Picture of my model, Niamh

Model!

Here is a photo of Niamh (my model for the shoot). She has experience with being a model for one of her friends, I know her through the secondary school I went to, Niamh was a couple of years above me.

Model!

I have been searching for a suitable model for my shoot. I have been looking for a female a similiar age to myself who isn't 'afraid' of the camera and will easily express the aesthetics that I'm looking for in my photos. I have contacted a person who's hometown is the same as mine, however she is a 3rd Year student at the University of Staffordshire and she is returning home over Easter, giving me chance to take my photos.
Her name is Niamh Clarke and I believe she is going to be a succesful model for my shoot, plus, she has offered her younger brother to model for me aswell! added bonus :)
The next step is planning where to take the actual shots, planning some clothing and make-up styles and hoping the weather is going to work in our favour!! *fingers crossed*

This is getting exciting!! I'm glad I've been able to find a suitable model fairly quickly with some searching around my hometown, contacting people, networking and online searching through facebook!!

Defining 'Home'...

I believe having such an open ended theme to a project is great as we may have some similar conotations of what we feel makes a home, having our own hometown as our 'home' or making a 'home' envolves similar ideas. But we will all go off in different directions, inevitably have different beliefs, backgrounds and home environments and all this will combine to make every student have independant and personal images that will not be similar to another student's. This is exciting!

Initially, I thought right, I live in the countryside therefore that's a perfect location for a fashion shoot but since I have been thinking...am I just sticking with whats too familiar to me? Maybe I need to go into an urban area, not necessarily a metropolis, but to create more of a street style, or go into my friend's home environments...explore similarities/differences in people's home environments, peoples beliefs of 'the home' or how traditions within the home have changed over the last few decades...for example, househusbands because the female partner is the breadwinner, less children in the household now than 30/40 years ago...changes in lifestyle....

One could go on and have a right adventure...but inevitably, I need to decide what I want to do, which avenue I want to explore! :) More inspiration needing to be found....

Vogue 1992, Steven Meisel shoot

Inspiration... country rose (Steven Meisel)

More Marc Jacobs Ads by Jeurgen Teller...

Even though these were taken near and on a beach, the far right photograph could easily be taken in a field :)
Nice lighting too.

Inspiration...

I have just found this Marc Jacobs Advert and felt I would like to produce some images similar to this for the project...

"Clockford Farm", David Bailey

A traditional black and white 35mm from the '60's...I love the graininess and almost crystallised focus but personally for my own work I think I may focus on similar colours to Jeurgen Teller's Marc Jacobs Ad work, clear but slightly washed out, as if the sun is too bright and the photographs over-exposed.

Natalia Vodianova by Mert and Marcus

A glamourous take on the idea I had in mind...I hadn't thought of using evening dress in such an organic setting until now, I had typically thought hippy, maxi dress and floral tea dresses with a straw hat or two...interesting to think about! A touch of glamour...or I could add a twist with a dress being worn with wellies or a Barbour jacket.

"Garden of Delight" by Steven Meisel, Vogue 2006.

Depicting a garden party,the skirts of the dresses are made of ruffled green chiffon, making the models top half stand out in the greenery. The lighting is very natural, almost banal, but an interesting use of costume to consider...

Inspiration for 'Home' location shoot

Here are some photographs to inspire with my 'Home' project. I have not yet decided whether I want to follow the route of a model gracefully walking through fields, sitting on stiles, or go for a more distressed, abandoned rural life...

HOME

As I live in the Shropshire countryside, I would like to keep a countryside aspect to this project. Maybe a slightly hippy, rural, green theme. A model walking through corn rows would be great but the farming season won't really allow this... :/

Some inspiration above...

HOME

On 02/03/10, given a new brief to produce a fashion shoot with the outcome being a set of 5-7 images with a starting point of 'Home'. All the development work is to be published on a blog, therefore why I have set this up.

• Initial concepts
• Research and discussion
• Development
• Critical and Theoretical aspects
• Practical experimentation
• Test shoots
• Model scouting
• Clothing selection
• Editing Process
• Any relevant decisions

Prints, digital files and 500 word evaluation... submission: Tuesday 27th April 10-11am.