This is my virtual gallery and I put my favourite images in it. I chose these specific images because they are the ones I experimented most with and I love how they turned out. They are all unique and different but they all match the theme of femininity and Marilyn Monroe which I’m really proud of.
The image in the centre is the one that stands out the most and it immediately catches your eye as it is vibrant and colourful. I ended up putting two landscape images next to it as they are a bit longer than the others so they wouldn’t have fit along the outside walls. I like how the images are even moving out from the centre image it makes it look more professional but also pleasing to the eye. The images on the outer sides of the gallery are both of the back of the head. One is in colour and the other is in black and white this contrasts to the photos next to them where the photo on the far left is in colour while the image next to it is in black and white, and it is the same on the other side but it reverse. I liked how this looked because it didn’t look too even yet it looked good.
I personally prefer this image in colour as it shows my editing to make it look more vintage using warm tones so it looks more like Cameron’s work as well. However I am going to experiment by putting my image in black and white so it resembles Sherman’s famous image.
Similarities and differences
In Cindy’s work she is standing in a towel which ultimately looks very feminine and vulnerable which is typically a feminine stereotype. However, as seen the subject has her arm up with her fingers which gives off a elegant and gentle look to the image meaning viewing herself in the mirror with draw catching eyes. This is similar to my work as the subject in the mirror has her arm up however holding a prop which could link to Sherman’s work. Another contrast is how Sherman is in a w towel which is a large factor to the image whereas the subject in my image is wearing black which would make the viewer look more at the face rather than the body as the background is black. A major difference is my subject in my image is not a full body shot whereas Sherman’s work is. Sherman’s work also contains depth in the shadows of her image where as mine does not as it is through a mirror completely. Lastly the subject in Sherman’s image is looking through the reflection same as my image however not looking into the camera through it. Whereas, my image the subject is looking through the camera giving more a seductive and confident look.
Julia Margaret Cameron
Cameron’s image
My image
Similarities and differences
A major eye catching similarity is the lighting. Within my image I used Chiaroscuro lighting to emphasize the beauty of femininity. This relates to Marilyn Monroe as a character as my inspiration. Cameron’s image has a soft focus in the centre and high exposure on the right side of the subjects face however that is what she was known for and was good at. We both used a black background to blend in other features which could make it look mysterious as without a background the image cannot say a lot. I edited my image to make it look vintage and sort of a rusty colour which I executed through using warm tones and a warm feathered boarder which Cameron successfully did too.
These are the photos from my Cindy Sherman inspired photoshoot that I have chosen and edited to be my final images:
My photos contrasted with Cindy Sherman’s photos:
Evaluation:
For this photoshoot, I decided to photograph my mother at her barber shop, and also wearing a barber apron. I chose this location with inspiration from Cindy Sherman because of how she challenged stereotypes of women being portrayed in media and films from the 50s and 60s, and I feel that this could be a more modern representation of a woman working and owning a business in a field of work which is usually more male dominated.
Critique: I feel like my planning for this photoshoot helped me understand the overall composition and staging in Sherman’s photos, and I was able to take inspiration from those. Deciding to take these photographs of my mother in her barber shop allowed me to tell a story through them, like Sherman did with her Untitled Film Stills. In my photos, both natural and artificial light was used, which I paid attention to and adjusted my settings accordingly for the different locations in and outside the building. However, In my contact sheets, I noticed some of my photos were underexposed, which I had to correct during editing by increasing the exposure or applying a mask on the subject’s face and then increasing the exposure or brightness.
Femininity and masculinity would be considered a small part of binary opposites which is quite a broad topic so you have smaller subjects/topics like femininity vs masculinity, black vs white, peace vs war etc…
Identity can be quite a political topic especially now since more people are starting to speak about inequalities they face due to their identity. You have lots of people who will be in support of equality for everyone no matter who they are. However you will still have some people who wont agree and will discriminate due to race, gender, social class etc…
There have been many movements in the past to fight for more equality such as suffragettes movement, black lives matter protest, civil rights movement, pride parades and many others.
Femininity– “qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls.”
Historically society have given women these role such as being a mother (which most may be however that does not define them) and someone who should do all the cooking, cleaning and taking care of the house and family while her husband is out
Society also seems to have quite high expectations of women and how they should be feminine by always looking perfect with their hair done, makeup on, nails done. Often women are looked down on when they aren’t “perfect”.
Now more then other women are trying to defy these stereotypical thoughts and ideas about what it means to be feminine. It was always quite a masculine trait to be brave, powerful and strong but more women are now saying that being strong can be feminine too.
Masculinity– “referring to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men”
While women were said to be at home men were quite the opposite they were said to be the ones that had to go out to work everyday to earn money for their home and family. They were said to be taking care of their family financially.
As a society we have kind of told men they have to be tough, they cant be vulnerable and emotional they have to be strong for their family. It was quite common for people to tell men that they cant cry and to get over their problems they were facing.
Recently now as a society we have been trying to stop these damaging stereotypes as they hold no purpose and just isolate people. Its now although not mainstream it is more common to see a man wear makeup. Its now more alright for men to get upset and need support too.
How the war effected gender roles– A big defiance against these gender roles/rules were the war, this is because when the men went off to the war it meant there was no one to do the “man” jobs therefore the women had to start doing those jobs which showed everyone that they are just as capable as men. Not only did they start doing men’s jobs but they also had to carry ion with their original jobs like cooking and looking after the kids so it really proved to everyone how strong and capable women actually are.
