Has the media shaped our vision of women through photographic portrayal and is their true purpose and identity betrayed as a result?
Amy Byron Photography
JENNY SAVILLE AND THE PRINCES TRUST ADVERTISEMENT INSPIRED
In 2002 Jenny Saville created a photography series with fashion photographer/film maker Glen Luchford. After having observed the operations of reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, Saville was eager to express the violence and anesthetized pain of this experience in her own work. The series explores distortions of the body in a rather unattractive way, but aims to celebrate the 'beauties' within it.
Along with Saville's photography as a main inspiration for the desired look of the shoot, I discovered an advertisement series from the Prince's Trust called "learn the hard way" which is designed to create awareness for young people facing different harships in life, giving them the help they need to reach their full potential. This poster in particular stood out to me, it is based on the life of a young single mother who dropped out of school because she became pregnant. This gave me the idea of exploring true stories of those who faced the same issue, as this is a big issue within todays society but is often regarded as an issue that does not need to be addressed, linking to my represention of mothers and how females are portrayed in the media these days, I decided to explore the representation of a single mother and how it is often dismissed.
What stood out most about this type of advertisement was not just the use of photography to set the scene or give meaning, but the written code which uses juxtaposition, with a brighter coloured font describing the individual in a positive way, next to what is portrayed as the 'reality' of the story. I think this method creates strong meaning for the viewer to consider, therefore I used the concept and text design as an element within my own, combined with the presentation of saville's work, using scanography to present the idea of facing hardships.
I approached this idea by researching true stories of underage pregnancies and using them to create a small anecdote within my own photos. For me, each of the images work well in their own way through a difference use of props, providing a sense of reality and offers many different circumstances faced in today's society, allowing viewers to perhaps relate.
MY PHOTOS
I feel this image was the most successful from this shoot, due to the way in which the model was captured with her hair perfectly covering her eyes making the hands become the main focus of the image, which works well with the 'save me' element of the photo, it makes the image stand out and creates a link within the image, such asthe written code, repeating words such as 'isolated' and 'save me' to implie the suffocation the individual looks as though she is facing, both physically and mentally. To create the image I used the scanner, placing the model on the machine to capture what looks as though a person trapped in a small dark isolated area, which is firstly expactly what I would want to achieve to portray meaning. I edited this image in photoshop, mostly concerning with the lighting within the image, I firstly increased the highlights and contrasts, but deeper enhanced this using the dodge and burn tool, bringing out strands of the hair and creases within the hands, giving the image more depth. I found a true story based on the life of an underaged single mother, which I used as inspiration for my story. However, I made up the positive description of the individual to juxtapose with the story to give the image suitable juxta position and deeper meaning.
This image worked well due to it's use of props to provide a message within the image, it also provided a basis for the text to be about, therefore I decided to create my own story for this image, based on the contraceptive pill, a common issue within the topic of underaged pregnancies. Similarly, with this image I focused on the highlights and contrasts using the dodge and burn tool to make enhancements.
In this image I used money to signify meaning. In addition the model's gestures suggests desperation and need, which is why I feel the images work well as they imply a strong message which relates to an issue within society. I used the colour picker tool to select an existing colour within the image, such as the yellow-gold from the money, to apply a different colour to the positively written text, to emphasise the juxtaposition.
Again, I think this image works well due to the props, the lipstick signifies someone who cares about their looks and wants to be seen as attractive, which stereotypically young mothers are often labelled as. I took a slightly different approach to creating the story for this image, by researching stories describing night life, which helped me to explain the setting of the story in a descriptive way. Similarly with this image I used the colour picker tool to select an existing colour within the image, and used white to portray the negative side of the photo as it is a very neutral, simple colour and stands out from the black of the background.
I chose not to use a prop in this image, instead I applied an overlay, taking advantage of the bright colour of the clothing. I also ensured the models face was positioned in an increasingly more squashed manner to give a stronger focal point to the image. I selected an orange overlay from a stock image, to keep the colours consistent, Although I changed the blending mode and reduced the opacity to keep the image simplistic.
This image offers a strong message due to it's use of props which carry meaning, such as the timetable, suggesting student life, but also implying business and a lack of freedom or spare time. The help message gives the image a melancholy atmosphere, similarly to the dark use of lighting which barely reveals the model's face.
This image was based on experimentation. I used a previously edited image to play around with the colours in the image. I created a second layer and made it black and white, then simply applying a masking layer, using the black paint tool to rub away the layer to reveal parts of the image beneath, shining the colour through. I think this was a successful technique as it makes you feel as though the person is feeling drained, and perhaps loosing all will power.