For my photoshoot I would like to look more at female empowerment and the future of women’s rights and how they are being portrayed in more positive way as times continue. This photoshoot will show a more positive light on women and how times have evolved to empower them instead of restrict them to certain values and opinions. This photoshoot will be created to show woman who are capable and headstrong with knowledge and intelligence.

For this photoshoot, I will take pictures in a house which is an out of school photoshoot to display women with power and almost being over-dramatic about their posing and expressions. Another interesting component of this photoshoot, is that these women will be young adults of the age of 18, instead of a women ages e.g. 30, who has lived a life to develop into who she is. Due to these girls’ age, it creates a meaning that it does not depend on age, when a girl can be powerful and self-confident. I would like to focus on posing and how, the way you come across, demonstrates your power and confidence.

Helmut Newton References.

My images are being produced In response to Helmut Newton’s work, however, my images will display similar signifiers in his work such as the topics of dominance, confidence and power. Although Newton’s work is controversial for being either critical of women or empowering women, I would like to explore different aspects of his work, as some of his images are seen to be empowering, and some more disparaging. The conflict of emotions towards his work argue whether his images are empowering the woman as his work surrounds themes such as power and control, instead of submission and manipulation. In my photoshoot, I am going to be interpreting Helmut Newton’s work surrounding themes of dominance control and power, but my work will be highlighting the difference in empowerment and objectification. I will do this by having a similar style of photographs, but have my models be glamorous and celebrated not glamourous and subordinate.

Here are some examples of images I would like to include in my photoshoot outside of school in response to his work.

These photos are perfect representations of images I would like to produce in my own photoshoot. I want my models to look elegant and posed in similar situations to this. I am choosing this style of photos out of his different genres as I feel these images display the classy and glamorous yet voyeuristic style of images where the women are dressed up. I want my models to pose in a confident manner to show they are self-aware and strong, contrasting with stereotypical portrayals of women.

My Photoshoot:

I would like my 3/4 models to initially be dressed in long black dresses with red lipstick and long straight hair. This is to demonstrate the stereotypical powerful woman during this time period. However, I would also like to experiment with different outfits and hairstyle and makeup in order to replicate different images and create an impression of fashion photography in response to Helmut Newton’s work. I would like to initially start with black dresses as many of his photos feature this type of outfit. However, I am attempting to provide similar extravagant clothing. Here are some outfit ideas I would like to include in my photographs. Pieces such as long dresses, black trousers, blazers, heels, tights and coats, all with darker tones I think will really boost my images to look more similar to his work.

Posing Ideas.

These poses give me ideas on how to show power, confidence and beauty. These are a wide range of things I would like to focus on in order to relate to the idealised view of a woman and how they are portrayed, vs how they really are. I really want to convey a message about how women are portrayed and how the line between glamour and class and objectification and humility is able to be hidden easily in the fashion world.

Images: