noticed later. The colours they wear are lighter, showing more skin and a more feminine look. The viewer also does not see their eyes. Although the black dress figure does not make eye contact with the photographer or anyone else in the image the viewer can actually see her eyes, which are not seen with the other figures. The woman dressed in white appears to possibly be in pain, tugging on her high heels, an expression of pain on her face. The women in the gold dress looks down, showing the profile of her face, hiding her emotion. She is clearly the youngest, given the nature of her dress, with a plunging neckline down to her navel.
Image 20 on the left shows the head height ratio hierarchy. Image 21 on the right show with the red the placement of the focal point, the triangle that draws attention to all the figures the tip pointing to the women looking into the mirror, without this point the viewer would not notice her and the yellow shows her dominant stance that leads the eye to each figure on either side.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 22 actress Kirsten Dunst and actor Bruce Willis and James McAvoy.
In Image 22, the car, fashion and equipment in this photograph reveal that this photograph presents a narrative set in the 1940s. The photograph is mostly made up of dark blue tones, that create a very moody feeling, and with the rain pouring down and the soaking wet characters, the image has a very cold feeling, to it. This cold feeling is contrasted by the warm square shapes to the right. The eye moves firstly to the actress on the left. She is standing in an upright stiff way, her arms are at her sides’ straight, and there is a gun in her gloved hand. She is standing behind a man lying in a puddle of water. There is blood but the issue of him being dead or alive is questionable. There is a press photographer on the right, but only half of his body is in the frame.
Even though the woman is standing over this man she does not seem bigger than he. Her body is straight and none of her limbs are angled. Even though she might have shot him, she doesn’t convey power through any formal elements, other than the colour of her dress and lips which make her stand out from the receding blue background. She seems more shocked or sour
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
than powerful. Her placement above him loses power because she is slightly behind him; if she were standing closer she would seem more powerful.
Image 23 on the left shows the red triangle, points the focal point to the actress. Image 24 on the right shows how depth was created and how the focal point was enhanced through the use of blue and red tones.
Image 25 from left to right James Franco, Diane Lane, Tobey Maguire, Jessica Alba, Kirsten Dunst and Robert Downey JR.
This photograph, like the previous ones, is set to mimic the 1940s. When looking at the image there is a very distinct wide vertical line on the right that separates the four characters in the piano room from the couple on the other side of the wall. The lighting appears to be coming from the left and the colouring of the image consists mostly of warm undertones of brown. Even though there are four characters in the lighter part of the room, the eye rather focuses on the couple who are placed on the darker side of the image, as they appear closer to the viewer.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Each couple inhabits a third of the image; the couples on the left appear to be separate individuals; there is no direct interaction between them. However the body language of the couple on the right suggests that there is a tense interaction taking place. His body is pushed up against hers; he seems to be the most powerful character in this image. Her arm rests at her sides, suggesting that she does not want to be in this man’s arms. Even though his hand is around most of her waist, it seems he is controlling her. Her expression is blank with no eye contact made with any other character or the photographer. Perhaps she is distracted by something. They wear lighter clothing than the rest of the characters; her dress seems to reveal more of herself compared to the other female characters that are covered up to the neck. The same goes for the male character; his arms are shown but the other men are covered to the wrists. This part of the image illustrates one of the stereotypical ways in which women have been portrayed in magazines, as being dominated by a man.
Image 26 displays the way in which the image is divided into thirds via the use of dark and light part as well as coupling the figures close together.
The control that one can have over staged narrative group fashion photography is seen here in Annie Leibovitz’s work. The idea of power can be conveyed via the use of confident and powerful body language. The figures’
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
distance from the camera, the framing of the figure and the symbolic use of colour. The characters that the models depict in this spread consist mostly of distracted and distraught stereotypically beautiful women. Women that are blond seem to have no definite signal of power, whereas in Image 19 the dark-haired model seems the most powerful of the characters; her body language conveys that power. The blond characters are distant, mysterious, seem uncertain of their actions and are dominated by men. However the construction of the graphical elements functions to bring into focus these characters. As seen in Image 21, the point of the isosceles triangle is aimed at the seated blonde.
When observing the work of Elaine Constantine one will notice the spontaneity and energy of her photographs. Such effects are achieved through the formal photographic qualities of colour and minor staged framing of the elements. As seen in the Diesel Campaign: “The Future a musical to believe in” and fashion editorial spread for magazine Pop “Elson Street”.
Image 27 shows one of Elaine Constantine’s photographs for the Diesel Campaign of 2005.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
The colour clothing combinations are bright, and the way in which the figures have been arranged follows a pattern of neutral, receding, advancing, advancing, receding and then neutral colouring again, which all helps to create illusionary perspective in the image. The figures are arranged to create an illusion of gestalt. Their interposition creates an advancing triangular form that points towards the viewer, thus creating a strong graphical image. Their body language suggests freedom, movement and energy. Their arms are raised, their hair blowing in the wind; their mouths open and possibly expressing satisfaction; and although their bodies are midway in dance form, they still create the illusion of freedom that can be interpreted without the viewer having knowledge about dancing. The manner in which they have been portrayed relates to how models appeared in the 1970s, leading active lives, while appearing intelligent. The image is predominantly made up of female models, five out of seven; they are placed on the left; and two on the right.
The eye of the viewer from the Western world reads any graphic from left to right, therefore the female models are the first figures seen, and they dominate the image, while the male figures are placed behind them leaving them with no visual power. The female figures are seen as the more powerful sex in the photograph. This is interpreted via the concept of majority versus minority, the theory that majorities have the power in numbers to control a set of minorities within a specific environment or location. This seems to give power to the women via this theory.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 28 on the left shows the colour combinations that create the illusionary perspective. Image 29 on the right shows the advancing triangular shape that is created via the appropriate interposition of characters, the red lines show how separate and minorities the male figures appear.
Image 30 shows one of the photographs from the spread “Elson Street” commissioned by POP in 2005.
This image enhances a particular style that Elaine Constantine has in many of her images, the habit of having the female models in the front of the crowd. The closer the figure, the more important and powerful they seem. There appear to be five boy faces that can be identified, and one that is hidden behind another girl, but his hair is seen, and all their faces are behind the girls’ figures. All the identifiable figures in this image are females. Therefore in order to present a sense of power in the model, colour contrasts are added.
In this image the model is wearing red against a sea of school children wearing blue clothing. Through this colour contrast the model advances towards the viewer, while the children recede, seemingly less important than the model whose colour brings connotations of warmth to the viewer, while the blues bring cool and dark associations.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
The model is smiling; she is happy, her eyes closing while she laughs in a sincere manner. However her body, in contrast to the girls’ body language, is very stiff, perhaps cold, but defiantly in control of the situation, while girls around her flap their arms and seem to jump up and down. The formal quality of colour associations is what is used here to convey a signal of power.
Image 31on the left shows the colour contrast. Image 32 shows the rigid in power body language of the model and spontaneous movements of the school children.
By analysing the way in which these photographs have been constructed, the viewer will determine the power elements within then. These elements can be achieved through particular formal photographic qualities. The most common elements used to convey power, within this sample of images, are the use of colour and the framing of the empowered figure. At the end of analysing the image’s visual elements, the viewer will formulate a meaning based on the organisation of the figures.
Pending this, the meaning of how the figure is expressing power could be interpreted as: degrading to other figures, a beautiful minority against standard beauty majorities, using sexuality to their advantage, being ethically correct, expressing either their feminine or masculine side: one more than the other, making use of vigilantism, exaggerating stereotypes to break a particular hierarchy or expressing transcendence through a narrative.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Source List:
Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York.
Bright, S. (2007) Face of Fashion. National Portrait Gallery, Singapore.
Crow, D. (2003). Visible signs: an introduction to semiotics for art and design students. AVA Publishing SA Switzerland, Switzerland.
Dawber, M. (2005) Pixel Surgeons, Extreme Manipulation of the Figure in Photography. Octopus Publishing Group, Great Britain.
Delvin, P. (1984). Vogue, Book of Fashion Photography. The Conde Nast Publications, West Germany.
Enos, C. (2009). Watchmen Portraits. Titan Books, London.
Gibbons, D. Moore, A. (2008). Watchmen. DC Comics, New York.
Keaney, M. (2007). Fashion and Advertising, The World’s Top Photographers’ Workshops. RotoVision, Switzerland.
Kismaric, S. Respini, E. (2004) Fashioning Fiction In Photography Since 1990. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Leibovitz, A. (2006). Annie Leibovitz A Photographer’s Life 1990-2005. Random House, New York.
Lester, P. (2006). Visual Communication Images with Messages. Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont.
Lovatt-Smith, L. Williams, V. (2000). Fashion Images de Mode No. 5. Stiedl, New York.
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography, London: Penguin Books.
Wells, L. (2004). Photography: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, New York.
White, Mark D. (2009). Watchmen and Philosophy, A Rorschach Test. John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey.
Wolf, N. (2002). The Beauty Myth. Second Edition. Harper Perennial, United States of America.
Watchmen, 2008, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, New York.
Reading List:
Kismaric, H. (1994) Talking Pictures: People speaking about the photographs that speak to them. Chronicle Books, China.
Davis, K. (1999) An American Century of Photography, From Dry-Plate to Digital. Hallmark Cards, Kansas City, Missouri
Knapp, M. Hall, J. (2002). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. Fifth Edition. Wadsworth Thomson Learning, United States of America.
Pease, B. Pease, A. (2006). The Definitive Book of Body Language. Oxford University Press, South Africa.
Holborn, M. (1991). Appearances Fashion Photography Since 1945. Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, United States of America.
Image Source List:
Image 1:
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Holborn, M. (1991). Appearances Fashion Photography Since 1945. Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, United States of America. Baron Adolphe de Meyer Pg.20, 1919.
Image 2: End of the party. Int. Beverly Hills Home of Laura Lydeker - Dawn. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=13> cusl14_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009]
Image 3.1.: Better than ever. 2008. British Vogue November 2008.
Image 3.2.: Mont Blanc. 2008. British Vogue November 2008.
Image 4:
Image 5: Dove Campaign for Beauty. 2006. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.sustainablesean.com/sslog/06fall.html> dove [Accessed 18 October 2009]
Image 6: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 210 and Pg. 235. (Alteration by author)
Images 7: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 244 and Pg. 249.
Image 8:
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 249.
Image 9: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 244. (Alteration by author)
Image 10: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 244. (Alteration by author)
Image 11: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 244. (Alteration by author)
Image 12: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 249. (Alteration by author)
Image 13: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 249. (Alteration by author)
Image 14: Aperlo, P. (2009). Watchmen The Art of the Film. Titan Books, New York. Pg. 249. (Alteration by author)
Image 15: Watchmen, 2008, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, New York. 05:48 min.
Image 16: Watchmen, 2008, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, New York. 05:48 min. (Alteration by author)
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Image 17: Watchmen, 2008, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, New York. 05:48 min. (Alteration by author)
Image 18: Watchmen, 2008, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, New York. 01:39:13 min.
Image 19: The Ladies of L.A. Int. Powder room, Snyders Restaurant – Night. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=5> cusl06_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009]
Image 20: The Ladies of L.A. Int. Powder room, Snyders Restaurant – Night. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=5> cusl06_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 21: The Ladies of L.A. Int. Powder room, Snyders Restaurant – Night. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=5> cusl06_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 22: The Crime Scene. Ext. Sunset and Verdugo night – rain. 2007. [Online Image] Available from:
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes – Thesis – 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
<http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=3> cusl04_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009]
Image 23: The Crime Scene. Ext. Sunset and Verdugo night – rain. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=3> cusl04_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 24: The Crime Scene. Ext. Sunset and Verdugo night – rain. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=3> cusl04_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 25: End of the party. Int. Beverly Hills Home of Laura Lydeker - Dawn. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=13> cusl14_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009]
Image 26: End of the party. Int. Beverly Hills Home of Laura Lydeker - Dawn. 2007. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/03/filmnoir_portfolio200703# slide=13> cusl14_filmnoir0703 [Accessed 19 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 27: Diesel Campaign: The Future a musical to believe in. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Diesel-The-Future-A-
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Confronting Feminine Ideologies in Fashion Photography Academic Purposes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Thesis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 26 October 2009 By Shanna Paxton
Musical-To-Belive-in/121833> 749841220106157 [Accessed 20 October 2009]
Image 28: Diesel Campaign: The Future a musical to believe in. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Diesel-The-Future-AMusical-To-Belive-in/121833> 749841220106157 [Accessed 20 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 29: Diesel Campaign: The Future a musical to believe in. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Diesel-The-Future-AMusical-To-Belive-in/121833> 749841220106157 [Accessed 20 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 30: Elson Street. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?LinkID=mp67632&role =sit&rNo=1> mw137727 [Accessed 20 October 2009]
Image 31: Elson Street. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?LinkID=mp67632&role =sit&rNo=1> mw137727 [Accessed 20 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
Image 32: Elson Street. 2005. [Online Image] Available from: <http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?LinkID=mp67632&role =sit&rNo=1> mw137727 [Accessed 20 October 2009] (Alteration by author)
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