research report-Pilot

I believe that my pilot pictures express the aims and intentions of my initial project proposal but additionally I believe my pilot responds to the theories I have explored so far in this term.

It states in my proposal, my weekly blogs and research that through modern culture, the media and through the male gaze’ women are made to conform to hegemonic norms of society and constantly pressurized to look a certain way. Additionally I have explored the way this isn’t affecting women but also young teenage girls. Throughout this project my intentions have been to show how the media is affecting women, their bodies and the way they think about themselves. Additionally I have explored the body form and how the media presents how skin should always be ‘perfect’

   I believe through my pilot I have expressed my aims. I have challenged the way skin is presented through distorting and layering images of skin but using glossy and lighting editing through Photoshop just like the media do whether it’s in adverts, magazines or on TV. Through my pictures I have challenged the way we normally look at parts of the body and shown that even when the body of women doesn’t look normal it can still look beautiful. One of my aims was that I wanted people to stop and have to take more than one look at the images to see what it is. Furthermore through my theoretical research I have talked about the idea of being born male or female but femininity is learnt and taught. I partivularly like through my skin images you cannot tell whether it is male or female skin suggesting that femininity and masculinity is gained through cultural norms in society- the products we buy etc. 

media: do they ever show us the truth?

http://jezebel.com/5865114/hm-puts-real-model-heads-on-fake-bodies

H & M puts real model heads on fake bodies- h and m admitted that they super impose real human heads onto computerised bodies in order to promote their clothing on bodies that look good in the clothing!

bodies, skin, beauty-do we ever see any truth behind how we should look in the media, they tell us to look a certain way but is there actually anyone who looks that way?

everybody ages, everybody gains weight, everybody has bad skin- but we are never shown the truth-my pilot images-show that skin isnt perfect, that it isnt always feminine or glowing, women do have imperfections!

photographers like jenny saville show the outsider way of looking at the body...the people who are not shown in the media...i believe my pictures are like that

ageing is nature!!!: skin creams

above is an image i took and then distorted in photoshop-skin more glowing, whole face slimmer.

Skin creams:

skin cream to make skin perfect, but even in the adverts we are only ever shown how you could look

ageing is nature....we cant help it!!!! and yet there are always constant bombardment of skin creams to cure this 'disease'-i want my pictures to show this distortion...to show this subject that is not spoken in the media..AGEING!!-the untraditional, non-commercial way to look at skin.



ageing is never shown in the media...i want to challenge this....what we are not shown..that skin and beauty is perfect all the time!

Pilot pictures...

above pictures: these are my pilot pictures for my first term project, i believe these show the aims of my project in many ways but most importantly because they go against the cultural norms of skin that we see in skin adverts and across the media whether it be through celebrities or adverts everyday. This distorted body form and skin shows the way we are told not to look like, the way skin shouldnt presented to us, and in someways its quite hard to look at. 

through my pilot pictures i have explored the aesthetics of the skin, and the skin adverts-the harsh lighting gives the pictures a slightly heroic tone to the skin. but the whole idea of the pictures is to show how skin adverts advertise cream to make us want to buy it. Skin adverts today only ever show perfect skin-through my pictures i have shown imperfections, that everyone has imperfections and arent always perfect.

additionally through my pictures i also like that because there are so many creases and the impression of scares-that you cant tell whether its male or female-which goes along with idea that i have been exploring

'you are born male or female' but femininity is something gained.

This idea of harsh lighting and aesthetics of lighting is something i want to continue and explore further in the next term. 

Research Report-Bibliography

Arthurs, J and Grimshaw, J. (1999) Women’s bodies, discipline and transgression. Cassell. London

Diamond, I & Quinby, L. (1988) Feminism and Foucault: Reflections on resistance. North eastern University press. America

 Mulvey, L. (2009) Visual and other pleasure. Palgrave macmillan. Great Britain 

Weitz, R. (1998) the politics of Women’s bodies. Oxford University Press. London

Wolf, N. (1990) the Beauty Myth. Chatto & Windus Ltd. London

http://www.laurengreenfield.com/index.php?p=Y6QZZ990

Research report-Production Planning

Through the development of my pictures I have taken so far, I have already started to explore the different types of insulation I may like to present my photographs. Additionally through my pilot, there are shoots that I would like to take further after Christmas.

Materials I need:

·         My skin photographs that I have taken I have edited through Photoshop to be glowing, shiny-skin that have commercialised through the media- just like they are in adverts, magazine articles or on the TV. Therefore as I have researched magazine adverts I think that a creative idea would be to present my photos in the exhibition on magazine paper-or as a magazine-other shiny surfaces-on a TV
additionally i would like to experiment presenting my pictures on acetate- I have layered and distorted my images so i would like to see what it is like doing it manually. 

·         Also I have explored the idea of mannequins and dolls and the idea of skin and the commercialisation of skin-insulation idea-picture of skin-projected onto a mannequin

·         Materials-TVs, old computer screens, magazine paper-glossy paper

·         Software needed-more Photoshop-there is further manipulation need for my photographs

·         Other materials-mannequins-need to get hold of an old one to be able to shoot in studio

·         Need more young girls to take pictures of-was only able to get three this term-need a wide variety of age ranges.

More ideas to photograph during second term:

·         Practically I believe there are more ways I can experiment with how to portray skin in media particularly looking at the idea of the fear factor the media put into not having perfect skin like the advert Michelle Henning put in her article ‘don’t touch me I’m electric’ which I talked about in a previous blog. This is done through the advert by using diptychs to show something that people fear-like pollution in an industrial area-i want to take pictures like this next term. 

• I would like to push further the idea of skin, and mannequins and the idea of society as puppets, therefore i will be taking more pictures of skin and the body form in the studios. 

Final Proposal

The media today are seen as the 'gatekeepers of truth’ and are continually the lead protagonists in shaping public opinion. When it comes to how women 'should look', the media (in my opinion) have too much influence. The media continually tell women how they should look, or ways to ‘improve our appearance’.   Because of the media, men too have a huge influence over how women look and feel about themselves. Therefore through my project I aim to explore the idea of sexual fetishism-the use of women in selling men’s products but also the concept of ‘the male gaze’ and the idea of how women gain and learn to be ‘feminine’

   Women today are under enormous pressure to conform to hegemonic 'norms' of society and if not they are seen as outsiders. I aim to produce photographs that suggest that the media are too heavily involved in how women should look.  Additionally i propose to take images whether it is through montage, through the body form, or through using objects and metaphors.   Also one of the main things to point out, is not just the influence the media has on women but also more shockingly on young girls-whether its eating habits, dieting ideas in magazines, growing up to fast-i believe exploring this topic will help me produce photos that make people stop and think.

   As a final piece, i aim to produce pictures that challenge the norms of society and play on the idea that women have become puppets and dress up dolls in a media ruled society, but also how women are presented to men.

   I have decided to base my independent production project around this critical practice because i do believe the media and the male gaze are preached too much and has too much influence on people consequently making women feel inadequate and under constant scrutiny by the 'gaze' and public eye. This causes some women to make bad choices because they don’t come under the norm of what is 'BEAUTIFUL' or ‘perfect’ according to media opinion and celebrity image. 

Production schedule

Production Schedule:

·          Tuesday and Wednesday are always for photography-find it easier to work on something for whole days rather than a couple of hours every day-get more work done

·         . Need roughly 8-10 weeks of working on photography outside lecture/seminar time.

Date week beginning:	Important dates	Comments/what weeks I will be doing photography
19th December	Christmas holiday	Take pictures of family as part of the body form photographs.
26th December	Christmas Holiday	No photography work this week as will be revising and writing essay for other modules.
2nd January	3rd January-Urban Cultures and Modernity exam.	From the 2nd of jan to the 9th will be concentrating on other 2 modules-would be unrealistic to think I could balance photography if I have an exam and a deadline that week.
9th January	Journalism futures essay-4000 words-Monday 9th hand in.
Week 13: 16th January	Shooting	Shooting in studio on Tuesday,  and Wednesdays are for photography
Week 14: 23rd January	Shooting exhibition plans	Shooting – more on skin and body form in studio and more shooting of industrial and polluted area-diptychs as suggested in further research of research report.
Week 15: 30th January	Exhibition plans	also planning what to do for insulation-at the moment thinking of doing ideas on shiny surfaces-glossy magazine covers, computer/TV screens-how will my pictures be presented.
Week 16: 6th February	Skiing on the 10th of February for one week.
Week 17: 13 February
Week 18: 20th February		Any more last minute shooting to be done-whether it is in studio or
Week 19: 27th February	Any shooting should be finished by this date in order for editing to start	Manipulation and editing of images
Week 20: 5th March	Exhibition pre-production should have started	Start designing and organising where I might print pictures or
Week 21: 12th March		Final editing-Wednesday and Thursday-Photoshop manipulation.
Week 22: 19th March
Week 23: 26th March
Week 24: 2nd April
9th April	Easter break	During this week need to balance urban cultures, dissertation, and independent production. -by second week of Easter holiday should be no more editing-just concentrating on essay for 22nd of May and completing blog. In order to balance 3 subjects-everyday different subject. For example-Monday and Wednesdays are photography, Tuesday and Thursdays are urban cultures and dissertation is Friday and Sunday-Saturday day of rest.
16th April	Easter break
23rd April	Easter break
30th April	1st May-Urban Cultures and modernity hand in date. 2nd May-Dissertation hand in. 3rd May-Independent production hand in.

Research Report-Summary of research

           To summarise, throughout my theoretical research I explored many theorists as mentioned earlier, Foucault and the gaze, Laura Mulvey and the male gaze, Freud and his concept of sexual fetishism- all of which have helped me identify what I really wanted to base my pictures around. Although I have experimented with lots of ways of how to portray my topic i believe my theoretical and practical research helped me settle on a main subject within the topic which is photographing body form and skin and the way skin is portrayed and should look in the media whether its skins adverts, celebrities and the pages we see about how they ‘look flawless’ or even the shock factor pages where celebrities are seen without any makeup and are made to feel abnormal for not always looking ‘perfect’

           Through looking at men’s adverts, fetishism photography and product photography I saw that all the women were thin; all had perfect skin and were modelling in an erotic confident way. To summarise, all the women in these advertising pictures looked as society, the media and men believe they should look.

           These theories I have explored have enabled me to experiment through my photographs. They have helped me both challenge the topic and come up with original ways of making a statement. Through my photographs I have explored the idea that we as members of society are mannequins that the media dress up and play with while also exploring young girls wanting to be grownup and knowing how to pose.

            Despite the research I have already done, I do believe there is more to be done. Theoretically I believe I can explore Foucault’s concept of discourse and the regime of truth additionally i believe there is further research to be done on photographers who explore the aesthetics of lighting such as Leni Riefenstahl and the pictures of the Olympic athletes.

Research Report-Similar Work

  Lauren Greenfield has greatly shaped my own ideas. She documented through photography young girls getting ready to go out, but also getting ready to go to school and the regimes they go through to make themselves look perfect and the pressures they face.

   In addition to this she produced a short documentary film called ‘Girl culture’ in which she shot girls dealing with eating disorders. Watching this helped me shape my own ideas as it showed the pressure that girls go through to be thin. Through her photographs and documentary film on ‘Girl Culture’ I learnt that magazines are hugely influential on what girls base their body image on and that sometimes it can push a lot of girls too far.

   Ad busters were also a huge influence in relation to my own ideas, they too set out to challenge social norms specifically the social norms of consumerism.  ‘We are working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society’ (adbuster.org). In this sense challenging the norms of consumerism greatly links to my topic. So many women by products because they want to look like the model on the tv, the pop star on the radio- again conforming to the norms of society. From Ad busters I have learnt that the media often doesn’t show us the truth about women and celebrity appearance that so many girls base their own appearances on.

 Lastly photographers Jenny Saville and Bill Brandt Show women’s bodies in a way that differs from the norms of society and the way women and the media think they should look. These two photographers helped me develop my own set of photographs on skin and the body. I also wish to further practically research the way we know how to pose and where this knowledge comes from?

Jenny Saville

Bill Brandt

Research Report-Theoretical Context

 I have been exploring the Medias and men’s influence on women, particularly looking at the way they should look, the way they are used to sell products and women’s body language.  These ideas have been developed through many theorists particularly i believe the most important are:

·         Freud’s theory of sexual fetishism

The idea that we are born male or female, but masculinity and femininity is something you earn and are taught through whether it be through societal norms produced and inscribed in the public eye by the media

·         Foucault’s theory of the gaze and Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze

    I consider that Diamond and Quincy’s book feminism and Foucault is hugely related to my idea as it talks about women as objects under Foucault’s theory of the ‘male gaze’. Women are born into a society where a certain look has already been set out for them by the male. Through both the male and popular culture we are urged to look a certain way, dress a certain way, walk a certain way and if not we do not fit into society and in some ways I believe we are cast out as an outsider. Through Foucault’s theory of the gaze we are always being watched and judged as he suggests we are always conscious and aware of people’s judgements and ‘gaze’.

Femininity

   I have also looked at many books on femininity in which I believe these have helped me develop my ideas of how media influence women’s bodies particularly the politics of women’s bodies, and Naomi’s wolfs book ‘the beauty myth’.

Rose Weitz in politics of women’s bodies describes femininity is something you learn whether it be through media but by the pressure of the media and men “We are born male or female, but not masculine or feminine. Femininity is an artifice, an achievement”(page) Naomi wolf describes the way in which advertising and media rely on making women feel bad about their bodies and finding solutions which earn them money. These theories and ideas have helped me gather a better understanding of my chosen topic and what I want to get out of my photographs. One thing that I learned from these theories is there is such a strict rule about what is perfect and what is not that I realised I want my photographs to go against these rules.