Alicia Chana Escapa

In response to: https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/05/10/blog-2-themes-reflection-21/

After reading Jordan Stamp’s blog post related to the reflection of the themes, I found that we are likely to be drawn to one of the themes. 

Her opening statement is well written and gives a fascinating overview of the themes and how they are linked partially to her personal life. Still, I would have also included what kind of work you so, stylist, makeup or photography to know how that influences the themes. 

I find interesting the way Jordan has to describe the meaning behind each other themes. She goes in-depth about diversity, really relating it to her own experience but also furthering from what she has learned in the lectures. Even though her explanations are deep are well connected to her, I believe that they should be more connection to her process and work. She explains what she would do in her projects in the third paragraph when she talks about sustainability. Still, it would have been interesting to know how she will approach social responsibility and diversity in her own work. For example, when she talks about diversity, she could have talked about getting involved in projects that help to promote more diversity in the industry, or working with other creatives that are interested in the same movement. 

On her third paragraph, she starts saying “Lifestyles without sustainability leave no room for life at the end of the day. The urge for it has never been greater, and it is clear that survival relies on this change.” This statement is powerful and creates an excellent fluidity to add then the ways she will incorporate it in the future. 

Even though this blog post is meant to be short, I think there is an imbalance of the topics and focus too much in one of them. I think the social responsibility theme could have been explored a little more as the statement seems to be a bit broad. 

I would also be interested in reading a final small statement that summarises her feelings about all the themes in general or how the better lives unit as a whole will change her process. 

Overall I think this is a well-written piece of work, but I think it is missing the connection to her process which I think it was one of the main links to be made in this post, responding on how the themes are going to influence your work in the future. 

Who knew that we would be hit with a worldwide pandemic that would force us to say at home and change everything we took for granted. One of the themes that we have covered in Better Lives is Social Responsibility. I think right now more than ever we need to be socially responsible, not just in fashion, but in our everyday life.

I believe that this one has been some of the most challenging times for me, mentally, physically and creatively. Having to work on a make-up look without any make-up, it can be challenging, but it has helped me to think outside of the box. The activities we did in class helped me to think quick, which will help me in my projects as I go forward in photoshoots. Sometimes things don’t go the way they are supposed to, and you need to act fast with what you have around you, which is what I had to do in the activity of “ 2 looks in 2 hours” (pictures 1-2). While we all had to do the work in our own houses and didn’t see everyone’s process, it was interesting to see how different everyone replies to the same project. While photography is something you do alone, it is you and a camera; I want to work more collaboratively because they are so many ideas that can improve with just another mind put into work. 

For his project, I chose to combine the better lives topic of social responsibility with the in-class theme of imperfection, choosing to represent the key workers, mainly in the health care industry. A few days before having to do this make-up look, I was watching the news and heard about a doctor that got her car trashed a graffiti with the words RATA CONTAGIOSA (English translation: contagious rat). It made me feel angry, and that there should something be done about it, but because I couldn’t leave my house, I decided to represent it in this make-up look. 

They are different parts of this look (picture 3):

-The face mask: only protection the nurses and doctors have.  

-The eyeshadow: representation of sickness and tiredness. 

-The tears: even though they are working day and night to keep us safe, they are being attacked by their neighbours because they are “carrying” the virus. 

-The wings: in reality, they are the only ones that can save us from this pandemic as there is no cure or vaccination. 

Making a piece of artwork that you like, it always makes you feel good, but when that piece of artwork can mean so much, it becomes much more, its a statement.

When we were first told about the better lives unit, one of the themes was stuck with me the most, diversity. With no surprise, I was drawn immediately to hear the lecture on representation by Teleica Kirkland. This lecture focused on the viewpoint of the black community and how it has been represented in the media. More than ever right now, we are trying to break the eurocentric wall. Social Media has helped to give light to minorities that had not been represented in media the way they should have been. 

One of the things that I learned and found fascinating was when she talked about outraged marketing. It’s hard for me to get my head around the fact that people and brands will hurt minority groups on purpose just so their brands are talked about. I guess like everything in society and especially in fashion, money is more important than the social responsibility they have. But its good to see big luxury brands like Gucci, correcting their mistakes and making sure that it will not happen in the future. This is the mentality that brands should have to make sure that the voices of diverse groups are being heard and represented in fashion and media. This lecture has opened my eyes to understand more clearly the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Both are separated by a very small like, but now more than ever we have to tools to know what is right from what is wrong. 

Overall I think representation is essential, but it has to be done correctly. If you are going to do something, do it with people that are part of the culture, that understand it because if you are going to hurt and disrespect people on the way, do not do it.

After this lecture, I was eager to learn a little more about representation but in other minorities groups, like Asian culture, the lgbtq+ community and also different sizes. There is a lot we can do being part of the fashion industry that will help them feel more comfortable with who they are and whom they want to become. There is something happening at the moment in our society, we are changing, but this change is going to take long, but the more people involved, the better it will be.

Better lives has three themes that should be incorporated into everyone’s life. All three themes seem to be linked to one another; this will make it easier to incorporate your work, as if you include just one, it will be easier to join the other two. 

For me, diversity is one of the biggest themes. Since I was 14, I have lived in 4 different cities (Madrid, London, New York and Los Angeles). The variety in these cities is enormous; you can find people from any age, size, colour, religion and even every possible gender but yet, they are in no way represented in the media especially in my home country of Spain. As a fashion photography student, I want to be able to change that. There has been a lot of changes in the media in recent years, but we are not even close to what it should be like. In my projects, I want to incorporate more of street casting, showing to the world people that they see in their everyday life because I believe that’s what it should be. Street casting and taking pictures of a diverse group of people; it is allowing younger generations to make sure they feel okay with who they are and that they shouldn’t change what they look like for what the fashion and beauty industry feel like its the standard.  I want to work with brands and magazines that are working towards a change in this field too.

Social responsibility is vital at this moment in time. T can include various aspects. The fashion industry has been under fire for many years for the way models have been treated. People have to be conscious of the working environment and making it a safe place for them to be able to work. Part of my job as a photographer is making sure that the models know what is going to happen at all times; making sure she feels safe and well. 

As part of social responsibility, it also comes sustainability. Sustainability might be one of the most talked topics in the industry at the moment. We live in a world that cannot look too far into the future without seeing a black hole. A big part of climate change has to do with fast fashion and how much waste we make. In my practising, I want to work with brands that do work sustainably but also; they don’t take part in the fast fashion industry. 

Better lives is helping me understand that there is so much more I can do with my art form than take pretty pictures or even a good photographer. You can make a change in the future of peoples lives, and you can impact them in a greater way.