Colonialism: Explain what it is and how the slave trade evolved as an instrument of power and suppression of enslaved people from Africa.

The official definition of Colonialsim is “The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.”

The Slave Trade

The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage from the 16th to the 19th centuries during ‘The Slave Trade’. The slave trade refers to transatlantic trading patterns, with trading ships containing manufactured goods which would sail from Europe to Africa where goods would be traded for people. The ships conditions were awful, they would be full with the slaves crammed together in the hold. They had no room to move and many did not survive the journey to America or the Caribbean.

The majority of those sold into slavery were destined to work on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas, where huge areas of the American continent had been colonised by European countries. These plantations produced products such as sugar or tobacco, meant for consumption back in Europe.

Britain was one of the most successful slave trading countries. It was estimated that they transported 3.1 million Africans between 1640 and 1807.

Global context: Describe racism and how racial discrimination over time has led to Black Lives Matter movement.

The official definition of racism is : prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

In simpler terms, racism is to discriminate against someone purely based on their race or ethnicity and can result in people creating harmful prejudiced views before, during, or after meeting someone. Racial attacks can be very harmful and sometimes fatal till common in today’s society due to institutionalized racism which has not been eradicated since it most impactfully began with the atlantic slave trade in the 16th century , but had still been around for many years previous.

Many versions of the Black Lives Matter movement has happened throughout time, most recently as a result of the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill, Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on his neck for nearly eight minutes. After his death, protests against police violence toward black people quickly spread across the United States and internationally.

These are my final 4 chosen images that i am going to display for my identity project. I think they are all the most effective at showing all the little details of each shoot and look

I will print all the images as A5 and then most likely use a window mount to display them together, slightly mismatched.

I think presenting the images all together as one will be the most effective way to show the contrast between all the styles, and really highlight how clothes and makeup can allow you to show your own self expression, and how the means of this has evolved though time

This way of self expression has so much available freedom, and every day people can decide how they identify just by choosing what the wear and their appearance, even without realizing. By following the work of Cindy Sherman, i was able to explore this in an interesting way and capture the essence of my reference

The definition of identity is who you are, how you think of yourself and how you are viewed by the world. This project shows how everyone can create their own identity just by the simplest means of everyday choices. Whether you decide one day to put lots of effort into your appearance and little the next, you are still creating an identity for yourself, for others to interpret how they like.

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This is my favourite image as i really like how my smile expresses a happier emotion, which matched more with the persona of a 20s flapper girl, than my other more serious images. It also connotes to how when you are happy with how you look, it can drastically improve your mood and well being; linking to how the uniqueness of everyone’s identities can be shown through their confidence as well as clothing.

For this look i created a sparkly gold and black smoky eye, with a bold red lip and beauty spot. I then matched this with the iconic pearls and headband of a 1920s flapper girl, with intensely curled hair and a basic black top

I think these images really encaptured the style of the 1920s with a fun more fancy look, which shows great contrast to how people style themselves in the world now. They can capture a moment in time as styles go in and out of fashion, as people learn to evolve their self expression

They show how as the world continues, styles can match up with personal identity, not just in everyday life but shown here through interests, such as dance.

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This is my chosen image as i favoured the fact it was in the very center, and landscape. It has a smooth finish and effectively highlighted the 80s aspects, allowing focus on all the small details. The bright and bold colours of this shoot was essential in expressing the essence of the time, and so i made it key to choose bright makeup and clothing. I also like how this image showed highlight to my hair so that you could see the crimped, as it brings forward the idea of styles changing over time.

For this look i used a bold yellow and orange eyeshadow paired with a shiny pink gloss, then with my hair crimped in a high ponytail; key aspects of 1980s culture. I then chose an off shoulder 80s top with a bright pink shoulder strap

In a few of the images i also added bright pink hoop earings and netted gloves

This look was to recreate the teen style popular in the 1980s, with bright bold colours, playful hair and odd accessories. These show how fashions and styles change with the times, allowing peoples sense of personal identity to grow and change with age and social aspects

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This is my favourite image as i preferred the portrait layout because it allowed for the details of the outfit to be seen, and as i’m looking off screen you can see the dramatic makeup clearer. The editing of this one also came out well and really highlighted the red and brighter areas of the image; also enhancing how the flash caused my beanie to illuminate

For this look i firstly used concealer to create a shaved eyebrow slit, then used lots of dark red shades to create a dramatic eye look, which i then paired with a thick winged eyeliner. Next i added a slit and upside down cross under my eyes with red and black eye shadows, as often seen in these sort of looks. I finally added a red gloss. My outfit included black cargo trousers with a metal loop, layered roll neck with a skater t shirt and a fluorescent threaded beanie.

With this image i added smoke as i thought it appropriately matched up with this theme and could be associated with the lifestyle often following this sort of dark, grunge appearance. I also liked the way it appeared to swirl around my head as if it were surrounding me.

The persona i’m trying to create in this image is based on the current ‘eboy’ or ‘skater’ trend seen on the internet, but also openly displayed in the media currently through people such as Billie Eilish.

For my identity project i was more focused on creating as much as possible though physical work, like Cindy Sherman, such as my choice of clothes and makeup, so only basic editing was used

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This was my favourite image from the shoot as i liked the composition of the picture as it was very centered and by looking over to the side it showed off the detail on my cheeks. Also the overall pink hue came out the best on this one.

To create this look i used lots of pink toned eye shadow for a glittery look across my eyes, and then a harsher pink across my cheeks and nose, with a highlighted heart on the top of my cheekbones. I also added small hair clips and had my hair down naturally. I paired this with a tied up, baby pink tshirt and black skirt.

This look was to match the sort of soft girl/anime girl look that has been seen across the internet, with many famous characters such as avivasophie and kiyakawaiix on platforms like TikTok. This style is a form of self expression and becomes an important part of someones identity, also having cultural links as it is associated with certain Japanese styles and interests

For this shoot i used my wall of Polaroids as the background instead of the curtain as it appropriately matched with the theme

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