Carys Spencer-Durston

Now that I have completed my chosen project, I have had the time to reflect on my ongoing progress and how the Better Lives’ themes have had an influence on the work I’ve created. 

As highlighted in my previous blog post, the current global situation has had a huge impact on how I will be working as a creative practitioner and what I have been able to produce in response to the project I’ve been working on for the past few weeks. Whilst studying contemporary portrait photography I had been assigned a few tasks to do at home, where I have captured a range of different portrait images involving inanimate objects and live subjects.

I will admit it was a challenge to provide so much in response to the tasks I was set, as my photographs would have been more interesting and diverse if I were able to go out as I please. However, this made me realise the beauty of the objects surrounding me in my own home and how resourceful I can be when put into an unprecedented situation. For example, I was able to create portraits of nature in my garden, a person who isn’t in the same house as me using FaceTime, and a self-portrait where I displayed one daily activity I do during quarantine. Although my work doesn’t explicitly respond to the Better Lives’ themes, it does portray a hint of diversity through the different images I took. I am also following the government’s advice on staying home to protect myself and others from Covid-19, which is socially responsible. Reflecting on my personal development, I think I could have been more aware of the Better Lives’ themes when working, as I feel like they didn’t play a part in my creative thinking. On another note, I have noticed that I have become more creative with the pictures that I take and what I do in order to capture them. 

In regard to making connections between the themes and my creative practice, I am currently in the process of my Collaborative practice unit, where I have to make a 10-page spread of images responding to the theme “A Life in a Day”. Without getting into too much detail, I am sure than I will be making connections to the theme of Sustainability somewhere throughout this unit, as working from home will require me to consider using recyclable products for my practice.

Since starting this unit I’ve had the opportunity to gain insight on the three better lives themes and consider how they may influence my work as a makeup artist, and how they might inform my practice while briefly studying contemporary portrait photography during this unit.

As a hair and makeup practitioner I am aware of the current issues within the beauty and fashion industry, one being the lack of inclusiveness and diversity. For decades, the beauty and fashion industry have catered their products and advertised to predominantly white, slim, abled body people. Only recently have both industries began to release products that are slightly more diverse, however there is still a considerable amount of work to be done before diversity is no longer a prominent issue.

In regard to my own creative practice, I am keen on using a diverse casting for my work. When I first started the course I had a personal tutorial with Diana Donaldson, where I mentioned that I am keen on working with models who are from an ethnic background, as I understand that diversity is extremely important in my field of work and that representation is necessary within this industry. 

For future practice, I should consider how my work can be influenced by the ideas of sustainability and social responsibility more often. In terms of sustainability I may be a challenge to incorporate this with hair and makeup, as equipment and products may not always be sustainable, but I know that it is something I should always be aware of. As well as social responsibility.

During the better lives unit, I am briefly studying contemporary portrait photography, where my project is somewhat being informed and influenced by the three themes. It is important to highlight that this unit is taking place while an ongoing global pandemic has altered our day to day lives and placed a huge restriction on what we can do. In regard to photography, my project will be very limited as I am unable to go out as and when I please. It could be suggested that this links to the theme of social responsibility, as I have a duty to myself and others to take precaution and stay in lockdown to prevent any possible spread of the virus.

One example of how social responsibility has shaped my work is how I responded to a task set by Lillian Wilkie, where I was asked to create a home portrait of “someone who isn’t there”. Adhering to the current advice set by the government of not meeting people from outside your household, I decided to create a ‘home photoshoot’ with a friend over FaceTime. This photoshoot, inspired by the work of Heather Glazzard who has done this previously, followed the theme of social responsibility by upholding my duty to protect myself and the model participating from any unessential contact.

Since this unit started, I’ve watched and attended a number of thought-provoking lectures based on a range of topics. However, the lecture on cultural sustainability by John Lau was one that I found most interesting, as the topic of culture is extremely important to me and there is a noticeable issue with how people in the fashion industry misuse and mistreat different cultures.

One aspect that I would like to highlight from this lecture is that “culture is about ideas, customs, and social behaviours. It’s not always about where we’re from” John Lau (2020). I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about this quote as I had never thought about culture in this way, especially as I have been raised on different cultural aspects like clothing, food, and attitudes from two very different places; Wales and Jamaica. Being born in Wales and raised in south London, it is evident that ‘Jamaican culture’ resides through ideas and customs taught to me and some of the food I eat, even though I wasn’t born there, and I have only visited the country once. 

Stemming from this quote, I think it’s important to note that ideas, customs and social behaviours aren’t the sole features that define a culture. And this relates to cultural appropriation; a key issue within the fashion industry. In regard to cultural clothing, makeup and hair styles, it is important to remember that in many instances you must be from that culture to wear a certain piece. For instance, it’s all good to say that “culture is not always about where we’re from”, but that wouldn’t apply to a white person wearing the hairstyle of box braids, or a native American headpiece as a “custom”, as they are evidently not of that race or culture, therefore they would be culturally appropriating.

I have been aware of this issue before attending the lecture, but it is important that others acknowledge this within the fashion industry, as it is still something that occurs on a regular basis. This specific ‘better lives’ theme can influence my work as a creative practitioner by educating me on cultural sustainability and the importance of it within the industry. I know that if I were to create a project without any consideration for culture and how I could offend many people, I would not be doing the fashion industry any justice in terms of understanding, awareness and respect for others. 

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