Harry Styles: American Vogue, cross-dressing, and masculinity

Isobel O’Brien

Harry Styles is a well-loved popstar who is known both for his song writing as well as his fashion which pushes against the ideas of what is acceptable for a man to wear. In December 2020 American Vogue chose the enigmatic Styles as their cover star, the first man to ever grace the cover, in a ball gown. The cover received a lot of attention and the responses ranged from those who praised Styles and Vogue to those who condemned the cover, claiming it threatened masculinity. This is not the first time in history that a man has worn a dress or a skirt, however Styles wore a dress traditionally worn by women from a design from a womenswear collection. Some, such as actor and Broadway star Billy Porter claimed that Styles was the wrong choice for such a momentous cover, that all Styles had to do was to be ‘white and straight’ while Porter had to fight to get to where he is as an openly gay, black man in the industry. I intend to look at why it is still controversial for a man to wear a dress in the West when women do not receive the same backlash when wearing trousers. This dissertation also explores the possible reasoning behind why Styles chose to wear elements of traditional men’s and women’s evening wear in the same outfit and why.

Violence and Desire: An Exploration of Queer Identity in Julia Ducournau’s Body Horror Films

Sid Upton

In recent years, the representation of queer identity in cinema has become increasingly diverse and nuanced, with more filmmakers exploring the complexities of non-heteronormative identities in their work. One director who has gained attention for her unique approach to this topic is Julia Ducournau, whose body horror films Raw (2016) and Titane (2021) have been praised for their visceral, boundary-pushing depictions of sexuality and gender.

The feminine urge to consume human flesh is something Ducournau is unafraid to explore in Raw, a coming of age depicting the chaos caused as a young woman succumbs to her supressed cannibalistic urges. Whereas the volatile science-fiction drama Titane, is the story of an androgynous serial killer with a sexual attraction to cars who takes on a quasi-transgender identity to escape the authorities and discovers who they truly are. Two narratives that are, in short, about the female body and how that body interacts with the world around it.

This dissertation explores the representation of queer identity in these films, focusing on how Ducournau uses the horror genre to challenge conventional notions of gender and sexuality. By analysing key themes in her films, such as transformation, desire and the grotesque, I demonstrate how Ducournau’s work offers a bold and provocative commentary on contemporary queer identity. Through this exploration, I gained a deeper understanding of how horror cinema can be a powerful tool for exploring and expressing marginalised identities, and how filmmakers like Ducournau are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in this genre.

BA (Hons) Visual Culture

Diasporic Narratives of Self-Expression: The Visual Culture of Female Middle Eastern Identities

Martha

Doyle

For any individual, moving from one culture to another can be a completely unique and often, a challenging experience. The physical, cultural and emotional implications associated with migration have been invested in the contemporary works of artists Shirin Neshat and Mona Hatoum. Both share a passion for storytelling through their works, which convey their personal experiences of moving from the Global South to the North.

Stories of voluntary and involuntary exile frame the works of both Neshat and Hatoum, referencing their countries of origin and comparing them to where they situate themselves today.

Neshat’s childhood in Iran was affected by a feeling of disconnectedness from those around her. After moving to the United States to study art, she found that this feeling of disconnectedness remained. The effects of the Iranian Revolution in 1978 separated her from her loved ones for over 10 years. Neshat’s works illustrate her struggle settling into both Iranian as well as American culture.

Hatoum tells her story of taking a short trip from Lebanon to the United Kingdom in 1975, when she is suddenly confronted by the news of war breaking out at home. She is left ‘stranded’, manifesting themes of disconnectedness, exile and isolation into her works.

These artists draw on their experiences of feeling displaced and separated within society, two themes tied strongly to the term ‘diaspora’. Diasporic narratives presented by the two artists call attention to the inequalities and injustices faced by these minority groups.

This dissertation explores two works from each artist to understand the feelings and experiences associated with diaspora.

Daily Mail front page covering the 2011 London riots. 9 Aug. 2011. The language used by the headlines works with a picture that conforms with easily recognised “riot tropes” (fire, property damage, masked youths, etc.) to impart a specific message about the events. Photo: © Associated Newspapers Ltd.

Don’t Always Believe Your Eyes: How Does Context Affect Our Understanding of News Photos? Kevin Hayes

There is a popular idea that photographs are, in some way, factual documents. Even today, when most people are familiar with the concept of photoshopped, manipulated pictures, or even AI-generated imagery, a photograph accompanying a news story still maintains an air of authority and can lend credence to the report.

By combining my professional experience as a newspaper picture editor with analytical work by writers such as Roland Barthes and Stuart Hall, this dissertation examines how our understanding of what news photographs show can be (subtly) affected by the context they are placed in. Headlines, position on the page, captions, and other pictures used alongside a news photo can actively change the reader’s interpretation of what an image shows.

As well as looking at images used in newspapers, this study will also explore what happens to the meaning of news photos when they are displayed in art galleries or used by artists in their work. It will focus on Canadian artist Stan Douglas’ photorealistic images of the 2011 London riots. By comparing them with newspaper coverage of the same event, it will discuss how photographs are used to produce meaning.

By exploring these topics, this work aims to make readers question how they understand news photos and decide when they should or should not believe what they are told by them.