First Set

This is my first set of edited images, Within these images, I have gone for an overall black and white theme, focussing on only tone and presence. I have focused on anatomy as a link to my overall theme of the male gaze. In order to take these images, I had guidance from a male which allowed me to take images of a female from a males perspective. After researching photographers such as Kohei Nishiguchi, I felt inspired to focus heavily on lighting in regards to creating a story. this collection of images I believe communicate the light beyond sadness, creating a metaphorical relationship between light and emotions through the use of black and white editing as well as enhanced shadows, in this case, the sadness and darkness that many women are left feeling while living in a patriarchal society, where women are often exploited for their bodies as well as seen as sexualised figures. The use of photographing things such as bones, subverts the dehumanisation struck onto so many women in the media making them alienated and allows them to be seen much more as human beings rather than pleasures for the white heterosexual male.

Second Set

This is my second set of images, I captured these on a long shutter speed in order to capture movement as well as blurriness, blurring the male gaze. I wanted to include movement within my images to create a sense of freedom, and breaking out of a patriarchal society. I included dark shadows within the image to highlight the features which are considered ‘imperfections’ within women.

Third set

In this set of images, i emulated the style of feminist photographer Cindy Sherman, using an array of costumes, makeup and settings to create stories of characters based off of old Hollywood. These images highlight the ‘female experience’ capturing things such as housework while dressed up in a fur coat and makeup highlighting the need to be presentable at all times.

In this image, the subject is seen in a white vail referencing the biblical ‘Madonna’ – a morally pure and chaste woman, also known as ‘The Virgin Mary’, within this image i have placed focus on her over lined dark lips as well as bold eye makeup, i believe this image defeats the traditional expectations held over women and highlights the modern liberating views of sexuality for women and perhaps contrasting to the classic biblical views of women.

Fourth Set

For these images, I wanted to create a sense of stalking, similar too many of Sherman’s ‘untitled film stills’. Having the subjects back faced to the camera suggests that they aren’t aware they are being watched. The dark never ending road also creates an ominous feel for the images and suggest that whoever is watching poses a threat to the woman, highlighting the threat and damage caused daily by the male gaze on women.