Ellie Shemmell

Alongside our better lives lectures I chose to do ‘Contemporary Portrait Photography’. We worked through different key ideas and techniques and I finished this course with 3 final outcomes that covered different breakdowns of portraiture. 

My first outcome was a self-portrait. As a collective, we went through the different aspects of self-portraiture and how we could create a unique image. Overall I thought that my image was successful as a self-portrait and carried many of the traditional conventions, and I really enjoyed a softer editing technique when creating this final piece. I do wish, however, that I was a little more creative with my thinking when shooting the actual image and that I had tried a few more unusual techniques. My work was very simple and although it had a pop of colour I felt it could have been more effective and interesting as a stand-alone image. When we came together for critiques I found lots of my classmates had created more unusual imagery and this gave me the motivation to think more creatively about how I shot in the future. 

My second piece was to be a portrait of somebody else and I chose my boyfriend as that is who I am currently isolating with. I decided to take this shoot in a different direction from my self-portrait and wanted to use a new location so that I could experiment more with the shooting and editing process. This is my favourite outcome because I really enjoy the depth created by the natural lighting that I later enhanced in the editing and I also enjoyed the shooting much more this time and found myself thinking more creatively about how the end shot would look. I was really happy with how this image turned out and this has inspired me to work more with natural light and see how it can change my future imagery in relation to my hair and makeup studies. 

I think the biggest part of this project for me is how much confidence I has grown in my technical abilities. My Hair and Makeup Projects require a lot of testing and development and I can see in my recent work that I am using the skills I have learnt in my better lives sessions. It has allowed me to improve and broaden my creative thinking and given me a new motivation to not only focus on what is in the shot, but what I am wanting from each image and how I want my project to look all together. Learning more about the key themes and going through the lectures has also allowed me to think in new ways and has adapted my learning so I can focus on different studies and areas of research. Overall I really enjoyed this unit and I am glad to have had the opportunity to study in a different field, this has given me new skills that I can now incorporate into my own course work. 

When I was first introduced to the better lives themes I found it hard to identify what aspects of my course (hair and makeup for fashion) related to them, particularly social responsibility. Having followed the lectures and worked through my project more I was able to pick apart the key themes and relate them to my current work. I chose portrait photography as my better lives project and the key themes were very present throughout the lectures and scheme of work we were given. When I was shooting I had to think about who and what I was shooting and how I was presenting it. It became apparent to me that through all of my work and projects (across both hair and makeup, and photography) that I must take into consideration how my work is representing different types of people and cultures and how I can be respectful throughout.

It has always been important to me that my work is diverse and inclusive and that I cause no offence with the pieces I create, so I was able to understand that this is part of my social responsibility as an artist. During my new unit for Hair and Makeup, I am thinking more about how I can research and explore different cultures and religions and allow my work to be creative but remain respectful and avoid culturally appropriating anybody’s beliefs or other parts of their identity. I want to continue to think about how I can be more diverse with my work and incorporate broader knowledge into my research and artistry.

Sustainability is something I have always been aware of but hardly ever related to how I work and what I can do to be more sustainable as a makeup and hair artist. Bigger brands are being more transparent about how sustainable they are, and more companies are trying to become cruelty-free and vegan because there is a higher demand for it in today’s climate. I want to be able to follow this idea and make my hair and makeup kit more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This includes using more recyclable and reusable materials and trying to go more toward cruelty-free and vegan brands for the makeup in particular. Waste is a big part of my course because a lot of my kit includes one-time use products and materials and I want to be able to find something more sustainable and better for the environment. I will continue to follow brands that are heading in this direction and take inspiration from them, I also want to focus more on smaller brands that work more fully for the environment and try to buy less into the faster-paced, bigger corporations so I can improve my carbon footprint and know that I am helping a smaller, potentially family-owned, business.

From the start of our better lives unit I was looking forward to expanding my knowledge of the fashion industry and learning more about sustainability, culture and diversity within my course; while following the lectures I have been trying to relate each one back to my individual work and give myself a better understanding of what each lecture can mean to me personally. 

When reflecting specifically onto how fashion can create better lives I am strongly drawn back to the lecture held by Laura Salisbury on Inclusive Fashion and Design. This session broke down each level of fashion design for a further purpose than just aesthetics and followed Laura herself through the process of development. One part I found very interesting was how we can design for multiple people at once, thinking about circumstances that can affect people in permanent, temporary and situational ways. We were looking at designing for somebody who only had one arm and how we could also use this design for somebody who has a temporary arm injury, or a parent carrying a baby. Learning how to think about designing with a more inclusive thought process gave me the understanding of how to change my thinking in my own work. I think this also highlights how designers can create work that is more inclusive and easier for people to use in their daily lives. The way that designers can use smart materials to adjust to outside conditions and create things like the sports hijab, which means that wearers can work out in a more breathable and waterproof material, and wearable technology such as a heart rate sensor, designed comfortably to fit in a bra, allowing the wearer to be discreet and feel happier and more comfortable while knowing they are still able to monitor and take care of themselves. More adaptable designing techniques and smart materials are the beginning of something really positive for the fashion industry, and could heavily improve the way of life for more vulnerable or disadvantaged people. Using fashion as a form of escapism and being able to continue following fashion trends while wearing something created for your ease is amazing for peoples wellbeing and can have a huge impact on the community and peoples personal sense of self, and this is why I think we should all think more about inclusivity while we work. Being open minded is something I find very important when in the creative field of work because you have to be able to explore and work with varying techniques and stylings, so to understand more about the practicalities of design was also really interesting to me. I think as a whole the lectures throughout the better lives unit have opened my eyes to more aspects of the industry and allowed me to think about the way I am working both in my main course (Hair and Makeup for Fashion) and my Better Lives project (Contemporary Portrait Photography) and given me an insight on how I can adjust my work to help more of the community and make a difference.