Sunday 25 March 2012

Inspirational Image...

I was struggling to come up with something for my final 3 images This image was where I got my final idea from; I found it whilst researching celebrity culture on the internet, when I came across this image which caught my eye. I quite liked the idea of creating something in my image rather than it being just completely being about the photo its self. So I decided to use this image as my inspiration and from there I created my final image, using magazines and quotes to get my idea across. Also because my idea is quite theory based I found it hard to put in to 3 images, without it looking obvious.



This image shows magazines and newspaper layered to create a collage of a celebrity culture turning into waste as it slowly falls to the ground. It also talks about ideas of consumerism with the celebrity culture. I decided I wanted to do something similar to this talking about celebrity culture as waste and the idea of consumerism within this.



My Final Shoot Images...


After making the outfit I found it hard to think of where and how to photograph it, so I thought about different environments such as; a natural environment, a forest, a waste area or just in the studio. But because I didn’t just want to photograph a model wearing it in a studio as that wouldn’t represent my idea as strongly as I wanted. After doing further research and developing my idea I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to photograph a model wearing the outfit or have the outfit as the main focal point, I just wanted to focus on what the magazines themselves represented. I still wanted to use the outfit in some shots just to see if it worked without a model wearing it. So then I decided that the environment wasn't a main focal point either, so I photographed my final idea in a room against a white wall...


I used the quote from Andy Warhol; "In the future everyone will be worl famous for 15 minutes." as I felt this quote completely sums of my work and what I'm trying to represent. I incorporated it in most shots in different positions, to see where it looked best. Out of all the images i feel that this one is the strongest, it has the quote, the magazine pages and it catches your eye and makes you really think about questions that surroung 'celebrity culture'







This is a picture of the whole piece that I created in a room against a white wall, I felt that the environment was a focal point in my work as I want the viewer to focus on the piece its self. I feel this piece really does represent my ideas and concept and makes you see how the celebrity culture slowly turns into waste and not important.




This is the top half of the recycled outfit I made, which was my original idea, its made out of cut up of gossip magazines to make a fashionable outfit for the modern day. I photographed the outfit because I felt that by doing so it would highlight that even in fashion there is this sense of 'waste' that a fashion era is recylced, used again and again. And even in celebrity culture there is this idea of consumersim, and obsession with material objects, that show wealth and status, but soon become waste just like the celebrities themselves. 




This is the skirt part of the outfit, i liked using the quote hear in a playful and unique way, yet still highlighting the ideas of celebrity culture and fame as waste.


These are what my final images were mean't to look like but due to unfortuante circumstances, I wasn't able to print these images.



My Final Prints...


 





These are my 2 final images, I only have 2 because my film went wrong and only 6 frames came out. This had a massive affect on my work, making my work not as strong as i wanted it to be. I’ve learnt a big lesson from this experience, in that shooting in advance is critical incase anything goes wrong you have time to sort things out.
Out of the 6 I chose these two because I feel they are the strongest, although are not exactly what I wanted to my final prints to look like. If I get the chance to reprint, then I would pick much stronger images, which support my concept better.

Overall I really enjoyed this project and feel I really got involved in my concept and ideas, my focus was to photograph my representation of celebrity culture becoming a 'waste' product, which I think i acheived. There are a few certain areas that need be improved on and need to be taken into consideration for next time.

Further research and development of 'Celebrity Culture' ...


'CELEBRITY CULTURE'


After deciding on my final idea I researched into 'Celebrity Culture' I came across many books and articles that comment on todays modern celebrity lifestyle...


The Dark  Side Of   That World  We  Call  Fame...’
http://crazyasian94.edublogs.org/tag/paparazzi/ - article talking about fame and its dark affects.

‘How to Be Famous...’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPPmZYUnDD8 – video about a blogger who comments on the media and magazines by using sarcastic humour, commenting on celebrity culture in a negative way.

Paparazzi; And our obsession with Celebrity...
A book talking about the obsessions we have with the celebrity culture in modern society.
After reading these articles it got me to thinking about how i could represent celebrity culture in a photograph. These articles talk about the ideas and the theories behind celebrity culture; they highlight the negatives that come with this culture. They also comment and sometiumes take the micky out of the so called 'celebrity lifestyle' talking about the way in which the media have an obsession with making celebrities look bad, creating stories and gossip that make a person become famous.
Celebrity culture has led to a lot of serious if not deadly events; many celebrities who take drugs die at a young age, for example Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and most recently Whitney Houston. Although celebrity culture has always been know for being bad for years, it seems like recently it has become worse, and is affecting a lot more younger people.

I then went on to look at...

Celebrity culture has changed significantly since 1992, focusing on the past when attention started to shift from revolutionary heroes, to defining fame with help from the printing press, to the growth and excitement that fed the entertainment industry.)
in an early quest for self-definition, Americans of the revolutionary republic sought to derive a mythic national character by focusing on military heroes, romantic fictional protagonists, and eminent statesmen who embodied the ideals of virtue and self-reliance. by mid-twentieth century, the pedestal belonged not to politicians or generals, but to baseball players and movie stars. this shift, reflecting in part the vast cultural changes wrought by the communications revolution of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and by the rise of immigration and urbanization between 1890 and the 1920s, says a great deal about the nation’s continuing need for self-definition, and about the culture which contributed to this search. one way to chronicle this transformation is to consider our changing face of fame, particularly the metamorphosis from traditional “larger-than-life” heroes, to cultural icons—to “celebrity-personalities,” as daniel boorstin defined them, celebrated not for achievement but simply for “well-knownness.”

The magazines are set up in a way so that the front covers are always covered in the latest big events or stories, making people want to read up on all the gossip of the celebs.
Developing my idea to a Final Shoot...

After looking into the media, magazines and the affects they have on the celebrity culture this got me thinking about an idea for my final shoot.
- I thought phgotographing the outfit... representing celebrity culture of always looking good.
- Have magazines ripped all over the place - on the floor, the wall. to represent ideas of the celebrities wasting away.
- The model in the outfit represents the 5 minutes of fame, looking perfect like the stereotypical celebrity does. And then the magazines represent how its slowly fading away and becoming nothing.
- The outfit is made out of the waste that celebrity culture is made of. Although its waste it creates something which people are interested in and become obsessed with.
- Photograph the model wearing the otufit pretending to be paparazzi.
- Model eating magazines
- Model burried/ sourrounded by magazines, linking to ideas of consumerism.

First draft of final 3 images...

1st Image - OBSESSION   ... wearing the dress made of celebrity culutre (magazine pages)

2nd Image - CONSUMERISM   ... playing with the idea of consumerism, make the model literally eat the magazine pages. Like the gossip and rumours are being consumed into the model.

3rd Image - REALISM   ... Celebrity culutre isn't based on something that is real, its made up stories and gossip.

another 3rd Image - WASTING AWAY  ... everything that makes celebrity culture slowly wastes away and so your left with nothing (just 'has beens' and 'used to bes')   

These were my orginal ideas for my final shoot, but after doing more research I came up with better ones, which focus more on the celebrity culture as being 'waste'


Devolpment of waste ideas...

IDEA 1

I then looked into the idea of FASHION WASTE, focusing on layers, textures, colours and patterns. Also looking at the otufit becoming the waste, but at the same time the waste becomes somethat it considered fashionable. I liked this idea but I felt it wasnt a strong enough concept.

IDEA 2

I then devolped another idea looking into consumerism of clothes and found a
video that talks about the obsession that we have with buying new clothes, not knowing where they come from or how they are made. This was another idea that had potential, but i still felt it wasn't strong enough for a final idea.
IDEA 3
I then came up with the idea of having a series of 3 images showing 3 different outfits made from waste products such as; beer cans, ciagarette boxes, crisp packets etc. but this idea felt too simple and not creative enough.

Tutorial with Steffi...
After the tutuorial with Steffi  I realized that all my ideas were good but weren't really strong enough to portray the idea of 'waste.'
I looked at back my first idea of photographing the outfit, and focused on the fact the outfit was made out of magazines such as 'Reveal', 'Now' and Star, which is all about celebrities and stories related to them. From then I started thinking about the idea that the celebrities themselves become 'waste' like they are recycled in and out of fame.  The magazines comment on the celebrity lifestyle and culture, creating rumours and gossip making people famous because of it.

My Final Idea...

‘RECYCLING FAME’

"In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” Andy Warhol

My idea is looking into the idea of recycling fame, the celebrity lifestyle that only exists because of the gossip and rumours that people make up. Celebrities are constantly in and out of fame, depending on what status and who their sleeping with. Anyone who’s worth while remains famous for a reason, other people just become famous because of something they said or did with another celebrity at the time.
This fits into the idea that celebrities are like waste, they have their 5 minutes of fame and are never heard of again, so it’s like they waste away. Some celebrities are like recycling or a fashion era, they come in and out fame constantly. The meaning or reason for being famous has changed over the years, being famous used to be if you were a talented singer or dancer etc, now to be famous you only have to sleep with another celebrity or claim to know them and you are automatically seen as famous.   
The outfit represents the recycling and ongoing of gossip and crazy rumours that comes with a celebrity lifestyle. I used magazines such as ‘Reveal’, ‘Now’ and ‘Star’ which are all magazines that thrive on gossip and rumours. They are the magazines which constantly comment on the celebrity’s whereabouts, telling you which celebrity is in at the time.
One possible explanation of this trend is that an artificial importance has been created in order to promote a product or a service, rather than to record a purely biographical event. As more new products are launched in a world market that is constantly expanding, the need for more celebrities has become an [industry] in itself.
Another explanation is that this exaggeration of modern celebrity culture is created out of a need for drama and spectacle. Tabloid, Paparazzi and magazines are the prototype example of this theory.

Pictures of Waste Outfit...

Here is a few images of the outfit i made out of magazine pages cut up and layered to create a recycled and fashionable outfit. The outfit represents the recycling, ongoing of gossip and crazy rumours that comes with a celebrity lifestyle. I used magazines such as ‘Reveal’, ‘Now’ and ‘Star’ which are all magazines that thrive on gossip and rumours. They are the magazines which constantly comment on the celebrity’s whereabouts, updating you on which celebrity is in at the time.

Front view of the top part

Back view of the top part

The process of making the top part

The Skirt

The skirt laid out, before it was put together

Monday 5 March 2012

The Commission; Waste Ideas...

I decided that for this project i wanted to base it around fashion rather than the environment as fashion photography is more of an interest for me. So i came up with several ideas that could incorporate both fashion and the environment as it has to be related to the theme of 'waste' ...

Sylvie Fluery, Shopping bags 1992
First off I looked into a photographer called Sylvie Fluery because of her series shopping bags. My initial thought, keeping in mind that i wanted to combine both the environment and fashion in this project, i thought i would look at an object that was to do with the environment but also still to do with fashion.

I like they way all the different types of bags are all put together, mixing colours and also sizes, which i found was interesting and playful. I then wanted to experiment with this idea, using plastic shopping bags and hanging them from different objects in a range of different places.




Victoria Beckham, Marc Jacob Advertisement 2008

I also looked at a series of photographs that were taken for an advertisement for Marc Jacobs in 2008, which had Victoria Beckham’s legs coming of out an oversized Marc Jacob shopping bag.
When looking at this series it made me think of how I could maybe use people in my idea, which is a similar approach to this. I also though this would relate to fashion as in fashion images there is often a model of some desccription. I started thinking I could photograph people with plastic bags in different environments, which they wouldn’t usually be in. 
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Recycled Fashion...
I then developed this idea and wanted to look into the more fashion side of 'waste' so i looked into recycled fashion following from my initial idea of plastic bags and harbour waste with the colourful patterns. Here are just some of the examples of the types of clothing that are made by using recycled materials.



I then decided to make my own recycled outfit using old fashion magazines, by layering them on top each other to create a skirt and again to make a corset. My plan is to photograph this outfit in either a waste environment or in a natural environment of some kind.

Sunday 4 March 2012

The Commission; 'Waste'

Here is a short series of images i took whilst on a visit to Torquay for the weekend, on the sundaywe went for a walk along the harbor when i came across this area which was full of waste left behind by ships and boats. Consedering our project is based around 'waste' I thought i would take a few pictures to see if i could base an idea around it.

The area consisted of rubbish left over from ships and boats that were about to be disposed of. Although these objects are counted as waste, ithere was something about them that caught my eye. I liked the way they were just randomly placed together forming mountains of netting, crates, rope and fishing equipment. It was the way all the different colours and textures were layerd on top of each other which created messy but interesting patterns in the images. This got me to thinking aout clothing and fashion and how i could link this to a final idea to do with patterns and colour using waste objects.