Blog 3- reflecting on your project outcome and your personal development.
As a student studying within fashion media and somebody who does a lot of photography in my spare time, I decided to choose the project ‘Contemporary Portrait photography’ to deepen my existing understanding of photography and to further understand this industry. It is undeniable that the Better Lives themes have influenced my way of thinking for my future practice and joining the contemporary portrait photography project has also furthered my personal development throughout my course.
Throughout the contemporary portrait photography project, we were introduced to more intimate works by project practitioner Danny Treacy. For example, a collection of images titled ‘Them’ where Treacy disfigured his own body by hiding the face to tell a story. Moreover, we were also introduced to many different guest lecturers that gave inspiring talks about their work as a photographer. All showed us that the most important aspect when shooting on set is connecting with your subject. Nonetheless other fundamental factors to think about when on set is having good lighting, mood boards and keeping organised.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the unit had to be moved online and during an online lecture Danny Treacy was giving, he spoke about the work of Cindy Sherman, a 1970’s photographer and whilst looking at her work, I noticed she included a lot of diversity within her photographs. She included people of different genders, ages and ethnicities. Her self-portraiture was also very eye-catching and beautiful. This made me question how ‘diverse’ the fashion industry actually is. There are still many problematic elements within fashion in which they haven’t taken diversity or inclusivity into account. I already know in my future practice I never want to exclude any kind of minority groups and always making sure that diversity and inclusivity is invariably present.
One of the activities during the unit was to go out into Shepherds Bush market and capture anything that inspired us. For me, it was the atmosphere and hustle and bustle of the market, just normal, ordinary people living their daily lives. I thought that this ‘scene’ captured a reality that nobody sees in magazines but really should be featured a lot more often. I agree that the fashion industry is progressing in terms of diversity, inclusivity, environmental impact etc but there is still a very long way to go.
Throughout the Better Lives unit, the recurring themes have made an impact on my way of thinking towards a more sustainable and diverse future for the fashion industry. Not only will I be applying these themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility into my future practice but throughout every aspect of my life. I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey throughout the Better Lives unit, and I hope more students will take action and apply to the themes.