More spoof ads

Gender Stereotypes:

This reebok advertising campaign was done by a student at university of Westminster in order to show and challenge gender stereotypes in advertising. The student plays on the fact that 'sex sells'. The original advert has a women in it, however she has re created the advert and used a male model in order to show that women are used to sell objects. i really like this picture as it really ties in with what i am doing.

   It is also interesting to point out the lighting in this image, very complimentary of the body as if it were a skin advert-this is something I want to incorporate in my final images.

Above: original image for Reebok campaign 

Above: recreated advert for Reebok- I think this is a really clever way of exploring women as objects and products of the mens gaze.

Photography lighting and studio notes:

Photography lighting and studio notes:

   I was in the studio today doing some experimentation with my own photography and realised that I needed to do a blog post on lighting. We are told that lighting is the most important thing in a photograph-it came to my attention today that I don’t just want one type of lighting in my pictures but also lighting is a way of potentially portraying or symbolising meaning?

Different types of lighting:

Hard and soft light

• ·         Hard light refers to whether the edge of the shadow that is cast is hard or an abrupt transition from park to light
• ·         Soft-soft gradual transition of the light

   Light that comes from a single point source such as a naked light bulb and falls directly on the subject from one direction without being reflected off another surface-known as hard light-causing to cast dark shadows and can produce high contrast pictures with deep blacks and bright highlights-not as flattering on the person or object- you wouldn’t use this for portraiture photography unless it is an intentional thing to portray something

   Soft light-light that falls on the subject come from multiple sources, multiple directions or from a single very large light source-quite close to the subject and usually reflected off something-does not cast deep shadows-more complimentary on a person

   Soft light: If the direction of your light source can be changed, such as when you are using a small desk lamp, you can often redirect it to bounce of another surface before it hits the subject. E.g- point the desk lamp at a wall, pointing away from the subject, this will effectively create a larger light source (the wall) which will cast a softer shadow. This method can also be used with dedicated flash guns with rotatable heads, where the head is adjusted to point at a white ceiling or a reflective wall. In the studio, this principle is used when the light is bounced of a reflective umbrella.

Shading the light

A lamp shade reflects some of the light coming from the bulb into a wider area, and effectively increases the size of the source of the light, and in doing so softens the shadows that it casts. This technique can be used on any light source. All you need is a large enough semi-transparent, diffusing material, such as tracing paper or a thin white sheet of cloth, to hold in between the point light source and the subject. This will effectively increase the size of the area of the light source to that of the diffusing material. In studio flash heads, this is normally achieved by means of a softbox.

What about hard light?

Hard light, as we have noted above, does have its uses. It creates hard edged shadows that will highlight the texture and form of the subject. Unfortunately it is much more difficult to create hard light if you are starting with a soft source. In a studio, you may be able to move your subject further away from the light, thereby effectively decreasing its size, or you may be able to substitute the large light source for a smaller one, such as by removing the soft box, but if you are working outside you may not have this control over the light and its distance from the subject, so the only option may be to wait until the clouds part and the light changes.

   From these notes it has made me think why I would like certain lighting for my photos. My photo shoot with un sexed objects I want soft lighting as if it were a cover girl esc shoot advertising for makeup or something along those lines. I want think to be the same for lots of my photos however I would also like harsh lighting for my shoot for women as products when they will be ‘wrapped up and packaged’ I want hard lighting for this to show women victimised and not always looking soft, but rather constantly watched.  

Article

Was just doing some theoretical research on sexual fetishism and how it sells products and came across this interesting article from media awareness which is very much about what i am exploring and photographing.

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/upload/article_sexualized_images.pdf

photoshoot: more ideas

additionally, as well as showing women as objects, the idea has come to me that we are also products which i need to do some research on.

Buttttt..was thinking of how we produce products, cling film, foil, cardboard, just as a quick idea-wrapping my models as if they were actually products themselves-bar codes, price tags etc.

Notes on next photo shoot

From the last 2 weeks of research i have explored the idea of bodily perfection and women having sex appeal to sell products, but one thing that has sprung to mind is the question

can commodity and sexual fetishism sell any product?

Through the research of the last couple of photographers the photographs have explored the idea of women as objects, as commodities. This has led me to think about how we present commodity, how we label and package them. 

   Therefore my next set of photographs, I shall be replacing womens assets that sell many products with things that you would normally assosiate with being sold sexually. For example, perfume, makeup, mens after shave etc have all had adverts with half naked women etc. 

However what would happen if I replaced these with a toaster for example?

Unsexed Commodities 

instead of a women leaning on a car, what about a women leaning on a fridge? these are just ideas but im sure you get the gist... 

Nigel Tomm

Nigel Tomm

distorted and dissembled photography in which Nigel Tomm crumples up either parts of his own photography or parts of magazines and photographs with his own models. The reason why i have chosen to research and blog about his work is because similarly to last weeks photographers he is using magazine pictures of celebrities or 'ideal bodies' to show how we should look. 

through his photographs he is distorting the way women should look and trying destroy the image so many marketers and advertisers try to convey. 

Photograph above: This is one of my favourite images out of all his photographs. He is contrasted a magazine with his own photograph to show we are shown how to look Vs a live model. Particularly one of things that stands out for me the most is the way the women is positioned. It is something I could see being used to promote or sell a product, something i talked about last week through sexual fetishism. 

His photos offer an angle of how to look at womens bodies and how we are bombarded with magazine pictures of naked women in sexual positions. 


Nigel Tomm is a famous photographer, musician, director, painter-there's not lots of information on his however.