Date: 8th April 2016
Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Editing Software: Photoshop CC 2014
Settings: F/8, ISO 200, 1/125
Plans For Shoot: My plan for today's shoot is to complete a table-top photoshoot focused on women and the work that is expected of their gender.
What I Hope to Achieve: What I hope to achieve for today's shoot is to experiment with a different background as I have previously been using; I will be using white rather than pink or blue.
I also hope to create a final outcome that is reminiscent of Phebe Schmidt's but that is not an exact pastiche of her work for example through her bold use of coloured backdrops.
I would like to take a series of photographs that document gender in a comical way with serious undertones that allow an audience to question their perceptions of gender. I will also be relying on stereotypes to do this and would like an audience to pick up on this idea.
Finally, I hope to form a series of at least four straight images which depict the stereotypes based upon the female gender in reference to work and role expectations within society.
What I Actually Achieved: I did employ the white backdrop for the shoot although it was not as bright and crisp as I had wanted. If I was to improve this I would move the position of the box lighting.
I believe that my use of the objects composed in a different manner is implicitly reminiscent of Phebe Schmidt whilst the loss of the bold and vibrant coloured background has made my work less of a pastiche but this is not necessarily bad as I have developed from the exam artists to Schmidt and from Schmidt to my own individual stylised interpretation of gender.
Furthermore, the composition wish the use of a washing line to hang the objects rather than complete another table-top shoot was an interesting development. The stereotypical objects associated with female roles hanging from another stereotype creates an almost comical inception-like photographic series studying gender.
Additionally, I did complete four final images of various compositions despite using the same objects throughout. The use of objects and the composition, portraying a washing line, all work together to create my unique perception and personal opinion on the stupidities of gender role allocation within society.
What I Am Going To Do Next/ Progression: If I was to improve upon this series I would experiment with more objects to create a more developed idea displaying gender.
Also, I would move the lights around as I was too pre-occupied with simply photographing the subject matter that I did not note that the lights could have been moved further forward or increased in brightness to achieve a better lighting set-up.
To progress, the next photoshoot that I will be doing will be under the same category of work but it will be the male counterpart. This shoot will hopefully be another interesting set-up by employing a non-tabletop idea but instead have objects associated with male work standing or leaning against the backdrop. For example, a hat stand with a hat and briefcase to suggest the male dominated business world and other objects connoting DIY such as a shovel to display the manual labouring nature of stereotypical male roles. However, due to practicality I may end up doing a smaller scale tabletop shoot as it is easier to transport the objects.
Least and Favourite Images Evaluation -
Least Favourite:
Favourite:
The reasoning behind the above pictures being my favourite and least favourite are for a few different reasons.
My least favourite is so because the white backdrop appeared darker in the original raw image and took more editing in Photoshop. Additionally, the composition is too close together and casted a dark shadow. Also the lighting could have been improved in either the set-up of the soft box lights or in the editing process.
The second photograph is my favourite from the series as the objects were composed without feeling too posed and the balance of the image is aesthetically pleasing. Also the lighting did not create a vignette style shadow on either sides of the image like in the least favourite counterpart.
Meaning -
Denotation: Domestic objects, housework.
Connotation: Feminine roles as domestic 'goddess' and housekeeper alongside modern roles of working as well, the evolution of gender roles and difficulties to reach equality, the female stereotypes as homemakers.
Context: I would like audiences to know that genders have diversified throughout the eras but that stereotypes still exist and people are still expected to conform to them; I want people to know that gender roles can be divided in society amongst various genders to subvert conventions and encourage change within society.
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