FINAL EVALUATION

My project called “Visual Victims” is definitely one of the biggest photographic projects I ever worked on. I was working on it for about a year which makes it also the longest project I ever did. My research was mostly based on the experience of new people, places and situations as well as collecting visual examples of what the project is/could be about . On top of that I tried to find as many written publications on the subject matter as possible, however it wasn't an easy task as it isn't a typically academic subject.

From the very beginning I knew that I want my final major project to talk about something that is important to me but in the same time something that is universal enough so that anyone can relate to it. I also knew that it is going to be somehow related to fashion photography. I also wanted it to be a summary of all the experiences I had throughout the course and how it defines my point of view and me looking at the industry I am just about to become a part of.

Choosing hipsters as my main subject wasn't a calculated and very controlled decision. I think it was more about me being under the influence of this phenomenon and me being overwhelmed by it.

Ever since I first went to New York and realized how strikingly similar their “alternative scene” is to what we have in London, I knew I will be interested to know more about. After that, there was my internship at Spring Studios, exchange in Canada where I had an opportunity to travel to places like Detroit, Montreal and Vancouver Island and finally my meeting with photographer Chadwick Tyler.

All those things made a very strong impact on me and my work. Even though I couldn't really name the connection in between them straight away I knew that my project has already started and that all those experiences will be eventually turned into photographs.

Symposium and all the research I made for it helped me a lot to come up with some definitions which then helped me to communicate my ideas to other people. I could finally start defining what my project is about and how I am going to turn it into images. Unfortunately there were only two months in between the symposium deadline and the deadline for the practical project which I found was a very very short time.

Anyway, as I mentioned before I knew straight away that I will try and produce something which in style of fashion editorial. It was a very difficult and risky move as my subject is essentially a sociological phenomenon. Presenting it as a fashion piece, rather than documentary, was a challenge. But there were a few reasons why it was so very important for me to stick to the fashion photography up until the very end of my degree;

First of all this is the type of photography I am most interested in and this is what I want to do professionally so I wanted to make sure that my final project is a clear message about my style of work and my interests. Moreover, I found it much more challenging and stimulating this way. It would be much easier for me to create a documentary about hipsters and their influence on the fashion/photography. But that wasn't the point.

Secondly, sticking to fashion rather than art or documentary photography, was the biggest challenge for me throughout the course. The environment we worked in for those three years was heavily influenced by art and documentary photographers. There wasn't a project (including this one) or a time when I wasn't given at least a faintest hint to drop the fashion style and go for something more like documentary or art project.

But in the end I found it very stimulating as I always had to work my ways through things that are much different from what typical fashion photography is. It also made me very determined and very assured of my interests. What is more, it gave me a different perspective and showed me different ways of working which I hopefully will be able to apply the fashion industry and focus on those elements that bring it closer to an art form and pure creativity.

And that is the quintessence of my project. It is definitely one of those times when it is much more about the journey than about the destination. My project is a summary of everything that these three years meant for me; everything I learnt,everything I experienced and everything my photography became in that time.

BOOK

Book is another element of my exhibition that will be only featured during the London show.

I will put together myself InDesign. It will contain the same images as shown on the wall + some additional photographs.

Book will be on sale.

IDEAS

VIDEO INSTALLATION

This element of my presentation will be featured only during the London show.

I am going to have images projected onto a big piece of bright and very light fabric hanging from the ceiling.

Video will be showing a mixed footage of the models (in the same style as the pictures) and the hipsters.

The whole will be out together with a music made by a Detroit based group called NonSpectacle.

While doing this video I was very much inspired by the work of a visual artist Christopher McNamara.

TEXT

All my images will have numbers and titles. Titles will be taken from the original Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

Numbers will be next to the images and then the titles will be together, below the images, transfered onto the wall.

YES:

NO:

Additionally I am going to have an extra text on the leaflet that will be handed out for people coming to see the exhibition.

PRESENTATION

DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR PLACING THE IMAGES:

FRAMING:

FINAL DECISION:

IMAGE SELECTION + POST PRODUCTION

I shot my project with four different models throughout a week and half. That gave me a lot very different images I could choose my final piece from. That was definitely a great thing to have, however it also led to many different dilemmas and headaches. Selecting the final images and putting them together took me about a week. I also send out very simple compositions of pre-selected images to different people who work with fashion design, graphic design, drawing and photographic and asked for a feedback and their opinion.

When it comes to post production, I got my inspiration from a drawing/painting technique which we used a lot during my drawing classes in Windsor. This technique is called

acrylic transfer

I considered presenting my images in this technique but then I decided to stick to traditional medium but make the most of the fact that all my images are digital.

That's how I decided to work with layers.

Anther thing about layers is that I was able to use of my old images that were taken separately from this project, which I think is quite interesting.

FURTHER INSPIRATIONS; PRE-RAPHAELITE PAINTING

"In 1848, a number of young painters, notably John Everett Millais,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, deploring the

decadent state that British painting had fallen into since Turner's

later days, formed the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood". They were

determined to rebel against academic teaching, and to create a

radically different style of painting, returning to the purity, sincerity

and natural detail found in the painting of the Italian primitives,

untouched by the style and conventions put forward by Raphael

and his imitators.

Like the painters, they too were influenced by the writings of John

Ruskin, the leading theoretician of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

He advocated a return to nature and to craftsmanship, and

championed a very precise, exalted view of medieval Gothic

architecture whose high moral qualities he considered to be under

threat from industrialization."

INSPIRATIONS

While working on this project I will be looking at work of Tom Hunter as a inspiration for the colours and composition (his painting inspired photographs of people living in Hackney).

Jan Saudek and his beautiful colouring as well as the general aesthetic (quite dark and moody, fairy tale – like pictures).

Sally Mann and her recent project “What remains” in which she photographs dead, decomposing bodies;

“Photographer Sally Mann’s project “What Remains,” a collection of photographs documenting themes of death and decomposition, tackles this question head on by showing, amongst other depictions, the beauty of the body’s returning to ground after death. The dissolution of what was previously a living form has throughout history held sinister connotations for many cultures, and particularly those individuals who have little direct experience with death. This project illustrates the naturalness of dying and the beauty of decay.”

Chadwick Tyler and his beautiful way of creating show packages for NY based model agency Supreme, showing his unique relationship with each model individually. Also see Chadwick's project “Tiberius” where he works with fashion models on a series of portraitures, each single one depicting model's real demon.

And finally a Swedish fashion photographer Camilla Akrans and her very spontaneous, delicate and feminine approach to fashion editorial.

MODELS

DAISY

AT MILKMODELS:

GEORGIA

AT MILKMODELS:

LORNA

AT MILKMODELS:

LOCATION + EQUIPMENT

RICHMOND PARK:

EQUIPMENT:

STYLING

GARMENTS:

Shoot outline

OUTLINE:

This project will be delivered in a form of a fashion editorial and presented as a series of prints accompanied by a video installation.

The idea standing behind this project is based on the social phenomenon of hipsters (especially hipster feminine).

By hipster I mean a person that belongs to a (anti)subculture that can be defined by a certain play of surfaces/ a game of outward signification (“I now it when I see it”); the same way of dressing, and the same way of expressing opinions and interests that are the same as well (talking/blogging about art and culture but not active participating or contributing to it – an artist can't be called a hipster).

“If subculture have always known snobs, and collectors, and connoisseurs, the character of the hipster's claim to knowledge may be somehow different; superior, dominant knowledge -functioning as self-assertion or as compensation- possessed before anyone else. “

By hipster feminine I mean a female hipster that can be described not only by the play of surfaces (“if hipsters were fashion victims, then all women were hipsters, and therefore none were”) but mainly by the presentation of that outer signification and the media she chooses for that self-presentation;

“At the height of her fame, authenticity, desirability, specificity, inventiveness -her roundness as a character – the female hipster existed in front of the camera, photogenic and photographed; and so it was here through the lens, that the hipster feminine came into definition. She may have remained a muse and a subject, flattened and available for exploitation. But if so, she was a muse for herself, and for other women. “

The shoot will be based on location (river bank, forest, marshes) , possibly Richmond Park or Epping Forest in London. The reason for that is that model agency I am going to work with is based in London.

The idea for the shoot is inspired by hipsters and spreading lack of authenticity and uniformity of tastes and trends (especially those within fashion-photography-) that follow after them. But the final outcome is supposed to work as a kind of manifesto AGAINST this phenomenon. I want to bring the whole form back to basics, “attach roots” to it, strip it down from the pretentiousness and uniformity and fill up the empty form with content.

The hair, make up and the styling will be brought to minimum as the idea is to present the girls as hipster feminine condemned by nature, stripped down from the pretentiousness and brought back to the basics of who they really are as individuals (as opposite to the uniform mass of the hipsters).

Because there will be so very few elements of the wardrobe required, a lot of emphasis will be put on a very skilful styling and me working with each one of the models individually.

My biggest challenge in this project is taking care of the right composition, art direction and editing (selecting pictures as well as the post processing them; colours and light).

I want the final outcome to look very natural (in terms of poses), almost spontaneous. Colours are going to be pastel but quite dark (with some stronger accents of yellow, red and green in order to give them this painting-like feel).

Light is going to be quite contrasty but softened by a haze (maybe even natural if shooting early hours at the marshes).

DIFFERENT WAYS OF WORKING WITH FASHION

Another thing that, I think, definitely influenced me while working on this project is two different ways of working with fashion. I was, again, very lucky to be able to see two completely different ways of crating fashion images.

One of them is more traditional one; this is when a photographer gets signed up with a photographic agency that takes care of promotion, portfolio and getting contracts with very very big clients. The shoot usually happens with a lot of people involved and a massive budget. This kind of work is usually for big campaigns, editorials or look books. Thats the way things are being done in the studio I worked for during my internship.

This kind of job is very prestigious and must be really satisfying as well. Not only you are getting paid a lot of money, you also get to travel and you get to work with the biggest names in the industry.

On the other hand it is very stressful and very often the creative part belongs more to the art directors than to the photographer itself. There is a lot of DIFFERENT people you have to deal with and what's worse, work according to what they want even if they dont have a clue.

Another way of working, within fashion is to stay more independent but potentially less busy and maybe even money less. And what is the worst, luck of talent can't be covered up with anything. ANYTHING. Talent and the ideas are the only thing that can attract the clients. You dont have a n army of assistants and famous stylists standing behind you so all you can rely on is your photography.

Working this way allows more freedom. Work has it's own character and stays true to to what it was supposed to be. But not everyone can make it this way.

Being able to experience both things (not as a photographer, as an observer) I started questioning my future plans and ideas of what fashion industry really is. I started rebelling against things being so harsh whichever way you go, I find an impossible situation, the fact that you simply cannot balance these options.

An element of that dilemma and rebelling will be also a part of my final work.

READING:

Geoff Colvin, Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, Portfolio (May 2010)

VANCOUVER ISLAND

My final destination during my travels in North America was Vancouver Island. Decision about going there and spending a few days in a charming cabin by the ocean, not too far away from a little town called Sooke, was made very spontaneusly. I was very lucky to get an invitation to that little echosystem from a friend of a friend, whom I met earlier on in mentioned already Montreal. It is actually very interesting how and where we met and how my stay on the island changed the context of it completely. I first met Mimi in Montreal, she is a student there. She does writing and she is into fashion. She is very creative and arty looking. And even though she DOES HAVE A CLUE, and she hates pretenciousness just as any reasonable person does, my feelings about the whole situation were very mixed. Until I saw and experienced the environment she comes from . . . That makes the whole lot of difference, all of the sudden all the reactions and opinions and the whole mannerism, all of it is justified. Just normal, the only possible. But Mimi, her house and the whole place is special. Almost impossible to imagine. Everything there is just very natural, very organic, simple and very sophisticated. Dripping with creativeness and beauty. Those people turned their lifes into a piece of art and they didnt need blogs or any kind of approval to do so.

The whole thing started with Mimi's mum generation. people from all kind of places who migrated there in the 70's and decided to do things their own way. Now a lot of things changed. The infrastructure of the place itself changes as Vancouver Island becomes an expensive alternative for people living in Vancouver. But they still keep their communities and their ideals. And even though their children move to cities and experience more "polluted" version of things, they still know who they are. And that's what I found amazing about the people and the place. After experiencing that it almost feels like sticking to nature is the only way to stay true . . .

BEAT GENERATION AND THE 70.

Soon after I got interested in hipsters and their impact on modern art/media, a film dedicated to Alan Ginsberg and the rest of the Beat Generation was released. "Howl", as well as the exhibition (showing hipsters of the 70. in photographs) I saw a few months later, back in London (Hipster Angleheaded at National Theatre), made me want to learn more about the history of this phenomenon. After a little bit of research I learnt that hipsters have been around for much longer than I thought. The first time this term was used in 1950's and even though it refered to a completely different group of people than today, certain elements definitely stay the same. And that what makes the subject even more interesting. Knowing the genesis of hipsterism is also very useful when it comes to investigating it and describing it.

Another thing that I learnt while researching all those different periods and the trends is a very heavy presence of the 70's in the most recent fashion collections (Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Sonia Rykiel . . . ). It seems like it's not only "the streets" and art galleries that turned their eyes on the period that belonged to the Beat generation.

Montreal

Another destination during my stay in Canada was Montreal. Magical place I always wanted to see. People say that Montreal is the most European city in Canada and that is the main reason why everyone wants to go there. To me Montreal was very interesting historically and culturally but in it's on way. I could see why it seems "so European" to everyone but to me it was something different, something I haven't seen before. People speak fluently and without accent in both: English and French, everyone seems very open minded and knowing how to leave their lives fully and happily, something that has been forgotten in places like London for example. To me Montreal was also about my friends, beautiful and very spacey apartments, bagels, Leonard Cohen and . . . hipsters. It was really shocking to see that the trend travelled that far and has affected a place thats been always known to be very protective over it's own authenticity and special character. Exactly the same styles, opinions and interests as wherever else. The more simmilar the better. Very specific about things that are cool and the ones that aren't. Os so unpractical and radicolous. Omnipresent and just off putting. All of them involved SOMEHOW with photography . . .

p.s. only later on I found out that VICE MAGAZINE has been created in Montreal.

DETROIT

Another very important stop on my journey was the exchange I did in Canada. I spent the first four months of my final year in Windsor, small town in Ontario, right on the Canadian border withStates, just across the river from Detroit.

It was a very interesting experience; I met lots of different people, I traveled across Canada and America and I was also able to study subjects that were completely new to me, like for example drawing.
It was during my exchange when I first visited Detroit and met my family that lives over there.





I was really pleased to be there and see how the place is like with my own eyes, instead of being completely reliable on the rumors. It was a very interesting time, even more so as members of my family are artists themselves and were able to show me around and help me understand the city and it's people better. During my trips to Detroit surprisingly I met a lot of foreigners, especially people from England, Sweden, Netherlands and Germany. Some of the came to Detroit for the same reason as me - curious to see what's the real face of this place. However, there were many of them looking for a cheap sensation and ways in which the city could be exploited. It seems like Detroit is just before a big explosion of trendy people flooding the place, taking over it's characteristics and covering it up with a little bit of New York, a little bit of London, a little bit of Berlin, a little bit of EVERYTHING IS THE SAME.



why? why ? why? is it that industrial feel that characterizes all those locations? is it the fact that those places start off cheap and empty as if they were waiting for something to come and over take it?

maybe.

Whatever it is, it's good I made it on time. I am lucky to see that raw and true version of Detroit. I am even more lucky to see it seconds before things dramatically change.

READING:

1. The Origins of the Urban Crisis - Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue, Princeton University Press; Revised edition (August 1, 2005)

2. Devils Night: And other tales of Detroit by Zev Chafets, Vintage (October 1, 1991)

3. Detroit Lives (Conflicts in Urban and Regional Development) by Robert H. Mast, Temple University Press (October 20, 1994)

4. KICK OUT THE JAMS:DETROIT'S CASS CORRIDOR 1963-1977: the Detroit Institute of Arts, July 13-September 14, The Institute (1980)

Berlin

Another part of this whole journey through authenticity and lack of it is me re-discovering Berlin. Re-discovering simply because I grew up just round the corner from Berlin (my hometown - Szczecin - is about 2 hours drive away from the German capitol). I always thought I knew Berlin quite well. For me, and for most of the people in my hometown, it was just an extension of what we already had and knew way too well.



Grey, concrete and heavily influenced by war and comunism, Berlin is just a bit bigger version of my hometown. Exciting, as exciting as can be for a capitol. I was always quite skeptical about the place (probably we just had too many fieldtrips over there).
All of the sudden Berlin became a cultural capitol and the most trendy destination possible. It definitely took me quite a lot of re-discovering.
I guess again; Berlin seems to be a cheaper and less crowded substitute for London. With it's very industrial landscape, Londoners treat Berlin almost as their home, or at least a more affordable version of it.
So now the phenomenon that I first discovered in London and started properly understanding in New York, arrived also to Berlin

.

I will be really interested to see how the city progresses oer the years and how does that change Berlin's economic situation aa well the atmosphere of the place.