PAST, PRESENT AND/OR FUTURE
Past
pɑːst/
adjective
meaning : gone by in time and no longer existing.
Present
ˈprɛz(ə)nt/
adjective
meaning : existing or occurring now.
Future
ˈfjuːtʃə/
adjective
meaning : at a later time; going or likely to happen or exist.
pɑːst/
adjective
meaning : gone by in time and no longer existing.
Present
ˈprɛz(ə)nt/
adjective
meaning : existing or occurring now.
Future
ˈfjuːtʃə/
adjective
meaning : at a later time; going or likely to happen or exist.
MINDMAP OF PAST, PRESENT AND/OR FUTURE
Below is my first thoughts on this topic. It supplies me with ideas that I can use later in my project and influences my ideas.
VISUAL INTERPRETATION
EXHIBITION VISIT
"PERFORMING FOR THE CAMERA"
AT THE TATE MODERN
For this exhibition visit, I went to the Tate Modern to look at the exhibition "Performing for the camera." Below are three images from three different artists: Amalia Ulman, Ali Weiwei and Samuel Fosso. I decided to include this in my topic Past, Present and Future for various reasons. Amalia Ulman's instagram is part of the present revelotion of social media and also gives us incite into what the future photography and art could be like, experimenting in new styles and forms. Ali Weiwei's photography explores capturing moments that are happening at the time, so as below the model is dropping a vase, something that is happening in the present. Lastly, Samuel Fosso project at the "Perfoming for the camera" exhibition is about imitating famous, influential people and dressing up as them, i thought this represented the past as he is copying people who have previously made their prominence.
SAMUEL FOSSO
Samuel Fosso, was born July 17th, 1962. He is a Cameroonian photographer who has worked most of his career in the Central African Republic. His work often focuses on self-portraits adopting a series of personas, typically commenting on the history of Africa. For the "Perfoming for the Camera" exhibiton, Fosso presented a series of images of himself called "Africa Spirits" which pays tributes to the most influential people of the Black movement in Africa and America.
AI WEIWEI - Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995
Ali Weiwei was born 28th Augst 1957 in Beijing. He is a Chinese Contemporary artist and activist who is highly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. What I believe makes this exhibiton so thought provoking is the borderline neurotic shots aiming for perfection. I think this represents the present as the movement of dropping this pot is an action that is occuring in just that moment.
AMALIA ULMAN
Amalia Ulman presented a piece called "Excellences and Perfections" in the "Perfoming for the Camera" exhibition, which i think is very effective. She is an Argentinian born Spanish artist and blogger who was born in 1989. For this series she used the modern influence of social media and common problematic effects of it to create this piece of work. For this piece she fabricated a fictional character, whos life developed in three different stages: a cute girl, then a sugar babe and then as a life goddess (fashion and style blogger.) Her intention was to emphasis "how easy an audience can be manipulated through the use of mainstream archetypes and characters they've seen before."
Samuel Fosso, was born July 17th, 1962. He is a Cameroonian photographer who has worked most of his career in the Central African Republic. His work often focuses on self-portraits adopting a series of personas, typically commenting on the history of Africa. For the "Perfoming for the Camera" exhibiton, Fosso presented a series of images of himself called "Africa Spirits" which pays tributes to the most influential people of the Black movement in Africa and America.
AI WEIWEI - Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995
Ali Weiwei was born 28th Augst 1957 in Beijing. He is a Chinese Contemporary artist and activist who is highly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. What I believe makes this exhibiton so thought provoking is the borderline neurotic shots aiming for perfection. I think this represents the present as the movement of dropping this pot is an action that is occuring in just that moment.
AMALIA ULMAN
Amalia Ulman presented a piece called "Excellences and Perfections" in the "Perfoming for the Camera" exhibition, which i think is very effective. She is an Argentinian born Spanish artist and blogger who was born in 1989. For this series she used the modern influence of social media and common problematic effects of it to create this piece of work. For this piece she fabricated a fictional character, whos life developed in three different stages: a cute girl, then a sugar babe and then as a life goddess (fashion and style blogger.) Her intention was to emphasis "how easy an audience can be manipulated through the use of mainstream archetypes and characters they've seen before."
MY RESPONSE:
For my response, after the exhibition I walked from the Tate Modern to Waterloo and captured images of past , present and future aspects of London, through mostly architecture. Below is my contact sheets and then my selected images from the trip.
SELECTED IMAGES:
PAST
For this section, I focused on capturing images of buildings or architecture that was built in the past. This then showed how in different ages builders use different materials and construct the buildings in different ways to suit popular and fashionable designs.
PRESENT
For the present section, I took images of buildings or things that have been built relatively recently.
FUTURE:
This action required more thinking as I can't take images of future buildings as they haven't been built yet. So, to represent he future I took images of construction to show the process of future buildings being built.
INITIAL TASKS:
PORTRAIT
This task essentially focuses on age and how time influences it. The results attempt to capture eternal youth something that has fascinated humans throughout the ages. Below is a video of how I achieved my outcome on photoshop and then my response.
FIRST RESPONSE:
For this response I used people in my class as I wanted to capture images of young people and create them into their possible future self. This meant that the final outcome would result in a creepy result as this is something that is very distant for a young person. Also, using young people enabled a strong contrast between the two. When capturing the original images before I edited them, I made sure the models imitated the facial expression the old person was pulling so that when editing, the outcome would be more successful and effective.
CLARA
AFTER
TOM
AFTER
SECOND RESPONSE:
As this exam unit is primarily focused on time, i decided to do my second response using something that is very prominent in the present day: Social Media. I used the Snapchat App to create this effect and then edited the outcomes on Photoshop. I again used people that were very young to result in a creepy, almost humorous outcome.
EXPANSION:
BOBBY NEEL ADAMSBobby Neel Adams was born in North Carolina and currently lives in Arizona. He is a photographer who has exhibited worldwide. I am focusing on one of his pieces in particular: Family Tree. Family Tree is a series of photographs capturing a combination of two images of related family members in one image. To accomplish this the two family members are positioned in the same pose and same place so that once combined it creates an accurate effective response. Bobby Neel Adam edits these photographs manually by physically re-putting the images back together to present an analog. Below are some images I took from his collection to use as inspiration for my response.
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I believe all these images are very effective. They all represent different sides of society and their characteristics are strongly displayed, presenting the variety within society. On the image to the left, it is clear, this man, and assuming his father, both represent a strong bold role with an assertive status, this was especially presented by their clothing, striking pose and empowering eye contact. The women and boy in the centre present that of a different nature. It is clear from the image they live a more laid back life. Whereas, the two women on the right display a unique demure, a more cultured one. However, despite their physical differences I think this concept is very clever. Families are constantly discussing whether their child looks like one parent or the other and physical appearance is the most striking and primary evidence of genetic connection. I think these images represent past, present and future. The past is represented through the child/ or younger adult showing what the adult previously looked like. Present via what both family members look like that in the present day and future through what the older family member resembles, as this is what the younger child will inevitably look like.
MY RESPONSE:
For this first response I used my dad and brother as i think are especially similar, which was made obvious once the edit was completed. For the second response I used my mum and grandma to compare the difference, however I think the result wasn't as effective as the first. When using photoshop I edited the the split between the two people with an random line rather than straight as i wanted to imitate Bobby Neel Adam's style exactly, despite the fact he used film and physically teared the images apart and put them back together.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
LOCATION
This looks at the ageing aspects on the earth and the environment. It also focuses on human influence and how the different ways we shape and change the land.
TAYLOR JONES
Taylor Jones' idea for this concept occurred May 2012, when he was sitting with his family in Ontario and his mother pulled out an old photograph. This photograph and old photo album was filled with hundreds of shots, one of them was his younger brother at his third birthday party- which coincidently was where his brother was sitting, in the exact place in the image. Within a couple of days, his concept had flowered, his blog which he later named Dear Photograph had gone viral with around ten million hits and being named one of Time magazine's 10 best sites. This concept was so successful that he currently gets 20,000 hits a day and people are constantly imitating his work and creating there own response, just like i aim to too.
I think these images are very emotive. Reflecting and reminiscing on the past is something that often appeals to a wide range of audiences which I believe is primarily why this concept is so successful and widely imitated by many. The photograph on the left is very effective. The two young boys create a focus for the image but also the background shows an interesting factor, the fact that the interior of the home has stayed the same, which shows that the homeowners form a deep bond with the surroundings and are not impacted or influence by popular styles. The image in the middle is something that I believe appeals to many. The composition of this image demonstrates the love and intimacy between these lovers and how this place is obviously somewhere special. By recreating the image shows how this place is untouched, which almost strengthens the bond between the two lovers as though nothing has changed. The photograph on the left is efficacious, it is evident that is possibly the daughters first day at school, something very memorable and special to the parent. Thus once, again Taylor Jones is capturing something very emotive and memorable and going back to this place of great importance to see the effects of time and human intervening with nature to see how the place has adapted. Constantly, this artists is combining the past and present in a unique emotive form. I think the result is very effective and is primarily why so many people universally have copied his concept and recreated their own. I will try to recreate this in my work.
MY RESPONSE:
For this response, i wanted to imitate Taylor Jones' style by using images that are particular personal to me. So I reponsed with images around my school. I used images, provided by my teacher, which were images taken of what the school use to be like and then retook them to highlight the comparison. Below are my three images taken around North and South wing.
EXPANSION:
For this expansion, I am focusing on the same type of idea but with humans to present how with time the person has adapted through their appearance, style and physical size.
IRINA WERNINGIrina Werning was born in Buenos Aires. The Argentinan Photographer is most famous for her series "Back to the Future." With having an admiration for old photographs, she began to expand upon this. By allowing anyone to be part of her project, allowing the public to develop a fascination of how they have changed and evolved. This project enabled Irina Werning taking old photographs and recreating the same scene with utmost accuracy. This meant wearing the same clothes and same scenery in the background. Below are a couple pictures from her series, with i thought were particularly interesting.
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These three images represent the effective outcome. I chose these three images as i believe they are all very accurate and emotive. The first image shows how environmental factors influence the lifestyle and image one opts for when they grow up, here this women has changed by having lots of tattoos and piercings. In the centre pose, this image is very focused around his expression. By pulling the same pose from when he was a child, shows the effects of puberty and how it has changed his bone structure. However, in the last image, this is all about the family bonds and close relationships. This effective photograph is very emotive and shows how time has effected the appearance of all of these people. This is a good representation of past, present and/or future via presenting past and present values and appearances. This is something i will try and incorporate into my work.
FIRST RESPONSE:
For this response, I decided to use my brothers. This meant that someone personal to me could see there transition over the years, something that Werning focuses on doing for others. I tried to use pictures of the two of them as young as possible to really contrast the images. I then edited the new outcomes on photoshop trying to imitate the same style of the original photograph.
EXPERIMENTATION:
Below I have attempted to expand this concept even further by editing the present model back into the past image.
STRAND DEVELOPMENT
For this section, I will look at three different styles of responding to Past, Present and Future. Then i will expand upon one which will eventually led me to my final piece of this project.
FIRST STRAND:
OLD PHOTOGRAPHS:
For this strand, I will look at how time affects the aesthetical elements of my own home and reflect on old memories, whilst responding to the artist Taylor Jones.
SECOND STRAND:
SURFACE AREA:
For this strand, I will look at the effects of time on different surfaces presenting decomposition and decaying objects.
THIRD STRAND:
FASHION AND SUBCULTURE:
For this stand, I will focus on fashion and subculture in present day and the past and how it has adapted.
OLD PHOTOGRAPHS:
For this strand, I will look at how time affects the aesthetical elements of my own home and reflect on old memories, whilst responding to the artist Taylor Jones.
SECOND STRAND:
SURFACE AREA:
For this strand, I will look at the effects of time on different surfaces presenting decomposition and decaying objects.
THIRD STRAND:
FASHION AND SUBCULTURE:
For this stand, I will focus on fashion and subculture in present day and the past and how it has adapted.
FIRST STRAND:
OLD PHOTOGRAPHS
I decided to expand upon the Taylor Jones old photographs section but with more personal images, reflecting upon my past family life. So, I looked through my family photos and found some images of my home of past memories. I then using Taylor Jones' style captured the present version of these. I decided to expand upon this using more personal images as this is how the project started reminsing on old images and also because I think this is primarily what the project is based upon. The fact that you capture an image to remember the time or place, makes it have an immediate connection with the person and thus with knowledge i decided to use images of my past home as this is something that is very personal to me.
BEFORE
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AFTER
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EXPANSION:
For a further response, I decided to expand upon the "Dear Photograph" concept by combining the old and new photographs together so the comparison between the two is made even more prominent. Again, I decided to take these images around my home as this is much more personal to me and I can personally see how my home has evolved and changed to suit current fashions and interior styles.
SECOND STRAND:
SURFACE AREA
For this strand, i decided to combine the element of present and past with physical effects of ageing on the environment. I am focusing this strand on items that have been left to decay and break down.
COLIN WINTERBOTTOM
Colin Winterbottom is a photographer who offers a fresh perspective on photographing diverse surfaces. Below are images from his 'Elegant Corrosion' segment which explores the effects of ageing. Colin Winterbottom's use of changing old rotting or decomposing objects into a whole new concept consumed with beauty results in effective and complex results.
"Some people don't want to know where the photos are from. Others are like, 'Where did you find these?'" Winterbottom said.
"Some people don't want to know where the photos are from. Others are like, 'Where did you find these?'" Winterbottom said.
I think these images are very effective. Using a close up perspective creates a whole new unique image, almost recreating the object into something that it isn't. By doing this and using interesting angles intrigues the viewer further as its almost as though they are guessing what it is, making them consume the image for longer. Also, by photographing closer perspectives using a macro lens emphasises the different textures present on the surface areas showing how the environment and different aspects have affected its appearance. The photographs above appear as bright dynamic patterns which again supply confusion in where the photo was taken. I think this is past, present and future for the element that it is showing the affects of time on the different surface areas. I will attempt to imitate this in my response as I believe this is very effective and is a direct presentation of the effects of ageing.
FIRST RESPONSE:
For this response, I decided to take photographs at school in the destruct swimming pool. This allowed to capture images of decay presented in many different forms; as mould, rotting, decomposition and more. Below is my contact sheet and selected images.
SELECTED IMAGES:
I then chose the best out of the images above and edited them on photoshop to enhance the colours and deepen the contrast to create a more effective response and to enhance the decayed appearance of these objects.
EXPANSION:
As an expansion to the photographs I took in the destruct pool, I selected some items from the images above and create a college out of them. Then below I made the college into a reflected pattern, using photoshop.
SECOND RESPONSE:
For the second response, I collected some items from the pool and photographed them in the studio. This then allows for me to capture images from a closer perspective which showed all the detailed decomposing and decaying aspects.
SELECTED IMAGES:
I then edited these images on photoshop adjusting the levels, colour balance, brightness and contrast and hue/saturation. This then resulted in more textured and dramatic responses.
THIRD STRAND:
FASHION AND SUBCULTURE
For this strand, i decided to photograph past fashions. Fashion, I believe is often disregarded as something that doesn't contain anything of importance. However, this is a common miscommunication and its importance in society should be more recognised. Fashion isn't just clothing. Fashion is an art, a form of expressing ones self, without verbal interaction. Fashion controls all aspects of society and allows for different people to fit into their own subcultures, a place where they belong. Fashion forms friendship, allowing a social aspects to it. Especially, with the new futuristic element of social media becoming ever more prominant, particualrly for the youth, more apps are being created such as Depop or using Instagram to highlight and encourage this relationship over clothing. It has the power to give an individual confidence and sometimes even authority to do what they want. Fashion is a major part of the economy, from high street store to designer store captivating the minds of many spending the money they earned during their hours of labour. Fashion is important.
DEVELOPMENT 1:
ID MAGAZINE
ID Magazine has built its reputation on being a constant source of inspiration in the fashion culture. It began small with a focused dedication to the street style of London punk in the 1980's and rapidly grew in popularity and became a magazine in position of new fashions and styles. The magazine has evolved a lot since the pre-digital days into an iconic magazine that consistently documents fashion and contemporary culture, and in some elements has contributed to defining it too. The website continues to encourage creativity for its viewers and thus is primarily why its editorial content still manages to present inspiring and suprising aspects.
These three images are all from a series of photographs taken aimed to recreate authentic subcultures today and the history behind them. This emphasises fashion fads to the extreme and takes inspiration from previous subcultures, and infuses them into current countercultures and trends today. The first image on the left is replicating punk, with the doc martins and "shocking" offensive clothing, this is something typical to that of punk. The image in the centre is taking on a risqué grunge role, which huge jewellery and tattoos and generally quite a dark attire. Lastly, the image on the right is obviously aimed towards the 90s. This is shown through all aspects their clothing, their hair and the iconic acid house yellow smily faced logo badge position on the girls lower hip. I really like these images for the fact that they are presenting different fashions in a clever effective form. I will try to recreate this in my work and when expanding on different developments of my fashion and subculture segment.
MY RESPONSE:
For this response, I wanted to present fashion at its most scrutinised situation, which I believe occurs in youth culture. The need to look good, have the best, most expensive, rarest items is a factor that is very prominent in a youth society, especially in a school where your direct competition is all around you. So, i decided to take my response to this ID Magazines article and shoot at school of different peoples fashions. I think this is a good way to respond as i think this is the age where teenagers are looking to rebel and look and feel special or different which can be illustrated through their clothing.
EXPANSION
For this expansion, I created a college of all the dark clothing and then the brighter clothing from the above. This shows the majority opt for darker clothing which reveals how the majority of young people dress in society.
DARK CLOTHING
LIGHT CLOTHING:
DEVELOPMENT 2:
MANNEQUIN PHOTOGRAPHY
I decided to development the fashion and subculture concept by photographing mannequins. Mannequins are commonly used in fashion and industry to sell and promote popular and new products. I toke these images in different locations to show how style adapts depending on what audience its aiming for.
FIRST RESPONSE
To represent the different fashions and countercultures that exist in the modern world, I photographed mannequins from various locations. The first three images were taken in a individual store I found in Waterloo. However, the image below was taken when I visited Barcelona last summer. Finally, the last two images were taken in Selfridges. These present different fashions but also show how they appeal to different target markets, giving a direct indication of how many countercultures exist.
SECOND RESPONSE
For this second response, I decide to focus on dolls and children's toys. The clothing, body shapes, face shapes, makeup and general appearance changes over the years and adapts depending on popular trends and fashion fads.
BEFORE
Below are some popular dolls in the 1960s. Here you can see the clothing is very simple and homely aimed to appeal to young children. The bodies of these dolls tend to be child-like and all their faces are of a youthful, innocent complexion. However, the effects of time have impacted the appearance of some of the dolls making them appear rather creepy.
AFTER
These models below are Barbie and Bratz dolls and are dolls I used to play with when I was a child, so they are relatively current and much more updated than the dolls above. The Barbie presents a very skinny model with extremely unrealistic long legs, imitating an emphasised stature of a model. The face is very small and dainty and has large blue eyes, a tiny nose and average sized lips. The Bratz doll is of the same physic however, her face is much larger in comparison to her body and her eyes and lips are extremely large, almost emphasised presenting to these young girls that these two aspects on a womens face signify beauty. I photographed images of the dolls without clothes to present their impossible unrealistic body shapes, and how different they have adapted from before, in the 1960s, where body shapes such as these weren't introduced to girls who from such a young age were taught that this is what they should look like. However, the clothing that they do wear is almost imitating a young adolescent role, something that would appeal to young girls who look up to that age.
DEVELOPMENT 3:
JOHN FRENCH
John French was born March 1907 and died during the 1960's. He was an English fashion and portrait photographer who created a new from of fashion photography pioneering photographs involving reflected natural light and low contrasts. His work originated with him being a commercial artist and becoming a photographic director in a advertising studio before World War Two. However, in 1948 he began to set up his own photographic studio working with people from with the Daily Express to pioneer his new from of fashion photography. In 1942 he married a fashion journalist who enabled his work to be displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum and influenced his importance in the role of fashion photography.
I believe all these images are particularly interesting. They are represent a particular style in a moment of time capturing the lives of many. These three girls all are posing in very dramatic, flamboyant poses, reflecting the glamour and elegance of women at the time. The image on the left presents a young women, her makeup like Twiggys and with an almost off the shoulder garment. The composition of the photo with the combination of using natural light to catch particular parts of her face, enhances her strong bone structure. The centre image is very striking. Her gaze is immediately connected with the audience. Again, French has used natural light which allows for their face structure to be much more defined. Lastly, the image on the right is particularly effective. I liked this image as I thought it was different from the two before, whilst still maintaining his style of using natural night and low contrasts. Her pose, clothing, makeup and cigarette all represent the style and glamour of the sixties. I think his style of photographing is very effective and offered new, unique images, totally alien to society at the time. I believe this is focused on the past and this is something I will also do in my response.
MY RESPONSE:
For this response i focused on imitating the 1960's fashion and John French's photographic style. I put my model in typical clothing associated with the 1960's which i chose looking at fashions and models. such as the iconic Twiggy who was extremely prominent in the sixties. To imitate Twiggy's style I put her famous makeup on the model. I also wanted to symbolise the hippy, psychedelic element on the sixties which i present through the her earrings.
DEVELOPMENT 4:
RICHARD BRAINE
Richard Braine isn't a very famous photographer, so there is much information to find about him online. I discovered his images on a website called "Photographic Youth Music Cultural Archive." With the minimal information available, i found out that the photos below are all images captured in 1975 at Nottinghill Carnival. He amongst other photographers and press were drawn to the large sound systems attracting revellers. It is clear Richard Braine is capturing teenage youth rebellion in its rawest, natural form. Below are photographs he captures of different youth countercultures rebelling to society.
I really like the way Rihcard Braine captures his images. Above shows three examples of his effective photography. The way he composes his images make it seems as though he is part of it, resulting in a natural outcome, almost as though he is documenting something historical. The first image shows a group of young adults in what looks like a punk rock concert or scene, indicated by their clothing and attitude. Punk was a counterculture popular to the late 70s and 80s and primarily about rebelling to society and causing shock within it. The middle photograph was taken at Nottinghill Carnival, a place notorious for youth defiance, a place of freedom. Lastly, this image seems to be two adolescent men boxing. The act of fighting, or violence in itself is a form of rebellion in society. Constantly, Richard Braine seems to be documenting periods of time of different youth countercultures rebelling. However, this is an important aspect to ones life, its almost how young adults discover themselves, and see what subculture they belong to or choose to be in and thus in that they then express themselves and their identity through their own fashion and personality.
MY RESPONSE
For this response, I used photos I have taken over the years I have been at fortismere. I think they are the most appropriate response, as rather than recreating and imitating the work of Braine's unnaturally, I decided to use images of youth culture today in twenty first century socierty. I think this is an effective response, as my friends and I are part of youth culture today so therefore, I am presenting it truthfully. Youth culture today doesn't have such extreme segregations as before, there aren't necessarily as distinct fads or trends that different people possess, its all a lot more monotone. The same values and beliefs still exist but in a more hidden form. Teenagers still rebel to their parents and society, but I believe the extremist aspect has been irradiated from the twenty first century youth culture. Also, to make sure i was imitating Braine's style, I edited all these images on photoshop to make them black and white.
VISUAL MINDMAP
Development four: for this last development i wanted to look at youth culure today so I imitated the style of Richard Braine's.
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Development three: I then looked at John French's photography as he revolutionised fashion photography and imitated his style and composition by styling my model in 1960's clothing and makeup.
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I then expanded to developmeNt two with children dolls to show fashions appealing to this target audience in two different eras.
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FINAL PIECE
ARTIST INFLUENCE:
ID MAGAZINE VIDEO
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LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION FINAL PIECE EXHIBTION
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ID MAGAZINE VIDEO:
For my final piece, I have been extremely inspired my this video that ID Magazine posted on their youtube. This video consists of the "Club" culture and beauty throughout the ages and how it has evolved and adapted to suit current trends and popular styles. I am very inspired by this video and thus i have decided to recreate my own representation of fashion and subculture over the years and the current trends.
LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION EXHIBITION:
This exhibition displayed all the London College of Fashion Final pieces. It combined the various elements, future, fashion and music. For this exhibition, it wasn't just about fashion but also included a film element to it. This is where students displayed there work through the combination of fashion and music, in a futuristic, unique form. Below is a video of the whole exhibition, that I visited and images I took when there. This is primarily what inspired me to develop the fashion presentation through a film. However, I will attempt to include all three aspects of past, present and future of fashions and subcultures into one.
IMAGES FROM THE EXHIBITON:
MY RESPONSE
Throughout subcultures over the years rebellion against political and societal normality is a common theme present. From 60's psychedelia to 90's acid house, the need to break out and form something different and special has always been a catalyst/driving factor. In this video below i wanted to recreate those subcultures and document the look and feel through my two models clothes, actions, locations, colours, composition and editing. I will then compare these strong visual and ideologies with todays youth culture by interviewing a few people associated with youth culture and what they see for the future in another video further down. What I noticed that their clothing was very dull and conservative in comparison to times before the twenty-first century society, which almost presents a direct reflection of the time and type of society we live in. I decided to use the same two models throughout from the inspiration of Samuel Fosso from the "Performing for the camera" exhibition and because I thought it created a sense that these two girls were looking for the subculture that they fit into and how they were going to identify themselves to the world.
Fashion & Subculture from Molly Fenn on Vimeo.
Below I have explained each section of the video. I have included the mainstream subculture at the time and how I presented it through clothing, music, makeup, styles of shooting the video and editing. I have also included some edited screenshots from each era/subculture.
SHOTS:
PAST:
60'S PSYCADELIC
I began this film in the 60's as I believe this is when youth culture really started to come alive. There has always been a bohemian underground but it was often not celebrated, until the 60's. Then formed a community of like-minded, anti establishment, anti-war, pro-rock'n'roll individuals, most of who had a common interest in recreational drugs. They saw peace, exploring a widened area of consciousness, love and sexual experimentation as more worthy of their attention. The consumerist lifestyle was often not appealing to them, nevertheless this did not led to them objectifying others who chose to live like such. So, to portray this time period of youth rebellion I filmed the whole thing consumed by psychedelic patterns and scenes to reflect the recreational druggy mindset and make these girls attempt to portray the lifestyle of this "community." I researched clothing at the time and the popular patterns and styles so that the two models were wearing the appropriate wear, I also made sure the girls modelled in a certain style, one that showed a relaxed but confident attitude. This would then reflect the nature of psychedelia but also present confidence reflecting the rebellion. I then edited this scene filled with close ups of the two girls, and lots of smiling shoots to imitate their happiness and freedom. I also slowed down the speed of some of the videos to represent the cloudy mindset of those due to the heavy involvement with recreational drugs. Below is a series of shots from the shoot.
70'S DISCO
Seventies Disco was born on Valentine's Day 1970. For the first eight years, Disco was an underground movement. Then the film Saturday Night Fever was released and helped turn the simmering subculture into a mainstream fad. The Disco scene appealed to many, surpassing mass trends and fads, thus why different populations were attracted to the disco scene. This also was majorly youth culture. From the generation of teenagers who missed out on the sixties counterculture revolution, envious of the hippies expanding their freedom, it was there turn. However, a new different counterculture was then born, in quest of being different to the hippies, forming a strong aspect of sophistication within the disco scene. It created an almost glamourised upgrade to the youth culture of the sixties, still including the sexual liberation but in a more classy form. The Disco scene was also popular as it offered a taste of freedom for three other subcultures; Gays, Hispanics and African Americans, which diminished the decades of margiinalisation for these minorities finding a surppotive home in the disco. Therefore, I wanted to encompass all these factors in my shoot of the disco scene. I chose quite a plain, destruct background, to enhance the clothing and girls, emphasising their glamour but also to represent the fact that the Disco scene was an underground movement for the majority of the seventies. One of the models had a tight one piece body suit which flared at the bottom, the other velvet high waist flares with a matching belt and sequinned top. I got one of the girls to wear sunglasses during half the shoot to add a more sophisticated "cool" element to her look. For the modelling and acting element to this shoot, i told the girls to focus on having fun and imitating popular dances of the time, which both i believe resulted in a positive, accurate portrayal of the time. Below are some shots I took whilst filming.
80'S PUNK
Punk subculture was born late seventies to early eighties. It is a culture that centres on loud, aggressive punk rock music, and involves a diverse array of ideologies and fashions. The subculture is majorly characterised by anti-establishment views and promotes individual freedom. Punks seek to outrage propriety with fashions that often consisted of offensive clothing, leather jackets, Doc Marten boots, tattoos, jewellery and body modification, which i attempted to copy in my portrayal. The Punk scene was majorly adolescents forming a different rebellious from of expressing themselves. The music was a major part to this counterculture: probably one of the earliest recognizable punk influences was Lou Reed and his band the Velvet Underground. The punk concert was unique in all its form, it created this show made to break the barriers between the audience and the performer whilst shocking the mainstream society becoming a staple factor of a punk rock concert. I really wanted to include the majority of these aspects on this imitation of the time throughout different elements. First, through the location, so i found a destruct tunnel filled with graffiti, to present a gritty vibe. Then, i made sure the models maintained attitude throughout. This scene was not about having fun but presenting themselves in a shocking, scary, moody state, especially through the close up of the girls. I also make them dance in a very outrageous, crazy way to create this interesting and accurate response. Next, for the editing of this scene I sped a lot of the shoots up to imitate the aggressive punk rock music scene and contrasted them with normal speed shots with one of the models maintaing a viscous look. Below are some shots from the shoot.
90'S UV RAVE- ACID HOUSE SCENE
The Acid House scene was at its height during the nighties. This revolution began in basements and warehouses and then later was expanded by clubs. Shoom was the first club to adopt the iconic smiley logo that became synonymous with acid house. Drug use was frequently involved with youth subculture and the rave scene in the 90s. The new drug, Ectasy became ever more prominent almost obligatory to the rave scene changing the social and cultural habits of the young generation. The popularity of this counterculture swarmed and it is now thought to be the biggest youth revolution since the 60's and its rebellion to the majority consumerist society. As the rave scene grew with popularity, the original most evangelical early devotees distanced themselves from the new events, with them becoming evermore commercial. Also, the acid house scene was appealing to all as it didn't cater to only one part of society but all,
creating this multi-racial environment. So, when filming this revolution, it was difficult to capture the rave side of it as they are often huge events, so I decided to use a UV light and recreate the scene through that, as i thought this included the element of drug use and trippiness. Using the UV body paint created a sense that these girls were present but also that they weren't which i thought was effective as this imitated the effects of drug use, something very prominent at raves and clubs. Again, i made the models act in a sort of dreamy mindset, so with very slow actions and sped most of the footage up to create this interesting outcome imitating the drug element. I edited some of the scenes with a negative effect- this created a strobe like effect, again another thing very prominent to rave culture.
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PRESENT:
CURRENT STREET WEAR-
"Chav meets hipster"
"Chav meets hipster"
With night clubs in the UK closing at an alarming rate with nearly half of them completely closed in the past 10 years and a considerable larger amount of young students pursuing their education and going to university, these two factors have ultimately contributed to a society rimmed with the belief that rebellion isn't necessity, like it was seen before. Those in search of subculture or a place of rebellious belonging will find difficulty in doing so. The modern world is excepting less subcultures and the little that do exist are becoming an outsider to society, making it increasing difficult for young people to immerse themselves in one. Youth culture does still exist and is trying to rebel but now a strong political government is trying to preventing them from doing so. So, for my current or present representation of youth culture i decided to imitate the style of most teenagers in the UK, however, dramatising it. The look almost took on a "chav meets hipster" style. This involved different branded clothing such as adidas, nike, burberry and more, combining the element of sports lux in an unusual, almost more casual form. For this shoot, I used a graffitied barrier at the end of a road and focused it around that, I decided to use this place as I thought it was a location I could imagine people actually hanging out at. For the editing part of the shoot, I decided to edit all the footage in black and white as I wanted a stark contrast between the colourful visuals before and compare them to now. This would then emphasis the fact that society and youth culture now is very bland and minimalistic compared to before. Then for the modelling aspect, I told these girls to dramatise there usual actions and add a more stereotypical moody teenage spin to it. For the dancing scenes, I simply asked the girls to dance how they would if positioned at a party but obviously to an extent it was dramatised for the camera. Below are some images from the shoot.
FUTURE:
For this section, I couldn't portray future fashions and subcultures as ultimately I can't predict the future. So, for the future element I decided to interview a selection of people who belong to different subcultures and have very interesting, unique fashion senses and ask them a series of questions. The results were very interesting. When editing this last piece I began by using the film and showing the person speaking but by the end of it I simply used their voice over a series of different shots of them. I did this on purpose to show the audience how anxious life is now and how teenagers often worry their life isn't being as for filled as it was for adolescents before this time. There is almost this constant pressure to almost be 'cool' and rebel. The anxiousness created is a problematic societal element with the youth generation so to present this even further in the film I used slow emotional music in the background and didn't show them directly voicing their opinions on camera. This then presents a lack of confidence to express themselves, which is something very prominent in modern society.
ANALYSIS OF VIDEO:
Below I have explained each person in the video and their opinions. I think this was particularly interesting as each person had such different opinions and forms of expression through their clothing.
This is Ellen. Fashion is a major part of her life as she is interested in image and how she presents herself. She takes a lot of pride in what she wears and spends a lot of her time and money investing in staple pieces to look good and create her own identity. However, she believes that people should wear what they feel comfortable in, not for anyone else. In the future, she believes women in street wear are going to be more recognised and popular body shapes that are currently glamourised by the media are going to change. She has a strong belief that the plus size industry is going take over and there will be less models "like Twiggy." She believes feminism and masculinity will change for the future. Society will become much less judgemental towards both men and women for their believes and appearance.
This is Gus. His style is a combination of skate and Japanese culture with the influence of brands such as Supreme and Palace. His style is focused on aesthetically pleasing himself and the people he surrounds himself with. Looking good is a very important aspect to his life and he feels this is a different form of expressing oneself. He sees the future fashions being a lot more androgynous, especially with Young Thug and Jaden Smith wearing skirts, starting the trend of diminishing gender roles in fashion. For the future generally, with the rise of Donald Trump, he believes society and laws will become stricter and a lot more liberal or conservative.
This is Anya. Her style is more alternative. Her emo attire is focused on dark clothing and often references to the music she listens to. To her, fashion is all about expressing yourself and making an impression of yourself to society. She believes fashion is constantly repeating itself, so for the future she thinks past fashions will reappear and become a popular craze. She sees the future world being much more acceptive, previously being homosexual relationships or being involved in an inter-racial relationship wasn't accepted but is now, so she thinks much more elements such as these will start to be introduced and accepted as the norm in society.