Blog Post 2 – Themes reflection
I found it really interesting most of the Better Lives themes, but specifically, I think that the themes of Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Inclusion are all very relevant in my project of Better Lives Messaging Fashion. By taking notes on all the lectures I realize that the fashion industry just moves around the money and not around the art of fashion. These days the young generations are realizing the problems and injustices in the fashion industry and as creators and customers are demanding changes to the companies. An is really good news that a big number of fashion brands are changing their way of working to be more responsible in all the possible ways.
After listening to some lectures, I thought about how can I change my way of working in the present and in the future in order to be a more responsible part of the fashion industry as a fashion photographer. In lecture 4 I have reflected on how we are all responsible for creating an inclusive environment with all kinds of people, and even more the people who are dedicated to communicating fashion like the photographers. It is so important to create content that includes different types of models, including people of different ages and people with different types of disabilities in order to create a much more inclusive fashion environment. I think as a photographer I will change my future casting in order to be more inclusive.
As I learn in the Social Responsibility lecture, our practice has more meaning than what we think. The media as a lot of power in society and we should change the way it works in order to make it more inclusive. The diversity goes farther than just male and female or white or black skin. As a future fashion photographer after seeing these lectures, I know how I can improve my practice to create better lives, starting with a more inclusive casting and continuing to work with new people regardless of where they come from or how much money they have.
I am responsible for creating responsible content within society and content that cannot cause any harm to anyone, it is important to value all minorities and majorities of society to not to continue creating unfair content, this will maybe mean to change the scheme established in advertising. As well to hire people with mental problems who can work on the creation of content (so the staff is more diverse) is part of our responsibility as creatives, to give opportunities to all people who want to work in this industry and not the established scheme so far.
We can all improve the way we work to change the bad parts of this industry, and we can start by changing stereotypes and creating more human art. Giving more importance to equality and to art than to the profit.
Yushan Chen
26th April 2020 @ 11:52 pm
Bolg4: Peer Review
After a viewing some blogs, I decide to pick Carlos’ blog about how she reflects and think about the themes she chose. The reason why I choose to comment this blog is she has her own unique views on better lives unit, and the development direction of combining social responsibility and diversity is worthy of my thinking. And she pointed out that in the development process of the fashion industry, the impact of certain problems has become increasingly severe, customers and creators began to realize that it is particularly important to reform the brand.
The fashion industry began to change its dynasty, and at the same time it begins to assume the consequences and social responsibilities it should bear. As a fashion photographer, I can also deeply understand that a good teamwork and exchanges with people in other fields are very important ways of learning on fashion. In today’s society where various cultures are in conflict with each other, tolerance is the premise of all reasonableness. Whether we want to express a critique of a social problem or an understanding of another culture, we should first ensure that there are no any unnecessary ambiguities, then try to understand and learn from each other, and exchange ideas with other people. The interpretation of diversity is also a commitment to yourself and the social responsibilities included in the works.
In addition, I strongly agree with a sentence in this blog: “The diversity goes farther than just male and female or white or black skin.” Nowadays, everyone advocates aesthetic diversity and cultural integration. The fashion industry is also trying to make itself more international. This is not only manifested in those high-end fashion brands, but also in the fast-paced industry. The brand’s look book is inspiring to use models with different skin tones, and the market for large and plus large sizes has gradually expanded. Everything seems promising, but in my opinion, this is just the fashion industry is broadening the diversity of staff and fashion budge the oversize body. The real diversity, it should be more like a collision and understanding between cultures and social attitudes, also a generalized cognition to different groups that we didn’t know before.
Social responsibility is not only the goal of the fashion industry to provide the public with a necessary correct concept, but also the change that takes self-examination as the first condition. In my opinion, social responsibility should be based on dealing with problems, establishing a correct concept for the public as the goal, and developing a concept of combining long-term work directions. Diversity is about understanding each other ’s culture, accepting and helping all kinds of disadvantaged groups, fighting against discrimination and providing more opportunities for people with different styles. At the end, just like Carols said: “We can all improve the way we work to change the bad parts of this industry, and we can start by changing stereotypes and creating more human art.”