TWS: Happy Halloween!
Month: October 2017
Alexis Masino: Fashion is Genderless
Photography and Text by Alexis Masino, Copyright 2017
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FASHION IS GENDERLESS
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I chose to focus this editorial on something vital to the fashion industry which is often not used as a focal point: makeup. Makeup has traditionally been associated with femininity and up until recently, branded exclusively for women. Even now, most makeup advertising is geared toward women. The specific styles I crafted on the models (Phil Tedros, Andrew Mulson, Grace Bridy, and Brandon Texeira) were yellow eyeshadow, peach colored brows, electric blue cat eye, and dichromatic eyeshadow. I chose these trends for two reasons. My first idea was that I wanted to capture lots of bright colors, toying with the idea of femininity. But these trends also all made an appearance as popular trends among high fashion, used in shows and documented by brands like Vogue, in this past season. I noticed these trends were more commonly than not observed on women and the photographs paired with articles were almost entirely of female figures. To combat this stereotype I casted my models with the goal of role reversal, showing makeup trends mainly on male figures and with an aura of androgyny in place of femininity. I instructed the models to wear all black as to allow for complete focus on the makeup. The shoot took place in a studio for the sake of maintaining complete control over lighting and flash, specifically to properly capture the models’ faces up close and accentuate the proper hues of the makeup. Shooting at the ISO of 400 was a choice made after several test shots to minimize the warmth of the lights, but not reach too high of a number where grain would begin to appear in the photographs. The post-production editing involved reinforcing all these ideas in my vision by enhancing the colors and drowning out distractions.
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About The Author: Alexis Masino is a freshman enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2020. To access additional articles by Alexis Masino, go here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/alexis-masino-los-detalles/
Joy Lewis: Chilly Weather Fashion
Photography and Text by Joy Lewis, Copyright 2017
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CHILLY WEATHER FASHION
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As chilly weather is starting to make an appearance in Philadelphia I thought a spread on jackets couldn’t be any more relevant. I personally love jackets because they’re such an easy “throw on and go” statement piece. Jackets can vary in color, size, pattern and material making outfit combinations with jackets limitless. For this shoot I chose to use a single model wearing the same top, jeans and shoes and the same dark paper background for each photo because I really wanted to enhance the jackets and make it clear that they are the intended focus of this spread.
Personally, I am a big fan of originality and differentiating myself from others and that is what led me to my model choice. Of course I could have chosen subjects that fit the typical stereotype of a model, but instead I chose a subject with features that are not typically prevalent in the model industry. I had my model wear little to no makeup and wear her hair the way that she would on any average day. I also wanted the lighting in these photos to be somewhat portrait like and to give the picture an added softness. By choosing to use this light and this model my goal of the shoot was to accentuate the features of naturally beautiful.
I am a lover of the fashion industry, fashion magazines, and all things fashion, but I am also a lover of natural beauty and I think this is something that the fashion industry doesn’t typically choose to portray. Because of this I wanted to use this assignment as an opportunity to create a spread that appealed to my taste in fashion as well as my fondness of natural beauty.
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About The Author: Joy Lewis is a Junior enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2019.
Elizabeth Beugg: Party Fashion
Photography and Text by Elizabeth Beugg, Copyright 2017
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PARTY FASHION
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Party fashion plays a major role in the lives of college students everywhere. For this editorial, I chose to feature going-out wear, focusing on dark or metallic clothing, in a grungy, post-party setting. The juxtaposition between the glittering outfits and frat house basement helped to create dynamic photos with an almost “morning after” feel.
Since this was my first self-sufficient photo shoot, I asked my friends to model for the photos, as I knew I would be most comfortable directing them. I also think that for the purpose of the shoot, using real college students is very effective. I selected the basement of a frat house for the location as I thought this would create a more dynamic photo than shooting against a backdrop. I specifically planned the shoot on a Saturday morning, after there had been a party, to create maximum grunge and grime. I used a (very heavy) lighting kit and a low ISO for the majority of the shots. I used a high ISO and available light for a few colored/ambient lighting shots though I did not end up selecting them for the final editorial.
For the model’s attire, I asked my friends to bring any dark, textured, and metallic party wear they had and styled looks from our collective findings. I applied glitter to all the models faces to complement the metallic pieces of clothing. The glitter was intentionally applied haphazardly to stick with the grunge-y vibe.
Overall, this editorial was intended to showcase a variety of looks in a setting that appeared as if the lights had been turned on and everyone had gone home. I continually tried to prioritize dynamics over perfection in hopes of creating a collection of photos that feel unusual and unexpected, yet also familiar.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Beugg is a Sophomore enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2020.
Jesse Halpern: Raw Emotions
Photography, Text and Video Interview by Jesse Halpern, Copyright 2017
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RAW EMOTIONS
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Before shooting to try and capture the emotions of happiness, sadness, despaired, and love, I tried to think of what those emotions consisted of, what provoked them, and how they manifested themselves in terms of facial cues or actions. The two emotions that I had the easiest time in creating a concept for were happiness and despair.
Despair Is initially reactionary, to either one specific trauma, or to a multitude. These traumas tear at the fabric of your life. Despair is a period of a revaluation of the traumatic event and of one’s existence. I chose to depict this by reviewing myself in a mirror. There is an initial shock in the first photo, followed by a unpleasant realization in the second.
Happiness can also be provoked. This reaction I took as being a laugh. It’s an instinctual happy response. But that laugh and happiness is only temporary. It is followed by an assessment of one’s surroundings and one’s life, and if it’s beyond a momentary laugh, it turns into a soft content smile, indicating a satisfaction with one’s place in the world.
Love is perhaps the one I struggled with the most. Love is extremely personal. Everyone loves different things, different people, but love I find is an internal happiness. I wanted to put my model in a situation in which they were beyond content, so that way they could close their eyes and find an inner love, an inner peace.
Sadness is less of a reaction and more of an emotion that sets in over time. To depict this, I wanted these photos to look very still, very calm, and very dark. I wanted to depict a melancholy. Melancholy is a more rational sadness. One isn’t bombarded with a flurry of quick thoughts they can’t make sense of. Rather one contemplates their sadness in an analytic way, or they might not be contemplating their sadness at all. To some degree they have accepted that they’re sad.
With my analysis of these different emotions, I wanted to showcase them in a real life setting. All of them were shot in the same apartment and all incorporated in some way or another, the lighting fixtures that were already present in the apartment. I used tungsten lighting for love because although the color didn’t seem natural to me, none of the preexisting lighting reflected internal tranquility.
To shoot in these low light conditions I had to use an 85 mm lenses so that way I could use a wider aperture, and relatively quick enough shutter speeds. This lenses allowed me to focus on the elements I wanted present in my compositions. It did limit me in the sense that if I wanted to do a full vertical portrait, It would be very confining and ultimately not a good photo given the cramped quarters of the apartment.
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About The Author: Jesse Halpern is a Sophomore enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2019