Date: Friday 18th March 2016
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Editing Software: Photoshop CC 2014
Settings: F/11, ISO 200, 1/125
Plans For Shoot: The plan for today's photoshoot, after completing the men's inequality shoot, is to photograph a selection of objects that represent the category of the male gender. I will specifically focus on women today and will address one of the myths that often circulates about this gender.
What I Hope to Achieve: I will attempt to achieve a collection of high quality photographs which I will have attempted to layout in a variety of compositions to draw the viewers eye in.
I also hope that I can create a series of photographs that are inspired mainly by the artistic style of the photographer Phebe Schmidt, whose work links to gender. I will also draw on colour ideas from Ashley Armitage and Juno Calypso. For instance, I would again employ pastel colour background with pastel coloured objects that are either close to each other on the colour wheel or on opposing sides and thus are complimentary.
Additionally, I also hope that I can avoid having to use skills involving 'Dodge' and 'Burn' in editing to avoid the print issues that I experience with other photoshoots.
My final wish is to build a series of photographs which are comical and intriguing like Schmidt's work, provides an interesting subject change like Altman's glitter period work and study colours with an in-depth artistic knowledge like Armitage.
What I Actually Achieved: This is my fifth photoshoot and I have been eager to experiment with more colours which is now possible due to the use of make-up in this photoshoot.
Firstly, I tried a variety of similar compositions until I was satisfied with the overall appearance. Some of the images were supposed to be more chaotic than others but all of this was executed in a restrained manner.
Furthermore, I re-cycled the previous studio set-up used in the men's inequality photoshoot which I finished just before this shoot. I played around with different hues of pinks and made these stand out by using the lights to brighten the colours. This provided me with a Schmidt style response.
Additionally, I was able to again use Photoshop to edit my photographs but I did so using the 'Vibrance' tool and the 'Brightness/ Contrast' tool. This allowed me to adjust the saturation of the colours without altering the beautiful baby blue hue which reflects the works of my inspiration artists Armitage and Schmidt.
When displaying these photographs to an audience they noted the ideas that women are often stereotyped as too concerned with beauty and are also often stereotyped as bad drivers who cannot park.
What I Am Going To Do Next/ Progression: The next step in my photoshoots is the male version of the sub-heading myths. To improve, I shall experiment with composition, 'Hue/ Saturation' and larger subjects.
Least and Favourite Image Evaluation -
Least Favourite:
Favourite:
The reasoning behind the above pictures being my favourite and least favourite are for a multitude of reasons.
My least favourite is so because the backdrop colour was too pale in comparison to the rest of the series. The composition was okay but the two main subjects of the image were placed too close together and thus did not create the journey that I was hoping for the audience to achieve. Also, the line of nail varnishes as bollards were supposed to be nest whereas they are not completely aligned and look out of place as it is not purposefully posed that way.
The second photograph is my favourite of this small series as the background colour is more vibrant and saturated meaning the colours are bolder and thus more Schmidt-esque in style. Also the objects photographed are more precisely placed and are not too close together. Furthermore, the nail varnishes are aligned in a non-conformist way but this time it was purposefully done to create a crafted chaos. I also believe that the bottom final outcome is more comical due to the use of colour to create a bright, joyful and humorous tone to the piece.
Meaning -
Denotation: Make-up, nail varnish, toy cars, play.
Connotation: In my mind I wanted audiences to understand the connotation that women are stereotypically bad drivers, the idea that in childhood make-up is encouraged upon girls whilst cars are considered 'boys toys'.
Context: I wanted an audience to acknowledge that stereotypes are not always true and that by regurgitating them we are only building up yet more stereotypes. I also want to challenge the gender socialisation process of children and youth and to allow children to express themselves in their way and form their own ideologies about genders rather than being forced into conforming to societies norms and values through primary and secondary socialisation institutes such as peers and the education system.
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