Project 2- Final

Designer's Statement:

Link to Original Assemblage: https://www.tbhtam.com/single-post/2018/01/01/2018

           For Project 2, I selected a personal assemblage of my own making. I run a blog that discusses various aspects of pop culture and the social lives of individuals in the 19 to 28-age range (more heavily weighted on college life). For the new year, I had done a photo shoot over Winter break to mark the redesign of the blog and the new content that it will be showcasing in the following month. I decided to work with bright hues, models that reflected the age group of the audience, and outrageous and fashionable outfits. The setting for all of this had to be out of the box and place the outfits and models “out of context”. College kids dressed in odd high fashion selections in a park seemed to befit the notion of fashion and modernity challenging the outdoors. The goal was to have them sort of utilizing nature for vanity rather than the typical mission of most photo shoots done outdoors that ask the model to become one with nature. The photo shoot process occurred, then a selection process followed. The images chosen were then edited and altered for the blog post creating an assemblage. 

            The order of the images, poses, and other stylistic choices create the rhetorical situation for the image. To cater to this assignment’s need for new meaning, I have edited the images in a reverse process and removed and added pictures from the original shoot.  In regards of the blurb placed before the images in the original blog post, which I have linked above, I shortened it to one sentence that was more vague to leave the images open to free interpretation by the audience, and made an eerie statement that could have a variety of meanings to it placed beneath the spread of images (as opposed to the beginning of the spread like in the original). Specifically, using Facetune and Afterlight, I went back into the album I have saved that contains the photos (pulled out a few neglected shots as well) used in the spread and I reduced brightness, saturation, color, and focus. I cropped some of the images to alter meaning (certain props can no longer be seen). A grey-enhancing filter had been placed over the images along with a feature that creates shadows around the perimeter of the photos. The pictures are almost unrecognizable to their original forms and no longer present an “out with the old and in with the hues” persona. 

            The images are now eerie and haunting as the backgrounds of them depict darkness encroaching on the models. Instead of having high fashion trying to fit in with nature competitively, the new spread depicts a fear of nature and displacement.

            Beyond the purposes of this assignment, I believe that the new rendition of the spread can be used in the future (mid-Summer) to show that the blog is versatile and can represent fashion and current trends as well as defy the norms and standards the industry has set. More so, it allows the blog to elaborate on its heavy advocacy for creativity, change, youth, and thinking outside of the box. The audience can expand now to those who have more serious visions of art, that are less fanciful and focused on vibrancy that they may have viewed to be childish—perhaps even allowing them to establish a new appreciation for vibrancy in artwork. The final configuration is a blog advertisement which combines the newly edited images in one graphic. The image has an overlay that resembles a bullseye to put further emphasis on the idea that nature is targeting fashion to an extent. It is supposed to appear stylish with hints at this underlying meaning as it is still a blog advertisement. 

            Ultimately, the assemblage made a transition from bright and bubbly to serious and dark. Athleticism and utilizing of props are now less of a focus. More than anything the new images create a fear making audience members wonder why a person is posing so calmly and stoically in an image that manipulates the surroundings to make it appear that something may be lurking in the background behind the models, as they recognize whatever is behind the model is in fact apart of nature. The distinction is clearer than it was in the previous spread that the two (fashion and nature) are not compatible, only now, the reasoning has changed. Before, an implicit notion had been made that fashion does not understand nature, now there is an essence of fashion not belonging in nature because nature is frightening and fashion is too playful. Another shift I noticed in the final product was that the audience might focus more on the models than their clothes because their clothes are harder to see and their facial expressions are almost as frightening as the edits in the new rendition. The new assemblage showcases a renewed artistic vision.

Assemblage:

Rhetorical Analysis:

            For the photo-shoot undergoing remediation for Project 2, there are very intricate details that are not necessarily explained in the blurb preceding the exhibit on the blog page. The post only goes as far to mention what the images hope to accomplish in terms of setting a stage for the blog’s future and what’s to come. There is commentary on the bright hues and hope to bring about innovation among the modern world’s obsession with overproduction, repetition, and drone-trendiness. The shoot aims to challenge social norms while still being able to prove relevant and of good quality. My audience consists of college students and, truly, anyone in the 16-35 age range.

            The setting of the images can be the first factor to take into consideration, as it is common for most people to associate outdoor settings with nude tones, loose fitting sheer materials, rustic chic, or even perhaps athletics. A community park is home to playgrounds, fields, tennis courts, pools, and occasionally a woodsy area. As the photographer and editor, my intent was to capture a sort of corruption of those base notions the audience may hold in regards to what a person would be doing in a park. This brought on the idea of high fashion versus nature. 

The models selected were not fitness models or athletes, just average college students (a rare group to find in the great outdoors). This is the first disruption of the preconceived notions. The day of the shoot was selected because it had been predicted to be a sunny day, which, while the weather varies, people tend to associate parks and foliage with the sun.

The next aspect to be reviewed is the dress choice for the models. The models are wearing makeup, which does not really mesh with the idea of a natural setting. The shades mimicked fall colors (on the girl) and minor flaws had be concealed and touched up on both models. The outfits were meant to depict what a person who was not outdoorsy would functionally wear. Some images depict rain gear. Bucket hats, red rain boots, a metal lunch box, and a clear umbrella—all props utilized without any sign of it raining. 

The hues of the images had been intensified to reflect colors not found in nature. Other shots showcased the models in shorts and fur coats, wearing shades in shadier locations of the park (meant to be a contradiction with their torsos being covered but other parts being revealed—along with it being hot outside). Poses reflected those that would be seen in fashion magazines rather than typical stances (pretending to run, kick, punch, or posing in a competitive way with legs spread apart and fists placed on sides). One pose in particular had one model pushing the other out of the way, but the focus is on the fact that the space they are in is empty and not crowded, therefore pushing the other model out of the way makes no sense. 

The final shots of the shoot that had been selected for the thread focused on trying to fit in a scenario, but being out of place. Improper use of sports equipment was an angle projected in some of the other shots. The male model has a golf club swung over his shoulder on a tennis court. The two models use the nets of a tennis court to grab onto for aesthetic purposes, but that is not traditional use. 

The main thing that really creates the rhetoric for the images is the editing the preceded the posting of the spread. After carefully selecting which images I believed encompassed some factors of amateur photography, professional photography, and personal (social media shots), I made sure the elements of high fashion versus nature were included in the shots. Brightness, saturation, highlights, and the reduction of shadows made the images appear far different from their original forms—more befitting of their intent. 

To change the rhetoric of the images, reordering of the spread and reversal of the edits (perhaps even the removal of some images) must take place to change the meaning. These altered images can be reused half way through the year to reintroduce the idea of innovation and reestablish the blog’s image versatility. More specifically, in a collage-graphic/blog advertisement to be used for promotion.The darker appearance the images will take on would surely evoke a different, however, still positive, response from the audience, as the images could almost be unrecognizable. Another stylistic choice to be altered is the utilization on the crop of the images with the aid of editing apps like Facetune, Afterlight, Picsart, and more. The addition of sticker (the black bullseye) or altered backgrounds would be utilized as well. The resulting images will be more than just the opposite of what they were before, but, with these additions, something completely new.