Collecting Ideas

The focus for this critical essay has changed a few times when trying to find a practitioner with a substantial amount critical debate about.

At first i looked at Tim Walker, as his style of work is very creative and fantasy themed which is what I'm most interested in. As previously shown in my research, i looked at an image taken from his photo book series Storyteller. The image had the right elements in terms of lighting, styling and location but it didn't fit in with the theme i have chosen for major project. 

For my major project i have chosen to base it on Witchcraft. I have always had a great interest in witches and the way they were convicted and tested and i want to create my own fictional story with elements of history and tales of witchcraft around the 1500/1600's. 

I then looked at fine art photographer, Alex Stoddard. He created a series called, Tiny Fluttering Wings, which is a fantasy piece taking elements of witches and the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. I love the piece as it is beautifully shot, the composition of the images are eye catching and the colour palette is moody yet hazy. With the bold colour of red in the costume, it symbolises danger to me, creating a sense of fear and suspense. Because i am already familiar with the fairytale story it draws inspiration from, I'm already in a sense of understanding the semiotics within the series. I think this works out well in his favour because his reimagined version is new and combines old stories together, making it exciting to see if it is different and has originality. This series worked perfectly with my chosen theme. Alongside the photographic project, Stoddard collaborated with cinematographer, Devin Schiro. They created a short art film, like an introductory piece to the images. This was an amazing discovery because for my final major project i want to create a picture series with a short introduction video. However, Stoddard doesn't have a critical amount of debate about his work, as he is still up and coming in the photographic world. I was able to find out primary information from both Stoddard and Schiro but there was not any critical debate other then student blog posts. 

After coming to a bit of a holt with what direction i should take, i started looking at some inspiration i had collected for my major project research. One in particular was an image taken for W Magazine's 2012 issue, Spellbound photographed by fashion photographer Steven Meisel.  I started looking at what the potential meaning behind the image was and if there was any debate on it but no results showed. Meisel is renowned for not talking about his work so i started looking at alternative routes. I found out who the set designer was on the shoot and emailed her in the hope she would tell me more about the series. She got back to me and told me more about the inspiration behind the piece and so in response to this new primary information, i decided to find something else to be the main focus of the essay and use this image as a comparison, relevant to the argument I'm trying to make. 

I then continued my search, looking at fashion photographers who use witchcraft as their theme. I came across an article online about fashion designer, Alexander Mcqueen, who created a set in fall/winter 2007 entitled, In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem 1692. What i found really interesting about this media platform of portraying witchcraft was it was all about the costume and the runway set up to captivate the audience. The runway was in the shape of a pentagram, where the girls walked in the lines showcasing his . Above in a three dimensional triangle, playing a surreal video of three girls with eery music playing causing a sense of suspense and power. Again, like the Meisel image, i wanted to use this as another argument point on a different media platform that uses witchcraft as its theme. I wanted to include this as how fashion portrays witchcraft and what kind of reaction this form of media receives from the audience. 

From looking at the Mcqueen research, it led me in the direction of fashion photographer Nick Knight. In a great turn of events, i discovered that Knight has created a witch themed mini series called Aquellarre. This really sparked my attention as Knight has a substantial amount of information about himself as a practitioner and this project is shown on his website, SHOWstudio which tells me all about the project: inspiration, collaborators, location, the client and where it has been showcased. This is a really interesting piece to focus my essay on because it has a lot of depth to talk about and i have similar work to argue the ways in which paganism and witchcraft is portrayed in fashion lens based media platforms. 

Inspiration - Tim Walker

Tim Walker - 'Alice Gibb in spiders web, Englingham Hall, Northumberland, 2008'.

This image comes from British fashion photographer, Tim Walker from his published book, 'Story teller, 2012'. This image was chosen because it relates to the chosen theme i want to create for 3409 based on the theme of 'witches'. The dark beauty look of the image inspires me for its use of lighting, styling and location.

"As a photographer, I work on a scale. It is as if there is a sort of bell and some pictures will ring that bell louder than others. I think all the pictures in the Story Teller exhibition are pictures that have always instinctively been valuable to me for one reason or another. They really hit something personally for me. If someone else was going to curate a show of pictures I’ve taken in the last five years they might not choose these – but, for me, this is it." - Tim Walker, on his work 'Storyteller'.

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I notice that: 

- The lighting is used to create a misty effect, making the image feel 'moody' and 'haunting'. 

- Her expression is calm and confident, like she has created the web like a black widow spider, representation 

- Mysterious and dark beauty-esque, leaves the viewers imagination to create a story

That suggests to me:

- To create this image, location, costume, styling and props were carefully considered to give it the right look; to show the fashion, creative set up and imaginative theme. 

- Combining the 'horror', 'haunted' feel with 'dark beauty', brings fear and beauty together, making the image very interesting to look at

I see it that way because:

- It is the type of photography i really enjoy to look at and practice, it combines the elements of imaginative themes and dark beauty that is the area i find the most interesting

- It creates a 'magical' and 'mystical' feel of make believe, whilst combining real objects in an unusual situation, over exaggerated and a big, extravagant idea. 

- Adding autumn colours to the image, breaking up the blacks creates a 'halloween-esque' 'witchy' essence, which is why i chose the image because it has similar style and has added inspiration for the choice of theme for my final major project. 

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Working with a partner - Katherine Bramall -Getting another persons opinion on the image

Kat noticed that:

- The image is 'dark and eerie' yet delicate. Reminds her of a ballerina, the way her hands and feet are positioned. 

- Comparison to the film 'Coraline' of the character 'the other mother', not afraid of her surroundings, like it is her creation and in control 

- Compared to styling of the renaissance period, 'old fashioned' historically beautiful 

This suggests to Kat: 

- That the image has a 'twisted' style, horror-esque
- It makes her feel calming yet unnerving, with its haunted style but the models expression and body language makes her look in control
- We agreed this made the model look like a black widow spider because of her confident and calm posture, luring in the viewer

Kat sees it this way because:
- The lighting; first thing she noticed was how the web stood out as the lights were positioned on either side of the model draping through the web and creating a mystified effect over her. 
- The colours were eye catching even though they were 'drained' and dull, from her hair and tights. this breaks up the dark shades in the image and makes the fashion 'pop'.

Image research - Alex Stoddard

Alex Stoddard 'Tiny fluttering wings, 2014'

This image comes from American fine art photographer, Alex Stoddard and taken from the series 'Tiny fluttering wings', 2014. I chose this image because i thought it fit so well around my chosen theme of witches. I found this image a while ago on Pinterest, but only recently discovered it was created by Stoddard, leading me to view the series and other projects he has created. His style and themes are creative and eye catching, very inspirational to the type of portrait photography i want to develop for my final project. 

I have selected this image out of the series because it reminds me of the film 'Hocus Pocus', where three witches lure in young children with a song, so they can breathe in their youth and make them young again. This is one of the myths associated with witches, which is fantasised in some horror films themed around them. I find the image allows your imagination to create a story and ask questions about what might happen next, or how did the young girl slip into the unseen woman's clutches? 

I really like the mystery element of the image, by not seeing the woman's face, the viewer is left to wonder what she might look like? Her hands are wrinkled and nails over grown, gives the illusion that she is 'creepy' and has a sinister motive. The gentle, cradling position of her hands speaks to me that she is possessive of the girl, by making her believe she is in 'safe hands' and not to be alarmed by her appearance. This to me makes the image seem both 'dreamy' and 'scary', showing how she has allowed the woman to control her and put her in a place of security, so that what may come next, she won't scream of show any fear, but simply fade away. 

The lighting, costume and over all styling of the image has been carefully considered to achieve the 'horror-esque' look. The old victorian style dress the young girl is wearing sets a time period for the viewer. I think that by the styling of the image, it sets more of an emotional connection with the audience. In my opinion, when things are styled in old fashioned times, it makes me think of how people didn't see the dangers in life as much as we do today. However, when they did sense that something was out of the ordinary or strange, the reaction and punishment was far worse and potentially fatal. 

I think his conceptual theme creates a surreal feel to the image, making it stand out in a league of its own and capture my attention whilst inspiring me on how to get the right look i am trying to achieve in my own project. 

As well as my own interpretation of the image, i did some research on other people who has analysed it and see what they think about it. I came across a blogger, 'spec3photographytenillea' - Tumblr blog, who has a very interesting view on what he thinks about the series. 
"These photos seem to me like they could be stills from a movie and I really love that movie-like quality. Some of them are scary, moody, beautiful; I get lots of feelings from these photographs. I also like the quality of the blacks and the sharpness of his images. On the other hand, I also like the blurrier photographs because I think they feel very dream-like so they are a nice contrast to the more realistic, movie-like photos." 
"Stoddard also creates stories with his photographs, which I enjoyed looking at for my own project. My favourite is ‘Tiny Fluttering Wings’, I love it because it’s creepy and unsettling; the woman in this story reminds me of the movie 'The Woman In Black’ and I loved that movie for the same reasons." 

I thought that the comparison to the 'woman in black' was really accurate, i didn't think of it before because i was stuck in the 'witch' theme. The woman in black used to steal children away because her son was taken away from her in life, so she came back to haunt the place that she cursed and if any one was to see her, a child would die. I think thats a similar idea with witches stealing the youth of children, taking souls for personal gain. I agree with his thoughts on his images looking like movie stills also, thats a great thing i noticed Stoddard does, creating a story with his images and opening up the imagination, so a film could easily be made from his concepts. 

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Whilst researching into the project to see if i could find any information about Stoddards reason for creating this project and chosen theme, i came across a collaboration with cinematographer, Devin Schiro, who has made a short film on these images. I thought this was a great discovery as it is exactly how i want to portray my final images, by making a short promotional video piece as an introduction into the story sequence of the images. 

https://vimeo.com/97131240 "Tiny Fluttering Wings - An incomplete fairytale". 

Above are screen caps taken from the short film, 'Tiny fluttering wings', directed by Alex stoddard and cinematography by Devin Schiro. Whilst watching this short piece, a whole new meaning behind the images has been revealed. As it begins, we can see a girl walking happily through a corn field, holding a basket. Now, instead of thinking about witches like i originally did looking at the images alone, its apparent that elements from the fairytale story, 'Little red riding hood' has been reimagined and a whole new story has been created from it. The red dress symbolising the red hooded cloak, semiotics suggesting the colour red means danger. As she continues her journey, you can see she has sensed a feeling of being watched, as she slowly enters the forest. When she is deep in the woods she notices an illuminated area, where she wonders over. At this point we are introduced to another character, a wrinkled hand comes from behind a tree and we can see the scary face of woman, lurking in the shadows as she spots the young girl. The young girl notices the woman, and frozen she drops her basket. The woman comes over and touches the girls face and the shots become blurry and drained of colour suggesting she is taking the young girls youth, going back to my first theory. 

What i find most interesting about this video piece, is how Stoddard has mixed certain fairytale and folk-tale stories and combined them to create a new one. The sound in the piece is really engaging, as it grows more eerie as she gets deeper in the woods and closer to the witch like woman. I like the use of whispering voices as the woman touches her face and blurs out of focus, allowing the viewer to imagine what is happening without being physically told to us. 
The use of lighting as well, going from light to dark lets the audience know straight away that something sinister is around the corner as the music grows more intense as she walks into the darkness. All the elements of the piece, make it engaging and exciting, a reaction i hope to achieve with my final piece. I love the intensity of the sounds and whispers, as in my piece, i don't want any narration either, leaving it up to the viewer to create their own story before learning what its all about.