Research Log: Fashion Photographer Research: Elizaveta Porodina -

Fashion: Elizaveta Porodina - 

Why Chosen:

I chose the photographer Elizaveta Porodina because she is a high class fashion photographer who also experiments with ideas of the surreal as is often required for photoshoots in magazines. Additionally, the variations in her works are extreme with the styles, colours and framing ever changing to fit the individual. Porodina also layers implicit meanings beneath her images which is vital to the surreal ideas of fashion in my project.

Examples of Work:

Denotation: The image is tonally edited with a black and white filter with the contrasts between gradient areas having been increased. The subject is central to the image and is making a direct address to the audience. The framing of the photograph is smaller than a typical fashion shoot. 

Connotation: The connotation of this image, being associated with metamorphosis, appears to study the ways in which women are perceived in society and within the fashion industry and how changes often have to be made. The model looks as though she is experiencing pain or sorrow as she pulls away the eyelashes from her eye which could symbolise the beauty standards of society. Moreover, the juxtaposition of the stereotypically assumed masculine shaved head is the employment of makeup which contrasts and challenges the audiences ideas on what femininity is as a concept. 

Context: This image and the below image are both from the series entitled "The Surreal Metamorphosis". 

Denotation: The denotations of this image lie in its style. The image itself is an example of solarisation and could be seen to be inspired by the surreal work of Man Ray. The subject is central to the image. The composition is unusual in that there is a second subject in the form of a hand reaching from outside of the framing into the image as though the audience themselves were involved in the image. 

Connotation: This image again appears to study the beauty standards of society and the fashion industry. The image features the same model from the first image but this time with a full head of hair and in the process of hair and beauty as opposed to removing it. This could be exaggerated by the use of colour in that the solarisation technique makes the image appear like a negative of itself; this could imply that once the views have been enforced in a hegemonic way then the true metamorphosis begins and the person is changed to fit the new style (the solarised as opposed to the standard black and white). 

Context: This image is again part of the series "The Surreal Metamorphosis" and was made in cohesion, exclusively, for a modelling website. 

Denotation: Two models sit in a manner not conforming to the compositional rule of thirds grid but instead subvert it. The image uses colour unlike the two featured above although series' as a whole in Porodina's work tend to have examples of both black and white and colour images. Both models are making eye contact with the audience in a direct address. The colour on the sky is exaggerated and could have been edited to emphasise the gradient colour. 

Connotation: Both models, regardless of their gender, are wearing the same clothes throughout which could imply that the future fashion industry instead targets the public as androgynous as opposed to separated by genders and failing to be inclusive to all genders rather than just males and females.  The structure in the bottom of the image appears to be like that of a playground which could be reinforcing the idea that youths are torn between age categories and are instead caught up in a battle. The playground resembles childhood whilst the other forces of growing older being to weigh down. However, the use of two models to convey the same outfit may just be a clever interpretation of a diptych which stresses the clothes as the viewer's eye is taken on a journey between the models but still always ends up on the outfit. 

Context: The title of this series is "Schoofers" after being eponymously named after the two models Lou and Nils Schoof. The images were taken for STATUS magazine. STATUS is a youth culture magazine that focuses on urban lifestyles such as future fashion, art and music. 

Denotation: The camera is at a low angle canted perspective that creates an almost warped depth of field effect on the backdrop. The model's body is made to appear longer due to the position of the camera and the composition of the room. The position in which the model is standing reflective of the painting of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" in the dropped hip position which is uncomfortable and difficult to hold as is re-created by Rineke Dijkstra's beach portrait series. 

Connotation: The model is seen to be wearing masculine clothes, hair slicked back to look shorter and also to be exerting dominance through the positioning of the camera lower than the subject which could link to the idea of the title "Jezebel" meaning a woman who is shamelessly rude. The replication of male position by a female model could be seen by society as a challenge of patriarchy and male domination and thus the women becomes known as a jezebel. Porodina's exploration of gender-bending is another example of surreal fashion photography and has even been replicated many times by female celebrities in modern fashion magazines such as Kate Winslet who wore a suit and slicked back hair; other celebrities also to have experimented with high fashion disregard for gender and appreciation of both gender-bending and androgyny include Kristen Stewart and Jaden Smith. 

Context: This image is from the photographic series "Jezebel" for Platea magazine. The meaning of the word jezebel being: an impudent, shameless or morally unrestrained woman.