Sophie Greenaway

Over the past months, I’ve found it very interesting to read other people’s perspectives and different experiences during their time with Better Lives. One person that particularly stood out to me was my fellow 3D effects student Sofia Lira and her blog on the subject of power and how it has impacted her and the way she views the fashion industry. I related to her sense of enthusiasm and interest when discovering a new topic and thinking about things in a different way.

At the start of her blog, Sofia speaks of how it’s enhanced her knowledge of the fashion industry and the power the Better Lives themes have had when explored through the different lectures their importance. She first speaks about maneuvering her way through the Better Lives unit and what to expect when listening to the series of different lectures. Her beginning is powerful and confident and clear in what she’s trying to say to the audience, whereas I found other blogs too clinical in their language. Sofia’s language is clear and precise (which is great because I’m dyslexic!).

With regards to the Better Lives themes of Diversity Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Sofia indicates the importance that Sustainability has on the fashion industry and how the natural world reproduces wonderful products for us to use and how they can be used in a sustainable way. Her clear knowledge of the Better Lives themes is come across very well here as she’s clearly stated what she thinks of the topic, her knowledge, and definitions of the topic and how she chooses to explore them.

Her use of small paragraphs makes it easier for me to read and not get tired of reading big paragraphs. Her third paragraph talks about the lecture on Power and how Power distribution within the fashion industry may not be as even as people think. Her language here is sophisticated and looks as if she has grasped a firm understanding of the concept of power and how it links to the fashion industry. I find it interesting to listen to her perspective on who actually has the power within the industry. She goes on to question, is it the Designers? is it the brands? is it the consumers or even the government? I had never really thought about the fashion industry in this way before but it’s fascinating how it all goes around in a cycle, so it could be argued that the consumers are actually in control and have the power due to the changing demand a d conspicuous consumption.

I agree with Sophia that clothing has powerful connotations in itself of how it explores our identity. I like how she analyses and explores the concept of Royal dress and how these garments can be seen as political or to signify wealth.

Her clear conclusion finishes the blog post off very nicely as she ends with the quote ‘Power in fashion boils down to economic power’ which makes the audience question the concept of Power further.

Throughout my time in contemporary photography, I have developed multiple skills that will help me in the future when photography in my own work as well as considering my subject when taking photographs. The projects that we looked at within this unit consisted of portrait photography. This really broadened my perspective on what portrait photography actually is. After looking at multiple artists and photographers and what their chosen subject was behind the camera, it showed me the meaning and the depth that a photograph can have. During my project I really wanted to focus on the body as my 3D Effects degree is very much based on the body and the practical nature of this. I wanted to shoot my body in uncomfortable and strange ways to show how I was feeling on the inside during lockdown and how it feels to overcome this challenge. I also took to taking photographs of my family and my surroundings during this time, and even though I have had no photography experience or any background in taking photographs, it really pushed me out of my comfort zone to take the most authentic photographs that I could take. I decided to stay away from obvious aspects such as taking photographs of pets or usual surroundings. I much rather preferred to see what I could do with my own body and how I could portray this to my audience. One of the aspects of the course that I particularly liked was uploading my work onto Padlet (an online platform that we could all see our own work on) and it was really lovely to see all the different perspectives that people had taken and how they had explored the brief that we were given before the Easter term. I could see that other people were using their bodies an unusual ways and it’s always been a fascination of mine to explore this topic but I’ve never really known how to; so from taking this Better Lives unit, I now have the experience, the tools and the knowledge to really push this concept forward within my own work and explore what it means to be human in today’s day and age. Because of my 3D background, this will help me acknowledge and understand the subject more that I am photographing, as well as looking at how my pieces translate through a camera and how they look to an audience other than myself. I think this is very important as it’s a skill that is definitely needed throughout my career but also in the near future of my final major project and how that will be presented to my co-workers and my tutors and the people who have come to see it. Overall this unit has pushed me to go out of my comfort zone whilst giving me the knowledge and experience that I need to push my work forward and really think of unconventional ways of presenting it.

The Better Lives themes of Sustainability, Diversity and Social Responsibility have never been more important than in these uncertain and unclear times. Over the last few weeks, we have delved into our Portrait Photography lectures and have learnt about many iconic photographers whose themes explore the behaviours of our society and the ways in which us humans are. Not only has this broadened my perspective on Photography but has also educated me on the diverse range of subjects to interact with in this subject matter. The themes have also emphasised the importance of hidden meanings and symbolism within my work in order to make the audience more consciously aware of the world around us and what I am trying to portray.

I have particularly enjoyed the works of Photographer and Archaeologist Danny Treacy, our lecturer. Through his use of found material he is able to create a legacy for those who left the objects behind and create a ritualistic space in a forensically styled way. I particularly enjoyed his Ritual (River) Thames findings, where he collects the remains of past Londoners and their clothing when the riverbank is on low tide and presents them through sculpture and other mediums before photographing them. For me, the notion of collecting the objects for Photography projects is therapeutic and is something I will take away when researching and finding objects of my own. It’s easy to speculate at the darker stories from these findings, and this is perhaps because I am fascinated with the peculiar and dark notions that derive from dark mysterious places. Observing these projects definitely brought the bar up for my interpretation of Portrait Photography in the Better Lives themes and has made me think about my future projects and what the meanings behind these will be.

In the future I will definitely be exploring themes such as Social Responsibility, how we interact with one another and how my body interacts with itself and my mind. The Better Lives themes have allowed me to explore the three topics within my work and use them as an anchor for inspiration and meaning behind the pieces. For example, we are currently working on Self Portrait Photography within the home during quarantine, and it will be interesting to see how everyone else has explored this concept and their Interaction with one another.

It’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the world and how this can affect our artwork, as it can be a source of new inspiration and opportunity as I’m sure this time is a rare occasion for us all. It’s definitely made me realise the importance of how I project my social responsibility onto other people and how the world at present as well as the industries that we will go into have explored the Better Lives themes and the examples they have set. Exploring these themes have definitely made me realise that we all strive for deeper meanings within our work and how the audience views our art as something to connect to and that these themes do exactly that. If we hadn’t have had these units for Better Lives, I don’t think I would have a higher consciousness to delve into these topics, so I’m thankful that we have this opportunity to make our future work better and more connected to the artists and people around us.