SYNOPSIS
I began my process by looking through potential publications where I would like to see my work showcased. By studying Frankie and No Magazine I decided I wanted to do fashion photography. I wanted my photographs to show aspects of the subject’s personality similar to the images featured in No magazine alongside their interviews. The fashion side would come from Frankie magazine which required vintage looking clothing.
In my second image blog I used my flatmates as my subjects. I looked at how I could portray aspects of the subject’s personality. I decided to do this I needed to photograph them in their bedrooms. This shoot was not very successful and did not relate to the fashion aspect I wanted to achieve in my final publication. It did however cause me to rethink my location for shooting. To portray personality I didn’t necessarily have to focus on them individually. The flat itself combined with the flatmates (subjects) would add some context and personality to the images which could be tied into the idea of the editorial.
In my third image blog I shot in my hallway in the morning.I focused on how the streams of light hit my subject, taking inspiration from photographer Todd Hido’s portraits. By going over the photos I noticed the potential for accessories and clothing to be enhanced by the light. This required me to reshoot with different clothing and accessories that matched that displayed in Frankie magazine.
In my fourth image blog I shot in my backyard. I really liked the idea of having a contrast with the vintage clothing and the location, inspired by fashion photographers Herring and Herring. The rusty iron fence was successful in showing this contrast when my female model was in front of it wearing a delicate dress. This shoot was successful in determining specific poses for my publication. However the light on the subjects was too harsh. I reshot some images with different clothing in the morning before the sun had reached the location. I refined my idea by coordinating the clothing between the two models and the rabbit (who was featured in a few shots.) I added props such as chairs and flowers to mimic sets used in Frankie Magazine and to enhance my vintage theme.
My ideas seemed to tie together in the process of creating my publication. The street my flatmates and I live on is called Grosvenor St, and we often refer to our house as ‘Grosvenor Manor.’ My flatmates are not professional models but they acted in a ‘manner’ to be perceived as models to present the clothes. I decided to name my publication “Vintage Fashion in a Grosvenor Manor.” I played with the terms ‘manner’ and ‘manor’ because it could be written either way and still make sense.
By using two of my flatmates and shooting in our home I was showing the personality aspect I wanted to achieve from the beginning. In my publication I used the simplistic layout of images and type seen in Frankie. The photos in the publication were organised to create a flow from the outdoor images to the indoor ones. This was done by having the foliage present in the first indoor image.
Overall I feel that my final publication would fit well into Frankie. The fashion /style side matches nicely and I also think the personality added to it makes it more quirky which I think writers in Frankie would like.
