Post on 11-Mar-2016
description
#basement
#
wacky//weird//creative//patterns//tactile//textures//neon//colour//monochrome//art//culture//fashion//urban//style//individuality//hipster//lazy//internet//twitter//hashtag//instagram//facebook//social media//technology//apple//dj//turntables//digital age//hats and trainers//docs and skulls//crosses//peace signs//trends//symbols//icons//taste//slang//friends//festival//basement party.
Portraying contemporary youth culture in one single, iconic
photograph proved to be more of a challenge than expected. The
process became more significant to us than the final outcome itself,
a creative journey exploring all the different aspects of our
generation. This book exhibitsthis process, the direction we
took and the people we collaborated with in order to reach our final resolution.
EMILY BALL & LISA BURNScreative directors
CONTRIBUTORS
AMY PRESCOTTmodel
NIKKI PROCTORmodel
JAMES FALKDJ
JAMIE MERCHANTvideo
KATE BROOKSmodel
ED NELSONDJ
PIETER SYNMANvideo editor
MEGAN ASHLEYmodel
SAM HUTCHINSONassistant photographer
MITCHELL PRICEgraffiti artist
GLENDA ASHLEYmodel
#1
the experiment#1 Before we executed the basement photo shoot Lisa and I decided to organise a few test shots to see how we can build upon our ideas and broaden our range of photos when selecting one final image.
The style of these photos intentionally contrast with the photos we took for the final shoot in order to represent a variety of themes and trends observed today. Festivals were our main source of inspiration, creating an environment to take photos where the models are acting naturally, aiming to capture a more realistic image of contemporary youth.
“everyone’s bummin’
vintage fashion”
Vintage revival is definitely a key aspect of today’s youth fashion culture as vintage
shops become popularised and old trends re-surface and re-new themselves.
JEWELLERY & ACCESSORIES
Contemporary symbols within fashion range from peace signs, to moustaches and even to religious symbols such as the cross. These symbols were a strong influence within this project, incorporated into our designs and ideas in order to convey the trends observed today.
TRENDS & SYMBOLS
As street art is such an important and recognisable aspect of youth culture, spray painting the walls seemed apt and gave us the opportunity to reflect the trends and grafitti culture observed today. Animal print has become popularised amongst recent fashion trends and the stencils we used enabled us to create patterns inside the basement. We encouraged others to interact with the space also, which added to the variety of different aspects of youth culture we wanted to convey through the space.
For our first test shoot with the girls we created a festival
inspired set-up in the garden and incorporated different props into
the photography. We concentrated on portraying the
atmosphere and emotions present during a festival,
encouraging our models to dance about, interact with the props and
express themselves in their own individual way.
THE GYALS
Inspired by Secret Garden Party festival and their coloured powder paint fight, we recreated our own version for the photo shoot. The
colours created by the powder contrast against the white clothes
worn by the girls and produced these colourful clouds in the air
as they were thrown at each other. The facial expressions
during the paint fight was another key aspect of this part of the
shoot, capturing the emotion and intensity of those few seconds.
“It’s difficult to define the style of a generation in
one. There are always going to be different sub-
cultures and stereotypes co-existing together.”
#2
the basement#2 For our final image, we created an event in order to capture youth culture in an appropriate environment for the photo, focusing more specifically on music, fashion and the underground party scene that exists today. The event, entitled #basement, was set-up as if it was an actual party where we invited our friends to come along and take part in the photo shoot whilst being in their element and enjoying themselves.
In order to capture a photograph that contains enough significant information and detail that surrounds youth culture today, the space itself became our blank canvas. We treated it as an installation space in order to give the basement additional elements and produce dynamic and varied photography.
select ing our spray paint colours for the basement set-up
contemporary animal print stencils for the basement walls
we decided on four colours in order to maintain a colour scheme- turquoise, pink, silver and whi te
preparing the suspended typography for the basement space
Mitchell’s space; each individual’s input into this project allows for a range of ideas and themes
our suspended hashtag, our main theme recurring throughout our ideas
THE SET-UP
wayfinding; suspended acrylic arrows and LED wire en route to the main room
DJ set-up suspended typography for the feature wall
a lazy, can’t be bothered at t i tude is far too common amongst the youth of today...
set t ing up the light ing, experiment ing wi th di f ferent colours
basement
We took full advantage of the space, ensuring we captured a range of photos using different cameras, photographers and settings. This included the use of two GoPro cameras for the evening.We experimented with the GoPro’s, trying out stop motion images, video footage and using different equipment for varied shots which produced some interesting results. Featured, are some of the time lapse stills from the set-up.
We’ve showcased our favourite series of photographs taken from the basement, which was our selection before narrowing down and making a decision on which would be the final image. Collectively, the photography conveys a dark and almost slightly sinister effect, especially through the manipulation and layering of each image. The distorted faces and neon light patterns reflect the movement of each individual in the basement, contrasted against the grainy textures of the space which create more of an atmosphere than you would expect at a student basement house party.
THE PHOTOGRAPHY
THE PHOTOGRAPHY
The music was a huge part of the photo shoot and enabled the people within the space to engage, dance and be natural as if they would at a party. The inclusion of technology, Apple products and turntables is an important aspect of the digital age which we wanted to emphasise as part of the photography. This epitomises the contemporary DJ sets played on a night out or at a house party.
After a great deal of deliberation, we made an ‘executive decision’ to select the most appropriate and iconic image in the series.
This photograph, contains all the elements we focused on when setiing up the space and the atmosphere; the neon aspect through the lighting, the use of colours to create a psychedelic effect to reflect the hazy, distorted perspective when on a night out. The most important aspects were the movement and facial expressions driven by the music from the DJ set. Furthermore, the animal print, spray paint and typography, reinforce contemporary youth culture today in this single iconic photograph.
Meh.
Meh.