Manisha Mohan Bhide

The main themes of the Better Lives Unit were Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability. The aim of this unit was to explore these themes and apply them to our fashion practice. This unit helped us change our thought process by allowing us to examine the past to build a more sustainable and diverse future. As a part of this unit, we were required to review the work of our peers. After reading several blog posts, I decided to review Celine Brand’s second blog post in which she reflected on how the Better Lives themes will change how she will work in the future.

I chose Celine’s blog because it was well structured and informative. She discussed how the themes of diversity, social responsibility, and sustainability will influence her work as a stylist in the present and future. Through her blog, Celine demonstrated her clear understanding of the Better Lives themes and how she was able to expand her knowledge. She talked about the importance of incorporating sustainability in the fashion industry. She backed this view by talking about fast fashion and its harmful effects on the environment. She also mentioned that she wanted to find ways in which she would help minimize this problem. I would have loved to read about her ideas to help reduce fast fashion. In her blog, Celine focused on the theme of sustainability and expressed her desire to sensitize the theme of sustainability through her work. This demonstrated her growth as a fashion practitioner and how the Better Lives themes has changed her way of thinking. 

In the blog, Celine also focused on the theme of diversity and how she would incorporate it in her fashion practice. She emphasized the lack of inclusivity in the fashion industry and suggested ways in which she would help solve this issue. I like her idea of styling her friends and people around her instead of models. This would help promote body positivity and inclusivity. I completely agree with Celine’s view on fashion and inclusivity. I agree that fashion should reflect our multicultural society and represent everyone without discriminating. I was inspired by Celine’s idea of wanting to expand and transform a Eurocentric choice of model casting to a multi-cultural one that would be diverse. This demonstrated her understanding of the theme of diversity and how she would work towards making the fashion industry more diverse and inclusive. 

Through the blog, Celine showcased her growth as a fashion practitioner by analyzing problems and formulating solutions for the issues. She conveyed her ideas and thoughts brilliantly. She demonstrated that she possessed important skills of critical thinking and problem solving which will enable her to make a difference in the fashion industry. 

The three main themes of the Better Lives unit were Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability. I opted for the Contemporary Portrait Photography project and the aim of the project was to experiment and demonstrate how we plan to incorporate the themes of better lives in our fashion practice. We were supposed to showcase the development in our fashion practice through home portraits. 

I have always been interested in portrait photography but lacked technical knowledge about the camera, and the history of portrait photography. I gained tremendous knowledge about the practical and theoretical aspects of portrait photography through the lectures. In the lectures, I gained insights about the key practitioners from diverse backgrounds, which inspired me to develop my style. The technical workshop gave me the confidence to experiment with different settings to develop a distinct photography style. Through this project I learned that photographs are not just works of art but also serve as historical references. Due to Covid-19, the world has been in quarantine and our classes were moved to an online forum. The new outcome of this project was a home portrait. This taught me that mundane activities can be used to draw inspiration and that art can be created in any environment. The lack of equipment and materials forced me to experiment with new ways of working. 

We were told to use our smartphones to create three home portraits: a fashion self-portrait, a portrait of someone else, and a portrait of someone who isn’t there. We were supposed to choose one of them as the outcome. This brief excited me because it gave me a chance to show my life in quarantine through a series of portraits. Portraits are meant to tell a story and I decided to create a self-portrait that gave the viewer a glimpse into my life during quarantine. The original plan was to take a simple portrait of myself using the self-timer on my camera. I decided to shoot in black and white to symbolize vulnerability and rawness. My outcome turned out to be quite different than the original idea. While taking the pictures, my phone moved and some of the images were blurry and distorted. I ended up choosing the blurry image because the distortion depicted exactly how I felt. The image signified the distortion of time, reality, and emotions during quarantine. This project taught me that mistakes are good and can sometimes lead to a better outcome. Through this project, I connected with students from various backgrounds. It also taught me the importance of the internet and how it helps us connect with people during adversity. This unit has inspired me to work towards creating a better future by incorporating the themes of diversity, social responsibility, and sustainability in my fashion practice.

The main themes of the Better Lives unit were Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability. For my Better Lives Unit, I chose the Contemporary Portrait Photography project. The aim of this project was to introduce us to the theory and practice of portrait photography as well as explore how we can incorporate the better lives theme into our fashion practice. The outcome of this project was to experiment and produce three home portraits- a fashion portrait, a portrait of someone/something in the home, and a portrait of someone who isn’t there.  

I am a very visual person and I find it easier to express my thoughts and my point of view through photographs rather than words. Therefore, the contemporary portrait photography project was the perfect choice for me to demonstrate how the better lives unit has shaped my thought process and my creative practice Portrait photography helps you form a connection with the subject; it helps you tell a story through a photograph. I firmly believe that art and fashion have the power to break societal taboos and create awareness. As a future fashion practitioner, I want to be a part of that change. The better lives lectures helped me realize the changes that are required in the fashion industry and have motivated me to create art for a particular cause that will have a deep impact on people. Out of the three themes, I resonated with the theme of diversity the most. Growing up, I hardly saw someone that looked like me in mainstream media which affected my sense of identity and made me feel like I didn’t belong. The standards of beauty promoted by mainstream media are unrealistic and have a great impact on people and their relationships with their bodies. 

In the future, I want to work with companies and brands that support real representation and promote realistic beauty standards. I want my fashion practice to affect people’s lives positively. I want to use photography as my chosen medium to promote body positivity. I want to spread the message of self-love and help people accept and love their imperfections. My aim is to use a camera to capture real people and share their stories with the world. The project taught me a lot about the technical aspects of photography as well as the emotional aspect of how to form a connection with the subject. The contemporary portrait project has helped me be creative and experimental. This unit has helped me develop skills that will shape my fashion practice in the future. It has enabled me to reflect on my background and explore how I can use portrait photography to express my point of view. The better lives unit has helped me gain more knowledge about the themes of Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability.

The Better Lives unit was based on the themes of Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability. The aim of the unit was to explore these themes in the fashion industry through practice and critical thinking. Being a person of colour, I resonated the most with the Representation lecture conducted by Teleica Kirkland. The lecture covered various questions that arise when representation in the fashion industry is questioned. Teleica Kirkland discussed the definition of diversity and representation and its importance in-depth in the lecture. Diversity and representation in the fashion industry has increased in the recent years significantly. 

Growing up, I hardly saw anyone that looked like me in mainstream media, and the very few times I did see someone that I could relate to, the representation was very stereotypical and often inaccurate. I have first-hand experience of how stereotypical representation of people of colour can affect a person. It makes you distance yourself from your community to break free from the stereotypes. I grew up in a time when western culture was promoted as the ideal beauty type and only one type of look was seen in media. This propagated the idea that only one type of person should be featured in the media and the people without Eurocentric features did not deserve to be represented in the media. The lack of diversity was directly linked to the products that were sold in the market at the time. Fairness creams and bleaching products were marketed and sold in great volumes. This proves that misrepresentation can make people feel uncomfortable in their skin and make people go to great lengths to achieve the societal norm for beauty. 

For me, representation does not only mean showcasing people of colour in media. It is also important to involve people of colour in the process of ideation and implementation. This will retain the authenticity of the product and make companies more mindful of cultural appropriation. Everyone should be included in the discussion about diversity. Diverse representation at all levels helps us understand different perspectives in the world. It broadens our mindset and puts an end to ignorance. Kirkland also discussed how the real representation of the world would stop expectations of a mono cultured world and normalize differences in our environment. This lecture made me think about how representation will affect my fashion practice. I reflected on how it shaped has me and my creative process. I aim to use my fashion practice as a way to create awareness and start a conversation about issues in mainstream media. Through the better lives unit, I have a better understanding of Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Sustainability in the fashion industry. I am more aware of how representation has shaped me and my fashion practice.