Fashion Construsted Image: Progression of Concept

Initially inspired by Andy Warhol, our 60's themed shoot has changed somewhat from when we started. After further research into his work, and work of other artists around at this time, a common theme of anti-consumerism became apparent. This was an idea that we all liked, and wanted to put into the work, but were struggling to find away of doing this, whilst still keeping with the 60's style.

After our tutorial, we came to the conclusion that we should completly focus on anti-consumerism, and came up with a new idea to show this. We decided to drop the 60's theme almost completly, although we still wanted to show the repeatativeness and bold colours of Warhol's work.

This new idea involved having a model laying on a sheet of perspex, covered in products of a certain colour. These products would be from big coorperations who have recently been in the news for doing something wrong. Initial ideas for these products came from this website:
http://brainz.org/15-deadliest-us-corporations/

What we want to do eventually, is create a trip-tych, in red blue and yellow, with products from these and other coorperations. As far as the set building is concerned, there isnt very much that actually has to be built, but the logistics of making a project like this work will be hard. As well as this, there are alot of health and safety aspects to look at.

Comission: Initial Ideas

The idea that i want to look at for this project is the waste management around the Medway area. We are currently in the process of lowering our waste and landfil usage. In 2004, the medway area produced 141,000 tonnes of waste, and since then a plan has been put into action to reduce this number to 24,000 tonnes by 2020. I want to look at what actions are being taken to do this, and to photograph the people who have to deal with this waste on a day to day basis.

I intend to visit a landfill site on the nearby Isle of Sheppy, as well as visiting 3 local household waste and recycling centers in Cuxton, Gillingham and Chatham

information found through:
http://www.medway.gov.uk
http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/medway-waste-management.pdf

Fashion Constructed Image: Guy Bourdin

The style we want to go for with our set and shoot is influenced by these images by Guy Bourdin. The use of solid bold colour is somehting we wish to use in our sets. Work from the pop art era is known for its strong, contrasting colours, and these images look like they have been influenced by that style.

Fashion Construsted Image: Initial ideas

To start off the project, as a group we came up with 3 different ideas, and created mood boards for each of these. The first idea we came up with was the idea of Film Noir. Our mood board contained references to the lighting, fashion and stroylines of films from the 1940/50's, aswell as artists who has already tried to recreate this style. Of the three ideas we thought of, this seemed to be the easiest to achieve as a studio project. Because of this, we decided to continue on another idea that would push our skills more.

The second idea we looked into was protest. With the amount of protests and riots that have been going on around the world recently, it seemed like an interesting subject to look at for a fashion project. We looked at what protesters and rioters wore, as well as looking at the reasons behind their protests. The meaning behind the image would have been good to look at, although it seemed like a difficult task to create in a studio invironment, as most of these events take place on the streets.

 

The third idea was the one we eventually settled on. The theme was Pop Art, and 60's culture. Inspired by the work of Andy Warhol and his stance on anti-consumerism, we looked into the fashion of the 60's, aswell as the style of the art that was being produced at the time. We liked the repatitiveness and simplicity of the art, and felt it would be a good project to do.

The Time Machine. Task 1

The Sleeping Venus - Giorgione


This image, painted in 1510 during the renaissance, depicts a naked woman lying down outside. The artist has gone to great length to create a sence of realism in the figure, and the same with the background, which was completed after Giorgione's death by Titan. The use of colour in the image is very important. Venus is the goddess of love, and the colour red is a symbol of love. This idea of love is also mimiced in the characters pose. She is elegantly draped on the cloth and pillow, covering herself with one hand, and resting her head on the other. This was controversial at the time, as it was one of the first paintings to feature a nude woman. The woman is looking out of the image, and you cant tell wether her eyes are open or not. The backdrop for this image is out on hills next to a building or small illage. The curves in the landscape start to emmulate the curves in the models body aswell as the curves in the clouds.

Olympia - Manet
This image although inspired by the previous, takes on a completly different feel. The artist isnt as concerned with realism, and instead focuses on the symbology in the image to portray its meaning. This time, the model is looking straight at the viewer, conveying a very strong expression. The posture of the model is also quite similar, although its alot more rigid, showing again strength in the character. The inclusion of the black maid was appropriate for the time, as in 1868 when this was painted,  black people were seen as being lower class, and often used as servents or slaves. This image was also controvisial, as it showed this woman in very lavish conditions. The black cat in the image was a symbol for prostitution.

Street Casting

Before a show in folkestone, everybody was gathered around the back of the venue. I decided to use my friend Gareth for the this street casting shot.

He was just stood by a car, drinking and smoking. This style is heavily influenced by the punk movement. The combination of sleeveless tops and tattoos is classic punk/rock. I chose the model mainly because of how he looked compared to where he was. He was standing outside a new, contemporary building, and it didnt look like the sort of place you would see someone dressed like this.

This was another image i took of the people standing outside the show. Another thing i noticed is that it is very popular to wear artists merchindise. This is something i want to look into further.

Fashion Deconstruction: Dovima with Elephants

The iconic image i have chosen to look at is "dovima with Elephants", byt Richard Avedon. The photo was taken in august 1955 as part of a shoot for Harpers bazaar, showing the new work of french designer, Christian Dior.

This image was vastly different to other fashion images at the time. The elephants are very important as they help to portray the idea these dresses are meant to show. They act as a comparisson, the elephants showing age, power and size, whilt the dress is new and elegant. This idea of elegance is emphasized by the choice of model. Dovima was considered one of the best fashion models of her time, and her style was perfect for the dress in the shoot.

The lighting bleaches the models skin white, contrasting heavily with the black dress. As the only pure white in the image is on the model, this is where your eye is drawn to.

Comission: The Portrai Issue

The first of the three images I'm analysing is 'Changing Pace, David Weir' by Finlay Mackay. It comes from a set of images commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and BT, called The Road to 2012, which contains various images of athletes training for the Olympics.

Throughout the set of images, including this one, the use of artificial light is prominent in lighting the subjects of the photo. It makes the subject jump out of the image, even though in this particular picture, he is a very small part of the overal scene. The photographer has taken the model away from the usual training ground of this sport, the track, and instead placed him on a country road surrounded by trees and grass. This could be an attempt to try and show off Englands natural beauty to people from other countries who would be coming to the event. A large depth of field has been used in the image to keep everything in focus. The model becomes the main focus of the image witht he use of a flash coming from the right of the image.

The second image is by Toby Glanville, part of a series of images called 'Actual Life'. The book is a collection of photographs taken around kent over the last 3 years. His style is completly different to Finlay Mackay.

The technical differences are fairly obvious. Glanville uses natural lighting and locations that relate to the models to represent this idea of everyday life. The colours in this image look fairly desaturated, and give the image th appearance of being shot on film (i couldnt find anywhere that stated wether it had or not). The style is more of a documentary style than the others. The other images in this book, and other work by Glanville all share this style, all using natural lighting and carefully chosen locations to show the models jobs. The depth of field is very small in these images, keeping the focus on the subject, whilst throwing the background into a blur.

 The third image is by german photographer Ulrich Gebert. This comes from a series of work showing a man, cutting back some garden hedges. The idea behind the series is to show mans confrontation with nature, and our need to be in control. The use of strong, highly saturated colours used in this image help to show what the model is doing. The bright red helmet tells us that there is an element of danger to the job.

This image is technically between both of the previous 2 images. There is use of flash to light the subject, yet it is much more intimate than the work of Mackay. A shallow depth of field is used, although the background is barely visible anyway due to the proximity of the model. I would say that a atandard or telephoto lens has been used to capture this image, as this would be a dangerous photo to take this close up if the model was actuall cutting the hedge.