Who is my audience?

My work has to be relevant to my target audience. 

Thinking carefully about the images I aim to create, I think that my target audience would be people aged 16+ who are interested in fashion and also have an eye for architecture. Therefore my audience would need to be creative people who are open to new and upcoming ideas. 

London Fashion Weekend

Noticing architecture around me

I noticed this interesting architecture at Westminster underground station in London

Elements that really stood out for me in these photos include shape, form and line. 

Having cropped the image below the framing has completely changed the overall aesthetic of the image. 

The overall element of line draws you into the image and creates a path for your eyes to follow. 

While on the train I was fasnicated by these unconnected passengers 

Having edited the image I decided to call it 

"That Monday morning feeling"

Shoot #1

Nav


After speaking to Rebecca Newman about my work she advised me to experiment more with fashion shoots on location. 
Taking this on board I asked a friend to model so that I could begin to get a range of images on location. 
My intentions for the shoot were to capture the model in front of archways, doors, stairwells and different structural buildings. I thought Digbeth would be an appropriate location for this shoot. 

I was pleased with quality of the photos, as they came out better than I thought they would. It was extremely bright in the day of the shoot which meant I needed to use a high ISO. I think that I managed to deal with this issue head on, however it could have caused some problems if I was unable to shoot on the shaded side of the road. 

However, something I am not so happy with is the poses within the images. When I reshoot I want the model to be more natural as in these images she is posing very strongly.

Mannequin Enquiry

In order to hire out mannequins I sent an email to the head of the fashion department.

The response I was given made me rethink whether they were necessary in my shoot, and after  having discussed the idea more with Joe, we agreed to scrap the idea of using mannequins. I did this because that I would be able to show more personality using a model instead of a mannequin. 

Lighting

Unsure of the correct lighting technique to use I spoke to Ed to get some ideas and tips.

He suggested using a mannequin rather than a model to shoot the garments, I thought this could potentially be a good idea. 

Ed also gave me some lighting tips and suggested using a beauty dish with a large grid. As well as this, I would need a soft box as a fill light on low power and to add some volume to the clothes I would need to use a reflector.

After having this chat, I felt more confident to go ahead and source my models knowing I had my lighting sorted. 

Research - studio garment

Gareth Pugh:

These photos caught my eye as they show the model coming to life. Architectural elements have played a huge role in these garments and I feel this is very relevant to my current project. Layers have also been used to add structure. 

Iris Van Herpen:

“When I design, the draping process most of the time happens to me unconsciously. I see lucid dreams as a microscope with which I can look into my unconsciousness. In this collection, I have tried to bring my state of ‘reality’ and my state of dreaming, together,” notes the designer.

His collections are bought to life by the way in which he has designed them. The structural element to the designs are what caught my eye when doing my research. Great amount of texture can be seen within the garments and a wide range of tone has been created within them.

Research - on location fashion architecture

Man About Town - Terence Donovan
Fashion Photographer

British Vogue - Lachlan Bailey
Fashion and portrait photographer 

From both these photographers I was able to gain some inspiration. 
The way in which they placed their subject was extremely important to the overall composition. A lot of time must have been taken to get the framing perfect. Elements of line are all relevant within these images and draw the viewer in to the image to connect with the model.

Idea #1

From looking at Pinterest I was able to get more of an idea about how to connect fashion with architecture. These images show how architecture can be shown within garments of clothing.

In order to create my own images to this style I would need to work along side a fashion student who could style the shoot for me. So this could happen, I emailed the head of fashion communication so that he could put me in touch with the right student.

Parallel practices in fashion and architecture

Having done some research I came across an exhibition which focused on the connection between fashion and architecture. 

Clothing and buildings have echoed each other in form and appearance. They share the primary function of providing shelter and protection for the body, they also create space and volume.

There are also some significant differences which include; proportion, size and shape which all differ.

Types of structures

Having made this diagram, I am able to think about where and what I could possibly shoot. 

New Brief..

Having taken everything on board from my meeting with Rebecca Newman, I was able to create a brief for this module..

My aim for this project is to combine fashion photography with an element of architecture. I will do this by photographing garments that have specifically been designed to portray structural elements. I will think carefully about the way I am going to capture these items of clothing by focusing on shape and scale. Another way I will do this is by capturing the interaction between a model and man made structures. 

What is architecture:
the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings 



What is fashion:
Fashion photography is a genre of photography devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items

Meeting with Art Director

My meeting with Rebecca Newman helped me to create my new brief, and decide where I would be going with this current module.


I was able to show Rebecca my previous work (which can be seen below):

I was able to explain to Rebecca that I'm interested in fashion photography. However, I also like shooting building/ structures from a variety of different angles to show the image in an abstract way.

Rebecca suggested to me that for this module I should try to combine the element of fashion within structures and I should do this by concentrating on looking at scale and framing. I was also told to hunt down vibrant backgrounds, and then take a model to this location and shoot there. (Just like the images above with a purple background/door. Rebecca thoroughly liked these images).

Another piece of advice she gave me was to really analyse my website. To think about which are the best images, and which aren't so good. Once this decision had been made, I needed to take out the not so good images. She told me this would be a very good learning curve for myself. 

Also, it was suggested that I should collaborate with a fashion designer to expand my portfolio and advance my skills.


Overall, I found this discussion with Rebecca extremely helpful as it gave me a focus point and I knew the direction that I should be headed for.