Conclusion/Evaluation

These are my final four photographic compositions that will be presented in the exhibition. I will be handing in the fifth composition at the hand-in date as an extra (looked better to be displayed as a set of four and these were my most successful).

I called this series "Confidence" as a play on words. Young girls think that things like makeup and drinking give them confidence when in fact they can destroy the way they feel about themselves. I will write a small caption to accompany this set in the exhibiton so people understand what it's about. I am hoping to install LED's in the frames or use a light source in the exhibition to give them life. I am still trying to figure this out and it will depend on the space I get if I can do it or not (I will need a way to weave cords or cables out the back of my panel to be plugged in).

Overall, I am really happy with how my idea has developed and the finals I have come up with. I wanted to do something a little different with my photographs and I think that I have achieved this in a way that really relates to the theme. I haven't really done a lot of photography in the past so it was good to learn some new things and come up with something I'm proud of.

Making Up My Photo Boxes

Set 4 of 5 Completed

I got 20 A4 wooden frames (4 per set) made up for me by the technician at CPIT. I decided to paint them all up black as this colour was quite consistent through my designs. I trimmed the edges of each OHT slip and stuck them to one side of the frame with double sided tape. When each frame was made up, I glued them together with wood glue and clamped them together. I have made up 4 of 5 sets. I now just have to take a couple more photos for my last set and toucch up some areas of paint on the frames and I will be done.

Changing My Compositions

I played around with these two compositions until I was happy with it. I like the fact that the compositions between each set are quite different, however there are elements such as the scribbles and the colour relationships that link them together as a cohesive series.

I have decided that I will frame these sets. I drew up a drawing for the technicians at CPIT so they can cut up the wood for me. I will glue them together, paint them and glue the photos in the correct sequence. They may not all be the same size as some have a different number of layers. If I want them to be the same size I might just reprint a couple of the layers so that there is only one photo per OHT instead of several.

Final Sets So Far

Makeup Set:

This set of photos deals with the issue of young kids wearing too much makeup. You can see Taylah putting lipstick on where part of the label reveals the word "wild" which I though was quite appropriate. There is also a photo of a tree that's roots are covered with concrete (representing something natural being covered with something that's not), a makeup palette and a sad looking Taylah. The Cover Girl logo is also included for it's meaning towards makeup. I included a scribbled element which I chose to include in all sets. This holds the photos together, the sets together and also has relevance to the childhood nature of scribbling.

Internet Set:

This set of photos deals with the issues of children using the internet too much. You can see Taylah's hand on a mouse, a keyboard, a spider in a spider web (representing "the net" and the dangers) and again, a sad looking Taylah. In this set, the Second Life logo is shown (which is an internet form of life). This relates to the life that children have on the internet that differs from their usual day to day life.

Body Image Set:

This set deals with the issue of a child's body image and self-esteem. This set is one of my favourite at the moment. You can see Taylah standing on the scales, spoiled fruit (has gone rotten because no one has eaten it), Barbie dolls (representing unrealistic body proportions) and again, a sad looking Taylah. I used the logo Barbie to relate to the child only caring about what they look like.

Where to go from here:

I still have two more sets to make up, one for tween shopping and one for underage drinking (which I still need to take more photos for. Keeping with the set, these two will include the scribbled texture and include a logo and a sad looking Taylah. I have chosen an overall colour for each set so when they are all presented together, they have a colourful, young and girly feel to them. For the other two sets I will make one blue and one green.

I also want to keep working with the sets I have so far. I am really happy with the pink body image set so I probably wont touch that one, but I would like to play around with the arrangement of photos in the other sets (not completely happy with the compositions yet). I also need to work out the best position for the logos as some are becoming a bit lost against the background.

At the moment I am printing out the sets on OHT slips like I intended. I found that if I want to present them in this way, I might have to create a set of five boxes where I can slit the OHT's in at different stages so there is a 3D feel. I would be able to hang these boxes near a natural light source so you could see the images more clearly on the transparent layers. If I don't choose to do this, I might just print the sets off on A4 sheets of photo paper. The thing I am concerned about with this though is that the sets will be seen more as flat collages, something I don't really want. I really like the idea that the images can be seen on different layers, but merge together when they are seen all together when viewed from one position.

Fixing Up Some of My Photos

Original Photo

Cleaned Up Photo

Final Photo

To fix up this photo I erased her earring, gave her white tips on her nails and adjusted the brightness and contrast. In the end I decided to make this photo black and white. Taylah in a sad/depressed manner will be represented in black and white on each set of photos but in different positions.

Original Photo

Cleaned Up Photo

Final Photo

To fix up this photo I shot a picture of my bathroom floor and cut out Taylahs legs standing on the scales to place on the layer on top. I decided to make this photo purple/pink to go with my colour scheme of the body image set.

Original Photo

Cleaned Up Photo

Final Photo

To clean up this photo I adjusted the brightness and contrast and gave Taylah white tips on her nails. I also fixed up areas on her skin and jersey. I gave this photo a green/blue tint to go with the colour scheme of my internet over-usage set.

Original Photo

Cleaned Up Photo

Final Photo

To fix up this photo I adjusted the colour and contrast. For my final photograph, I actually ended up making this black and white. Spoiled fruit is represented as part of the body image set.

Original Photo

Cleaned Up Photo

Final Photo

To fix up this image I cleaned up the background and the brightness and contrast. For the final photo I gave it a pink tinge to go with the body image set.

Logos

This logo is a brand of beer. I thought it might be good to use with the underage drinking photomontage as it suggests girls being dumb for choosing to drink at such a young age.

This is a screen shot of a webpage from the Cotton On website. For this logo I have the choice of using either the Cotton On logotype or the Cotton On Kids logotype. The name of this logo gives the idea that kids are catching on to consumerism, materialism or just the way of the world. For all the logos I choose to use, i want them to have an underlying meaning that relates to my theme. 

Here I have two logos that I could possibly use. Second Life is an online world where people can create their own avatars to represent them as how they want to be seen by others, not necessarily what they look or act like in real life. This relates to the internet over-usage idea and also relates to the theme by saying that kids can have a "second life" on the internet. iMac also really relates because it is like saying you are what you eat.

This logo is for a makeup brand. I like the name of this logo because it relates to my theme by suggesting that makeup is just a cover up for who you really are.

This Barbie logo relates to the unrealistic body proportions that are Barbie Dolls. The term "Barbie" is also seen as a derogatory term for people that are too into themselves or that dress or look "fake."

I would like these logos to feature in some way throughout my photographic montages. Besides their underlying meanings they also have a direct link to consumerism and advertising which is one of the major factors of the issue of young girls growing up too fast.

Ideas for My New Set of Photos

As I have totally changed my idea for this assignment, I need to change my ideas and get them down before I start taking more photos. Here are the ideas I have so far:

Overall Concept:

From my research on this topic in Graphics, I have found that there are several key factors that cause young girls to grow up so fast these days. These include the media, advertising, TV and movies, parenting and idols. In turn, these factors have reactions such as teenage pregnancy, anorexia, obesity, violence, text/cyber bullying, drinking, smoking, taking drugs, premature sexuality, anxiety and depression. I would like to deal with several of these issues in a photographic manner, dealing with what the child is doing, what has caused them to do this (this could just be an object that shows what they are doing) and perhaps a metaphorical image that represents it. It would also be quite cool to include brand names or logos that represent each issue and also consumerism.

Putting it Together/Presentation:

I want to use pieces of OHT in a layered way and print one photo on each layer so that when they are put together, they form a photo-montage or collage effect (For example, the image of the child will be on the first layer, the cause on the second layer and the metaphorical image on the third layer... and so on). I would like to put these sheets together in a photo frame that has a clear back on it so you can see through both sides. If these frames were then hung on a white gallery wall (for example), you would be able to see all the detail of the images. I'm not sure yet whether I will get these frames made for me at Polytech or buy them. It depends if I choose to stagger the layers of OHT so that there is a space between each layer, or if they are butted up flat on each other. I chose to use OHT sheets because it is something different and I will be able to explore my use of colour over several layers in one overall image. I also like the idea that they are transparent so images could overlap. Transparency is also, i think, quite relevant to my theme because these young girls don't realize that what they are doing is turning them into people of no substance and superficial.

Ideas for Each Photo-montage:

1. Dieting/Caring about their body image: Child= Measuring the size of their waist or standing on the scales (this will be a cropped image where you will only see the section of the body but not the girls face). Cause/Object= Barbie dolls (unrealistic body proportions). Metaphor= Spindly/withered trees or food that is going off because it hasn't been eaten. Logo= Barbie.
2. Wearing too much makeup: Child= Putting on red lipstick or heavy eyeliner/mascara (this again would be a cropped image where you can just see the features of the face). Cause/Object= Makeup palette or group of products. Metaphor= Thick icing on a cake or something beautiful and pure that is covered up by something that isn't (such as an aspect of nature that has been tagged on or covered with rubbish). Logo= Cover Girl.
3. Internet over-usage: Child= Typing on a keyboard or using the mouse on a desktop or laptop computer. Cause/Object= School computer room or parts of a computer. Metaphor= Spider web (could have a spider in it to represent the dangers). Logo: Second Life/iMac.
4. "Tween" shoppers: Child= Hands holding lots of shopping bags that are full of purchases. Cause/Object= Mall or wallet/credit cards . Metaphor= Burning or throwing away money. Logo= Cotton On Kids.
5. Underage drinking: Child= Holding a martini glass. Cause/Object= Bottles of alcohol/Fake IDs. Metaphor= Pulling out the plug from a sink/bathtub, water going down the drain. Logo= Pure Blonde.

I think I will need to create at least five of these photo-montages to complete the requirements for this assignment which calls for about 15 photographs in total.