Akanksha Goyal

During the pandemic of COVID-19, I believed that my creative process would be hindered and producing work for Contemporary Portrait Photography classes would be difficult. Since all of us are locked away in our homes as well, and photography being a very hands-on and equipment-based unit I was afraid I won’t be able to produce work of great quality. However, during our lectures, I realised that despite the restrictions one has we can find creativity and beauty in ordinary items. As the unit progressed, and I was exposed to different works and I realised that we don’t need a studio to create a project with meaning and quality. For instance, the Home Portraiture lectured focused on works by photographers such as Heather Glazzard who dealt with topics corresponding to queer identity in domestic spaces. Her latest project Porridge was shot at home along with her partner Nora Nord. Their work uses random objects lying around the house merged with formal photography to employ with historical ideas and contemporary discussion regarding gender and sexuality. This made me realise how a space like a home can be transformed to produce shoots and at the same time help portray concepts like identity and relationships. 

Another artist we discussed, who went to inspire my project was Nigel Shafran. His work revolves around finding prospective beauty in mundane moments of life. His series, Ruth On Phone Shows a journey over the span of 9 years. All the images put together demonstrates a novel conceptual approach to portrait photography. Seeing, Shafran uses old images that he has been taking, I dug around to found film strips from my childhood. Since they were already developed, I scanned these negatives and played around with the colours on Photoshop to develop my final image. This turned out to be a family portrait of mine when I was merely 6 months old. The inverted effect on the image helped me retain the quality as well as give a sense of nostalgic effect to the photograph.  

I believe that even though the pandemic affected our learning in certain manners, I left with skills and knowledge about CPP that wouldn’t have been possible if I was studying in a “normal” state. Having these limitations, I believe that I have overcome my singular point of view of how photography works. I always thought of fashion photography to be these overtly glamourized editorials with high image quality, stylized shoots and professional setups. But I comprehended that it goes beyond that. I developed the knowledge that allows me to use FaceTime, old scrap images and postproduction editing to create photographs with interesting tactility and meanings.  We are in an era of art and photography where that glossy editorials are out and images which push the boundaries of what is considered “fashion” is appreciated.  

The three concepts of better lives are critical not only to my learning as a student but essential in the way I will be integrating that in my practice in the future. A dynamic industry like fashion always requires us to think ahead. In times like ours, the social and environmental impact our work has would be shaped by the lectures and classes I attended during the better lives unit. 

My project brief is Contemporary Portrait Photography, which discusses the practical and theoretical elements of portrait photography. During our Contemporary Portrait Photography classes, we were allowed to go out and shoot portraits in Shepard’s Bush market. With basic equipment and short planning time, I learned to develop my themes and concepts spontaneously. This also helped me practice shooting in an uncontrolled environment rather than just learning how to do “organised” studio shoots. By learning how to work in groups and with speed I developed my basic photography skills of framing and idea generation. This combined with the classes we had on aperture, iso and shutter speed helped me understand the technical aspects of basic photography. 

During the lectures, I realised that in this digital age, every image we create has an effect and thus should carry a message that aligns with our beliefs and ethics. Listening to Teleica Kirkland’s lecture on representation I understood that diversity and representation are not just using a mixture of different people but is used to help us understand different cultural aspects of the world around us. This, in turn, would broaden our point of view and mindset and put an end to continued ignorance we have towards other ethnic cultures. In my practice, I intend to shine a light on people of colour and minorities to showcase their culture. 

To avoid tokenism it is important to understand their experiences and avoid forcing their look to be “Eurocentric”. When one doesn’t understand the diversity in its true sense it leads to white-washing or culture appropriation. For instance, when Vogue India face backlash for having Kendall Jenner be the cover face of their 25th-anniversary issue (Dhillon, 2019). Instead of having an Indian or brown woman, they chose to go with a white model who doesn’t have any roots to the Indian culture. This type of white-washing by global magazines leads to the development of misinformed and ignorant mindset amongst their readers. 

Social responsibility is also an important element of our practice. Knowing where the garments and accessories came from that is being used by us. we shouldn’t be supporting fast fashion companies which have a negative impact on the environment, or even luxury companies like Dolce and Gabbana which has often been in the firing line for being racist and insensitive of other cultures (Dolce and Gabbana, 2018). The cultural heritage a garment holds should be properly addressed. The fashion industry has been negligent of this and has fallen into cultural appropriation more times it should have. As the image circulates the meaning it holds would too. It is high time we start using our power and platform to limelight minorities and bring about the change we are seeking in the fashion industry.

Reference list

Dhillon, A. (2019). Vogue India defends decision to put Kendall Jenner on cover after backlash. [online] The National. Available at: https://www.thenational.ae/world/vogue-india-defends-decision-to-put-kendall-jenner-on-cover-after-backlash-1.44821 [Accessed 22 Apr. 2020].

Dolce and Gabbana (2018). # Dolce&Gabbana：起筷吃飯 系列廣告. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfzy-_jDyeo&feature=emb_title [Accessed 22 Apr. 2020].

Throughout the Better Lives unit series, we discussed important socio-political issues that concern the fashion industry. The lectures were engaging and helped us, the first year students, understand the impact of fashion in a more authentic manner. Having an open discussion during the lectures exposed me to the ideologies that are not only ingrained in fashion but also how as a society we perceive and consume fashion and media. The lecture that stood out to me was on representation. As a person of colour who grew up in a society which preferred white skin to brown, I believe it is important that we change the traditional standard of beauty. This type of change happens when we have open discussions and exchange of ideas like the lecture on ‘Representation’ delivered by Teleica Kirkland. 

This lecture helped me understand how the fashion industry still drives a Eurocentric image in advertising and media. Despite a need and want for more diversity somehow major fashion brands use people of colour simply for tokenism diversity. Kirkland goes on to explain how whitewashing is prominent in industry and people with lighter skin are preferred. This is due to two reasons one being the history of advertisement. Products and services were marketed to “white families and people” as they were assumed to be wealthier and the targeted audience for the products. The other reason is the deep-rooted racism in society. To date, Eurocentric features are seen to be more “beautiful” or “attractive” by us. Features such as plump lips or wide hips which naturally occur in black and brown women are perceived to be more appealing on a white woman.

This leads to the topic of cultural appropriation and appreciation. Kirkland discusses how various brands and celebrities are ignorant of other societies and races cultures. This she says stems from a place of power and privilege, many of the people producing these advertisements and products are unaware of the history behind the culture they are ripping off. This sense of ignorance and entitlement makes them appropriate culture without any regard to how it will be noticed by the people of those societies. While on one hand culture appropriation is still is popular, due to globalisation various artists can draw inspiration from other cultures and integrate that into their work in a respectful manner. For example, a project by the company Wafrica which merged the Japanese culture of kimonos with the African textiles. He did this with sensitivity to the Japanese heritage and his personal experience while living in Japan (Jewell, 2018). With us approaching in a new wave of fashion it is important to remodel what we perceive to be attractive and fashionable. The fashion industry has a social responsibility to its consumers and must hold themselves at a higher standard than they do right now and be the change in society that leads us all to a more diverse and inclusive society.

Jewell, C. (2018). Wafrica: exploring identity through design. [online] www.wipo.int. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2018/06/article_0004.html [Accessed 1 Mar. 2020].

‌ Kirkland, T. (2020) ‘ Representation’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 26 February.

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