Fashion: Constructed Image: Starter Tasks

Task 1 'Deconstructing an iconic fashion image':

Twiggy’s tiny, bird-like frame and painted-on lashes charmed the world when she appeared on the scene in 1965; she personified all that was modern & all that was happening in London at the time. Twiggy’s images are timeless to this very day, her clothes, hair and quirky personality are all still wearable today.
Her androgynous look peers back at an almost 20s look, with her boyishly short haircut & dramatic eye make-up often wearing three pairs of lashes at the same time.

Lesley Hornby had her hair coloured & cut short in Mayfair when the hair stylist was looking for models to try out his new crop haircut on, styling her hair for some test shots. 

 Professional photographer, Barry Lategan took several photos which were hung in the salon. Deidre McSharry, a fashion journalist saw the images and asked to meet her. Her manager previously her hairdresser, Justin de Villeneuve persuaded her to change her name to Twiggy, her childhood nickname given to her because of her twig like legs.

Only being 16 years old, Twiggy was naturally slim weighing only 8 stone had a 31-23-32 figure and was 5’6” which was shorter than a normal model however critics believed she was promoting an ‘unhealthy’ body ideal for women. While teenagers and women around the world were trying to conform to this body type Twiggy in actual fact says she hated what she looked like, so she thought ‘everyone had gone stark raving mad’ when this craze emerged.

As Twiggy erupted on the scene in the mid-1960s fashion was changing dramatically from swing skirts of the 50s to mini-skirts of the 60s. Designer John Bates described her as a 'Narrow body, perfect square shoulders, long legs, small bust', the opposite of the curvaceous Marilyn Monroe who was seen as the perfect body in the 50s. The mini dresses and the 'A-line' fashions provided a perfect vehicle for the colourful psychedelic and dramatic black and white Op and Pop-art patterns of 60s designers and artists.

Rock musicians were early adopters of hippie fashion, as rock music genres became more segmented, what an artist wore became as important as the music itself in defining the artist's intent and relationship to the audience which was led by Twiggy’s unique style.

Twiggy in yellow velvet dress by John Bates for Jean Varon, 

photo by Cecil Beaton at 8 Pelham Place, London, 1967. Vogue

 

Back in the early 1960s, photography was a barely acknowledged medium and was not established as an art form however fashion photographer Cecil Beaton was the beginning of change. He had an ability to adapt himself to the mood of both the time & the shoot, which can be seen in his images of Twiggy & Marilyn Monroe, very different characters taken less than a year apart. 

Cecil Beaton was at ease with famous figures as diverse as Mick Jagger & Jean Shrimpton, they all went hand in hand with Beaton’s passion for invention & reinvention and he was as much a part of swinging London as they were. All of Beaton’s portraits are carefully set up, spontaneous movements were removed from the shoots which can be seen in the contact sheet of the iconic image I have chosen. Due to his cautiously thought out shoots, Beaton portrays his subjects usually as dignified, in a flattering light; he tried to get under the skin of his model & express their personalities in a straight forward way.

As well as his home in Wiltshire Beaton also owned the London situated town house, 8 Pelham Place where he took the iconic image of Twiggy stood on a plinth that I have chosen.

In a 1967 Vogue magazine article called “The Changing Face of the Fashion Model” featuring Cecil Beaton’s image of Twiggy he said, 'It is not the baby stare that makes Twiggy a success, rather it is her concave droop, as of a punctured marionette, the almost 'triumph over the spastic' appeal that sends her to the top of the class.' 

Raising the tiny, doll-like figure above the audience on a plinth as if in a museum/gallery hints at the fashion, style & model being a timeless statement that he predicted which as we know came true. The way she is perched on the edge of the plinth makes Twiggy look fragile and weightless reflecting the critical view that the media had on her underage physique and its effects on teenagers & women in society.

Beaton has also set this 60s fashion shoot in a dated setting which reflects Twiggy’s slightly 20s look; the rather regal colour co-ordination between the outfit, wall colour and door frames of royal red & golds are effective when showcasing the clothing. The way that the light shines off of the velvet dress also adds to the majestic look of the figure and outfit high up on the plinth. The way that everything included in the image apart from the model is cropped  decreases their importance, both the doors and the plinth.   

The mini style dress worn iconically by Twiggy in this image was designed by John Bates who was well known as part of the boutique scene that blossomed in London in the 60s. From 1959 Bates began designing for the designer company, Jean Varon. He became known for his modernistic youthful clothing particular elements being, bare midriffs, sheer panels & very short hemlines, a dramatic contrast from the fashions of the 50s. He was seen as the true inventor of the mini-skirt by British Vogue editor, Marit Allen, where my image was first published.      

The royal colour scheme and plinth also metaphorically represent how the style Twiggy brought into fashion is viewed as high above every other fashion at that time and possibly in history through the eyes of Beaton, Twiggy and the audience of Vogue magazine.

Over the course of Beaton’s career he employed both large format cameras and small Rolleiflex cameras. Beaton was never known as a highly skilled technical photographer, and instead focused on staging a compelling scene and looking for the perfect shutter-release moment. This image was taken using a square format camera and as seen in his contact sheet, Beaton took at least 8 nearly identical frames to get the perfect expression & mood. He took the shot from below the model, again enhancing the look of importance; and the straight on view is very 60s creating very simple cut-out shapes- rectangles, circles and triangles simplifying the short A-line style of the era.  

Task 2 'Street casting':

After choosing the photo of twiggy I began to think about the sort of person I wanted to capture in my casting; I wanted someone who was outgoing in their character as well as the way they dress similar to how Twiggy was and was portrayed through her images. I also see Twiggy as a trend setter, someone who stood out in the crowd so I wanted to find someone that doesn’t wear what everyone else wears, doesn’t care what people think- sets their own fashion. 

Twiggy didn’t become famous for her ‘perfect’ beauty or because of her height as she was under the average height of a model, 16 years old and flaunted a tom boy haircut. She started the teenage revolution, declared as the Face of 1966 she was a bold contrast from the mannequin looking models of the era. I was therefore very interested in finding someone that didn’t necessarily fit the social norm of beauty.

Twiggy was a shy teenager but showed her personality through her style and appearance; while researching Twiggy I had thought about asking my friend Carlie to be my casting model however I thought I would search for a model on the streets first, by chance I bumped in to her and out of my images of the day she fitted my requirements best.

My Casting Image

Her dress sense is different, she sets her own trend and doesn’t wear what society expects; Carlie mix & matches her outfits buying old & new, cheap & expensive items, which I could imagine Twiggy doing. Through research I found she was known by designers to modify & wear vintage clothing as well as wearing the new fashion starting up her own line of clothing in 1967. Like Twiggy, she has an unconventional beauty, cropped haircut, pale complexion & a very petite figure, in no way the usual stereotypical look of a supermodel. 

Twiggy’s poses were very outgoing and spontaneous never needing much direction which I knew I could achieve from Carlie as she is unique and crazy and as soon as I raised my lens to capture her she did the pose that I chose for my casting image. I think most people are self-conscious in some way however due to her character I think Carlie would be an interesting challenge in a photo shoot; in terms of flexibility she would be easy to spontaneously photograph however I think she would be a challenge to direct because she likes to do her own thing.

Environment Unit Presentation

 Landscape

After being given the briefing for the landscape section of the environment unit I was straight away interested in expanding my exploration into the conflict between the natural landscape & man-made landscape as I had previously delved into the subject a little at A-Level. I began by researching the work of William Eggleston whose ‘Southern Suite’ series consists of landscapes with derelict buildings, signs and parks in.

Eggleston's Untitledfrom 'Southern Suite' series

Epstein's 'Hoover Dam Bypass Project, Nevada, 2007'

I am intrigued by the way he photographs man made constructs that look quite ugly and cut through the natural landscape but look beautiful through the way they are photographed. I then looked at the work of Joel Sternfeld, Mitch Epstein & Richard Misrach who all photograph man-made structures cutting through nature such as Misrach’s ‘Swamp & Pipeline’ but camouflage the ugly aspect.

Misrach's 'Swamp & Pipeline' 

 This led me to look at how humankind have become oblivious to the effects we are having on nature through pollution. I watched a programme, ‘Panorama: Britain’s Dirty Beaches’ which highlighted to me the shocking amount of flood water combined with sewage entering the sea from CSOs (Combined Sewage Overflows) every day. I continued research into CSOs (see previous blog entry) and began investigating the location of these pipes on beaches in the South East and the level of pollution measured in the areas. From this I chose certain locations to visit including Worthing & South Lancing; I took a series of photographs on a sunny day which conflicted with the subject matter following my research where a beautiful scene is created from an ugly subject. Most of my images use the rule of thirds to try and enhance the look of a ‘perfect’ image and I feel I achieved the look of a picturesque seascape despite the main focus of all the photographs. I also took photographs including different aspects of life that could be affected by the pollution such as, people’s pastimes eg. walking the dog, running, swimming and windsurfing as well as children playing nearby.

 

I feel all of my images reflect my theme of human obliviousness to our society’s effect on nature and our own health; each photograph is taken from a different angle to highlight different ways we are unaware of the effect eg. from the front of the CSO with children in the background or with safe-looking polluted froth in the foreground with windsurfers above. I wish I could have matched the sky colour better as although they were all taken on the same day the strength of blue changed and therefore not all the images are perfectly matched. 

 

My Final 'Landscape' series

I was unable to return to the location & take more images to replace some because the weather did not match the same conditions for the next couple of weeks. 

 Landscape Pastiche

After researching Robert Adams’ ‘On Signal Hill Over Looking Long Beach, California’ I began to search for locations using google maps to take the image. After visiting places including Brighton & Findon I found the best location to be Box Hill overlooking Dorking. 

'On signal Hill Over Looking Long Beach, California'

Like the original, I shot the photograph landscape in black and white in the morning so that there was fog over the hills in the background to mimic the smoggy blanket over California. The weather was bright and clear which also reflected the image however I did have a bit of trouble with composition. The trees were positioned perfectly and looked quite dead and neglected but due to being on the side of the hill rather than top I couldn’t angle the camera looking out over the valley rather down at the valley which changed the horizon level slightly. I used an aperture of around F/8-11 to give a relatively large depth of field reflecting how the original image is quite in focus fading slowly into the background. My final prints settings were Grade 0- 26 seconds, Grade 2- 9 seconds & Grade 5- 5 seconds as well as burning the top left corner in slightly as it appeared too light; overall I feel my image portrays a similar feel to Robert Adams’ photograph of conflict between nature and humans and our neglect of nature.

My Final 'Landscape' Pastiche Image

 Urban Space

The second section of the environment unit was ‘urban space’, the word space initially inspired me as I began to think about the empty gaps within our jam-packed cityscapes. I considering different perspectives such as public parks but started to focus on car parks after looking at the work of Dan Holdsworth and then researching the background of Bluewater.

Dan Holdsworth

Once a quarry it was abandoned, sold and then used as a plot for a giant shopping centre however due to the vastness of the quarry the car park is at least twice the size, surrounding the whole perimeter of the building. While during the day these spaces within a space are filled with cars, the other half of the time they are deserted, wasted space; I find it a weird concept that we are running out of space to build new housing while thousands of car parks sit temporarily empty. I also explored the work of William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Branislav Kropilak, looking at the way they all capture similar locations in different ways. 

Branislav Kropilak

Stephen Shore

I began taking test shots at Bluewater but found them to be very boring and unoriginal however when I went to take photographs at IKEA due to it being early morning it was very foggy. 

Contact sheets of  Bluewater, IKEA, Croydon and Crawley car parks

The fog was also present at a couple other locations which made the results more intriguing. It gave the images a slight eeriness, highlighting the idea of endless vast empty space. By leaving my final three images with a slight blue tinge this enhanced the idea of untouched and undisturbed space; also exaggerated by the border of trees in all of the images as if nothing can come in or out which gives a mystical effect to quite a mundane space within the busy city. Due to rainfall the surfaces of the car parks were reflective reminiscent of Rut Blees Luxemburg’s night images; in her work the puddles seem to act as portals into a city hidden below the concrete. 

Rut Blees Luxemburg

Although unused I did like the test shots of wet tracks in the car parks, which looked like gaps in the concrete as if there is something not quite right with the scene mirroring the history of Bluewater- how it was once a huge void created in the planet filled with industry. My final images also have reflections and due to the fog the surfaces have become soft looking despite being concrete creating an ethereal feel as if it is all water consuming the space. I was very pleased with my series as they perfectly capture the mood I wanted to create of all these weird empty voids we have whose only purpose is temporary housing for our transport. The only limitation of the shoot was once the weather changed I was unable to take any other photographs as I needed my series to flow in terms of weather conditions, colour & composition. 

My Final 'Urban Space' Image

 Urban Space Pastiche

For my second pastiche I chose Brassai’s ‘No. 27 Paris After Dark, 1933’ as I was interested by this image the most, however I found this image much harder to replicate due to compositional issues & weather conditions.

Brassai's 'No.27, Paris After Dark, 1933'

I spent a while finding a location which included the necessary components such as, cobbles, street signs, lights and the direction the road turns. I finally chose a road in Lewes which I felt gave the same modern vs. old feel of Brassai’s image. I took the image in portrait with Ilford Delta 100 film to replicate the ISO Brassai would have used, at around 9pm on a day where it had been raining a little giving the cobbles a slight reflective nature. It was also a clear night so the sky was clear and dark like the original image. I positioned the camera on the edge of the path with windows, signs and lights in similar positions to the original image. I used an aperture of around F/8-11 as although Brassai’s image had quite a large depth of field I felt to achieve the best result I would use a medium aperture and quite a fast shutter speed of 2 seconds. For my final print the exposure times were 10 seconds at Grade 5, 25 seconds at Grade 2 while dodging the sign in the left foreground for 15 seconds. I then had to burn in the street for 7 seconds and the middle section of the street for a further 7 seconds as it was too brightly lit by the street lights. 

My Final 'Urban Space' Pastiche Image

Unfortunately there were some differences in composition, the signs were not lit up, shops in the horizon are not at the right height and a Christmas tree sits in the background however I feel my final print was as accurate as possible.

Object & Body Unit Presentation

 Object Unit

For my object unit I decided to base my still life photograph on the issue of consumerism. My initial research was based around the photographer Keith Arnatt who created still lives in studios out of rubbish from tips making ugly subject matter look intriguingly beautiful.

Keith Arnatt's Untitled from 'Pictures from a Rubbish Tip' series

I began to consider how I could represent consumerism through a still life using items that are often not recycled and products of our throw-away society such as glass bottles, batteries, paper & film. I was inspired by the work of Steffi Klenz & Gary Bryan in the way that they make their subject matter look much larger in scale than real life.

Steffi Klenz's 'Dagenham East'

Gary Bryan's 'Bottles'

Also I found articles on the artists, Max Liboiron who created ‘landscapes’ out of recycled tea bags and Elise Morin & Clemence Eliard who built mountains out of old CDs reflecting the throwaway technological society we live in.

Max Liboiron's project

Morin & Eliard's project

Enthused by Ansel Adams’ sublime landscapes and after taking some test shots at a tip to explore how litter can form mountain-like structures I decided to create a small scale landscape of mountains, a valley and river out of recycled items.

Ansel Adams' 'The Tetons and the Snake River, 1942'

Rubbish Tip test shots

I used a low camera position to enhance the scale of the mountain structures, to reflect the theme of consumerism, I also created an overcast feel by using a flag to put the backdrop in shadow. I used an aperture of F/2.8 to have a shallow depth of field to blur the background and enhance the look of a landscape. While most of the scene is flowing and looks relatively natural showing how we consume the landscape like cardboard produced from trees becoming trees again in my scene, I placed objects like batteries in spots to break up the scene and shock the audience into realising our destructive nature through technological pollution. 

Contact sheet of the three shots

I took three shots and found the last (3) to be the best with more highlights so that subject matter was easy to identify. When reflecting on the shoot I feel I should have practised the set up more than I did to make sure I got the result I wanted with greater ease including composition, lighting and camera position.

My Final Object unit Image

 Body Unit

To start my body unit I began to think about what theme I wanted to make work about; I was interested in exploring the idea of child innocence in this day and age. I was initially inspired by recent news articles & programmes highlighting children growing up too fast in today’s society; getting pregnant, wearing inappropriate clothing, smoking, swearing and turning to violence in and out of school. 

Vee Speers' 'The Birthday Party' series

Bettina Von Zwohl's 'Profiles III'

I firstly researched the work of Bettina von Zwohl, Vee Speers & Loretta Lux, who all approached the theme slightly differently however all used quite soft lighting probably using a fill in light to eliminate any shadows which I wanted to use in my final shoot; this is because I feel innocence is a purity reflected by the colour white however I found them too perfectly posed as if the models were mannequins.

Loretta Lux's 'Ophelia'

Loretta Lux also edits her images afterwards creating a perfect, ‘fantasy’-like innocence which is unrealistic however reflects early artistic portrayal of the purist child, Jesus Christ as well as cupid such as William Bougereau’s ‘Cupid and Psyche as Children’ in 1890.

William Bourgereau

 I also looked at the work of Wendy McMurdo, I was intrigued by the way she explores different aspects of innocence through child play.

Wendy McMurdo

I was able to get in contact with Adele in administration who allowed me to photograph her four and seven year old boys; when discussing the shoot with her I asked her to bring some different clothes with her and outlined the shoot to her. Due to my models I had to do a risk assessment form and had to position my set carefully and secure all wires etc. which I was able to do with ease.
I firstly thought I wanted the boys in quite formal white shirts but then decided I wanted them relaxed and natural in everyday clothing; I also had them sat and stood at different times asking different things from them such as sitting still, playing moving statues and even acting out their favourite animal. Although the whole shoot was very active, I felt the most innocent shot I took was a moment of stillness where they were looking into the camera with anticipation; I positioned the camera slightly above to create a wide-eyed look reminiscent of third world charity adverts which try to create empathy through depicting innocence.

I felt even when naturally playing they were acting up to the camera and therefore weren’t portraying true innocence. I set the main light and camera to F/4 and the fill light to F/5.6 to create a slight contrast; draped fabric formed the backdrop to create the idea of children playing in their bedroom. Although I believe children lose their innocence from the moment they are exposed to society I feel I have captured a moment of innocence within the photoshoot; of course the most significant challenge was working with children however I have enjoyed the experience allowing me to build on my communicative skills for future photo shoots with people.

Body unit shoot contact sheets

I am also very pleased with the variety of results I achieved allowing me to print a couple of option and then choosing the image I felt worked best for my theme, child innocence; I was also pleased with the lighting which creates a soft feel on the children and backdrop.

My Body unit Final Image