Blog Post 2 – Themes Reflection
Within my experience of studying the unit – ‘Better lives’, the theme that has stood out to me the most has been ‘Diversity.’ This is because I find the specific theme of cultural appreciation very interesting. Therefore I have chosen to speak about how the lecture- Representation by Teleica Kirkland has influenced my way of working within my contemporary portrait photography project.
Telecia started off by talking about what diversity actually is and I think this was a really interesting thing to break down and understand before talking about it within a fashion context. Telecia then went on to speak about why it is necessary, followed by cultural appropriation. Telecia used the quote ‘The definition of cultural appropriation is the use of one culture’s symbols, artefacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture – regardless of intent, ethics, function, or outcome.’ – Richard. A. I think the key phrase here is ‘the use’, by using one cultures symbols or rituals etc. we have to do this appropriately and with knowledge. Within the fashion industry there are repeat offenders at using other cultural artefacts for their own ‘aesthetic’ or style. One being Marc Jacobs, especially within their SS16 show where the models wore large prosthetic dreadlocks as headpieces for ‘style’ without any acknowledgement of cultural or historical context to the appropriated culture.
After being educated about large fashion brands failure to use other cultures symbols, genres or artefacts appropriately so they can call themselves ‘diverse’, I looked into cultural appropriation within fashion photography as that Is the current course I am studying within better lives. I found a photo shoot that had been done in 2017 on i-D’s website by Thalia Gochez really inspiring and it influenced my idea of diversity within photography. Thalia explored cultural appropriation and the effects of gentrification within her photo shoot of ‘portraits of women of colour living in San Francisco as a way to highlight their lack of representation in the media.’ – i-D. Originally studying FSP (Fashion Styling and Production) myself as a styling student found the fact that fashion trends were being stolen from communities such as these women of colour without being acknowledged very disturbing, and this really influenced my way of thinking when practicing my styling and when taking photographs in my cotemporary portrait project.
Overall, the theme diversity within Better Lives has really influenced my way of researching into a culture’s artefacts and appreciating it not only just for its aesthetics but for its history and heritage also; as well as using it appropriately within my photography, and my styling practice.
REFERENCES:
Roger, R. A. (2006) – From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation: A Review and Reconceptualization of Cultural Appropriation