The model is from an Yves Saint Laurent ad that was pulled from Elle UK due to the model being too skinny but was allowed in the US. Moreover, last year France, fashion capital, voted against thin models to crack down on anorexia.
http://www.twcc.com/articles/2015/06/11/w/why-did-elle-magazine-pull-an-ad-featuring-a-skinny-model
http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/apr/03/france-bans-skinny-models-crackdown-anorexia
My final Home images all express experiences I have at home:
The family breakfast.
The lovely smell of flowers.
Our pet bird Wendy.
The sight of the colourful flowers on the kitchen’s window sill.
And finally, the welcome sign and the home number on the front of the house.
All the imaginary can be described as the ordinary but these simple things make up the feeling of being home for me. Since images can’t hold memory because that is a human thing, the imagery substitutes for it. They communicate through signalling taste, sight, audio experiences as stated in Land Matters: Landscape Photography, Culture and Identity by Liz Wells.
In order to add more to this project I would combine this idea of experience through imagery with my home in Lincoln. I could combine imagery from both Nottingham and Lincoln into one to express how home to me is 2 places now I’m at University.
Nina Katchadourian – Spider Webs
I found her work very intriguing as she used her own spider web repair kit and made art out of fixing webs. I like how she has used found webs to create something beautiful out of something normally seen as unimportant. Webs are normally seen as something to be rid of but she has done the opposite, she has chosen to celebrate them.
When looking for around our given location I searched for spider webs but found branches covered in an old spider web which created an interesting image.
Upon first glance it looks like a plain piece of pine branch but the web entwined within gives it more depth in its detail.
I was also inspired by Edward Weston’s ‘Pepper’ 1930 images and Meret Oppenheim ‘My Nursemaid’ 1936. I liked how their objects were polysemic. How the images are seen depends on how you look at them and your context.
Edward Weston Pepper No. 30 1930
This is a photo of a pepper but can be mistaken for a person. I found this approach to found objects interesting as it emphasized how the objects I find on’t have to be what they are but what they can look like.
I used this concept with a wrapper I found. I tried to make it both seem like a normal wrapper and also a piece of origami. But I found it difficult to shape a tiny piece of paper but I liked the idea.
Friend:
This image reflects the fact that we have hidden attributes that make up out full persona. Our ‘true’ self is made up of our different personalities which is wanted I to draw out with my subject during the shoot. By making Tamsin laugh and exchanging casual dialogue she felt comfortable to pose playfully and feel comfortable in the space. My editing allowed the photos to blend into one image and allow the centre, more neutral, image to stay prominent and act as the centre point.
Stranger:
I like how this image glows and really emphasizes her face. I prefer this approach to photographing strangers since my initial cold, awkward approach to creating an image of stranger didn’t show the experience in a positive light.
Self-portrait:
I like how I was able to create this image just using my Iphone. Apps such as Snapseed allowed me to add a vintage effect and fade the image slightly to add artificial age to the image.This image also reflects my distant Chinese relation which makes this image more expressive of my true identity.
For my final image I thought about expressing my mixed blood. Although my mother is from the Philippines her great Grandparents were fully Chinese. I found that a really interesting aspect of myself since I only recently found out that fact myself.
I researched about Chinese portrait photography and was drawn to the beauty of Chinese vintage photography. Through this I found the Shanghai Studio created by Sioma Lifshitz.
Here is some of his work:
He focused a lot of light mainly on the faces which really brought them out.
I attempted this look on myself:
I experimented with a black and white.
and one with a red-ish tinge to it:
For this image I directed the light on my face and then used the ‘instant’ filter to fade out the edges to make it appear more vintage. I then used a black and white filter along with Snapseed’s vintage filter to really age the image. This editing and lighting really emphasize my eyes which still slightly show the Chinese Epicanthic fold in my eyes.