My aim/plan: Narrative and concept

My plan in this magazine styled photobook, is to show off a very feminine aesthetic, straight away illustrating the theme I am focusing on and portraying. To do this, I aim to use stereotypical colours of femininity such as purples and pinks. I want this to be shown straight away on the front and back cover, to emphasise this and let readers aware of my project, before going into the book. My photoshoots are very high fashion, posing and props surrounded, therefore already creating the theme of a fashion photoshoot for a magazine. I really want all my images placed together thoughtfully and carefully to create the most contrast. Almost like this or that. For my front cover, I wanted it to be the both subjects, so it symbols and expresses women as a whole, and fits the term ‘women’ due to being plural. This also signifies how women as a team went through the waves and movements of feminism and eventually increased in the main stream media. Aside from already achieving my powerful and dominant aesthetic of women, I wanted my photobook to add something. Therefore, I will add diversity of boarders to make some images look vintage but also to break apart the white images and make them stand out, rather than blend in. I want to separate all the experimented images so they are spread across the book evenly, and attempt to put 2 pages together to contrast significantly. Although, my aim of my subjects are suppose to look atypical, the clothing etc are very feminine. Therefore, although the pinks and purples contrast with my purpose and aim, they keep the girly aesthetic. The narrative is to signify the revolution of women in the main stream media, and how it was not normalised for women to be in the media before the 1990’s. This is what made Helmut Newton different to other photographers during this time. My narrative is to express modern women in the fashion media and how it changed to the present.

Design and Layout

Photobook style:

I chose this style, as my last project I used standard portrait and wanted to differ. I also chose this because I wanted my book to be petite and mini as I believe it fitted my concluded theme the most. I want my book to be small and have either a soft or hard cover, however I think soft will fit the magazine style more beneficially.

Front and back cover:

Updated version:

I chose these images as I wanted my title of ‘ women’ to be in pink, therefore I wanted to add something that made this link seamlessly. Due to my photobook obtaining purposely edited colours and black and white, I wanted my back and front cover to show this so the viewers know it is not just in black and white. I made my front cover two women, rather than one to fit the title and show the support of girlhood and femininity. To show that this book is not dull, I added one of my edited and experimented images to the back from a different photoshoot, therefore obtaining different type of women’s styles and what they portray. As shown above, the back cover is more of an over sexualised and objectified aesthetic through the stockings and meanwhile obtaining a modest element to it through the short and flowy blazer with a bra peeking out. I also chose the back cover image because it shows the heels, a very significant symbol in femininity which had to be shown through the first glance. This is because my front cover does not show this, but still shows very feminine and graceful posing. The pink matched perfectly to my title and I think it gave off the correct aesthetic for first glances, which is what I wished to achieve.

Changed title –

Updated after experimented –

Pages to 26:

Double page spread:

My evaluation:

Overall, I enjoy the diversified images, the use of black and white and colours, and different boarders and sizes. The use of black and white and edited colours, I personally believe contrasts yet ties everything in really well. This is because none of my images are in normal colour, yet a few of them obtain colour whilst maintaining the theme of black and white. I like this because it makes my book not boring and dull to look at and definitely catches the eye. The use of different boarders emphasise this but also adds a different aesthetic to each image, throughout whether I want the image to look modern or vintage. Some of the borders I did on photoshop, and some I added for the book. The different sizes emphasised the contrast I was aiming to achieve, but overall I believe the mixing of the edited/experimented images with the black and white images worked seamlessly and created the most contrast. Lastly, I think the use of pink in the title of ‘women’ immediately tells the theme of my magazine, which is what I aimed to do. The use of font is very feminine in my opinion and added to this factor. Some images obtained shadows, and some did not which I think worked beneficially as it made my book more diversified and unique. Lastly, I believe that my photobook gives off a magazine type style which is exactly what I wanted to achieve, which I think I did successfully, with a unique and different perspective, linking to my artist reference Kusama Yayoi. Whereas the images its self and how it was created through props, fashion and posing links to Helmut Newton through the cinematic and theatre – carefully crafted style.

Final Design and Layout for photobook:

In comparison to my statement of intent:

In my statement of intent, I stated I wanted to express my inspiration through the two artists I studied – being Kusuma Yayoi and Helmut Newton and illustrate the theme of union. I personally believe through my crafting of photoshoots and using the correct lighting and props to portray what I wanted. Being in admiration for the women’s anatomy and expressing this in a way to make women look powerful, confident and dominant to which women were not viewed as in the 1980s and 90’s when Helmut did his photoshoots. Therefore, I wanted to show a modernised version to illustrate the present and employ the evolution of women in the media. I knew I wanted to do this because it was not normalised for women to be in the media during this time, as they were only viewed for traditional values such as the house wife and conceiving. However, over time this changed and debatably Newton pushed this shift. Therefore, I wanted to show straight-forwardly and simply how these times have change, as women are now more in the main-stream media than men. However, sometimes for the wrong reasons such as over sexualising them or wearing revealing clothes to satisfy the male gaze to gain awareness on their brands. This links to my development of being a fashion magazine to express these factors significantly. My photoshoots itself represent Helmut Newton. I did them in a studio trying to gain the correct lighting to make them look staged, this linking to cinematic and theatre play. This itself contrasts to Cindy Sherman’s work as she did the same style, yet portrayed typical stereotypes rather than disobeying them. This is useful as Helmut Newton disobeyed them in my opinion, which feminist critiques may argue. This is because Helmut Newton took images of women from a lower angle, signifying dominance and confidence, and sometimes even took images of women in suits, which definitely was not normalised around this time. To me, this tells me what Helmut was attempting to do by disobeying the typical stereotypes. However, this differs from his over sexualised and objectifying images containing voyeurism as he only took images of the same body type. However, I believe he was in admiration for the female body and was trying to stop these stereotypes as he saw potential in the female body for the main stream media. I believe this all links to the theme of union as women fought together as a minority group t gain equal rights through the feminism movements, and gained more awareness and eventually gained other aspects and characteristics other than traditional values. Through my statement of intent, I believe I did this look successfully whilst keeping it appropriate as I think I portrayed similar things to what I wanted to achieve.

Moreover, I did a high fashion and glamorous look as Helmut Newton executed this successfully. From what I take from this, Newton felt as if women should be dressed up in powerful clothes to emphasise their feminine characteristics. Therefore, I attempted to do this through blazers, long black dresses, fur coats, accessories and mini dresses. This added a wealthy type lifestyle which is what I gained from Newtons aesthetic. This links to my fashion magazine as it is suppose to express as if it is an actual fashion magazine, therefore expressing the paradigm shift in the main stream media of women. The use of feminine posing, photos taken from below or straight on and clothing still obtains a girly look which I wanted to portray as women do not have to ultimately change themselves to disobey the stereotypes of women. Therefore, I think I did what my statement of intent illustrated successfully within Newton’s aspect.

 I was heavily inspired by how Yayoi confidently showed her struggles being a woman conveying the theme of identity, female body and mental health issues. I personally find this brave as her work, specifically her images including nudity was seen as controversial considering her Western culture and timeline. Yet she still successfully demonstrated what she was aiming to on a deeper level, despite the backlash. Her work shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, art brut, pop art and abstract expressionism and is infused with autobiographical, psychological and sexual content. Her work was very unique and I personally believe her work showed her mental health issues and struggles of being a woman. For example, her famous and mesmerising polka dots symbolising the growth of being a woman. I wanted to edit and experiment and make it unique. This seemed like a struggle to me as I was not sure what to expect. However, once I began I feel as if i got the hang out of it and attempted to make unique designs and layout to bring out an interesting factor for my end result of being a fashion magazine. I knew I did not want all my images in back and white as I thought this would make it look dull and boring, and have no link to Yayoi.

As shown above, I even experimented with Yayoi’s backgrounds to show psychedelic patterns to symbolise the mental issues. I knew I wanted my editing to link to Yayoi, so I did a diversity of vibrant colours, 3D allusions, forced shadows with different colours, and different backgrounds. This links to Yayoi Kusuma especially the 3D allusions as it adds a psychedelic element which Yayoi was very open about sharing. Although I used multiple colours, a lot were a girly colour like pink and purples to make awareness that it is a feminine project about women in the main stream media. Although I did not use all of my experiments, I used a lot to make my end outcome diversified and to catch the eye, like Yayoi’s work did successfully which I was heavily inspired by. Although the wigs are just a prop, they are a unique hair style and just like Yayoi’s. Yayoi collaborated with Louis Vuitton for her infamous polka dots symbolisation with handbags. Therefore, in some images I added a handbag to look as if we are attempting to sell it through the fashion magazine, like Yayoi.

What I could of changed:

Newtons work is surrounded through a diversity of places and surroundings, mostly in public. I did think of doing these photoshoots in public to add diversity and possibly more to look at, however I didn’t believe it would be seamless in my fashion photobook. This is because, most fashion magazines have a backdrop with zero shadows to make it less distracting and only focus on the subject and the clothing. Therefore, I wanted my images to look as professional as possible and eye catching. Not only this, but it would of made it more difficult to edit as I frequently edited the backdrop in photoshop and changed the colour to make the B&W subject stand out more vibrantly, as they wouldn’t stand out against the white. This work obviously links to Yayoi, therefore my images would not be evenly spread out across both of my inspirations which I ultimately wanted to achieve. Therefore, I prefer how my images work seamlessly together when merged together and is not distracting to surroundings or anything like that.

Another thing, I could of done better was the lighting and how close my subject stood to the backdrop. At times, my subject stood too close to the white or black backdrop, which emphasised shadows which was not exactly my aim. This is because it can be distracting and doesn’t make the subject pop. However, It was fixable in photoshop or Lightroom which I did successfully and beneficially. I did this by selecting the background and increasing the exposure, decreasing the shadows and added whites. If the shadows were in too much depth, I had to move the images to photoshop and do it there or even change the backdrop. This pushed me to experiment and develop my images and I believe I did this successfully.

Lastly, a thing I feel as that I could of benefitted from is the angles. All images were taken straight on or slightly below, however I don’t feel this was as obvious as I wished it to be. I wanted my subject to literally be looking down and the heels to be emphasised to illustrate this dominance and empowerment theme. However, most of the times I was as crouched as I could be to take these images. This is something I think definitely did not come out as much as I wanted it to be. However, with the subject crouching, I think this was successful as it was taken from the same height, avoiding it from above and fitting that typical submissive and weak stereotype. This was good as I was avoiding that factor and did not want to accidently express that. Other than this, I believe I executed my vision successfully and achieved what I wanted.

The photobook development:

I began by putting all the images into a photobook folder in Lightroom, this automatically made a book. I then arranged what should go where and what image it should be next to, to contrast nicely, almost like ‘ This or that’. Once I did this, I then added some borders to emphasise the contrast or because some of my images are white so had to separate them. My book title choice was simple yet expressed every theme I wanted to cover ‘ The Evolution Of Women In Media’. After doing this, I added a feminine font and made the word ‘ women’ in pink to match my back cover and also straight away employ to viewers what my book is about and the concept and narrative behind it. I chose the front cover of two people to cover the theme of ‘union’ to express what women fought for as a whole. This therefore, linked to the title ‘ women’

I believe my photobook went successfully and I would not change anything within my design and layout as It is exactly what I envisioned.

Using photoshop to design front covers-

Version 1:

Version 2:

Version 3:

Overall:

The front cover is important as magazines are always the first impression. I want my front cover to have the two of us included. This is because it links to the theme of union and tells the viewers immediately what my magazine is about. Not only this but it seems more powerful, and fits into the plural phrase of ‘ women’ for my title. I wanted my title to be clear and simple expressing what my book is about. I had many ideas such as – ‘Power in Heels’, ‘The Gaze Reversed’ etc. However, I liked how mine was simple yet straight forward and involved my project surrounding the main stream media and the shift women faced. I wanted my font to be rather feminine and I knew I wanted the word ‘ women’ to be in pink as it would make it stand out vibrantly and straight away express that my book is surrounding the theme of femininity. My favourite experimented version would be the first one as it is my favourite image and the font goes seamlessly behind the subject.

I wanted the word evolution to be bold and noticeable, but the font keeping it clear and eye catching. The font being slightly slanted and going behind the subject adds a little edge to it and professionalism. For the ‘ Of’ and ‘ In Media’ I added a drop shadow to make it look 3D. This is beneficial as inside my book, obtains 3d allusions linking to Yayoi. Therefore it contains a successful link seamlessly. Lastly, I will change this image to be my front cover as it looks rather professional and I like the other effects such as the drop shadows and strokes etc because you cannot do that on Lightroom.

Final Outcome-

Selection 1– A5

Selection 2– A5

Selection 3- A5

Selection 4- A5

Selection 4– A5 –

Selection 5– A4

Selection 6– A5

Selection 8- A4–

Selection 9- A4–

Selection 10- A4–

Selection 11- A4–

Section 12- A3

Here above, are all my preferred experiments and development. I’ve chosen these images to be in my virtual gallery as I like them the most. They add an element of an unique aesthetic linking significantly to Yayoi as she was known for her distinct, vibrant and abstract work. However, the posing, clothing and lighting links to Helmut as the posing portrays an element of dominance and the angle from below rather from straight on or above, differs from the typical stereotype of women being weak and submissive. The clothing is seen as glamour and luxurious which Helmut did by maintaining a theme of high- fashion and media. Newton photographed women differing from the typical stereotypes during a time when it was not normalised for women to be in the main stream media. I wished to accomplish this by making the photos look as if they are for a fashion magazine through white backdrops and forced shadows through duplication. Therefore, my project is based around the revolution of women within media and how they grew, whilst linking to Yayoi’s unique elements, such as my developing. These images I aim to develop into a photoshoot, into a magazine type of boom to express the revolution of women in the media, and how it is normalised now, which it was not during Helmut’s era. Therefore, ultimately illustrating expression and empowerment.

Portrait 1

Experimentation 1:

Experimentation 2:

Experimentation 3:

Within this development and experimentation, I started off by colour overlaying the background to make the background a purple. First, I had to make sure all of the background became purple and didn’t miss any spots. Once I had achieved this, I experimented more on the subject using drop shadows, outer glows and even duplicating her. Once duplicating her, I could make a shadow when decreasing the capacity which makes her 3D dimensional. Once I was satisfied with the effects on the subject, I then began to test out different boarders to fit into my theme. My choice of boarders were a type of vintage aesthetic which fits my theme significantly. Therefore, I experimented with multiple to decipher which one I prefer the most.

Portrait 2:

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3:

Experiment 4:

Within these experiment versions, I began by colouring the background with a light pink, considering my theme is femininity and empowerment. Then, I decided to colour overlay my subject. I then duplicated my original onto this for my next image which I think the 3D affect looks really unique. Lastly, I went through the layered filters and decided on which one I preferred the most which was this red colour as it could symbolise sexuality and it worked seamlessly well with my backdrop colour.

Portrait 3

Experiment 1:

This experiment, I made the background a purple- pink colour and then experimented along the way. I decided to feather my subject which made a slight white feathering aspect surrounding her subtly. I liked this as I thought it fit into the magazine theme as it attracts viewers straight to the subject, rather than being distracted.

Portrait 4

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3:

Experiment 4:

Portrait 5:

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3: Adding a boarder

Portrait 6:

Original:

Removing the background:

Experiment 1:

Experiment 2:

Experiment 3:

Here above, are all my preferred experiments and development. I’ve chosen these images to be in my virtual gallery as I like them the most. They add an element of an unique aesthetic linking significantly to Yayoi as she was known for her distinct, vibrant and abstract work. However, the posing, clothing and lighting links to Helmut as the posing portrays an element of dominance and the angle from below rather from straight on or above, differs from the typical stereotype of women being weak and submissive. The clothing is seen as glamour and luxurious which Helmut did by maintaining a theme of high- fashion and media. Newton photographed women differing from the typical stereotypes during a time when it was not normalised for women to be in the main stream media. I wished to accomplish this by making the photos look as if they are for a fashion magazine through white backdrops and little shadows. Therefore, my project is based around the revolution of women within media and how they grew, whilst linking to Yayoi’s unique elements, such as my developing.

Contact sheet:

Firstly, I began by either rejecting or flagging them. This is very efficient as it keeps all my images organised by which ones I preferred.

This is because I can filter them by showing flagged only. Ultimately disregarding my rejected images to be time efficient for my next step. My next step is to put the images I wish to edit and wish to develop further into green. The green images demonstrate which images I am going to edit for my finalised exam project.

Leading to, selected images that I definitely like and believe are worth editing. This is beneficial as it decreases my amount of images into a small selection, that is efficient for my project and fit my end goal. Making it much more time-efficient and easier for my next steps.

Editing & Experimenting

I began by increasing exposure to lighten up the background significantly. But the correct amount, not too much so the medium does not become too bright or unfocused. My next move, was to increase the contrast to make certain elements stand out against the exposure. This is to make these two balanced. This created more depth in the shadows, making it more eye catching and even professional, which is our aim. By increasing the highlights, the backdrop became a lot whiter and brighter which is needed to look more professional, and also to make the subject stand out and contrast against it. To increase the depth of the shadows even more, I slightly increased the shadows, but again not too much as I wanted it too look natural yet eye catching. The increase in whites, emphasised the background, therefore emphasising the shadows. Almost, I decreased my blacks so the subjects clothing, wig and shadows were not too deep so it looked somewhat real. Lastly, I decreased the texture to make the medium’s legs look more fake and surreal as Newton did portray a certain beauty standard, ultimately being unrealistic. Finally, I decreased the clarity to make the glamour fur coat to look more detailed and real, almost to look like a model is advertising it.

Experimentation –

I personally quite like this, as it is quite unique and different. I think the filter makes it less dull and more quirky. I really like how the shadow has an outline of pink, making it very eye catching to look at. Just like how Kusuma’s work is very unique making it different. Although, I like both as they portray and express very different aspects and elements. The filter is style cinematic CN10 which my theme is suppose to look very theatre like, staged and carefully crafted and cinematic, hence the wigs and very unrealistic props.

Getting rid of the shadows-

First, I did this by editing her by herself, and then clearing the background. Although it does not get rid of the shadow completely, it keeps it on a very subtle aspect. I personally like this, as it is making the subject the main element of this image. Making her stand out boldly which I personally think suits this type of cinematic photography I have decided to aim for. Due to the aim of making it a luxurious and glamour aesthetic, the clothing is a massive part of this theme. It is almost to look like a fashion shoot with an aspect of wealth. To make this more clear, I increased the texture so you could see the ruffles in the dress to make that more realistic. This also made the wig look more realistic and the fur coat more more texturized. I think this definitely did a lot. Due to the discarding of shadows, the subjects body shape was more noticeable. Another thing to emphasise this was to decrease the blacks to make the ruffles and fur texture more obvious and clear. making the subjects body shape more eye catching. Which is significant as Helmut Newton focused on body size, specifically a certain type causing beauty standards. However, he also added to the revolution of women in the media. Making it more normalised for women to be in the main-stream fashion media which I think this photoshoot gives an aesthetic of. The filter CN10 adds an aspect of uniqueness which links to Yayoi as she was known for her unique beliefs around the body and the female identity.

Overall, I think it depends on what I am trying to aim for, which is why I am experimenting to see what I prefer. If I wanted my images to look as if they have came from a more artistic perspective, I will keep the shadows, and experiment with them. However, on the other hand if I wish for my photographs to come from a more fashion photoshoot surrounding women in media that is suppose to look professional, which differs more to my old project, then I will discard the shadows. the reasoning of the shadows is because my subject is standing too far back in the studio against the white backdrop. Although, one thing I do definitely like more from experimenting is the more texture and decrease in blacks to make the subjects clothing more clear and vibrant.

Using this tool and the rule of thirds, I could immediately tell that the subject was not in the centre, making it look un-professional.

Most of my editing will stay the same, however I will experiment with different filters to see which one I prefer the most. Within this image, I really like it in colour as the red lip symbolising femininity really stuck out to me and I really liked the contrasting with the wig and the black dress with the fur coat in-between.

Detecting the background –

I really liked this filter at of most of the ones I have experimented on so far, this is the BW11 which I think makes it look very retro and vintage which I really like.

In colour:

With BM11 b&w filter-

I definitely prefer this image in black and white as the originals subject’s skin tone does not make the red lipstick as bold, therefore, after putting it in black and white and using a BW06 filter, the subjects facial features are more deepened and richer, allowing a viewer to notice it more as it is very significant to my photoshoot.

BW11:

Experimenting using photoshop to change the backdrop-

I personally think here, I have experimented however I have learnt for my next photoshoot, to use a white backdrop to make the subject stand out rather than the black one. I did this because I thought my blonde wig wouldn’t stand out against the white background as much. However, the white backdrop overall looks more professional and emphasises the medium to stand out significantly.

Using BW06-

Experimenting in photoshop to see if I can create the illusion of the bag floating by rubbing in white around the shadows and line of the bag stand.

After experimenting, I came to the realisation that because of my subjects clothing such as the fur coat. It would be challenging for me to make it look realistic as I would have to go around every strand of fur which is almost impossible. However, I believe each experiment is significant as I learn and gain experience each time. Therefore, this was my final outcome for this image.

Experimentation in photoshop:

Colour overlay and stroke:

Experiment

Yayoi Kusuma inspiration-

BW11 filter:

Using the eraser tool, I got rid of the shadow below the subject’s feet.

BW10: