Written Evaluation

For Styling Identity I chose to create a 1950’s pin-up and fetish shoot, inspired by the photography and art of John Willie and Irving Klaw. Focusing in on the girls fighting and roles of dominance and submission that are popular in both their works. I feel that my final images relate well to the references, looking not just at the materials and styles, like latex and nightgowns, but also at specific poses, as shown below. Many of the 35mm photos are visually very similar, the ones with movement and exaggerated facial expressions are more successful than the static ones. I wanted to feature more variety in my magazine spread and included two of the more static images, which might not have been as effective as including more of the action shots. However, they added to the storyline and themes of the photos. A regret in this shoot was not checking if the flash was on, as the tungsten lights created very yellow toned images that I could not use.

                      John Willie’s Bizarre, Holly Anna Faram, 1940’s

I initially thought I would use black and white Polaroid for my final images, however I shot on colour 35mm with flash alongside this, and felt the bold contrast in colours made a more interesting photo. In retrospect I could have carried these concepts on to a further shoot, taking the imagery further. As the Polaroids fit the homemade vintage smut magazines I researched, I decided I still wanted to feature them in my magazine spread. Taking inspiration from a previous King Kong spread (below) I layered the Polaroid scans together onto one page. Though the format is different to my other pages, I tied the colour scheme together with the green of the walls.

Omar Macchiavelli, SS 16

For the layout of my landscape 35mm images I lay them out together, fitting more photos onto the page. I wish I could have included more of them in the spread. I added a 5mm rounded curve on all the corners, as well as a black border (before adding a black background), as this was popular within magazines I have researched.

Playboy, April 1976

 

Final Magazine Layout

King Kong Magazine

King Kong magazine was launched in Spring 2016 by former architect Mikel Benhaim and Ali Kepenek. The London and Berlin based biannual publication pushes the boundaries of what art and fashion can be, showcasing underground and emerging talent. Each issue revolves loosely on a theme, for example most recently ‘migration’ .

Mikel takes an unconventional, anarchistic approach to layout, a post-internet aesthetic, often layering images on top of one another. Regularly featuring cutting edge musicians such as The Garden and Billie Eilish there are often segments of interviews and quotes alongside the images, even layered on top in a contrasting colour. Not afraid to shy away from handwritten and a diy aesthetic no space is left blank, a contrast from the large white borders of publications like Dazed. Some images fill entire pages, or double page spreads, leaving no border and giving emphasis and more detail to important images.  Handwritten notes and doodles appear scribbled on top of images, but they’re not afraid to dedicate whole pages to these text elements.

King Kong features a wide variety of people and minorities that might not be featured in other magazines, for example in the most recent issue they include Turkish trans sex workers, the intersection of Nigerian culture with westernisation, pregnant women, and a lot of androgyny.

 

Shoot One – Polaroids

The aim of this test shoot was to see what would work compositionally, taking inspiration from 1950’s pin up, catfights, and elements of fetish. I initially thought I would use Polaroid for my final set of images, as they would look authentic to the medium format with flash photos I took inspiration from, however I shot 35mm colour alongside this, and found that more successful overall. But the contrast of the black and white worked well for the clothes against the background, and Polaroid fits thematically with the vintage fetish magazines I have studied.

The more successful Polaroids had the model’s faces in them, as the images are less interesting when they are facing away from the camera, especially as the facial expressions are so exaggerated. The fight photos that featured movement worked better too, as they looked more naturalistic, and less static and posed. The first and last photos in particular I may include in my final spread.

Shoot Two – 35mm

I shot using 35mm for the second part of my shoot. I styled the room with velvet and fur, leaving the wooden floor and fireplace as these added the classic burlesque and pin-up elements. I also styled the models in 1950’s and 60’s nightgowns, a pink lacey light one for the more submissive role, and adding a red latex coat and black gloves for the dominant role, as well as a whip to enhance the role.

I used flash, which was gave the latex coat shine, and brought out the contrast in colours. However it was turned off for a portion of the shoot, giving a yellow tungsten cast from the lighting, which is something I regret, as the concept of the legs under the chair created interesting imagery.

The later shots were more successful as they had movement and were a lot less static, creating more of a narrative and becoming more voyeuristic. The composition of these photos works especially well as the movement of the arm draws the viewer’s eye round towards the head on the right side, lining up with the golden ratio.

I have decided to use one of the last section of ones as a double page spread, the photos with more visible face showing are more visually interesting, especially as the facial expressions are exaggerated.

Scene Design Moodboard

For my set design I took inspiration from the pin-up era, where the majority of photos were taken in a living room setting. More than this I thought about materials to include, for example velvet and fur, as these are associated with seduction and the burlesque side of pin-up.

 

References for Poses

When looking at poses I began by researching pin-up girls, particularly the paintings of Gil Elvgren and Art Frahm. The women in these paintings have an ‘accidental’ eroticism to them, which was very in keeping with the ideas of the innocent and passive housewife. In the example above the woman is positioned to expose her stockings and legs, but is unaware of this, therefore keeping her innocence. In many of his other paintings the reveal comes from a predicament, for example the skirt being trapped in a door, again keeping the woman’s innocence while the viewer ogles her.

The same concept applies to the real-life pin-ups, from the mainstream, the famous actresses, to the fetishistic photographs of the now renowned Bettie Page. A common theme within the work of fetish photographers such as Irving Klaw was the ‘cat fight’, women wrestling on the ground. Though they are fighting, there’s an underlying eroticism, often pulling one another’s clothes off as well as pulling hair, and it’s a show for the male viewer.

Ellen Von Unwerth has taken the theme of submission and domination for ‘The Story of Olga’. With playfulness her photos tell a narrative of fantasy, lavish parties, and debauchery.

When looking at themes of submission I decided to study Allen Jones’ ‘furniture’ series. Controversial even at the time, he turned mannequin-esque figures into parts of furniture. From this point I considered including an element of the human furniture fetish within my photographs.

Styling Moodboard

For the styling element of my project I researched fetish wear from a range of time periods, starting with John Willie’s ‘Bizarre’, a collection of magazines of the 1940’s & 50’s. His illustrations tend to focus on costumes and roles, for example the dominant teacher and the submissive student, as shown above. Themes of punishment and domination run throughout his work, however the sexuality of the scenes is not overt, and it lies in the clothing and situations. His photography, including work of renowned pin-up model Bettie Page, focuses on fantasies of the dominant and submissive woman. Both are consistently portrayed in uncomfortably high heeled shoes and boots, opera gloves, stockings, tight skirts (of all lengths), and lingerie. Leather was the material of choice for all these garments, specifically kid leather, as it is restrictive but thinner than traditional leather.

John Sutcliffe’s AtomAge magazine (running between 1965 and 1980) began as a showcase for the waterproof bodysuits he had created for women motorcycle riders, with a focus more on PVC and rubber than leather, eventually moving to latex, after discovering a technique to bond pieces together. His silhouettes tended to be bodysuits with high boots or full catsuits, both popular at the time in mainstream wear. Some of his later designs featured hoods and masks, bordering on a modern gimp suit. Many of the suits contained cut-outs, belts, and very structured elements, tailoring to the female body.

I also looked at modern photographers who use these materials, for example Latex Lucifer, who photographs latex with hard flash to create shine and texture, and Nedda Afsari, who photographs her friends wearing bondage wear, playing with the textures and visuals that create a story. Both these photographs also introduce colour into their materials, something not done in the older examples.