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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yan-N6RRk3I  

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

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.

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. 

Time Machine Film Review

The Idiots (Danish: Idioterne) is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. A seemingly anti-bourgeois group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by spassing, this is a Danish term, which refers to those who act like idiots even though they are not? These episodes of spassing give this film an odd look that is guaranteed to turn off a lot people and anger many, especially those who expect more conventional ways of looking at and responding to the problems young people face in society.

Improvised acting and hand-held camera work are some of the many dogmas the film must adhere to. A series of guidelines were also created by von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg. The rules include; that the film must be shot entirely hand-held, in natural light, the sound must be recorded on location (i.e., no dubbing or sound effects will be added in post-production.) Also, no 'genre' films are allowed, such as horror or science fiction. Improvised acting and hand-held camera work are some of the many dogmas the film must adhere to.

As we first encounter them in action in an elegant restaurant and watch them spasse. They retardedly eat their food under the direction of one of them (Susanne), who pretends to be their keeper; while one of them, Stoffer, grabs onto a lady (Karen), sitting alone, and refuses to let go of her. Karen seems to be responding kindly to the idiot, just like she didn't react with any ill emotion after being treated rather abruptly by the waiter when she told him she doesn't have much money and will be just ordering the salad. The group leaves together with Karen and tells her it is just a game they enjoy playing, inviting her to join them, even though, she does not appear to be one of them. But she does look desperate and lonely and unhappy.

Another scene that is crucial is midway through the film when one of the 'idiots' brings a group of people who have Down's syndrome to the house for lunch, and the pretenders are forced to look at the very people who they behave like, only without the disguise of 'acting' or some political ideal of being an 'idiot'. By doing this it really challenges what they themselves have been doing, acting like idiots, mocking what these people are like for real, bringing a certain reality to the film, which is why it makes you question is it right for a group of middle class people to act like this in the first place?

The point that Von Trier was trying to make, is that you really have to be an idiot to change the system, or think that you can change it. That you can only be effective when you really confront who you are, reaching past the point of where authority rules who you are; or else, you are stuck with the same cultural values you have always had and can't really change who you have been brought up as. Being an idiot is the last act of despair. And, it only matters when you can do it for real and not be using it to play a game. There's a rather large question mark as to whether his film is merely an elaborate prank on the viewer or a genuine attempt to question the modes of society when it comes to behaviour and the attempts to homogenize creativity and spontaneity.

Von Trier mocks what is conventionally thought of as right, by doing what is unconscionable and politically incorrect; it becomes only too real and too sad to comprehend. It is presented so as not to give the idiots a way out of how to deal with the alienation they feel. They seem to be left with only their naive hopes and disillusions; and possibly, their emotional experiences that they can value. Their situation is not resolved. The film does not end with all loose ends tied up in a nice bow. But this group of people tried something different... and whether they reached their ‘inner idiot self’ or not, something penetrated them, whether they are the better because of the experience, it is difficult to tell, just as we the audience, whether we liked the film or not, something inside us was moved by what we saw taking place, causing us to react in a way we might not normally act when watching a film.

Thematic Characterisation/Casting Task

Our project is based around the theme of nursery rhymes, looking into taking a nursery rhyme and putting a modern and slightly dark twist on the former children's version. The nursery rhyme we've chosen is Little Bo Peep, so for our characterisation and casting we decided we wanted our model to be a woman who has defined cheek bones in the style of paintings of Japanese woman, with their bright pink cheek bones. We researched into defined cheekbone makeup... creating an almost doll like effect on the models face.

We also wanted the face to have defined features such as the eyes; we want them to stand out in the photograph so we looked at the famous photograph of the afghan girl where her green eyes stand out completely from everything else in the image.

We havent tooken many photographs of people we think would be appropriate for our shoot, this will definitely be the next stage in our devolpment process of the project. But we have a good idea of the type and character that we are looking for

Seminar 1 ‒ “The Commission ‒ The Portrait Issue”

Finlay MacKay, ‘Changing Pace, David Weir’ for ‘The Road to 2012’

MacKay’s portfolio includes sport and portraiture as well as complex advertising productions that draw on graphic novels and the work of contemporary artists, such as the Scottish painter Peter Howson. For the National Portrait Gallery/BT Road to 2012 Project MacKay has moved away from a traditional sports approach.  By observing and responding to the narratives that the athletes and their training locations present, he has created a series of contemplative scenarios to tell a story of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games from a singular perspective.

MacKay uses a singular perspective to create a bigger picture of the Olympics. Instead of  just simply having the athlete in a training ground he has used a different approach and decided to surround him with a natural landscape. The camera position he has used means that he doesn’t just focus on the athlete, but also the surroundings as well, as they become a vital part of the photograph.

Ulrich Gebert ‘Freischneider’ 2004

In Ulrich Gebert‘s photography work, nature – explicitly the botanical – as raw material for the human being who, incidentally, likes to maintain order comprises but just the outer layer of the analysis of the relationship between human being, shrubbery and patterns of order. In addition to pictures of vegetation, tamed and cut into form, „Freischneider“ also portraits the men who carry the blades? Garden and gardener are set face to face; the confrontation resembles a culprit/victim relationship; this is characterized by gestures of suppression and a hierarchical conception of order, correct and incorrect design.

The separation of garden and gardener demonstrates that a physical confrontation between man and nature is hardly necessary anymore to validate the claim to power: an upright position shows empowerment, upon the plant world. Dressed in uniform, the helmet shows the gardener is armed and ready to protect himself, immunizing him against doubt and wounds from his branches and foliage. The human being presents himself here as an oversized armed Giant; the campaign against the vegetation in its absurd disproportionality turns out as a caricature of modernist dominance-over-nature fantasies.

 Gebert uses a close up camera angle to capture the expression of the gardener, also the way his body and head is placed shows that this was maybe posed. Gebert has also used bright lighting, to highlight the saturation of the colours of the gardener’s uniform.

 

Toby Glanville ‘Actual Life’ 2002 (Teacher)

Actual Life presents work made in Kent by the British photographer Toby Glanville over a period of three years, from 1997 to 2000. The setting for Glanville’s work is largely rural and yet he generates a response to people and places that is entirely contemporary and compelling. Like the best photographs, Glanville’s restrained and delicate colour images are both simple and densely weighted with the complexities of time and space.

The remarkable thing about Glanville’s work is that he has allowed his subject their uncertainty; we seem to see the conflict on their faces. When a pose is a solution to a problem, the interest of the problem disappears. He has not forced his subjects to make a decision about themselves. He likes to experiment with the subject and how they would react to the camera. Glanville’s portraits of people reveal but never expose the person completely. There is enigmatic straight forwardness about the ways in which Glanville’s subjects look at the camera; and it is usually the camera that he wants them to look at.

What I think Glanville’s tries to show us in this particular series is the absurd poignancy of our wish to be prepared. Glanville has used natural light to create this image, you can see the direction of the light from the window on the right hand side of the photo. This series of of images is all about having a simple approach to photographing a person and capturing colurs in a delicate way. By using soft natural lighting this allows Glanville to capture the delicate colours. Although this image is very simple it still looks posed, like the subject was meant to stand in this specific spot for a particular reason.

After looking at all three hotographers the one similarity they all seem to have is they all appear staged or posed, whether it’s a facial expression or a particular way they are standing nothing is natural. Individually they use lighting and certain camera positions to highlight the subject and make them react to the camera in a way the photographer wants. Each photographer wants to capture the subjects relation to their surroundings in that particular moment in time, highliting on their body position and facial expression.