THEORY & CONTEXT: Identity Politics and Cultural Wars

Identity politics can be defined as the calling of groups for ‘special treatment’ based upon gender, race, religion, or other contextual factors that may influence their identity. Originally, identity politics emerged as a result of discrimination against those of a certain background by those who are presented as ‘normal’ through false dominant ideologies. Some key examples of different identity politics would be the emergence of Civil rights, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights due to the amount of discrimination previously held against them, new actions were demanded in order to secure political and social equality. In my opinion, these groups acted as a platform for those who share similar backgrounds and beliefs, to express their need and right to equality with those in the ruling classes of the social hierarchy. In terms of cultural wars, referring to the conflict between social groups and their fight to become the most accepted or dominant ideology, theorist and activist ‘Antonio Gramsci’ can be useful. Gramsci coined the term ‘Hegemonic Struggle’ which alludes to the suppression of one groups ideologies because of the support for its ‘opposing’ groups ideologies, with the opposing group commonly being the one located highest on the social hierarchy. In my opinion, both Cultural Wars and Identity politics allow for change on old ideas and for new equalities to be emphasised, however the downside to these concepts would be how they are portrayed negatively, especially in politics whereby they are described as extremist and deconstructive methods.

Identity politics and Cultural wars both have massive impacts on society both positively and negatively. For example, the idea of having a group that allows individuals to feel connected and valued based upon shared ideas or themes is obviously positive and emphasises greater actions to be taken in order to protect and support these groups. On the other hand, due to these groups societies have been completely changed, which could be viewed as a positive or negative based upon individual thought. Similarly, it also allows for the development of more extremist groups, who may use their group in order to gain power and therefore influence and enforce their own ideas rather than allowing each individual to harness their own. Which then links into an idea suggested by Noam Chomsky called ‘Manufacturing Consent’, which is the idea of how mass political powers (those at the head of Governments i.e Trump) use their power in order to control and manipulate the population and those that are underneath them via mediums such as propaganda, forcing the public to follow his views, falsely imitating the idea of consent. Those who may oppose his views would therefore be positioned against those who agree which would then lead to matters such as a cultural war.

Without identity politics, movements such as the ‘Suffragettes’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ would have been a lot less likely to occur and have the impact in which they did. The suffragette movement is key as it was the beginning of a cultural war, that is still being fought, however the amount of change that has occurred since the movement in 1890, in terms of the improvement of treatment and equality of women has grown massively. The opposite of this positive may be the emergence of ‘Tribalism’ which can end in the dividing of communities due to the contrasts between their beliefs in which they portray as a representation of the person as a whole rather than just a belief they have.

In terms of a local context, Jersey is quite a small island and therefore the spreading of one idea if fairly easy, however after that view has been expressed by the majority it is hard for it to be changed. The emergence of new media and technology allows for more demographics to be connected on a global scale which therefore allows for ideas and views to be shared quickly and easily. This would be hard to obtain in an Island such as jersey as concepts on race, religion and sexuality are constantly changing and without significant technologies like those in major cities it is highly likely for many dominant ideologies to remain stagnant.

Sources used –

Cultural War definition

To begin with, I think the zine as a whole was a success and I am happy with the way it turned out. The narrative of a group of friends going out and enjoying their youth/adolescence together worked well with the mainly-candid nature of my images, and the black and white added a more classic and timeless aspect to the whole thing, making the narrative more lasting and ageless. The narrative itself wasn’t planned to be particularly structured or distinct, rather it’s fairly ambiguous and left up to whoever is reading the zine to decide exactly how they interpret the series of images, within the theme of a love story of friendship and youth.

I am pleased with the way the handwritten element added some character and originality to the zine and in my opinion made it feel more personal and intimate. I am also satisfied with the photographs themselves: I think I selected the right ones, I like their compositions and general visual qualities, I think they all worked out very well in the switch from colour to black and white, they all could do well as individual images if they weren’t part of a zine, and most of all I think they work nicely when conveying my narrative.

If I were to re-do this project, I might try and incorporate more portrait images, as many of them are landscape, as well as possibly include more of the handwritten components. I could think about doing the project in colour instead of black and white and think about what sort of effect that would have on the “look” as a whole, or possibly even just do another photoshoot and add more images to make a longer zine. Many of the images were candid and unplanned, so I wonder what sort of outcome adding more posed photos would have, whether that would help to create a more structured and clear narrative. They were also mainly taken outside or in public settings, so possibly doing some in a photo studio or inside someone’s house would have a different effect as well.

Placing the portraits:

Draft One

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As a first draft, I aimed to place the full body portraits in the beginning as it’s the first impression of my subject that the audience sees. When you see someone for the first time, it usually tends to be from a distance, so I aimed to capture this by placing these images first for each of my subjects. By choosing the image to be black and white, it represents the lack of knowledge the audience knows about the subject: they are not in close proxemity, they don’t see them in full colour and they cannot see them in great detail. My intention for this was to spark interest about the subject to the audience. To amplify this ‘first impression’, I placed the portrait on the first page of the zine.

As you turn the page, I’ve positioned the half-body portrait on the right hand page. This immediately closens the proxemity between the audience and the subject. Choosing a half-body portrait for this page amplifies this idea of getting to know someone more intimately. Additionally, the introduction of colour allows the audience to see the person in more detail with the physical closeness leading to my idea of ‘interpersonal attraction’.

To place the head-shot, I experimented with having the portrait covering a double page spread. The image is the most intimate, the most detailed and shows the subject’s comfort with the camera.

Draft Two

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Having gained more images to work with, I experimented with my second case study, finally deciding on the positioning of all my portraits for the zine. I kept the plan of the full body portrait being the first image they see and kept the positioning of this. However, I didn’t feel that having the image in black and white was necessary- as the first impression you have of someone in real life wouldn’t be without colour.

I then decided that I would keep the second portrait on the right hand side of the zine (for the immediate closening of proxemity) but I wanted to have the image come across two pages- As I wanted to place the location my subject felt sentimentality towards surrounding this.

I finally chose that the head-shot should also be on the right side of the zine, again causing an immediate effect when turning the pages. My decision for black and white for this image was to capture the details of my subjects face, rather than the focus being on the colours of the image. Furthermore, having the subject make direct eye contact with the camera redirects this idea of comfort towards the audience.

Final placement of portraits

I was unhappy with the placement of some images within my zine, and so, after taking another photoshoot, I replaced a few images within my zine. These are pictured below. Additionally, I inserted images of people my subject’s cherish.

I experimented with this portrait taking up two pages. I found that it became a very strong image by doing this, although it seemed to ruin the design of my photobook as a whole, as it stood out as an anomaly

Placement of locations:

Draft One

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I experimented with the placement of this coastal image. Initially, I flipped the photo horizontally, placing a portrait on top of it. In this first draft, the photo only took up half the page. I later decided that the photo was a better candidate for taking up a full, double-page spread. I decided that this double page photo would be placed before any portraits as a sort of ‘setting’.

I did the same with my second case study. I took an urban landscape photograph and placed it over a double spread before any portraits of my subject could be seen.

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I liked the idea, however, of overlapping the portrait over a landscape photo. I experimented with black and white versions of each image, placing them against colour versions of the other. I finally decided that the most successful positioning was the ((coloured portrait over the black and white landscape)). I didn’t have an issue with removing colour from the landscape, as I had already shown a similar area in colour over a double page spread. so, this had no effect on how my audience would see the photo.

Draft Two

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I was unhappy with the landscape I used within my zine, so I moved the positioning of the photo, allowing the image to take up a double page spread. I then used a different black and white image to place behind the portrait.

Placement of their passions/things they love

Draft One

Draft Two

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Unhappy with the colour contrast between the two images, I finally decided ona piece of art that matched the colours within the portrait. The browns of the artwork matched that of the bench and the black within the artwork matched the black clothing of my subject.

Draft 3

When placing my subject’s passion, I decided to use an image of their pet to show the caring nature and the passion my subject has for nurturing animals. The image had many neutral tones, which I felt fit well next to the monochromatic image. The subject is clearly behind the dog and so the main focus is on the animal itself.

Final Design

Inserts:

To further this idea of interpersonal attraction, I researched and found psychological experiments and results that are abstract without context but reflect this idea.

The image pictured above shows the idea of closeness (in intimate situations) being less than 6 inches (Similar to the head-shots within my case studies). Additionally, it shows that in public, the idea of closeness is 12-25 feet which is similar to the first images my audiences sees within my zine- the full-body portraits. This ‘closeness’ implies the likelihood of interpersonal attraction taking place, which I wanted to present throughout my zine.

Naming the Zine

The Propinquity of Interpersonal attraction

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The process of how I came to develop this name stems from the idea of closeness throughout the development of my zine. I aimed to show how proximity (or propinquity) plays a part in getting to know someone more intimately.

Psychologists argue that frequently encountering someone and the proximity between two people can be fundamental in the process of developing strong relationships with individuals. The more people come into contact with one another, the more likely the interaction will cultivate a relationship.

By forming these ‘case-studies’, I’ve been able to present my subjects so that the audience encounters them multiple times, alongside places and things they associate themselves with.

Designing the cover

I aimed for the words in the title to be spaced closely to one another to amplify this idea of closeness.

The image incorporates both man-made and natural aspects. The man-made alteration to the landscape is present in the steps, and the theme of urban landscapes can be seen in the latter half of the book. Additionally, natural landscapes can be seen in the first half of the book within my first case study. Incorporating both of these aspects allows me to link the two case studies together. Placing the title in the negative space of the image allows the the audience’s focus to be easily shifted towards it. The placement within the negative space creates a ‘spot’, to which the audience can return to.

Additionally, the staircase has no definite end and so the image becomes ambiguous. The lack of clarity as to where the pathway finishes implies a sort of ‘journey’. One which the audience will take with each case study or which the case studies take with one another.

Selection Process

Out of the 88 photos, I made the first edit of 22 images which I felt were the most successful candidates for my zine.

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I then used the rating system of 4 stars if I’m unsure about and image and 5 stars if I’m completely certain about using it. Having rated each image I then colour co-ordinated accordingly. I used green for the images I rated with 5 stars, yellow for those I rated with 4 stars and red for those I felt weren’t good images for my zine.

To filter through the images I used the colour-label of yellow for, I used the ‘X|Y’ tool, to compare similar images with one another. (I concluded that the image on the right was a better photo as the subject took up a larger proportion of the frame, improving the composition of the image. Her face is also more clearly defined and the position of the subject creates a triangular shape, leading the audience’s eyes around the image.)

The image I decided on for the zine out of these two photographs was the image on the left. The photo is candid, capturing the subject unaware, whereas the image on the right seems forced and the subject looks uncomfortable. There is no engagement with the camera in the photo on the right and so, I feel as though it wasn’t as successful of an image. Additionally, the image on the left is a higher clarity image.

Editing Process

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I began by using the spot removal tool, to remove marks from the image that were a result of a damaged camera lens. I then decreased the contrast and highlight slightly to create a better base before the conversion to black and white. I then de-hazed the image, so as to increase the clarity of the photo. Decreasing saturation, vibrancy and exposure all allowed for better focus on the details of my subject’s face. Finally, I converted the image to black and white, decreasing the temperature so as to produce a cooler image, as well as decreasing the contrast of the image, so that the hair wasn’t too dark against the complexion of my subject. I finally used a vignette tool, and decreased it so as to lighten the edges of the image that had become darkened during the conversion to black and white.

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As a base before conversion, I enhanced the image by decreasing exposure and contrast. I then majorly decreased the highlights of the image so as to gain a better focus on the subject’s face. Additionally, the increasing of shadows and whites amplified this. As a final preparation, I cropped the photo, realigning it so my subject’s face was more to the centre.

I then converted the image to black and white, finalising the image by increasing the clarity. This conversion allowed my to shift to focus on to the details of the subject’s face, with a bold focus being on her eyes.

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To enhance this image, I began by cropping the photo. I decided to crop it so that the bench took up half of the composition, creating a clear contrast between the brown hues and the white tones of the wall. Furthermore, I readjusted the image so that my subject took up majority of the frame. A final edit to the photo was an increase in the contrast and shadows, as well as a decrease in the exposure, so as to reduce the glare present on my subjects face and exposed skin.

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To enhance this image I slightly increased the exposure and the clarity, as I was happy with the contrast within the image but wanted to achieve an image which is clearer. Additionally I wanted to ensure that my subject’s clothing didn’t clash with the shadows in the background.

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Although it is not the most successful of images, I edited it by increasing the exposure, and vibrance of the image, so as to minimise the shadows on my subject’s face.

The person they love- Photoshoot

Editing

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My main focus for this image was to increase the clarity. I used to de-haze tool to aid this. Reduction of highlights and whited allowed for a more contrasted image. Converting to black and white resulted in the focus being primarily on the subjects, rather than on the brightest part of the image (in the background).

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I started by cropping the image. This resulted the the frame being filled by the subjects. The crop allowed me to remove any parts of the of the image that crowded the frame, like the glasses in the background or the bottle on the left-hand side, for example. I then used the red-eye tool on the subject to the left as the flash during the shoot resulted in red eyes.

I finally, increased the highlights and whites of the image, as well as reducing the exposure to produce a more contrasted image.

For this case study, I aimed to incorporate some of the successful images from my photo-shoot of ‘Someone you love’. These are pictured below:

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Additionally, I carried out a second photoshoot, with the knowledge that my subject is used to the process of the photo-shoots and comfortable in front of the camera.

Selection Process

Using the compare view (‘X|Y’ tool), I compared similar images like the two above. I decided that the image on the right was more successful as a larger portion of my subject’s face is visible, as well the colours on her face being more vibrant. Additionally, the horizon in the background takes up half of the frame, reducing the negative space in the photo.

I also used the survey view to pick between a set of similar images. Out of these three photos, I decided the most successful was the portrait in the middle. The angle is more flattering on my subject and she takes up the majority of the frame, with his face in the golden third of the image. Her eyes are also opened more widely, improving the connection the subject as with the camera.

Editing

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Someone they love

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The editing process for these photos was relatively simple. I reduced the saturation of yellow tones within the images. This yellow tint was a result of the lighting within the house which was easily corrected using the HSL/Colour tool and decrease the hue or saturation of the tone.

To start the process of my photozine, I photographed the first location that held significance to one of my subjects. After a conversation with my subject, they concluded that Devil’s hole was a place they wanted photographed.

Location 1- Devil’s hole. (natural landscape)

I began the filtering process of my images by going through each image and either flagging (Ctrl+P) or rejecting (Ctrl+X). I then did a rating system of 4 stars if I was unsure of the image and 5 stars if I was completely satisfied with the image.

To decide the final image out of these two I used the ‘X|Y’ tool. After a quick comparison, I decided that the image on the right had a better composition, as the grassy area in the foreground took up a larger proportion of the frame, as well as having more vibrant coloured shrubbery. Additionally, I altered the exposure when taking the shot on the right, in order to reduce the amount of light entering the lens (due to the bright conditions).

To decide between these two images I analysed the composition, and how it may look when placed in a photozine. As a double page spread, the image on the right proved to be a better candidate as it had a stronger contrast between the brown of the rocks, the white of the broken waves and the blue of the sea. As well as this, the positioning of the seagulls within the frame creates a spot in the negative space of the sea for the audience’s gaze to avert to.

As a final selection, I came out with two mages I felt were the strongest candidates for my Zine, which I have colour coded as green in Lightroom.

editing:

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colour editing-

To enhance this image, I wanted to decrease the haziness of the image, in order to increase the clarity of the image. To achieve this I increased the shadows within the image and increased the vibrancy. This had a major impact when editing the photo, as it brought out the greenery of the grassland and allowed for a clearer view of the sea.

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To edit this image, I wanted to make the colours within the image lighter and more vibrant. I increased the saturation slightly but mainly focused on the basic tone of the image. I decreased the exposure and the contrast, as well as a strong increase in the shadows of the image. Increasing the highlights of the image resulted in a photo that’s less gloomy than the original.

Location 2- Fort Regent carpark/ St brelades (urban landscape)

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For my second location, I photographed an urban landscape, a place that held strong meaning to my second case-study. Stating that the lights have a significant effect on her I decided to take the shoot at night. A long exposure time was required and I used flat surfaces to steady the camera. The conditions were adverse, allowing many of the street lights and car headlights to be reflected off the avenue.

I selected 4 of the most clear and vibrant images by ‘flagging’ (Ctrl + P) or ‘rejecting’ (Ctrl + X) each image within the library. I colour rated (green for certain, yellow for uncertain) before the editing process.

Editing

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As a final experiementation (to design my photo zine), I converted the image to black and white.

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I converted the image to black and white to be able to layer a portrait over it without the colours clashing.

The narrative I had chosen to portray through these images was one of a group of friends going about their normal lives together. Most of the images are shots of individuals, which represents how they each have their own lives separate from their friendship group, but how they all work well together and care about each other as a group. With the individual shots, many of them have the person clearly facing and looking in one direction away from the camera lens, and the sequencing of the images makes it so that they are looking at another person, which forms more of the “togetherness” in the narrative. The “love story” aspect is shown in the way that they all have platonic love for each other, which is obvious in the group images, but also all of the individual photos were taken while in a group setting, therefore the expression of happiness, or possibly not-happiness, as clear representations of the love story within the friendship group. The “love story” could also be related to their own individual love of their home where they grew up and their youth altogether.

I had a couple of different versions of the sequence of images, but here I’ll show to actual process of how I did the best one, in InDesign.

To begin with, I skipped making a front cover or title until the rest had been done, to save me having to change it halfway through, and because I needed more time to work on an appropriate title. So, I started placing my images into the zine in the sequence I had worked out before. I started off by placing them directly next to each other, like this.

However I quickly realised how much more interesting it would be if I had the pairs of images in different positions on the page as you flipped through the book, so I experimented with this on each page until I got a pattern I liked.

Most of my images are landscape, but I knew I wanted this one to be a standalone image and I placed it in the centre of the zine, so that it could have the full advantage of a two-page spread. This is one of two images that I had as standalone in the zine, because I felt they work work to full effect if they were the main focus.

I continued with this pattern of placing the pairs of images in a frame in InDesign, sizing them and cropping them where necessary, then adjusting their position on each page, re-evaluating as I went along, until I’d put all my images in the zine. I scrolled through a couple times, just to check I still liked the sequence and the narrative it shows, then went to the next stage.

I had all of my friends who featured in the zine to write their own names on a sheet of paper beforehand, which I then took a picture of, uploaded to my laptop, cropped and fixed so that only the writing was visible and not the paper, then placed them all on the first page of the zine, opposite the other standalone image, which I decided to have like that because it was the only portrait image in the series and it worked best just individually, instead of next to a landscape photo.

Next I added this title because it reminded me of the beginning credits scene in a movie, and I think it did well to make the zine a little more personal and fun, because the black and white of the photos could make it seem quite formal when that’s not the tone I was intending. As the title states, I placed the signatures in the order that their corresponding people first appear in the zine, and I resized and reshuffled them about a couple times before deciding on the way they are presented in the screenshot.

Then, I cropped the signatures to only the first initial of each name, made that a new image, and placed the initials near to their people each time they featured in the zine (except in the one big group image in the middle). I wanted this to have the effect of making it a little less plain and simple, but not distracting too much from the images, as well as making it more personal and distinctive. There are many studies that show how people’s handwriting may reflect their personality, and whether you believe in this or not I think it is a good way to add a bit more character to each unique photo.

I also added this to the centre image, because I thought it was a little odd that all the other pages had handwritten elements except this one. It’s a quote from on of my friend’s favourite books that she wrote down, and it works very well with my narrative and corresponds perfectly to this particular image, I feel. I was debating whether to put it over the actual image itself or not, but in the end I decided that it looked more natural to have it on the border, as though she had written it it the margins of an actual book.

Finally, I went back to the front cover and used a spare image from my first shoot that I liked but couldn’t fit into the actual zine, edited it in the same way as the others so that they all worked together visually, and chose a title that I felt represented my narrative well and conveyed the sort of tone I was going for. It’s the French word for “together”, which was one of the things my friends wrote down on the sheet of paper form before, and so I repeated the process as I did for the signatures and added the actual English handwritten word onto the back cover, as shown below. I kept the font the same as the title in the first page with all the signatures, and kept it relatively small and simple so as not to make it too overbearing or distracting, and try and keep the same minimalistic classic vibe throughout the whole zine.

I went for a plain black background to stick to the black and white theme, but I was conflicted on where to place the word for a while. I tried a couple of different sizes and positions on the [age before just settling on the simplest : small enough to be legible but not too big and in the centre of the page.

I then went through all of my pages, made any final adjustments to placing or size, double-checked that I was still happy with the sequence and my narrative, and then I was finished.

COMPLETED ZINE-

To begin with, I took all the images I had already and pasted a screenshot of them all together into PowerPoint, so that I was able to write notes all around them and colour code them in a way that made sense to me. At this point I’m simply trying to see if I can categorise the images into clear groups, as my plan for the sequencing is to have my images group into “stages/chapters”.

As can clearly be seen, I started by noting down any differences between them; whether they were of a group or an individual, whether the image felt happy or not, etc. , then I labelled where each image was taken. At this point, I was intending to group the images based on whether they portrayed happiness or not, or quite possibly the location where they were taken.

However, after experimenting with some different combinations in Lightroom and using my notes from PowerPoint, I decided that it would work best if I just paired images up with whichever they looked visually best with, based on composition, black and white balance and general shape and form of the image. I am also paying attention to what direction the people in each image are facing, to see if I can use that to my advantage in the zine.

After I made this decision, I went through all the images and, through the process of trial and error, found which images paired well with each other and which would do best as individuals, this didn’t take too long because I already had notes on each photo from before and I could use that to evaluate how successful each pairing was.

Next, I used the same process of visualising and trial and error to come up with several possible sequences of all the images in InDesign, before deciding on my favourite to focus all my attention on (A5 V).

I’m now able to make any final edits and complete my zine, ready for printing.