I set my brief for myself with the intention of opening an honest dialogue between girls at the coming-of-age period of entering womanhood, and the progression from girlhood. The idea initially came from me feeling very strongly about the societies need to be moe considerate of the portrayal of women in the media, how we are viewed, and what expectations and pressures there are. I feel like these pressures are only on the increase, with the continuously evolving forms and platforms of social media, and the growing internet. I decided to work in the form of an editorial. choosing to use photography as my key medium. I researched topics surrounding girl culture, habitats and aesthetic inspiration. Key influences were Corinne Day, Petra Collins, Harley Weir for photographers, for each of their styles are raw, yet aesthetically different- with Corinne Day’s (as well as Nan Goldin’s) styles reflecting grunge fashions and honest depictions of youth culture in terms of fast-paced, partying lifestyles, drug taking and shot on film, adding a rawness and realness to the imagery. Harley Weir whom also shoots on film captures the coming-of-age period in femininity with such aesthetics of nostalgia and teen lust and longing. I created a set of mood boards, to assist myself in formulating a style and aesthetic for my project. I really enjoyed making the mood boards, as i worked with found imagery, artists work that were of inspiration and composed a range of empowering mood boards that I feel are visually inspiring and glorifying of girl culture.
Looking further into my concept, I felt that people’s bedrooms and habitats are really interesting. I am always fascinated by people’s own choices of self expression and different interested and tastes. Bedrooms are peoples own sanctuaries and space to express themselves and their identity, its where their secrets lie and interests and projected. I felt that as I am initiating a private, intimate conversation, the setting in which the personal matters are discussed should be a place of comfort and safety - therefore I feel that the girls’ own bedrooms are most appropriate. I chose to also look into their space, photographing it and documenting their materialised identity. I discovered the photographer, Adrienne Salinger, who documented teenagers in their bedrooms in the 1990s, creating a vast archive of fascinating portraits that really captivated me.
I chose to look at myself first, for since the topic is so personal, I wanted to approach it with sensitivity and understanding. Therefore I looked at my own spaces; I documented my three key habitats, considering how I had projected myself into the spaces and made them my own, and what the spaces meant to me; what notions of nostalgia and sentiment are connected to the bedrooms. I found that aesthetically and in terms of what possessions live in each space; it is very telling of different periods of my life and phases I went through during my girlhood. I looked at textures that reflected my identity, things I had made, notes I’d been written and kept over sentiment, instruments I used to play etc... I then chose four girls, ages 20/21, focusing on them in their habitats. One of the girls, Ellenya; I photographically documented her getting ready for a night out in her bedroom. I shot whilst she got herself ready, put on make up, and I quoted off things she said. I find it interesting how people can act differently in different spaces, and when facing different audiences. I feel that there are almost two personas or projections of self; and by going into these girls’ bedrooms, I wanted to discover their real selves, and honestly discuss real matters. I made a small book of this shoot
Prior to photographing the girls, I asked them not to clean their rooms or change the state at all, for I wanted to document how they naturally and normally operate in the everyday state of their habitat. I asked each of the four girls questions about growing up, relationships with family/friends/partners/ how they handle pressures they face, about key moments in their lives and discovering themselves. We talked about body image and empowerment, things they went through and overcame to get to where they are today. We covered lots of areas and i fully quoted them, wanting to capture their tone and verbally communicative form of expression. In the book, I decided not to present the dialogue in one large section and almost monologue - placed the different topics of conversation around the imagery - suggesting the flow of conversation, whilst realistically separating it, for personal information and insights don’t naturally come out all at once, the reveal is often staggered. I am happy with the design of the final book, for I really strived to capture each individual girl’s identity and projection of self, and i feel that the colours and imagery of each section are very reflective of the girl and true to them. I feel that the addition of introducing each girls’ section with their handwritten name (written by them) gives greater insight to their identity. I chose to work with an image from my habitat for the cover of the girls book, for it was shot with a shallow depth of field, and is an intimate image of my bed and bedding, the warm pink referencing stereotypical girl culture and femininity, with decorate light patterns adoring the image. It is very textured and closely cropped and the pale pink type doesn't greatly stand out, for i wanted it to seem like it was placed their unnoticeably, almost like the reader of the book - going inside these bedrooms without being invasive or intrusive.
I didn't work with girls’ faces, for I wanted to prevent the viewer from disassociating themselves from the content, or matters that I want the reader to find relatable and beneficial hearing similar experiences from another person. Though I found myself really torn between not showing them due to this issue, but then questioning whether I should show them, for I dont want that to be an issue - I want to break that down and help girls see other people whilst still being able to see themselves. However, I felt not showing their faces was artistically interesting in terms of the aesthetic of the book, as well as it keeping their facial identity private, whilst I reveal secret matters about them. I also feel that not showing their faces supports my want to desexualise the female body and appearance - for women are so sexualised and objectified in society and in the media - and by not showing their faces, I am making it more about their opinions and experiences and lives than about what they look like - going behind rather than seeing whats on the surface, which is very much the theme of my project. I wanted to create a tone of intimacy and personal insightment, with also humour, and a real feel of what these girls are really like (behind social media and pressures, but the true them).
I considered French fold binding, and feel that that could have been a really interesting feature of the book, and am slightly disappointed I didn't follow that route, however I really felt that the imagery I wanted to show in the interior folds of a french fold bound version, would be really intimate and private (of possessions or rubbish in their room that they wanted to keep secret, or were ashamed of, or were a guilty pleasure) and i felt that that was almost too invasive and too private to expose. I am happy with the level of personal that I reached with my imagery and questions - which I really considered in terms of how close the camera was to the girl and to their possessions.
