Some artists I may reference are:
Write a Statement of Intent of 250-500 words that clearly contextualise;
What you want to explore?
Why it matters to you?
How you wish to develop your project?
Which form you wish to present your study (photobook, film, prints etc)
When and where you intend to begin your study?
What I want to explore:
My intent with this project is to explore the female identity and how social media has had an impact on girls growing up. I am going to present all different aspects of female identities throughout my work. I would like to focus on how social media has impacted girls’ lives through showing the development in my photoshoots, for example, photos of girls “before” social media, how it has had an impact on girls and the present.
Why it matters to me:
This topic matters to me as I believe that social media has had the biggest impact on females and society as a whole. I feel deeply around the changes of femininity throughout the years and the evolution of the media within the changes of beauty standards nowadays.
How I wish to develop my project:
I would like to develop my project by analysing the artists Justine Kurland and Francesca Miller-Hard as they explore contrasting ideas around feminism. In my opinion, I feel like Kurland explores
Which form I wish to present my study (photobook, film, prints etc):
I wish to present my study in a photobook, as I feel that will present a clear understanding of the development of females through the impact of social media, which I would like to produce.
When and where I intend to begin your study:
I intend to begin my study through a photoshoot with the inspiration of Justine Kurland, as I would like to present ideas around femininity before social media. For this photoshoot, I will be using a forest as the setting, with a few girls as my subjects. As I continue working on my photoshoots, I will develop ideas around how social media has impacted girls in this society, and present this through photos.
Justine Kurland
Kurland was born in Warsaw, New York. At 15, Kurland ran away to Manhattan and concentrated on becoming an artist. Her photos are representations of both childhood adventures and current experiences., She now spends much of her time on the road, scouting locations for photographs and recruiting models. most of her work can be considered a ‘mirror’ as they tend to reflect personal experiences and also societal constructs such as identity. the images she takes of friends and strangers could be an exploration of her own identity through others and how she wants to portray herself.
She is heavily influenced by her Yale instructors Gregory Crewdson and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, and is known for her elaborate staging of photographs. Kurland has used staged tableaux to explore the social landscape of girlhood, life on communes, and life in the wilderness.
Kurland’s main project was called ‘Girl Pictures’. Kurland started this project in 1997 when she was a graduate student at Yale. She first photographed a fifteen year old girl called Alyssum who was the daughter of Kurland’s partner at the time. The two bonded overtime and put their imaginations together to plot a narrative teenage runaway story. Girl Pictures includes candid portraits of younger women in rural areas and outdoor environments to show the opposite of the past societal views on how women should act. So many of the images in Girl Pictures were taken outside in locations that feel desolate or easy to overlook. They are often staged under bridges or beyond fences or on the sides of highways; places that feel synonymous with warnings.
The lighting in this image is natural and seems to be at either sunrise or sunset. The lighting sets a feeling of calmness to the viewer as it looks tranquil and relaxing. The warming tone also contributes to the idea of tranquillity. In this image, Kurland is photographing Alyssum. This image shows Alyssum in the centre of the image holding onto a tree.
The way she is holding onto he tree creates a sense of fear as she seems to be clinging onto it and not wanting to let go. Her being in the centre of the image I think works really well to create a deeper meaning of the image. the water next to her seems to be travelling one way on the left of the image whereas the direction of the headlights of the cars suggest the road travel the opposite way. as well as that, there’s a pathway on the grass which is also creating a direction. Alyssum’s body faces the road whereas she’s looking over her shoulder at the water which creates the idea that she doesn’t know what direction to go in or what path to take and seems to be lost.
Some images inspired by Justine Kurland
Definition: To observe is to carefully watch with attention to detail or behaviour for its significance.
Synonyms: Notice, see, perceive, remark, detect, discover, behold, discover, spectator, bystander.
Antonyms: Overlook, disregard, ignore.
Ideas and Artists: Street photography and Henri Cartier Bresson.
Definition: Seeking is an attempt to find someone or something.
Synonyms: Search, pursue, strive, request, explore, follow, inquire, chase.
Antonyms: conceal, hide, neglect, ignore, idle.
Ideas and Artists: Archives and history.
Definition: A Challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination. Also means proving or justifying through a contest.
Synonyms: Dare, opposition, ultimatum, confront, dispute, objection, protest.
Antonyms: Compliance, acceptance, approval, believe, support, fear.
Ideas and Artists: Cindy Sherman, propaganda posters.
I like how Rogan brown uses textures to create the appearance and a mixture of colours/ monochrome to create artwork resembling living forms such as bacteria.
An additional idea I have came from the word ‘observe’ and ideas from Anthropocene as well as looking at work from Rogan Brown. I would start by observing people as they are and what they wear acting as a window to comment on trends, waste and materials. Once I’ve gained a better idea I would take images in a studio to reflect the mirror approach to ‘challenge’ . These images be made to resemble that from a fashion magazine with unnecessary accessories, fast fleeting trends and excessive waste with lots of animal patterns and textures.
These types of posters were created to challenge ideals and act as propaganda. They use collages of images, striking colours and symbols to create a clear message. Formed an influential wave of art called the The Russian avant-garde.
I’ve had some ideas relating to propaganda and how hyperbolic they are are in imagery. To comment on both the subtlety and pompous approaches I could make some work which demonstrates how extreme and ridiculous some points that are made. While propaganda is commonly associated with war and recruitment as this was the most blatant and obvious however it is everywhere especially when the current political landscape is filled with ridiculous radical views that I could pick apart.
Collages can be traced back to Picasso who’s work was much more subjective and abstract.
This experimental style created unique pieces which challenge ideals and innovated aesthetics of the time. Collages like these remind me more of posters which for challenging especially when confronting and protesting. Some ideas I’ve had has been combining history and modern images to showcase how places/people are products of both current influences and moments through the past. For example a building that has fallen into disarray in recent years might be infested with birds but quite a few years ago was extremely well used and had an extension added. I would combine images from archives of the building, images of past holders, images of bird nests and even images of the landscape to create a full picture of the ‘personality’ of the building. This would carry over ideas from landscapes and environmental portraits and resemble a piece more like Picassos collages then the propaganda. I worry this idea would require too much time on one collage and I would only have one fully fledged outcome by the end. I could create a small zine of each part of the collage to better show the makeup of this final image however I don’t want to limit myself to one building through this whole project. If the building was something larger like fort regent which has changed massively throughout the years, then there would be too much to combine into one piece however something smaller like one well used house might be too small.
An additional approach could be to combine a larger area such as flats/town/listed buildings and create a collage more like Beomsik Won’s which combine all the buildings into one larger body. This reminds me of ideas explored in Anthropocene which I would like to explore further.
When reading through the exam booklet one line stood out to me: “For example, swifts outmanoeuvring insects on the wing…
birds and caterpillars stripping plants down to their stalks.” Insects are something that I and many other people have mixed feelings of as they are both essential for our ecosystems while also being really freaky. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears. Insects when photographed are photographed in a way that resembles flowers in my opinion. I will be portraying bugs in the opposite way as something unnerving. Additionally the lines: “search parties, seances, ghosts, graveyards, churches, mosques, stone circles, universities.” gave me the idea of horror. I would like to make tiny insects large and formidable with shadows and themes. Additionally “Douglas Gordon created a film lasting 24 hours by slowing down Hitchcock’s Psycho, with
the intention of making us more aware of the nature of film itself.” also inspired this idea as instead of creating a film I would showcase these themes through still images. Psycho is a classic which has continued to inspire films not just in the horror genre still to this day.
Cindy Sherman also used film stills which I explored previously. I enjoyed this topic and I think this approach could work well as these images will act as mirrors.
I aim to use lighting techniques I learned from both still life and portraiture as well as natural lighting when outside from street photography as shadows are heavily associated with horror.
What you want to explore?
I want to explore the theme of misogyny, feminism, how men expect us to act and want us to act. How women are objectified and men are passive, women are active. John Berger said “Men act women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at” This quote means so much more than what it says. He is trying to say that women are self-conscious because of men and have to act a certain way or will be looked down on. Men can make women feel uncomfortable, with things that happen daily such as cat calling, sexual harassment and all these things relate to the quote as women have to put up with the horrors from these men even in the 20th century. This could be raising awareness for women and could help them as its focussing on the points that need to change. Cindy Sherman explored the theme of stereotype and how women are portrayed in the 1970s which is why I also will speak about her and be referencing her in my project.
Why does it matter to you?
This area matters to me because its about raising awareness about women that have been going through this for centuries. Women are sexualised, objectified and treated like nothing. There is domestic abuse ,rape, violence, misogyny, a patriarchal society and so much more. However speaking about these issues can bring a light to these issues and could get some women to speak up in case they’re scared or maybe could change society bit by bit. I like speaking about issues especially when it could make change and make women feel comfortable enough to speak up about it.
How you wish to develop your project?
I will develop my project by exploring the complex and deeply interconnected themes of misogyny, rape culture, and feminism through the lens of visual storytelling. I aim to use photography as a view to see harmful stereotypes and raise awareness about the lived experiences of women. I plan to experiment with various photographic techniques, such as portraiture, landscape photography, and symbolic imagery, to create emotional and psychical work that sparks conversation. My goal is not only to highlight the core of these horrific issues but also to empower individuals to engage with them and try to speak up. This could change social justice and equality as women have go through a lot which I don’t like and I think its not fair.
Here is some of the images that I am inspired by and want to do similarly to this.
When and where do you intent to begin your study?
I plan to do this by investing women’s beauty and misogyny etc, How do beauty standards shape women’s identities?.. Looking at artists like Cindy Sherman because her work will help you understand the relationship between women, identity, and representation. afterwards I would develop a question to explore, such as: “How can photography challenge conventional beauty ideals?” or “What does true female beauty look like beyond societal standards?” This could be done at home, friends home, beach, town centre, harbour, in a car, public, in bathroom with the shower running (with steam). These places are places I’m thinking of and hopefully will inspire women by starting off in a home, reflecting women I will choose settings that feel personal or empowering. I would use the tecqinues: portraiture and self-portraiture to explore both personal and societal views of women. Experiment with lighting and composition to create different moods, emphasizing various aspects of female identity. Focus on authentic representation by capturing real moments. In my images I would need to use symbolism like mirrors, clothing, or makeup, to comment on the construction of beauty. Include women of different ages, body types, and ethnicities. This is to either to highlight or challenge beauty norms. For these images I would be using a range of different editing tools, suck as photoshop Lightroom and I would be using various colours such as black and white or colour choices to enhance the emotional tone of your work. Subtle edits, like adding textures or layers. However by doing all of this I would still need to make sure and consider how it questions societal norms and contributes to the conversation about female representation to be able to try and make a change.
I would like to produce photographs that represent the lives of girls nowadays, and how social media and the internet has impacted our lives. I feel like as we have grown up, girls have decided to rather ‘fit in’ than ‘stand out’. To a certain extent, this means changing their personalities. Some examples may be the change from a colourful childhood, to colourless teenage years.
Here, I found a collection of archives from when I was younger. Clearly, there was a lot of vibrant colours, which conveys this idea around happiness, and liveliness. I would like to use these sort of images as a comparison to my life now.
Here are a few examples of the type of photography I will be taking, but also challenging. As you can see, most of the images are colourful and lively, but I would like to challenge this idea by looking into the reality of teenage girls, and not just the fun side of it.
For this project im thinking of familiarising myself with the themes of family, ageing, home and love/relationships. Some photoshoots may include resemblance looking at archival images and reflecting my my family and what feels like “home” and sentimental connections which can link to the questions of Where is home? Why is this important to me? How can I sum this up?
Other questions I could ask myself could be:
In terms of my moodboard we tried to explore different ideas and branch of various thoughts/words that link to the theme of Observe, Seek and Challenge.
I think that the words and themes branching out about “Realistic” approaches and “Challenge” in terms of documenting and manipulating (linking to Windows and Mirrors) link more to my personal project and idea that I would like to lean more towards.
Mind Map
For My Personal Study, called “Normal Becomes Abnormal,” I originally created this mind map above focusing on a variety of themes which I have a particular interest in, to get a overall idea of my project and to gather ideas. I chose to focus on Family & Background, Lost Jersey and Architecture & Street. Whilst diving into these themes, thinking about possible photoshoots and artists who I can take inspiration from, I realised that I have an interest in how lighting, specifically low lighting and the lighting given to us during the night can change our judgement of familiar areas and places. This Mind Map helped me solidify my overall plan and theme for this project.
The Mind map Below is more specific to my final personal study project concept. This mind map focuses on things such as: Night Photography, the dichotomy of day vs night, locations, image ideas and inspirations for this project. This Final Mind Map gives me a strong and detailed plan for my project.
Mood Board
This selection of images highlights the transformation of the nighttime low lighting. The images which are relatively low light, show eerie/mysterious deserted streets, artificial lights/lamposts and empty urban and rural settings. These photographs powerfully show the difference between day and night, creating feelings of loneliness, mystery and surreal. For my project I can use this mood board to take inspiration for images and replicate the images to then tell a story with these images through the layout of my photobook
Personal Photoshoot with Elliot
This January I did a quite absurd photoshoot with my friend Elliot stemming from one of my many sporadic ideas. I wanted a portrait photoshoot in a bath with a toaster.
Elliot is a massive book and musical fiend, a fan of the gothic aesthetic and a historical whiz. Other than the toaster those are all his belongings. Elliot’s creative contribution comes from the literature If We Were Villains and Cirque du Soleil.
First Mock Selection
The beginning of A levels really threw me in the deep end, but my mock selection portraits from light experimentation are interest me despite the over the top editing.
At the time I would have discovered the photographer Jonti Wild. His stark style pulls colour and lighting to the forefront, which is what I somewhat got to explore in this project.
St Malo
The opportunity to take photos in a foreign country gave us an unbiased and fresh perspective to review our skills.
This photo is my favourite of the selection for its candid narrative and sharp capturing that gave me minimal work to do in post.
The pictures are too purple for me, but the concepts and composition I admire and want to build from.
Henri Cartier Bresson was the main influence here. I was intrigued by his photos of people doing odd movements but couldn’t pass the opportunity to photograph people that interested me.
James Popysy’s style where he lightly overexposes the shot was creeping into the back of my head at the time hence some of the shiny whites. It’s a technique I want to follow up now as well.
Equestrian Portraits
and the raw photos
In my spare time I like to take photos of my girlfriend and her friends on their horses. It’s a good opportunity to capture photos in a fast pace environment and to play with light (e.g. reflections) and composition.
I don’t really have any inherent inspiration, I just practice my skills.
Multi Exposure
I got to experiment with photoshop during our multi-exposure experimentation. I sparingly used motion blur and the clone stamp tool for these photos. Jonti Wild again was a big influence on me.
Photoshoot with my sister and an experienced photographer
At the start of photography A level my sisters co-worker asked to do a photoshoot of her. I was invited so I could learn and take photos which was essential for me learning exposure and composition tricks. I also practiced colour editing afterwards, but it was very beginner.
