I have used the studio again to create more images of world war two objects. These images I have taken differently to the images previously, instead using coloured backgrounds and and coloured paper underneath the objects. I have done this to add more colour into the work and show these objects on a different background other than a white-reflective surface. Below are my favourite images from the shoot.
Shrinking Violet stemmed from a short film that she created as part of her project about her mother. She made a film based around an interview that she did with her mum and made it up of archival images as well as documenting her everyday life. Part of the interview sparked her interest when her mother said ‘I’m not one of those shrinking violets in the work place’. This caught her attention as her role as simply doing what is expected of her, something that she want to challenge through her photographic work. This brought on the idea for creating a parody shoot as a dress as a persona, similar to her mum, and pose around the house mimicking the role of her mum portray. Shannon wanted this photo book to embody the traditional role of women our society perceives and for spectators to view the images she created to recognize themselves, their mothers, their sisters and their wives. Gender defines everyone and, at times, can be limiting. It makes us feel that we need to belong and conform to the expectations placed on us at birth solely on whether we were born male or female.
Pictorialists took the medium of photography and reinvented it as an art form, placing beauty, tonality, and composition above creating an accurate visual record. Through their creations, the movement strove to elevate photography to the same level as painting and have it recognized as such by galleries and other artistic institutions. Photography was invented in the late 1830s and was initially considered to be a way in which to produce purely scientific and representational images. This began to change from the 1850s when advocates such as the English painter William John Newton suggested that photography could also be artistic.
Although it can be traced back to these early ideas, the Pictorialist movement was at its most active between 1885 and 1915 and during its heyday it had an international reach with centers in England, France, and the USA. Proponents used a range of darkroom techniques to produce images that allowed them to express their creativity, utilizing it to tell stories, replicate mythological or biblical scenes, and to produce dream-like landscapes. There is no straightforward definition of what a Pictorialist photograph is, but it is usually taken to mean an image that has been manipulated in some way to increase its artistic impact. Common themes within the style are the use of soft focus, color tinting, and visible manipulation such as composite images or the addition of brushstrokes.
