Day 96: Fashion Sketches

Taking inspiration from the locations, oskar schlemmer and the original barbie fashion I have produced a range of skecthes exploring initial ideas for costumes for the modern day Bauhaus Barbie.

Based on the location of a field of daffodils.

Based on a boat yard.

Based on the original swimsuit for Barbie and shapes of Oskar Schlemmer.

The sketches are only initial ideas but I am cautious as to the limited time I have, so whilst designing I am also considering the materials as to which can be easily sourced and made into a fashion statement. I find these designs striking but yet at the same time a theme of barbie dress up is occurring, maybe due to the model I have sketched on!

I hope to be able to showcase the costumes aswell but for me personally, my focus is on the photographs and the impact they will have when all the factors come together.

Day 95: Research Tremough

As I am using friends as models, in my past experience I have had to give them alot of direction as to what pose or what mood I want in the photos. This can become an issue as I want to keep the photos as high end fashion and I am restricted in my knowledge of modelling. To overcome this problem I have found Vogue Book of Fashion Photography by Polly Devlin not only helps with inspiration for the models but also for compositions within shooting.

To continue my experimentation I took photographs of a plastic Barbie in an interesting way. By removing the colour from two photographs changes the mood of the picture, it takes away from the barbie and is represented in a different light. The colour on the other hand expresses the vibrant blonde, tanned skin and bright blue eyes of Barbie. Relating this to a photoshoot is subjective, depending on the location, the costume and the model, I have found once I have taken the photographs I will need to allow for a long editing stage as I manipulate each photograph individually. Whilst they are a series of photographs which are all linked, I do not plan on editing all the same way.

As a further experimentation I decided to edit my face onto the body of a barbie. This was to highlight the lack of realism withing the figure, joints and pose of the doll. It has sparked an idea into how alot of girls wanted to be barbie and wished she could try on barbies clothes. I would love for viewers at the exhibition to live the dream and try on the costumes I made but that is unrealistic due to worry of damaging the costume. It is an idea to further explore.

Day 94: Photography Taster Week

Contact Sheets

 Below are the developed contact sheets from the film camera the other day. I find the raw quality of the photos beautiful because when using a digital I usually sort them straight away and start editing instead of really looking at them as a set of work. From the contact sheets you can not only tell the right amount of exposure but also which pictures u later want to develop. The negatives I found were just the length of the process it takes to develop. If i could change anything I would use a colour film due to the fact that I believe using black and white is an easy and quick way of making photographs look 'artistic'. Each photo should be considered individually and manipulated to what fits the picture best, whether it be colour or black and white.

Above is the initial test to work out how long to expose the light sensitive paper.

Day 94: Photography Taster Week

Pin Hole Photography

The process was sow te first time making the camera from a beer can but if I were to repeat it would take alot less time. I found this task a real struggle as to be operating the beer can as a manual camera was hand full, without even considering the time which you expose the paper to. I had never thought about the process within a camera before so it was interesting to see a photo at ever stage. 

After 4 attempts I finally produced a photograph which had some areas of light and shade.

Below are the photos which were produced from the pin hole camera. I find the distortion really obscure and interesting but the lack of detail takes away from the picture. On the other hand I am sure the detail could be achieved after mastering the technique with pinhole cameras.

I later scanned them into Photoshop, inverted them and boosted the contrast. This brought out alot more of the detail and turned out to be really intriguing. I feel I could easily do this again as I really enjoyed it and liked the end result. I am not sure as to how this would work within fashion though.

Day 93: Photography Taster Week

The first day has included using a film camera for the first time and using a 4 by 5 camera.

I have only ever used a digital camera so to be able to spend the day using a film camera was very exciting. I found it very tricky getting used to setting the various shutter speed and aperture, as once taken you cannot review the photo and make adjustments. The main positive I found was that I was cautious as to what to shoot, with only 35 pictures on a film, and two films I did not want to waste film. Whereas on a digital I would take a picture of anything, the film made me really consider each photo and composition before.

Below is the photo I took from the 4 by 5 camera and processed it in the dark room. The first one went wrong as without realising I had already exposed the light sensitive paper to light whilst it had film lying on top. When it came to then projecting the 4 by 5 image it was projected on top. Whilst it went wrong, I like how it gives the image a different and unusual look.

Below is the final 4 by 5 image. It was really interesting learning how to use a camera of that size and all about the process of how the camera works.

Whilst it was great to learn, I dont think I would be rushing back to use it again! Whilst it does give the photograph a different look and a more interesting process, it takes alot longer time to take and process than digital.

Day 92: Barbie withing London Fashion Week

I have finished editing my photographs which I took during London Fashion Week as inspiration for Part 3. I wanted to incorporate this event into my project as it is such a renowned event in the Fashion industry. 

Day 91: Initial ideas

I explored initial ideas for a Bauhaus Barbie photoshoot and found that this title gives me the space to really explore my creativity.
I found it hard to sketch ideas with only books as inspiration, so the next step would be to find locations for shoots, use the location, barbie and bauhaus inspiration to design costumes and then work on the composition of shots.
By taking on all the roles in a photoshoot the result should be as I wanted, with my direction and inspiration all linked between fields.
Whilst only in the initial stages of designing costumes and finding locations, I decided to use the barbie books and start experimenting with make up and photoshop. From the pictures below I have discovered that these are the stereotypical barbie doll look and whilst barbies have changed over the last 50 years, the basics, like make up, has stayed the same. This leads me to an important decision, to represent a modern Bauhaus Barbie do I change and reinvent the make up? or continue it in the style of Barbie.

I started by using photoshop, smart blur, contrast and colour to edit the initial photo.  The effect I found worked best was the smart blur which gave my skin a flawless, plastic effect.

Next I used liquify to enlarge and narrow certain areas of the face. By widening the eyes the image becomes less realistic, this leads me to what technique I want to use, whether to edit the entire face to make it look as doll like as possible or keep it more realistic. I wanted to see if the liquify effect would work on another picture, on the right hand side is my second attempt and shows how experimentation can go horribly wrong! The mdoels face has been over liquified and now looks deformed. I can prevent this in the future by only editing afew areas before it starts to manipulate the face too much.

Day 90: Student Council and Library

As student council representative for Foundation I attended the meeting earlier today. These meetings are a great opportunity to hear about university news and to report any issues.
After spending the afternoon in Woodlane Library I had found three interesting books. Two on the history of Barbie and the other based on costumes within the Bauhaus, including Oskar Schlemmer.
The Barbie books have opened my eyes into how the branded doll came about and how its success has been from representing the modern day women.  
"Every girl wants to be Barbie, she always had something I wanted, from her hair to her clothes"

Day 89: Tutorial

I used my tutorial to day to pitch my ideas to my tutor. I have the freedom in part 3 to create whatever I wish but I must make sure I fill all the criteria and my tutor can advise what I need to work on. After discussing my ideas, we agreed that the strongest to develop is Bauhaus Barbie.

Day 88: PART 3

My success in fashion shoots from part 2 has shown me how many ways in which photography plays a vital role in the fashion world. For part 3 I plan on using my strongest areas from part 2, playin all roles in fashion shoots, from photographer to stylist to designer. I lacked contextual development in part 2 so plan on backing all designs and inspiration with contextual reasoning.
When brainstorming ideas for part 3 I found that I cared more about the end result, the presentation and the exhibition set up as I do not want my picture simply hanging on a wall, it has been done before and I plan to find a creative way to show my work. I not only want end photographs but also a range of work displayed to support them.
My initial ideas have been inspired by the areas I find most intriguing in Fashion.
One idea was inspired from pictures I have taken at London Fashion Week for Part 3. Reflecting on the photos I see many tall, skinny and 'perfect' looking women, reminding me of a Barbie. The Barbie Doll has recently celebrated its 50th birthday with a Barbie Fashion Show. Another idea is representing the fashion world, the fast pace and competitive industry.
Both these ideas have their strengths and weaknesses so in the end it came down to the inspiration I have recently found during London Fashion Week and my visit to Berlin and exploring the Bauhaus Costumes which led me to the title for part 3, Bauhaus Barbie.

Part 2 Assessment

Today was my part 2 assessment, looking at my work was my tutor Laurence and Graham. I PASSED! The feedback was positive with ways of improving. When reflecting on my work in part

2 I have noticed the creative leap in my development as I continue to develop my confidence and range of work. My most successful projects have been fashion shoots, as this was my strongest work I am going to continue shoots for Part 3.

 

I will reflect on and evaluate my work throughout the project in the form of an online blog. The blog will not only record my work but serve as analytical reflection on the success of my work. At the end of part 3 I plan on turning my blog into a book format so not only can it be accessed online but also as a hard copy format.