Photoshoot 1

For my first photoshoot, I went into the studio and took multiple photos of my friend who has tore her posterior talofibular and anterior talofibular ligaments so she is in a boot. But that helps out my theme as my theme is all about injured players who used to play everyday but now have to go back to normal day to day life in their cast/crutches.

I also used my other friend who deeply loves basketball, and let him use a pair of crutches and he had his leg behind him like he almost, ‘doesn’t have a leg, or its broken and he’s just holding it behind’. I also took a lot of photos of my friend just talking to someone else whilst on the crutches because I wanted him in the moment just looking like he doesn’t know.

Photoshoot 2

For my second photoshoot which is my main photo ideas, I chose the idea with one of my teammates who struggles a lot with injuries. I have an idea of him and how is daily struggles that lead to loneliness and sadness having worked and trained all his life to play basketball, but due to having constant injuries involving breaking his ankle 3 times, and currently he has a broken wrist from basketball. He can only watch our games, support the team and can’t train anything like he used to at his full potential and intensity.

A lot of these photos, I had an idea of how a few people are playing basketball, whilst he is just watching from the side of the court, looking sad and an idea of ‘what if’ (I didn’t get injured), or (where would I be at today without injuries). I really love this photo of him just holding a basketball with a cast on his wrist sat on a table below a basketball hoop with no emotion in his face/looking down at himself.

A very big thing involved through his backstory as well is that he has all the basketball shoes, Jerseys, shorts and skills, but he can’t even use them anymore at this current moment. So, it’s like a thought of ‘why did I train so hard to just constantly get injured.’

Photoshoot 1 – For this photoshoot, I want to lean more towards the mirror photography idea. By asking partners to photograph me and me photographing them. I want my photos to be unique and have some personal twist on it, whether that is certain poses or lighting that I use. I could use different angles of lighting or angles on the camera itself to show my world through a camera lens. I also want to develop my idea while photographing to let the ideas flow as they come

Cindy Sherman has inspired me to tap into the femininity and masculinity topic we went over last year. I loved this topic and as Cindy loves to show the different perceptions people have that you may not see. She photographed herself and showed who she was through her own eyes and therefor through her camera lens.

For this photoshoot, it worked so well to show the windows part of the topic, I didn’t want to focus too much on this part of the topic but thought it would work well to show the other side to mirrors, almost to emphasize my mirror photoshoot itself.

The use of my staged photos worked so well, showed emotion and friendship through window photography and almost another life, staged and filtered but real in itself.

Even though some of my photos didn’t turn out the way the way I wanted them too, I feel like they show a story. An outside view of made up people, can show lives that happen, maybe behind closed doors.

The lighting we used was a small spotlight in a lit up room to emphasize what I want the focal point of my photos to be. We played around with lighting slightly, using ring lights and normal room lights before settling on the spotlight.

Final Photo edits –

Photo 1 –

Initially, I wanted to focus on the highlights and and lowlights of this photo, with the use of shadows created by the single spotlight we used to capture the photo, the use of natural contours extenuate the highlights alone so the use of focusing on the highlights level out both ends of the scale.

For this photoshoot, I wanted to add a black and white filter on top of the photo to add almost a sense of nostalgia to the ‘window’ photos, to help portray the life beyond the camera lens.

Final edit –

Photo 2 –

With this photo shoot, the edits will pretty much be the same.

Changing the highlights and shadows to suit the photo dynamic again and putting a simple black and white filter over the edits.

Final photo –

Photo 3 –

Final photo –

Photoshoot 2 – For this photoshoot, I wanted to focus most on mirror photography, the use of actual mirrors and almost ‘selfie’ looking photos I think is how I want to do this photoshoot. I feel like that can be very powerful for this topic.

The use of microphones for window photography worked really well in my last photoshoot, so I want to include that in this shoot as well. I wanted to interpret this into my shoot but almost change it to mirror by photographing myself.

This photoshoot went so well, the portrayal of window and mirror photography came out so much clearer in this photoshoot.

The use of singular spotlights enhanced the focal point of my photos. The focus of a singular person works well with both mirror and window photography. The use of warm lights emphasizes warm toned skin making the photos untied.

This photoshoot will be used a lot more for my mirror side of this topic. The use of actual mirrors and reflections are a very blunt and obvious way of portraying this ‘mirror’ photography.

Final photo edits –

Photo 1 –

This edit, I wanted to focus on the warm tones and cosy feel for it, extenuating warm tones through deep skin filters in a yellowy red tone. I also focused on the exposure and shadows as well, to give amore focused look at the focal point of the photo, the model.

Final photo –

Photo 2 –

I loved how this photo turned out, already using a red sheet cover for the red hue, I wanted to include a little more light to the highlights in this photo, without drowning out the warm almost intimate vibe.

Final photo –

Photo 3 –

Doing a similar thing to the previous photo, I focused on calming down the red hue but not loosing the important highlights and shadows in the process. The blur on the photo gives a sense of uncertainty which is something I think is really important in mirror photography for me.

Final photo –

Photo 4 –

I wanted to bring back the black and white for this photo, just because I liked the vintage approach. Highlighting and lowlighting where needed and focusing on sharp lights from the studio.

Virtual gallery –

Helmut Newton was known as one of the most influential fashion photographers of the 1980s alongside Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon. I think that his work is the perfect comparison for the world I would like to similarly replicate. This is because I like the style of it being old and black and white. I like how they style is elegant and the women are dressed in predominantly black. As he was a very favour fashion photographer, I think that these images relate well to the topic of women being represented in the media and industries. Helmut Newtons work focused on themes such as power and gender and Newton’s work frequently explored themes of power, dominance, and submission, with women depicted as both powerful and vulnerable. Something that makes me fascinated with his work is the fact that Newton’s style often featured strong, dominant women in exaggerated, high-fashion settings. His images were characterized by a high contrast, stark lighting, and a sense of voyeurism.

The theme of femininity and gender that I am focusing on ties into his work as Helmut Newton’s work represents women as powerful, enigmatic, and seductive figures. The stereotype “femme fatale”, represents these women as they are radiating both allure and danger. The idea that women are superhuman and dominant is shown in his work as their outfits and roles in the photographs demonstrate authority and positions of power. I like the fact that the women are in smart, business attire or dresses, this particularly contrasts society’s views as they are defying usual stereotypes of women. Although, his work is meant to explore women from a female perspective, yet his photographs are sometimes seen as reinforcing women as an object of desire.

I want my models to be seen as women of power and show the power dynamics of society and not seeking male dominance in their lives. I want my models to also defy usual beauty standards an instead show their strength and unity as a whole.

Photo Analysis.

Technical:

The lighting in this photo is a black and white dark toned image which has a high contrast which creates a striking atmosphere. The shadows are harsh and strong with the highlights being white and brighter. This creates a high contrast and bold impression. This also helps to emphasize the characters and people included in the image which also creates intensity to the image. This image uses sharp edges and back-lighting which creates a cinematic feel to the image, as if it is a snapshot. However, as this image is outside, natural lighting will have also been used to show an authentic feel to the image as it is using the sun along with stage lights. The main lighting component to the photo is the contrast in shadows and how shadows are used to outline the characters. In this photograph the two women are highlighted as the focal point in the image due to the sharp shadows and dark dresses which have a strong and powerful style to them.

Visual:

This image includes a sense of symmetry and geometric framing. This is due to the way the two women are stood in a specific place which is known as deliberate positioning. The background of this image is also very minimal and includes mostly sky with a few buildings and ground towards the lower half. This creates an easy way for the audience to immediately look at the subjects instead of the background. Shadows also accompany the focal point of the women by emphasising their bodies and in this image, possibly promoting the outfits the women are wearing. The female form is a main part of Newton’s work and it is displayed in this image as there is emphasis on the shape of these women’s bodies and they display an idealistic and stereotypical body to please the male audience. The lighting of this images, highlights the bodies of the women and their sculptural beauty. I like how cinematic thus image is as it looks like a quick shot taken out of a movie, as the women are mid motion, this creates a cinematic and narrative impression.

Contextual:

The main contextual element to Helmut Newton’s work is exploring gender roles and sexuality. Helmut’s work has been previously critiqued for objectifying women. However, In my chosen image, I believe the women are shown as being dominant and in control. I like how his work is challenging social norms and how he sees his photography as an opportunity to push himself to the extremes in order to convey his message. During the time this image was made, political and social issues were being faced globally. Women were fighting back for rights and equality and feminists were also challenging the patriarchal gaze. In this image, I believe the two women are challenging the idea that women should only be seen as passive objects of male desire. As Helmut Newton is also a fashion photographer, people, predominantly women, were used to promote outfits by creating a specific mood and impression though a story by the model and location. In this image, the women are in high- quality, high-fashion outfits, whilst portraying their strength and confidence through art.

Conceptual:

In Helmut Newton’s work, he focuses on the exploration of power, and gender, however, this message is executed in multiple ways that differ him from other fashion photographers. Helmut Newton orientated much of his work around nudity of women. This was to challenge traditional women forms and exploration of desire, dominance, and control. In this image, the concept and meaning behind it, explores ‘the perfect woman’ as both of the women are young, confident and beautiful and uses boldness to highlight their power over a traditional angelic woman. This image is an example of Helmut Newton, ‘pushing boundaries’ and makes the viewer question whether the women are being celebrated or objectified. This image has a very cinematic feel to it and resembles a scene from a thriller or action movie due to the ambience created through the lighting. This is a narrative quality in his work which implies an unwritten story behind the image and there is a message or conflict beneath the image. This essence of mystery intrigues the viewer and differs Helmut Newtons work from other contemporary photographers.

How Does He Link to My Work?

In my personal study I am focusing on the ‘male gaze’ and the representation of women in the media. The idea of ‘the male gaze’ comes from Laura Mulvey in 1975. This is the way the visual arts, including film and photography, depict the world from a heterosexual male perspective. I chose this specific photographer to tie into my topic as Helmut Newton photographs predominantly women and positions them as subjects of male desire. The way the women are posing in his images is used in a strategic way in order to emphasize their bodies and for the model to captivate the traditional heterosexual male viewer. Helmut’s work also features women displaying themes of power and control, the women are shown as empowered instead of vulnerable. This use of power dynamics intrigues the viewer and is used to attract the male gender, in order to get them to buy their products and they may e.g. attract a woman similar looking to the model. The costume of heels paired with lingerie or small pieces of clothing ties into being a part of ‘the male gaze’ as women are simply posing in almost no clothing just to attract males to the products. However, Helmut Newton’s work also complicates the male gaze as the women are not submissive and vulnerable, but powerful and in control, which contrasts the traditional male gaze, as the woman are aware and complying with it. This has sparked debates about whether Newton’s photography reinforces the male gaze or offers a more nuanced representation of female sexuality.

Articles.

This subject has been explored multiple times by many high-profile newspapers and reports. Laura Mulvey did not undertake empirical studies of actual filmgoers, but declared her intention to make ‘political use’ of Freudian psychoanalytic theory (in a version influenced by Jacques Lacan) in a study of cinematic spectatorship. Such psychoanalytically-inspired studies of ‘spectatorship’ focus on how ‘subject positions’ are constructed by media texts rather than investigating the viewing practices of individuals in specific social contexts. Mulvey notes that Freud had referred to (infantile) scopophilia – the pleasure involved in looking at other people’s bodies as (particularly, erotic) objects. In the darkness of the cinema auditorium it is notable that one may look without being seen either by those on screen by other members of the audience. Mulvey argues that various features of cinema viewing conditions facilitate for the viewer both the voyeuristic process of objectification of female characters and also the narcissistic process of identification with an ‘ideal ego’ seen on the screen. She declares that in patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey 1992, 27). This is reflected in the dominant forms of cinema. Conventional narrative films in the ‘classical’ Hollywood tradition not only typically focus on a male protagonist in the narrative but also assume a male spectator. ‘As the spectator identifies with the main male protagonist, he projects his look onto that of his like, his screen surrogate, so that the power of the male protagonist as he controls events coincides with the active power of the erotic look, both giving a satisfying sense of omnipotence’ (ibid., 28). Traditional films present men as active, controlling subjects and treat women as passive objects of desire for men in both the story and in the audience, and do not allow women to be desiring sexual subjects in their own right. Such films objectify women in relation to ‘the controlling male gaze’ (ibid., 33), presenting ‘woman as image’ (or ‘spectacle’) and man as ‘bearer of the look’ (ibid., 27). Men do the looking; women are there to be looked at. The cinematic codes of popular films ‘are obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male ego’ (ibid., 33). It was Mulvey who coined the term ‘the male gaze’.

you must contextualise his work with feminism, with specific reference to the ‘male gaze’ and his representation of women in his photographs. Apply your knowledge and understanding of Laura Mulvey’s ‘Visual Pleasures’ essay and Judith Butler’s; ‘Gender Trouble’ you have studied in Media. You also need to find some specific articles/ reviews done around his work written by other critics, feminists etc. I’ll help you with identifying these. This has sparked debates about whether Newton’s photography reinforces the male gaze or offers a more nuanced representation of female sexuality.