Illustrated Discussion

I have chosen to focus on section 01 of the exam paper "Personal opinions" I have chosen to work on this section of the paper as I believe that it gives me a sufficient amount of research options to allow me to create a broad research log whilst still enabling me to create a detailed and focused record of my work and a unique portfolio incorporating a variety of photographic methods.

The area which I hope to focus on throughout my project is the feminist movement and the promotion of the gender equality movement in the 21st century.  I have particularly noticed a void in feminist photography featuring male equality issues as well as noticeable lack of male feminist photographers; this particularly concerns me as for the movement to be successful and thrive it must be promoted by both genders equally as after all gender equality is what the movement is all about.  

I feel that whilst the photographers given as examples are all interesting and showcase the personal opinions of the photographer in question well for example Martin Parr's observation of the British way of life I do not feel that these images are particularly relevant to my project so will be researching a variety of my own photographers throughout the course of the exam.

Below is an example of Parr's work.  Parr works to create an intriguing commentary on the British seaside holiday through his series which showcases the views of all classes age groups and genders present.  An example of this is in the image below in which we see a teenage waitress whom looks miserable about her job as well as group of families buying ice-cream but the teenage boy in the centre of the picture appears to be more interested in the woman's breasts than the family day out and ice cream in his hand.

One of the few examples of male feminist photography which I have discovered is the work of The Gay Beards whom have achieved a sizeable presence over their instagram account which is a unique platform being conquered by the photographers of today in an attempt to connect with their fans and showcase their new work in an accessible format.  Their unique photography challenges societies ideas of masculinity and feminism by juxtaposing the manly imagery of beards with more feminine elements such as the use of flowers and glitter.

Out of the many female feminist photographers whom I have discovered one of the most inspirational is Liora K.; K particularly interests me due to the way in which she incorporates male subjects into her shoots in order to emphasise the fact that feminism is not solely a woman's cause and in fact effects everyone.  Liora K. incorporates black and white photography with striking body text to show how every body needs feminism for different reasons in a deeply emotive set of images.

The above images associated with feminism both contrast drastically in their tone whilst retaining the same vital message and the above demonstrated broadness of the topic is one of the reasons which I am most excited to be working on a portfolio based around gender equality and feminism in the coming weeks.