Eileen Chen Wu

Fashion and photography are inseparable entities – throughout the years the cumbersome process behind a fashion photograph has reduced to a snap on the smartphone accessible to anyone. Content creating and sharing is no longer limited to certain professions but something that can be done anywhere, anytime, by anyone. Especially at a vulnerable time like this where our sole form of communication is restricted to digital formats, the messages that these simple images shot at home can be more powerful than ever. Through studying contemporary portrait photography, it has given me a new perspective of portrait photography and what I see as a subject through the lens. 

The project brief for contemporary portrait photography, home portraits, came as a creative reaction to the worldwide pandemic. Models, photographers and other industry professionals alike have produced self-portraits from the comfort of their homes under social distancing. This project allows us to neglect the technicalities of a digital camera for a minute in favour of the smartphone. The immediacy and fluidity that an iPhone production allows from shooting, editing to uploading – is an indication of how we will move forward with online content sharing in the future (as of now, TikTok is already a good example of this sensation). By gaining full control over producing content online, it gives a larger and more equal platform for people alike to express themselves.  

Through experimentation, it became clear to me that I did not resonate with the idea of traditional self-portraits. It was difficult to set up a background in a 17m² studio apartment clustered by clutter. While looking for a way around this problem, I also wanted to avoid the stereotypical approach to home portraits while still giving it a sense of identity. Instead of creating something with high resolution and a complex rationale, I opted for the opposite. In a time of gloom and melancholy, I wanted to create something almost a bit silly to ridicule at. One of the images I produced showed a comical face constructed by my personal collection of jewelry. Sunglasses as eyes; hairclips as brows; a watch as the jaw; earrings as ears, and a ring as a protruding mouth smoking a cigarette. This ‘self-portrait’ doesn’t feature me physically and was my solution to a narrow and restricted space.  

My personal development was inspired by the ‘performance in photography’ lecture by Daniel Treacy. In particular, the audience part where domestic objects were incorporated to create quirky imagery that allowed participation by the audience. The use of jewelry in my case was a simple arrangement that required no waste of materials and expressed an action performed in self isolation. The act of smoking and frowning in this context represents the frustration and stress that many others share in this pandemic. I wanted to develop a way to express common emotions through the domestic objects found in my every day. The project brief of home portraits provokes us to adapt and create in this whole new social context under Covid-19, furthermore, consider the emotional transition and how it affects our future creative process of communication post pandemic.  

Treacy, D. (2020) ‘Performance in Photography’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 20 April. 

To extend on the topics that have been explored in my first blog post, the Better Lives themes of ‘Sustainability, Diversity and Social responsibility’ has really made an impact on my thought process regarding topics discussed in this unit. In this age of globalisation where society is no longer built on a single culture or set of ideals, the fashion industry acts as a visual representation of this phenomenon. I have chosen to reflect on the theme of diversity in particular because of its influence over my perception of my chosen practice in this unit which is contemporary portrait photography.  

In Shahida Bari’s lecture on Diversity, it was mentioned that Diversity has been seen as a ‘buzz word’ in the fashion industry with little action to create real change. The inclusivity behind the scenes is far from what is shown in advertisements and campaigns, which often showcase a picture-perfect imagery of racially diverse models.  This is due to the progressively more aware generation of millennials that has become the predominant target audience to specifically fashion related retail in the past decade. The industry cannot be truly diverse if it continues to abuse the meaning of diversity and use it as a marketing ploy to sell products. Having one White, one Black, one Asian and one Brown model huddled together has become a template for companies to utilize. We as consumers have the right to critically analyze a company’s ‘diversity strategy’ and decide for ourselves if it is genuine or just another ethnicity quota to fill so they are keeping up with the times. In contrast, we as communicators, have the social responsibility to reflect on the messages sent to our audiences. Diversity doesn’t only mean ethnicity and race, it is also age, sexuality, faith, gender identity, body positivity and disability. It is a topic of conversation not only for the fashion industry, but in introspect for the entirety of our society. Diversity is having an equal opportunity regardless of all the above things that form our identity.  

My motives behind the camera has always been simple – a documentation of the everyday. Unlike many of my peers who are experienced shooting creatively, I have rarely documented anything outside of the mundane. Through studying contemporary portrait photography and the Better Lives themes closely, combined with a time of global crisis, it has had an impact on the direction in which I will take creatively in the future. It is clear to me that constructing positivity and meaning through imagery is equally as important as the act of documentation in photography today. This positivity shows through work that provokes necessary conversations on critical matters affecting our social climate such as diversity.   

The series of lectures from the Better Lives unit encompasses many thought provoking topics founded on sustainability, diversity and social responsibility in the fashion industry. I was captivated in particular by John Lau’s lecture on Cultural sustainability and Teleica Kirkland’s lecture on representation. The two themes are inseparable, and I thought it would only be appropriate to reflect upon them together. In this current social climate plagued by a pandemic, racially charged hate crime has spiked all over Western countries. The misrepresentation of cultures and stereotyping in Western media has driven me to explore this topic further.  

At the end of Teleica Kirkland’s lecture on representation, she reiterated the importance of communication on sensitive subjects, that these topics need to be conversed for society to move further. What had really hit home in this lecture was the topic of the model minority. The idea that East and South East Asians are considered ‘white adjacent’ in Western culture through education or employment is incredibly dehumanising yet the reality. The term implies to me that we as Asians are ALLOWED to be on an equal level as white people, BY white people. It further implies that there are people in other categories that are not allowed to be ‘white adjacent’. As much as the fashion industry is working to become a level playing field, this industry is built with Eurocentric ideals that are hard to break free of. In this age of globalisation, international influence helps to integrate cultural diversity throughout society, yet the majority of diversity used in targeted fashion marketing reek of capitalist gain (Do you see a spike of Asian models in fashion campaigns around Lunar New Year?).

In John Lau’s lecture on cultural sustainability, he talks about globalisation and fashion as a message. There are meanings or messages attached to certain styles of clothing that we as viewers generate certain perceptions and expectations towards. Clothing is a fundamental signifier of social status in our culture. Fashion separates us and unites us, whether a national culture or a sub-culture, the lynchpin to social harmony between cultures is respect. 

For a while I’ve also debated if there are subjects in fashion that should be steered clear from, because ‘it wasn’t my place to have a say’, or ‘how much can I contribute before it becomes too sensitive’? Both the lectures answered my query.  It was clarified by Teleica that the creative use of a culture without respect, research and credit is when cultural appropriation happens in fashion. We see so many instances of outrage marketing of brands, and in this current era of increasing social consciousness, cultural appropriation seems to be THE sensitive topic that causes the most controversy. Take Kim Kardashian’s shape wear label for example – They were never going to name it ‘Kimono’ (Japanese traditional dress) for real. It was the perfect PR to get everyone in the world to notice her new brand. 

Representation is a never-ending battle in Fashion. John and Teleica’s lectures provided a new perspective for me to tackle these issues within my creative practices in the future and to have a more open conversation through my work. My reflection is only the beginning of this conversation on cultural sustainability and representation. Fashion carries messages – more fashion practitioners should use their platform to voice their opinions whether social or political, to spark a larger conversation that can drive this industry towards positive change.  

Reference

Kirkland, T. (2020) ‘ Representation’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 19 February. 

Lau, J. (2020) ‘ Cultural Sustainability’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 18 February.