Here I had the idea of combining the two genders into one photo, I made a collage of all my photos I took inspired by Cindy Sherman, I simply added all the photos to a blank piece of paper and removed the background of each of the photos to combine them as one, after I duplicated the collage and placed it side by side from the other one, I then placed two photos I took of boys and placed on top also removing the background. I left the pictures of the boys in colour as it helps to make both the collage and the singular photos of the boys stand out.

Inspiration:

Outcome:

This type of photoshoot is also based on how people dress, how the different races wear certain clothing, how boys wear different clothes to girls, boys tend to wear baggy jumpers and girls tend to wear tighter jumpers with crop tops. Each gender and race don’t have a particular clothing they should wear, they just tend to stick to normality and what each gender is expected to wear. Most of these photos weren’t planned therefore they are more neutral and aren’t set up, most people only has a few seconds to pose which makes the photo seem less planned and more in the moment.

Here I went round my school and took picture of the students with different races and ethnicities, this is meant to show that everyone is equal no matter the colour of your skin or what language you speak, I look at an artists Liz where she focused more on race and how that certain race acts as a whole, what most of them have in common and heir hobbies, i tied to make my photoshoots have more people who could look similar or the total opposite. I chose the best photos that i took to present and left them in colour as the artists did the same, this type of photoshoot is based on how people act in general and why they act certain ways, for example there is a stereotype that certain races are better at dancing then others. This could be looked in a way where everyone is unique and has an opinion, although the theme isn’t masculinity vs femininity

This photoshoot is a lot more about how boys are seen in our society instead of what they could be seen as, for example we would see boys as strong and not emotional whereas they can be emotional and should let out their emotions, its the same for girls we are seen as weak and more caring, which is just a stereotype. Boys and girls can be seen just as emotional and caring as each other.

Here I went to the studio to take pictures of some boys to show that boys are very different to girls, while taking these photos, I made the boys pose as if they were doing a normal photoshoot to see how different they pose compared to girls. I did get a few photos of them fighting, which represents the masculine side. The main photos that I really like are the ones where they are sat on a chair/standing up and they are holding their jackets behind them, these photos portray how boys would pose as if they were modelling and how differently they look to when a girl would be modelling. I did make the photos black and white as its foes make the photo look more modern as it also gets rid of all the bright colours in the photo, this helps us to focus more on the facial features and how different boys are not what colours are around them, however it could be interesting to see it as boys wear blue and girls are meant to be wearing pink. In these photos the boys are wearing blue however it should be normalized that they can wear pink and still be seen as masculine. This photoshoot as very different from the femininity photoshoot as this one has less emotions and was based on any artists, it was more of a free style type of photoshoot where they could just pose, where as the girls photoshoot was based on Cindy Sherman where she takes portrait photos of herself to show how women are represented back in the days. Although this this photoshoot could be linked in with one of my artists research such as Catherine Opie, she does photography based on how each gender could be seen as and why they shouldn’t be judged for it, for example if a man wanted to wear pink clothes and wear some makeup it should be normalized, they also do show that its alright to have women dress up in big leather jackets and have short hair with big piercings, therefore this artists does explore how each person could feel in their bodies.

(inspired by Cindy Sherman)

Here I did a photoshoot based on Cindy Sherman’s work and how women were idealized, they were around to cook and take care of the house work and children, women were taken seriously and these photos slightly represent what their lives consisted off. we went round the house taking pictures of the model cleaning the floors, the dishes and also reaching out for a book from the book shelf, I made the model hold quite a steady face almost as if they were upset but try to hide it, having the model smile would completely defeat the point of the photo as women were quite miserable as they didn’t have as much freedom as men. This photoshoot holds quite a lot of emotions as there are a few photos of the models crying, this represents a stereotype that women are seen as weak and not as strong as men they tend to let all their emotion out where men tend to hold their emotions in, this helps them build character as show that they are masculine where girl aren’t afraid to let people see their emotions.

I made these photos black and white as did Cindy Sherman. I feel as though it makes the photo look more elegant and modern, these photos show so much mysterious elements to show that we don’t know what was going on in their life. They are such feminine photos as stereotypically you wouldn’t see a man scrubbing the floor or doing the dishes, although it is normalized now back then it would be seen as strange and not right as men were meant to go out and work and women stayed at home. The photos where the model cry’s could show how they were emotionally damaged and never had anyone there for them when they needed it, they didn’t have any support. Although I do have two models crying together it could represent a mother and daughter going through the same thing or it could sister, they hate that they are so emotional and always picked on because of it, boys are too “masculine” to cry.

Cindy Sherman

To get information about Cindy Sherman and used the website:

https://www.moma.org/artists/5392

“I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”

–Cindy Sherman

Sherman has continued to transform herself, displaying the diversity of human types and stereotypes in her images. She often works in series, improvising on themes such as  centrefolds (1981) and  society portraits (2008).  untitled #216, from her history portraits (1981), exemplifies her use of theatrical effects to embody different roles and her lack of attempt to hide her efforts: often her wigs are slipping off, her prosthetics are peeling away, and her makeup is poorly blended. She highlights the artificiality of these fabrications, a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction.

Here I went to the studio to take a few photos, we tried to get a coloured background to represent different things, for example I used a red colour to appear on the models face as it creates an evil effect almost as if the model is a bad person, the background is quite neutral and is just in clack and white to show that the model has no filter, evil is the only thing they represent.

here I tried to experiment with different colours, for example by changing out the red and using a purple sought of represents a mysterious mood which wouldn’t be identified very well, personally my favourite photo is the top middle photo, i really like how the red sits perfectly on the models face, and the way the model is looking away almost as if she was hiding something from the camera, not wanting to tell the truth.

Here I used photoshop to add some colour and light to my photos, I tried to add a gradient look to make more pictures look more detailed, some of the photos have very different lighting such as the one on the right looks very light and almost has an ash look to it while the one on the left looks more dark toned, where the lighting is dark and the facial features are harder to see, this represents an evil look more than the one on the right as the features of that photo are more soft. However the one in the middle looks very evil too although u can see the facial features quite well, the facial expression that the model holds are very sinister and the back ground is a plain light with green reflected onto the model which could symbolise good but could also easily be a trick. That represents a mysterious look.

When editing these photos into more detail I would quite like to overlay half of the good vs evil photos onto each other to create an image where both sides are competing with each other, its almost a war of which face is going to win. Both of these photos can easily represent someone’s mood on different days and the storyline could show that the person is trying their hardest to fight the evil from showing, they only want there good side to be seen.

Good Vs Evil

Girl Vs Boy:

Using some of the ideas from above, recreating their posture and poses. I like the idea of having two different genders standing next to each other as they are very different, however they can be very similar depending on how each person believes and thinks. Each gender has a very different style and so does each race as everyone has their own beliefs and views which can show a contrast between different views although it does make the photograph look quite unusual as there are different types of themes in the photo, it could make the photo
look messy and untidied, in a cool type of way instead of having everything looks professional and neat, This could be a way of representing different opinions out loud without offending anyone but simply by being yourself can
help open people’s views and thoughts more wider. I like the idea of doing boy vs girl or man vs women, however if I could have had the chance, I would have liked to do women vs girl/ man vs boy, this would help us understand how people grow up and change and how people mature through the years. It could be how a little girl was interested in sports and the opposite of girly things girls ‘should do’. As girls are stereotypically seen as doing their makeup in their spare time. This little could grow up to hating sports which destroys their childhood and their possible dreams they had.

I would quite like to recreate the photo with the two children walking away from the camera, I really like it as the two children are wearing completely different clothes and have different hair styles, this shows how each gender is
portrayed as, as you wouldn’t see a little boy wearing a dress, it would be seen as unnormal and weird which isn’t the right word to describe it as.

Catherine Opie(from a vogue article)

Regarded as one of the greatest living documentarians of the American landscape, both sociopolitically and literally, Opie chronicles everything from queer subcultures to urban development, reflecting her interest in gender, identity and community. In 2009, her photographs of Lake Michigan caught the eye of Barack Obama, who had the works mounted on the walls of the White House, where they remained during his presidency.

“I get mistaken for being a ‘sir’ all the time. In Being and Having, I was thinking about my friends and how we performed masculinity and butchness — at the time, a lot of us did drag at a great club in Los Angeles, Club Fuck. In each portrait, I wanted to take [the subject] out of their environment; I shot them against a yellow backdrop and cropped it so you focus on the fake moustaches they’re wearing. At one of my exhibitions, someone confused these people for men. I said, ‘You do realise these are all lesbians wearing fake moustaches?’. I find it interesting that when people see facial hair, they just assume it’s a man. 

I would quite like to recreate her work with some of my own twists to the work, I could use some of my lightening techniques that I learnt to add a better effect to the photo. I would quite like my model to still do similar positions as poise models do, but I would try and get some feminine girls and masculine boys. This would make the artists work very different to mine yet very similar as her work is seen as more focused on masculinity and how every gender can express it, for example she has a theme of bikers, which is stereotypically more known for men. This is where I can add some of my own ideas where I switch it up to juts a feminine stereotype.

Liz Johnson Artur

The Russian-Ghanaian artist had two solo exhibitions in 2019, at the South London Gallery and the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Since moving to London in 1991, she has continued to dedicate herself to documenting the lives of communities from the African diaspora, adding to her ongoing project Black Balloon Archive.

“I wanted to approach the subject of masculinity from a woman’s perspective. My mum made the needlepoints [of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper and Mona Lisa and Iphigenie by Anselm Feuerbach]; she began making The Last Supper when I was 15 and it took her two years to complete, so I grew up with this image. She did so many needlepoints. They were made at home and she never showed them to anyone. Like the voguing classes I documented — the girls went there for themselves, it wasn’t to entertain anyone.”

Liz Johnson Artur type of photography is very cultural and has a very specific type of clothing used, most of the photos show what the girls wear such as short crop tops and shorts, some would wear vest or maybe some basket ball shorts which doesn’t really show masculinity.

Masculinity:

Qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of men or boys. Masculinity involves displaying attitudes and behaviours that signify and validate maleness, and involves being recognised in particular ways by other men and women.

What is healthy masculinity?

What Is Healthy Masculinity? Healthy or positive masculinity is the idea that men can be emotionally expressive, have female friends or mentors, and express their emotions without feeling emasculated.

What does toxic masculinity mean?

Toxic masculinity refers to the notion that some people’s idea of “manliness” perpetuates domination, homophobia, and aggression. Toxic masculinity involves cultural pressures for men to behave in a certain way. And it’s likely this affects all boys and men in some fashion.

What is gentle masculinity?

Gentle masculinity is supportive, caring, loving, gentle and kind. There is banter, yes, but it’s gentle banter. It’s supportive banter compared to that of “sour masculinity,” which is marked by aggressive behavior, harsh sexualized language, abusive and cold banter about women, and constant put-downs between boys.

FEMININITY:

Qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls. It is both a means of ‘getting ahead’ as much as it can be a form of distraction. Being in the feminine means taking time as it comes and feeling into situations. It’s about trusting intuition and allowing time and space for life to unfold.

There are seven feminine archetypes that prevail in contemporary western society—the mother, the maiden, the queen, the huntress, the sage, the mystic, and the lover. The presence of these archetypes in our psyches accounts for the major differences among women.

What is very feminine behavior?

This may include being passive, naive, sexually inexperienced, soft, flirtatious, graceful, nurturing, and accepting.

What are the three types of femininity?

Type 1: Careerist Femininity. Type 2: Individualised Femininity. Type 3: Vocational Femininity.

Binary opposition

Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory in Linquistics (scientific study of language) According to Ferdinand de Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework – a set of boundaries to work within.

A binary opposition is very easy to identify as its the basics of opposites for example: