These images are inspired by Justine Kurland. I went to a woodland area where there were loads of trees and bushes and also a pond. I used the tableaux photography technique to create these images. This meant that all of these images were staged to look like real life. The people in these images were staged to look like they were having fun in the woods and I wanted to portray a sense of freedom through the photographs. I was inspired by Justine Kurland’s images in her project “Girl Pictures” :

In “Girl Pictures” they are all taken in suburban areas where the girls in the pictures were rebelling in nature. In most of my images, there are 2 or more girls, this is because I wanted to shoe the interaction between girls and the female gaze. The images were staged to create a sense of protection between them and how they interact with each other in nature instead of isolated in a bedroom. For these images, I ensured that the sun was behind the camera so that the natural lighting was on the models instead of in the back of the images. Once I got all of my images, I transferred them onto Lightroom where I started editing them. I really like how these images turned out because of the way that the sun reflects onto the models to create a natural lighting. I also like how the models in the pictures are wearing white, this could show a sense of purity and how the girls are innocently playing together and instinctively protecting each other as a society of females.

These images are inspired by Mary Ellen Mark. I chose to take portrait photos to show emotion through facial expressions. In these images the girls look solemn. My aim in these photographs was for female viewers to relate to the images just like Mark did with her photos. I chose to put these images into black and white to add to the emotions of sadness and loneliness that some females experience through life and to connect with the idea of girlhood. In Mary Ellen Marks photos, she aimed to create a narrative of vulnerability within females and also how the females view the world that they live in. Therefore, this inspired me to create my own images to show the emotions of sadness that females go through in their lives. I was inspired by these images taken by Mark :

I used both of these photoshoots in my photobook because I like the contrast between the two emotions shown in the images. For the images inspired by Justine Kurland the girls are having fun in the woods and protecting each other through the connection of their friendship. It also shows the empowerment that the girls have on their on to make their own lives in a world full of stereotypes and and gender roles. It shows the girls rebelling against these two misconceptions of how girls are perceived. I really like how the images show that the girls look out for each other, especially in the image where the girl is leading the other girl through the woods as it shows trust within each other. In contrast to this, my images in which were inspired by Mary Ellen Mark are taken to show the vulnerability of girls. I chose to take these images with the girls on their own to show the loneliness that some girls experience through their lives. The images also have a black background which could foreshadow that females often feel like they’re in the dark or that they feel empty.

My First Virtual Gallery

For my first virtual gallery, I used my images inspired by Justine Kurland. I transferred all my images from my documents onto the gallery and positioned them in a way that was clear to see them all from one position. I used the best photos out of my photoshoot, the ones that I thought best portrayed the connection of the girls with each other and nature. I put a brown border on my images to match with the brown colour of the woodland and I like how it turned out.

My Second Virtual Gallery

For my second virtual gallery, I used only my images inspired by Mary Ellen Mark. I displayed them in a way that all images could be seen fully. I didn’t add any border because I didn’t want the focus to be drawn away from the image.