Throughout my gallery I presented it with similarties to my final photobook but also a little different I added all similar images together and not my images just what I would say our my best. This is the first part of my virtual gallery, I really liked these photos but the two of the people in the car without the writing werent my favourite, i liked that they showed inside of teenage life and laughing a different side of what some people might see the fun with being a teenager and with your friends. the distraction from other things. The over photos are just of the weather to even give a juxstaposing affect and Pathetic fallacy, even though the images seem to be happy and rain reflect sadness its because even though they are happy there is the dark truth inside of how they really feel and you cant always get away from it.

Again all these images have a similar relavance to eachother, as rhey are all the same guy, it goes well together even though i did not present it like this in the book, because as you can see its mainly his back turned or hiding his face in usally dark or sad places, only really one not is the skating photo this demonstrates more of the depressed and sad side of being a teenager, and shows teir escape, with doig certain activites even if that incudes walking alone at night, just to get air and escape. The arge photo next to all the images,of his face is a symbolic resembolince that life is tiring and drags on sometimes, yes life is actually eautful but just bein a teenager isnot an easy aspect but fight through it. I like these imaes because i think they show skills ofphotography especially the one of his face with the lighting, i also think the affect fromall of them is powerful and somehow says a lot even in a silent photograph.

This was more of my romantic side, another side of teeage life i think is overlooked, how watching the love in our lives be twisted by who we see like our parents or social media, but a usual quote iven to teenager is that ‘you dont know what love is your too young’ or ‘its never going to last’ and i think thats not true and there is another side to it sometmes you can find love and jst beause we are young doesnt mean that we dont know what ove is or that it doesnt exist, of course there are twisted and cmplicated sides to it but it still exisits in our lives. i like how these images correspond and contradict with eachogher, showing the loving side and the complicated sides, things even we worry about at our age even though we shouldnt have to.

This area of my gallery is of school, the rough effort side of school and what actually goes on. I especially like the two photosof the messy desk, i like the ffect of a spotlight on the photos almost like its a crime scene or a scary movie, which demonstates what it is, its a crime scene of the mess school makes all the work andeffort teenagers and students put into school.

This was the last few photos which I also really liked as they show a darker side to teenage life and also the fact that not all teenager have the easy life of school until their 18 and some have to cut it short and head straight into work to support their families lives and grow up a little too quickly, mainly i wanted to demonstarte all sorts of sides from what teenage life is like for everyone best i can. I also just genuinly really liked these photos as i think they give apowerful affect, i think the lighting on his face isnt the absoloute best but i like how they all link together.

Virtual Gallery

My final images presented in a virtual gallery:

Evaluation

Photobook final layout:

Overall, I believe my personal study was successful in what I was aiming to achieve through ‘snapshot aesthetic’ photographs of my friends and different locations. I displayed my photos within my photobook as a combination of similar photos and juxtapositions- telling a story through monochrome photos which gradually become a more colourful array with a warm tone and the occasional contrasting cooler toned image. Something I could have done to improve my project was to be more organised before the exam, as I still had unedited photographs and was not able to finish my photobook layout during the exam, this I will take into account during the exam project.

My photo book its based on youth culture and identity. For this I took pictures at different parties and events that I went to and took snapshot images of my friends enjoying themselves and being authentic at these events. The story of my phonebooks starts off at a party and throughout these parties are separated with a filler image of one of my friends being hungover and drunks after the party by themselves. The first filler image however starts off with me and my friend having fun in a car symbolising that these parties and events are fun at first but continuing throughout the book the filler images are darker and makes you stop romanticising these parties. My books final images is a girl using a vape outside her window, this image is last in the book because it shows the aftermath of all the parties and that is isn’t fun when you wake up in the morning and it looks like she is thinking and regretting the night before.

My virtual gallery includes my favourite images of my nightlife photos. Overall, I think my favourite images are the far left and right ones. These two images I think go well together and I like the way they are presented in my photo book, as I used them twice, on the front cover and then in the book. The middle image is in the middle because its the biggest image of them all and also is the image with the most going on, you can see a live band in the background and also the girl holding hands dancing with another, It shows what my book represents.

The theme for the final exam in photography is ‘Union’. To start with my investigation, I began by reading through the entire exam paper as this provides me with starting points to gain inspiration from before I fully research different interpretations of the theme. I annotated and underlined key pieces of information and the names of any movements or artists so that I could research them later on.

I also used the other exam inspirations for different courses such as Fine Art as this could give me an idea of what else I could incorporate into my work and the different ways that artists inhabit this theme in their work. I used this as my starting point when creating my mood board.

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Mood Board:

These are just a handful of the suggestions within the exam paper that I found may inspire me. From here, I have already started to think about some different ideas that I want to do.

The word ‘union’ is defined by:

‘a society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose.’

Once I had defined this term, I began to think of ideas of my own. Some of these ideas were:

1. Environmental portraiture in the workplace in relation to trade or work unions
2. Cubism in photography

However, one of my favourite ideas I have been inspired by is political movements surrounding feminism and the like. Being a young person, I have always sought importance in keeping myself informed about the different injustices and movements within society because I understand that it is key that I am aware to these things in society. However, growing up in a world as a young girl has meant that I have acknowledged the inequalities between man and woman in society and have experienced the repercussions of normalising these issues.

Because this is a topic that is important to me as a feminist myself, I want to explore as many issues as I can that are highlighted within feminism within this study. These consist of:

What is Feminism?

Feminism is the advocacy for women rights in society in accordance to gender equality. A common misconception is that feminism is concerned with ‘girls being better than boys’ however this movement strives to remove the barrier between male and female in political, economic, personal and social contexts. A core value of feminism is the position that modern society is infiltrated with patriarchal viewpoints, this being where the male point of view is prioritised due to predetermined stereotypes. This movement is centred around fighting against these close-minded views that women shouldn’t receive the same personal, educational and professional opportunities than men do.

Feminist campaigns originate back to late 18th-century Europe, pushing for women’s equal rights such as the right to vote, earn equal pay, run for governmental office, the right to education, owning property, equal marital rights and maternal leave. These are just a small handful of what the feminist movement has pursued over many years, however this must still be driven to combat the stereotypical views that women equate to lesser than men. This movement was fundamental in ensuring women and girls gain access to contraceptives, legal and standardised abortions, as well as the protection from sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape or domestic violence.

However, these implementations of societal change stem from major historical battles that women have faced for hundreds of years, and are currently still having to be fought for in many third-world countries. For example, there are 24 countries across the world where abortive services are entirely prohibited, according to TIME magazine.

In these third-world countries, this may be due to the undeveloped nature of their medical systems. However in a more familiar and Western world, the U.S Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which was a landmark in history that granted women in each state of America access to suitable healthcare surrounding their pregnancy freely to the choice of their own. This removed every woman’s constitutional right to abortion rights in America, and handed it to each state to make a decision of their own. After existing for nearly half a century, this jeopardises many young girls and women’s lives, practically taking a step backwards and undoing all of the work that feminists of the past had strived to complete.

Roe v. Wade was initially passed in 1973 allowing the entire right to an abortion during the first three months of pregnancy, however this has been eroded over the years. For example, Texas – a very republican state which majorly agrees with the pro-life movement – passed a law in 2021 allowing the people to sue clinics and doctors for carrying out an abortive procedure after 6 weeks. Now that Donald Trump has been re-elected as president, one of his plans have begun within his Project 2025 campaign which concerns bans on contraceptives and abortions with absolutely no exceptions. This is entirely dangerous and harmful to the millions of young girls and women across the country who could be put in life-threatening situations without simple access to these services.

With the inability to terminate a pregnancy, this could result in numerous deaths as the mother could die from giving birth – whether this may be from not being developed enough to carry to term or the body straining, rape victims being forced to birth their assaulters baby, not being able to provide for the child due to financial instability or pay the extravagant prices of hospital bills due to the lack of free healthcare, not having a support system in place, or just simply not feeling ready to have a child.

Historical events:

The Suffragettes:

The Suffragettes dominated the feminist movement for several decades, and are a notable period of time of activism for the rights of women. These women were members of an activist organisation in the early 20th century, fighting for the right to vote in the UK.

Within this campaign, there was a divide in the choosing of tactics and strategy in making their voices heard.

The Suffragists: NUWSS:

The suffragists sought to achieve women’s suffrage (the right to vote) through deep debating and campaigning through non-violent marches and petitions. This was led by Millicent Fawcett who was the head of the National Union for Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). This was an organisation, founded in 1897, however was merged with other organisations dated back to the 1860s. This consisted of primarily upper- and middle-class, however there were many women representing the working-class too. This was a limited representation as the working-class would be restricted on the time they would have to attend these protests as this would result in the loss of money when it was already difficult to gain a living in the first place.

Many women who were interested in this movement sent delegates to the NUWSS to then report back the benefits to those who were being represented, many of these women were textile workers, sweated labourers and those who worked in mines. By 1914, the NUWSS had over 100,000 members throughout the country with over 500 branches. Some of these methods of constitutional seeking for change consisted of:

• Public meetings
• Organised petitions
• Wrote letters to politicians
• Published newspapers
• Distributed free literature

The Suffragettes: WSPU:

With the lack of progress with the NUWSS being disappointing, Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters formed the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903. Instead of taking a peaceful approach like the suffragists of the NUWSS, the WSPU decided to use a confrontational manner out of irritation of resistance to change by the government – a male-dominated field at the time. This direct advance was referred to as militancy, leading to these campaigners being called the ‘Suffragettes’ instead of Suffragists. This adding of the suffix ‘ette’ was purposely applied to belittle those taking more dramatic action, portraying the idea that these women were lesser than those acting in a peaceful way. However, this insult stuck and was used by the members of the WSPU themselves. This radicalised approach resulted from a culture of women who had already campaigned tirelessly without seeing results.

The Pankhurst family who formulated the WSPU led the way for the new struggle, and due to them being at the forefront of campaigns they were arrested numerous times, being imprisoned and committing to numerous hunger strikes. The Suffragettes These tactics implemented shocked society due to a large number of these women having well-connected families in middle-class society, with this being reinforced by the traditional stereotype that women should be family-orientated, delicate and nurturing – this was seen as scandalous.

Initially, these tactics were employed to cause disruption and some civil disruption, for example 60,000 people gathered in October 1908 as a ‘rush’ on Parliament – this was intending to invade the House of Commons. However, this was just the beginning, as the lack of government attention resulted in:

• Ruining male-only clubs and golf courses
• Hunger strikes
• Handcuffing themselves to railings/buildings as public displays of resistance
• Planting bombs
• Burning public buildings and unoccupied politicians homes
• Disrupting political meetings, the postal service and the 1911 census (this recorded the details of over 36.3 million men, women and children)
• Smashing windows of private property and government buildings
• Attacking Church of England buildings
• Holding illegal demonstrations
• Heckling MPs
• This is just a fraction of the disruptive strategies that the Suffragettes used to make themselves known and heard.

The Suffragists would not co-operate with the Suffragettes as they did not agree with this form of direct action, and believed that non-violent methods were more suitable. Whilst their civil disobedience allowed them to be the main focus of the country at the time, meaning that no politician could ignore them, this meant that the NUWSS’s actions were often overshadowed by the actions of the WSPU. Many historians still argue over which side of the movement furthered the campaign.

Black Friday:

A notable point within the Suffragettes is Black Friday. In the 1908 election campaign, a member of the Liberal Party named Herbert Henry Asquith promised to pass a law that included women’s rights if elected as Prime Minister. With the support of the Suffragettes behind him, he was elected. However until 1916, this actually resulted in Asquith refusing to reform the right to vote, leaving the women with empty promises and anger.

In response, the WSPU organised a march to highlight the issue with his refusal, however the women were met with violence by policemen and male bystanders. This meant that hundreds of women were badly hurt, even resulting in death.

‘Public conscience must be aroused, and it can only be done by attacks on public property. When women’s bodies were battered on Black Friday that was alright but when a few windowpanes are broken, that is all wrong.’ – Emmeline Pankhurst, 2 years later in a newspaper.

The concept of feminism is still fought for in modern society through protests as well as the use of social media. A great example of this is the #MeToo movement where women can come forward online about sexual harassments or assaults and tell their story in hopes to help those who relate or inspire others to come forward about it. This has also involved celebrities too, highlighting to the world that these people are not untouchable and many of them do awful, inhumane things and expect nothing to occur due to their wealth and fame. This is also extremely useful for those who have reported their assaults but have lost their case.

A predominant issue within modern feminism is the focus of misogyny which has been widely practised for thousands of years, this being a dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women or girls, being a partial form of sexism that women should be kept at a lower status than men. This concerns male violence and domestic abuse against women, where approximately 1/4 women (23% or 2.2 million) have experienced violence by an intimate partner since the age for fifteen in the UK. A notable addition to this is the fact that in the event that the England football team wins or draws, the occurrence of domestic violence increases by 26%, and when they lose the percentile increases to 38%.

The feminist movement has been growing strong for hundreds of years, and is still rife in modern society.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism

https://time.com/6173229/countries-abortion-illegal-restrictions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zh6nsk7#zspyvwx

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-42879161

https://hist259.web.unc.edu/nationalunionofwomenssuffragesocieties/: Exam preparation

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/overview/startsuffragette-/#:~:text=However%20the%20lack%20of%20Government,campaign%20for%20votes%20for%20women.

https://noviolence.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Whataboutmen.pdf

https://www.simononthestreets.co.uk/news/domestic-violence-and-football-the-campaigns-fighting-for-change#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20in%20the%20event,that%20statistic%20rises%20to%2038%25.

red line editing:

For this editing, I searched red line/ stitch on the internet and found an image that I was satisfied with and uploaded it onto Photoshop. In Photoshop, using the objection tool on the left, i selected the red line and moved it to the tab where the image, seen above, was. I placed the red line on top of the people seen in the image and decided if i need to make the line bigger or smaller or where the line needed to be positioned.

I selected the layer which the red line was on and used the rubber tool seen on the left side, to rub out the parts of the red line I did not want to be seen. I wanted it to look like the red line was going through the people seen in the image. As if they were connected by the red line, the ‘bloodline’.

Update 1:

This is the first update for the photo book I have. In this update I had the front cover done and started adding images onto my book.

Update 2:

In this update, loads of things were changed. Photos was changed, structure of the book was changed. This is also where I started playing around with picture framing and positioning.

Paper editing:

For this image, I searched in the internet for a yellow and old paper and uploaded the image that I was satisfied with onto Photoshop. After the image was uploaded onto Photoshop, I copied the image that I wanted to edit, found in my documents, onto Photoshop and applied the image on top of the paper, creating a second layer in Photoshop.

pressing the layer where the image is in and using the objection tool on the left side, I selected a person from the image and cut them out. I moved the selected section from the image, away from the image to reveal the old, yellow paper under it.

I moved the selected section from the image, away from the image to reveal the old, yellow paper under it. This was all I did for this edit.

Update 3:

In this update, I started adding text to my images and playing around with the color of the text. This is also where I was trying to figure out where to put my text and how to smoothly add text in my book. I also started to add more images in my book and different frames to my images. I also started to figure out whether I wanted to have images that have a border of full bleed.

Update 4:

In this update, I started to be happy with the structure of the book and kept it constant throughout the book. I figured that I would start with a house of my grandparents and then and image of them in the next page. I also did this when I introduced images of my parents. After showing an image of my parents further into the book, I added an image of our house. This is where I started to find a more stern structure in my book and used different techniques like juxtaposition and match cut.

Full overview of final Photo Book:

Conclusion and evaluation:

In conclusion, I think that I did really well in terms of editing. I was clear and strong with my editing and even showed repetition within my editing to show a clear inspiration found because of my two artist I studied. The use of red lines and aged paper was a clear inspiration from Carole’s work and the nostalgic editing seen in some of my images implies a clear understanding and innovation towards Jo’s work.

My overall editing was simple but effective. I didn’t do a big amount of editing in my images but I did enough to enhance my images and show inspiration.

Here is the final product of my photo-book ,I believe that this turned out quite nicely and even though it wasn’t what I had originally planned it have some better features added. Originally I wanted to make this photo book look more like a magazine with boxes of writing and the. Pictures next to it, however it was quite difficult to figure out what to write in those boxes, therefore I replaced those pages either a blank page filled either one single word or a quote from a famous individual known in the fashion industry. I also changed the colour of the background to make it less boring and more different, I did get his inspiration from previous fashion magazines found online.As you can see I changed the background colour from white to black on some of the pages and this was so that I could add the light drawings in and make them look like they are floating and blending in, it helps to make the magazine less tacky. I really like the idea of putting quotes in the magazine as it does help to add a narrative and a perspective to the magazine. It almost adds a character and should be seen as an inspiration to others who read it . One thing I did struggle with was the front cover as I had edited it in photoshop adding a vogue sign in it to help make the magazine and then the whole edited picture didn’t fit in the book layout ,so I had to re edit it and move it around to make it look right. I also added my essay in my final book layout as it helped to add a magazine look, most magazines have pages of writing written in columns and I thought it would look better with the essay added at the end . Overall, I do feel like if I had captured few more pictures, it even some candid pictures it would have looked a little bit better and more interesting, thought I am quite pleased with the outcome even if there is room to improve.

To what extent have cindy sherman and Claude Cahun explored the male (photographic) gaze in their work?

“In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously  looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness” 

-Laura Mulvey

The male gaze. The term the male gaze is referring to Laura Mulvey’s feminist theory where she discussed how women are seen as objects for men’s visual pleasure. This is present within society however it is magnified through the media. A prominent example of it would have to be Marilyn Monroe specifically in River Of No Return from 1954 where the first few shots of her in the saloon focus purely on her body and then her seductively resting on the piano. Similarly, Tom Ford’s advertisement for their first male fragrance in 2007 featured a woman’s bare chest with a perfume bottle in between her cleavage and another with a perfume bottle placed in front of her groin. Its clear that the male gaze has been evident and used for many years and has not appeared to stop.

However, artists like Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman challenge these harmful stereotypes and portray a different perspective of the female experience. Cindy Sherman focused on identity, gender roles, and stereotypes. Similarly, Claude Cahun questioned identity and gender but they used aspects of surrealism in their work. I believe that their work and their message are still important, relevant, and still needed. I am exploring similar themes within my own work as I believe it is important to highlight the issue of the male gaze. I’m planning on showing this by creating cracked effect for the models faces. I want to use some of the usual conventions similar to what Cindy Sherman created however by creating this cracked makeup on my models face I’m hoping it can show her she is breaking from within and the objectification she’s facing is ultimately breaking her.

I believe feminism is such an important topic as the patriarchy affects everyone in society. Feminism tends to have a bad stigma around it which could be due to the lack of education around real feminism. Society has tainted the message of feminism many people think it centred around wanting women to be superior to men which is not the case. The first feminist movement (which can be considered the first wave of feminism) took place during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was centred around women’s suffrage and giving more opportunities to women as during that time women were seen as inferior to men, they weren’t able to have their bank accounts, they weren’t allowed to vote even after that law was lifted the only women who were married could vote as well as women of colour were still unable to vote whether they were married or not. There have now been around seven waves of feminism each one carrying on the previous message but improving it through new ways. For example, the main difference between third and fourth-wave feminism is fourth wave wants to focus more on technology and social media so spreading your knowledge and fighting through social media. However, very recently it appears that as a society we seem to be back peddling as of January 20th, 2025 Donald Trump is president of America once again and has been vocal about his opinion surrounding abortion rights. Women finally got the right to have control over what happens to their bodily autonomy in 1973. However, since President Trump has been elected people are scared that once again we will have these rights stripped away from us.

A photographer who was renowned for their work centred around feminism and the male gaze would be Cindy Sherman. She rose to fame during the mid to late 1970’s with her “Untitled Film Stills” where she produced 70 black and white stills centred around her portraying these different characters. She produced a depiction of a working woman, a housewife, etc… This can be linked to Judith Butler’s ideas of Gender performativity where she discusses how gender is based on repetition and rituals within society. The idea that gender is not fixed but is unstable and the notion of gender that gets pushed on people during infancy is in fact a myth. Similarly, Cindy Sherman discusses how she took inspiration for her work from the phrase “male gaze” as she felt that the media only portrayed women from a heterosexual viewpoint and it tended to reduce women to being objects. You can see how this impacted her work as she tried to challenge these gender-driven stereotypes by not romanticizing or glorifying them and instead exposing them. She does this very successfully, her images tend to be quite simple and she is always the model which I believe makes it more effective as she always has the same quite flat and unreadable expression on her face in all the photographs making them appear a lot more superficial as you can not tell how the model/women within the image is feeling. I also think by Cindy Sherman being both the model and the photographer for her pictures I believe makes them more impactful as she has all the power in the situation, she isn’t affected by the male gaze which will often occur subconsciously or not because it is so heavily ingrained into society but because she can control every aspect she tried to prevent that.

For example, in image no. 10, Cindy is playing the ‘role’ of a traditional 20th century housewife. She is depicted crouching on the kitchen floor alongside a broken, spilled shopping bag. What Sherman achieves through this comment on female stereotypes is nothing less than protesting the traditional roles of women in that time period. Women in this era were restricted and categorized to act and be a certain way; cooking and cleaning for the kids and husband, and overall being the invisible ‘caretaker’ to what would’ve been an ungrateful family. This concept is solidified in her lack of direct address, her melancholic, distant gaze leaves the audience questioning her real personality; who she is behind the ‘role’ of a housewife. Visually you can tell she was inspired by the 20th century from her outfit to her hair and makeup which is effective for creating the atmosphere of the role she is meant to play as being a housewife was one of the only roles for women during the 20th century until a little later when the suffragette movement started to grow and women started to get into more occupation fields but it was only around 20% of all women at the time who were working.

Similarly, Claude Cahun is a great example of an artist who challenges harmful stereotypes and creates thought-provoking feminist photography. Even before creating they started to explore art and photography Cahun started to push the boundaries with feminism and gender during their childhood Claude Cahun delved into the idea of being non-binary and going by they/them pronouns which clearly influences their work today through their differing characters some presenting more masculine some more feminine. They tended to focus on gender and more specifically the fluidity of gender. Claude Chaun’s work is contradictory to Cindy Sherman’s work focuses on the stereotypes to challenge them instead Claude Cahun uses elaborate props and fashion to convey new a different ideas about gender. It is evident within their work that they stray far away from the male gaze all of their work appears to be quite androgynous and doesn’t fit the beauty standard. However, like Cindy Sherman all of Claude’s work are self-portraits so they’re taking away the power from the audience by being in control.

For instance, the image ‘I am in training don’t kiss me’ holds the title as one of Cahun’s most famous pieces of work. In the picture they have short hair, evident in how Claude makes a point of distancing herself from the male gaze and alongside it, the stereotype that women must have thick, long hair in order to be deemed attractive by society. Similarly Cahun appears to be holding a pantomime barbell which continues to challenge stereotypes as its often said that women should be dainty and delicate and not strong, powerful and capable to do the same things as men. Additionally, Claude’s facial expression holds power and significance. Specifically, in the direct address to the audience, Cahun comes across as very intimidating and, as a result, holds power over the viewer, positioning herself at a higher status. In addition, they wrote the title of the picture on their shirt which emphasises their message of “don’t kiss me” demonstrating that they don’t want to be sexualized through her photo.

Ultimately, both Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman have created incredible work which pushed against boundaries, challenged stereotypes, and helped advocate for change. Claude Cahun has effectively helped push the boundaries of gender and gender performativity, and Cindy Sherman challenged the harmful stereotypes which often suppress women. An aspect of both of their work that I am interested in exploring is their use of facial expressions in their photos. Both Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun use quite deadpan facial expressions however, unlike Cindy Sherman, Claude Cahun uses direct address, which I find comes off as very powerful and demanding, so I would like to experiment with that within my work.

This is my full complete photobook, I kept the layout throughout it similar as it gives a symmetry and sequence throughout the whole book having everything relate. I kept all the pages background black as it went well with the theme giving a dark depressing affect as well as contrasting well with the majority black and white images.