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PORTFOLIO RESEARCH

BRIEF Through photography I tried to illustrate well all of the aspects of the media that in my opinion reinforces sexism and women objectification. Altogether, I did six main photoshoots plus photos for articles. Each of the main photoshoots touches a different problem. Within this research document I fully described the concept and my vision for each photoshoot. Due to the pandemic I found doing photoshoots a bit challenging, however I finally found a way to illustrate

my thoughts about sexism and hypersexualization in the media. Three of the photoshoots are done using a home studio set, and three other ones are done outdoors. Realizing the photography part of the project motivated me a lot as I had a total influence on the final outcome as I decided about every aspect of the photoshoot by myself. Moreover, I find it really motivating, because the whole project concerns the theme that is really close to my heart.

to enjoy being a woman we must change the world we live in.

Still life

Photography

https://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/gallery/21410/15/ rebecca-storm

ART

mess

Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie

woman

Still LIFE

The composition that I created aims to show the objectification of women and unanchievable expectations imposed on her. I decided to put a Barbie doll wrapped in a meter to illustrate appearance expectations imposed on women. I put a Barbie in a wine glass to illustrate objectification of women. Like alcohol. a woman becomes a pleasure, an entertainment (mostly for the male part of audience).

EXPERIMENTATIONS

In this composition I want to show a woman that is enslaved. Enslaved by appearance expectations, society’s judgement, gender stereotypes, fear of being hurt.

Home Studio Ideas Due to the current situation caused by the pandemic, I decided to present a few ideas that will enable getting good and interesting photos even if we will not be allowed to leave our homes.

Experimentation with backgrounds

Bath

Projector

Close-ups

Colorful bulb

HOME STUDIO

I decided to buy a home studio, because due to the pandemic I am back in my family home and I do not have an access to university’s studio. I find buying a small home studio the best way possible (taking into account its cost) to get photos of good quality with great lightening.

LAYOUT IDEAS

PHOTOSHOOT 1 CONCEPT: My first photoshoot talks about the appearance expectations imposed on women by the society. Of course, there are exceptions, but we must admit that even though the situation is improving, the society still demands woman to be thin, have perfect skin, to be sexy, shaved and feminine. In my photoshoot I will present a girl that cares more about the comfort than society’s approval. She will not wear makeup and will be dressed in loose, a bit oversized and comfy clothes. Her style, poses and face expressions will present effortless attitude and naturalness.

MODEL CHOICE

By the attitude of the model I wanted to present the free youth, without any gender stereotypes. A woman that is free of any pressure, and in result happy.

STYLING

I wanted to maintain the entire photoshoot in effortless style. For this photoshoot I used mine and my friend’s clothes. Moreover, I bought some clothes in charity shops.

NO MAKEUP For this kind of photoshoot it was evident for me to choose no makeup option. Makeup for women became a standard, and I would say even an obligation. Most women do not feel comfortable when they are leaving home with a bare face. I want to show that women should not succumb to the social pressure and that they look pretty without maleup.

POSES INSPIRATION

I chose poses that are relaxed and shows effortless attitude.

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

PHOTOSHOOT 2

CONCEPT:

In this photoshoot I will touch the subject of treating women as objects by comparising them to Barbie. Objectification and sexualization of women is visible in every media and I want to present its caricature. In the music industry there is plenty of music videos starring male rappers surrounded by almost naked girls. The same happens in the film industry. There is much more pressure put on actress’s appearance than on appearance of her male collegues. Moreover, there is much more scenes with undressed women than undressed men. Another industry, where such a phenomena takes place is the advertising industry. There is a lot of sexist advertisments all around. Even the big names fashion houses try to sell their products by bringing a woman down to a sexual desire. All of these industries tend to underestimate the value of women and treat them as a products.

MODEL CHOICE

By the attitude of the model I wanted to present a caricature of the image given to woman by the media. I chose as a model a young and blonde girl that could perfectly play a Barbie.

STYLING

I wanted to maintain the entire photoshoot in Barbie style. I opted for cute, a bit old-fashioned stylings. I used mine and my friands’ clothes. Moreover, I bought some clothes in charity shops.

MAKEUP

POSES INSPIRATION I wanted my model to pose in an unnatural way, as if she was made of plastic.

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

However, after a consultation I was given an advice to do not present it in ”Barbie aesthetics” and change the pages to make them look more contemporary. I followed the advice and changed my initial idea and presented the photos in a completely different way .

PHOTOSHOOT 3

CONCEPT:

In this photoshoot I will touch the subject of women representation in video clips. Rap/hip hop is the most women discriminating genre of music due to its often sexist lyrics and video clips that bring woman down to a sexual object, men’s toy. Moreover, this style of music is hugely dominated by men and if a female rapper appears she usually wears very sexy and skimpily clothes showing most of her body. At the same time male rappers are usually fully dressed. I believe it has a very negative impact on the society’s perception of women. The idea for the photoshoot is to dress up a woman in the style that male rappers have, without showing up much body. I believe that if we could see more female rappers dressed in such a way, the society would no longer see a woman as a sexual toy. It disgusts me to see fully dressed rappers surrounded by almost naked women. Moreover, this occures almost only in this composition and not the other way around.

MODEL CHOICE

In this photoshoot the model has a very confident attitude. I chose this model because of her sharp facial features.

STYLING

I chose kind of rap style, unisex clothings, that contrast a lot with the image that most of the mainstream female rappers represent. My model wears very minimalist makeup. I used mine’s and model’s clothes.

POSES INSPIRATION

I chose poses that represent a strong, confident attitude.

LOCATION

I searched kind of urban locations that would suit to the image of a rapper coming from suburbs.

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

PHOTOSHOOT 4

CONCEPT:

The aim of this photoshoot is to show in an exaggerated manner how the media presents women. In my opinion they focus too much on their bodies and appearance, what results in taking away their personality and identity. The society still judges too often how a woman looks like, instead of judging what she does and who she is. Women bodies are brought down to sexual objects and their achievements are often in the background. Also, why most of female celebrities are thin and pretty? I do not think there is more talented beautiful women than talented, but not meeting ”beauty standards” women. To bring the issue into the light I am going to present a model in very sexy clothing with a balaclava on her head, which will be a symbol of taken identity. I think using a balaclava is a good idea, as in fact thanks to our face we recognize each other, and this is a symbol of our uniqueness.

MODEL CHOICE

I chose a model that has a body that meets beauty standards. Long legs, thin waist etc. I think thanks to this my message is even clearer.

STYLING

I chose very sexy clothes that make the female body the centre of attention. I used my clothes and I also bought some in charity shops.

POSES INSPIRATION

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

PHOTOSHOOT 5

CONCEPT:

In this photoshoot I will represent the caricature of makeup, because the fact that we are more used to see a woman with makeup than without it, scares me. Beauty industry makes huge money on women, that succumbed to pressure from the society and the media feeding us with unnatural images of women. They make us believe they cannot be beautiful as they are. Moreover the fact that women wear makeup and men do not gives a message, that men can be handsome as they are, and do not need any gadgets, while women must cover their real face by a set of cosmetics. I think we should see more women as they are and the media should move away from false eyelashes, unnaturally pouty lips and perfect skin that does not exist.The social media filters do not help to accept women as they are. Cosmetics brands seem to say ”You are beautiful... But not as you are”.

MODEL CHOICE

I chose a model that represents a confident attitude. She is a mature woman. She reflects well an attempt to maintain a youthful appearance.

STYLING

In this photoshoot I will do kind of artistic makeup looks that aim to show that in fact woman’s face is treated as a painting canvas. All the cosmetics that beauty industry sells are in fact like paints and taking a rational point of view, it is an absurd that we still paint our faces like the primitive people. In fact, taking into consideration makeup, there is not much difference between us and tribes living hundreds and even thousands years ago. Makeup changed the form, but it is still there.

POSES INSPIRATION

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

LOCATION

For this photoshoot I useed the natural light. I want to use a white sheet as a background.

PHOTOSHOOT 6

CONCEPT:

The aim of this photoshoot is to show that we should not judge women on the base of what they are wearing. Unfortunately, the superficial attitude of the media still tries to classify women through the prism of their appearance. According to the stereotypical thinking, that we can often see in films and other media, a woman dressed up in a suit usually is a businesswoman. Woman dressed up in a floral dress seems to have a delicate personality. Woman wearing mini skirt wants to be sexy. Woman with heavy boots on and a flannel shirt - is a rebel. Woman without makeup - does not care about her look or have depression etc. The judgemental nature of the society and the way the media tries to classify women irritate me a lot. In this photoshot I decided to mix different styles in one outfit to make a judgement more difficult and to confuse the reader.

MODEL CHOICE

For my models I chose girls that according to the modeling agencies probably do not meet the standards. But in my publication I want to be inclusive and represent all women.

MODEL CHOICE

STYLING

In this photoshoot I wanted to present a mix of various styles. Unusual combinations of clothes aim to make the judgement more difficult. When it comes to makeup I fitted it to the styling. Clothes that I useed belong to me, my model and I bought some of them in a charity shop.

POSES INSPIRATION

I collected most of my visual inspiration on Pinterest, which I find very useful in this type of work.

PINTEREST INSPIRATION BOARD

THE END