statement

The fashion photograph tends to emphasize extremes. Whether this means to effectively communicate a cultural trend to the masses, or to draw the viewers’ attention to the product being sold, this is a discernible pattern throughout the genre. The two extremes illustrated in this series are the civilized versus the barbaric. The work for this series will showcase two different, and opposing forms of fashion: a clean, well-mannered, and sophisticated kind, and an edgy, rude, and unrefined kind.

Optimally, the viewer will respond to the images on a few different levels. As an immediate reaction, the viewer might deem the subjects in one set ‘bad’ and those in the other ‘good’. Secondly, they may question their ideas of what it means to be respectable or uncultured. Finally, this series demonstrates our contemporary cultures ideas of ‘civilized’ and ‘barbaric’ to the people who look at this work.

The process is important in conveying the concept. Shooting in black and white suggests a lack of ‘middle ground’, furthering the idea of polarity or extremes. The use of the same models for the ‘civilized’ and the ‘barbaric’ shoot will help the viewer to focus on the subjects apparel and demeanor, as will the uniform background and identical orientation of the camera to the figure. The pose and wardrobe will generally be left up to the model, as they will be communicating their ideas of what is fringe and what is demure, to allow for a more open cultural perspective on the subject.