Blog 2: THEMES REFLECTION

I remember, at the beginning of last year, applying for my place in the Fashion Photography course, this Better Lives unit was one of the main things I was looking forward to. I was finally going to have some insight on what the big names of the industry were talking about, their jargon. The terms diversity, social responsibility and sustainability were, at last, going to be part of my everyday vocabulary.

Progressing through anything in life my motto had been “knowledge is power”. Now, how do I tune my knowledge to its full potential?
In order to puzzle out what kind of impact you want to have as a fashion practitioner or artist in general, I believe it is primordial to be aware of what has impacted you – what has shaped you.
Listening to all these lectures has rapidly put that idea to the test.

For a while, I’d been going through my lecture notes in hope to find a guiding thread throughout my interests. Frankly, that was quite hard, as my mindset was filtering my research. I was looking to completely shift the way I worked, remodel who I was as an artist. Then it occurred to me, that that wasn’t the reason these lectures were given to us. Simply, these are essential supplements that our craft needs. Preparing us the be the change that this world needs.

It still amazes when I realise that the people that I sit within in class and I are next up in the industry, preparing to take on the roles of the individuals we admire or completely dismiss. I see Better Lives as a provider of tools to repair and support the industry, an ancient frail structure, but mostly materials to build a new and durable one.