I took 3 photoshoots for this theme so that I would have a range of ideas to assess.

My images:

For this image I used a slow shutter speed to recreate that effect on the head that Francesca Woodman used in her work so that it gives the viewer a sense of displacement. This applies well in gender identity as this can represent the struggles of growing up in a strongly gendered society. I feel that this also correlates with Shannon O’Donnell’s work because of the hidden identity on the face however I’ve still managed to capture her eyes looking straight at the camera which I feel looks very mysterious and unnerving because you can ever so slightly see them staring. I put the image into black and white, not only from inspiration from both my artists but because I feel the light background causes the viewer to become drawn to the subject as she is dressed in darker clothes.

These three images are inspired by my artist Shannon O’Donnell as she likes to disclose the subjects identity and mix up the modern perspective on femininity vs masculinity.

In these two images, one subject sat in front of the other to catch their reflection whilst capturing an image of the second subject too. I played with the tone in both images with the first one, a more dramatic pose, has a contrasting warm pinkish tone to it however the cheerful image has a more cool tone to it.

I chose this image as I feel like this represents the culture of teenage girls in school as this stage in their life is filled with drama and arguments with friends. I sat the two subjects alongside one another, the girl on the right looking really devastated while on the left she is holding a knife with a smile, as if she is ‘stabbing her in the back’ through betrayal.

For this image I place feminine objects in front of the mirror such as makeup, perfume and a hairbrush to the right of the subject as if she is getting ready. This heavily represents stereotypes around women because it shows the way that women pamper themselves with products of this sort and how when growing up this is the ideology around teenage girls only caring about growing up too fast. This would generally be the image of a magazine cover for women, in which young girls would see and usually compare themselves due to the unattainable beauty standards for women in fashion.

In this image I put the light behind me to catch my subjects face in the mirror which gave the image Chiaroscuro lighting. I like the way it has made the background dark and lit up one side of her face through her reflection because it means that her face is the only thing you can relatively look at. The way the girl looks into the mirror represents the idea in society that girls/women are overly obsessed with their image.

Again in this image the light was directly behind me to give a visible reflection into the mirror and a dark background behind the subject so the focus is entirely on the face. However, instead of there being a strong Chiaroscuro aspect to this image I used the snout light with a pink-coloured gel alongside the flash-head and I have raised it to a warmer tone so the outcome has turned a vibrant pink. There is a strong theme of femininity throughout this image alongside that due to the nails, lipgloss and lashes. I feel the use of the mirror has helped reinforce the stereotypical idea of young women being overly obsessed with their looks and presentation throughout the image.

I’ve chosen this image as she is showing real emotion with the tears just under her eyes which is relative to the stereotypical views of women being that they are emotional. My subject sat just off-centre towards the left wearing black as I feel that the monotone jumper and background reflects the mood of the image, making the viewer focus on how this image brings an element of sadness to the viewer and makes them feel it too as she is looking straight into the camera.