Research so far and possible ideas from this research

I havent taken any pictures yet simply because i didnt believe i had explored my topic further enough, im not sure whether i have left taking my photographs slightly late however this weekend i have arranged a kind of marathon photoshoot in order to make sure i have a wide range of potential photographs. soooooo here are some of my ideas that i have come up with:

• my first and main idea that i hope will end up being my finals is exploring body language of young children. Therefore i know when i was younger i would dress up in my mums clothes and pretend that i was a 'grown up' however i think in modern society today young children arent just dressing up they are trying to act older than they really are. Sooo im going to be dressing girls up age ranged 9-14 and see how they pose in front of the camera- are they going to pose, will they know how to pose, where do they get these posing positions from. Secondly i will have a second camera to see how more natural the pictures are when they dont no the camera is on them?
• My second idea is to take pictures of people who work at make up counters and use manipulation in photoshop to show how we are all looking the same and all using makeup as a disguise but the media are using it as a way of branding everyone as perfect
• Thirdly i want to simply take portrait pictures of girls without any makeup and then use distortion-nose bigger, skin smoother, air brush but only on half of the face and show how we are being falsly shown what celebrities look like

I have lots of ideas just neeeeeed to be getting on with it really...

Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt who is a famous photographer i have found that is famous for taking nude distorted pictures. i really like his images because they show a different way of photographing the nude female body form. The reason i chose to research is because i want to photograph the female form and then distort it on photoshop to show how we never see the truth in the media in terms of what people really look like.
   I particularly like his work because he distorts the body by just using his camera and a wide angle lens which is something i would like to experiment with. Mostly i like that his work is in black and white as alot of previous photographers i have looked at are colour and i prefer black and white photography.

I particularly like the use of the harsh and dark shadows as it further enhances the distortion of the images. From these photographs i want to use and experiment with distortion as a way of challenging the hegemonic norms of the female body and show how easy it is to distort a body.

Body manipulation and distortion

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067474/Back-reality-Computer-program-shows-EXACTLY-images-magazine-photoshopped.html

above article: group of researchers produce a computer program that shows what celebrities looked like before the editing of the picture whether it be on a magazine front cover, an advert on tv, fashion shoot, or even spotted at an awards ceremony etc etc

Dover Advert

Real Women-This is what we need to see more of-This is normal- not everyone should look the same-everyone is different!

also found a really interesting article that i think deals with the present arguements surrounding media influence on social construction and image of women

http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/excerpt.asp?id=2

Martin Parr

With photography, I like to create fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society's natural prejudice and giving this a twist."

Quote above is a quote from Martin Parr, although i am still experimenting with whether or not I want to be doing documentary or portraiture photography i think that this quote very much ties in with what I aim to do in my proposal.

One of the main things that is suggested on his website is that he like to challenge ways of thinking

Parr photographs things that were once familiar in a new way and make us question why we accept certain norms about society.

In this sense martin Parr is very much to do with my project. Putting theory in to practice with my pictures i may want to people to question why skinny figures, clear skin, lots of makeup are referred to as perfect?

Or why there is only one way or one look for being beautiful?

marianne wex

Week 8: Adverts and magazines

It is not possible to look good all the time- I have tried it and it really doesn’t work. I always feel and I’m sure others do feel under constant pressure to have to look good all the time- because ‘apparently’ like in the movies when we wake up we look fresh faced and beautiful-this is just not the case.

But when we see pictures of celebrities on the front of magazines or even just out shopping and with a full face of makeup and looking nothing but perfect-men and the rest of the world get this idea that women look like this all the time-but being normal and not having personal stylists and makeup artists- I’m afraid I do not have this luxury!

Last week i looked at adbusters and the idea that men products are sold in a sexual fetish kind of way-ad busters plays on this and does the opposite like the Calvin Klein advert. i also looked at the idea of the 'gaze' So this week i am continueing this and  looking at how celebrities that we base our looks around are not always perfect-which is normal! But the media treat it as a huge thing or as a ‘shock’. Additionally this research will help me with ideas on how to challenge the way we should look.

The April issue of French Elle magazine did a special addition featuring European female celebrities posing with no makeup and all pictures were un photo shopped or retouched. The magazines head line was “Stars Sans Fards” meaning without makeup. Why does celebrities not wearing makeup have to be a special addition- its not possible for people to look good all the time yet the media give the impression that it is and then when they are ‘caught’ without any makeup its turned into an embarrassing moment or shock factor-although i would be lying if I said I’m always slightly happy to see it.

In terms of how this relates to my chosen topic-when i was younger makeup didn’t matter, but now i cant leave the house without looking in the mirror and checking my face and I know I’m not alone- whether its looking at magazines covers or these shock factor articles-girls seem to get this idea that if its a shock to see celebrities looking rough its a shock for everyone- makeup has become something we hide behind but so much so that it bring me back to the idea that we are all starting to look the same- the media have made us think that we should have no imperfections, but the fact is even celebrities do, when are they going to start using special additions as every addition? It brings me back to the idea of a journalist and the media being gatekeepers of truth-well then why not show us the truth?