Edits

For my first 4 edits of shoot 03, I wanted to use the style or Barbara Kruger to convey messages that I felt were important for people to hear. I made up my own quotes and laid them out in different ways on each picture. I think that these messages are relevant to my topic of beauty standards and work well with the images I chose for them. To emphasise the messages, I made my font bold and used red words which is also what Kruger does in her work. I also increased the contrast levels so that the images behind the text stood out. I think that these edits are successful as they tell crucial messages and I also like the way the red and blue colours contrast with each other.

For my next set of edits, I wanted to experiment with colour and collage. In previous projects I have expressed my love of exploring colour and collage in different ways, and so I wanted to incorporate that into this project as it is an important part of my artistic journey as a photographer. I tried many different methods in these edits, such as using primary colours, pastel colours, using the same image and editing it different ways, and editing different images to be different colours. I think that all my experiments were successful for different reasons; I especially like the two edits where I have taken inspiration from Barbara Kruger, by including text in the photo. The text reads; "Strong, Confident, Smart, Unique". I wanted to use uplifting words that didn't have anything to do with appearance to show that beauty comes from within, and we should not care about the standards that society have come up with.

For these edits, I wanted to further experiment with creating magazine covers. In my first shoot, I made multiple covers with the vogue font, however this time I have tried out different fonts of other well known magazines. I used a range of different covers from different industries; business, music and fashion. I wanted to do this to show the viewer that you can do anything that you set your mind to; the way you look or what gender you are doesn't define you or your future plans. Society has come up with certain stereotypes, one of them being that women can only do certain jobs. In these edits I wanted to portray that if a women wanted to go into something such as business, they can. I think that these edits were successful as they are uplifting to the viewer and look professional.

For my last 3 edits of this shoot, I wanted to use the overlay tool in photoshop, as I have enjoyed making similar edits in my past shoots. I think that these edits are so effective as they make the viewer think deeper about the meaning behind the photo. The edits are open to interpretation, and convey messages about beauty standards and issues in society, in similar ways to both my photographers, Arielle Bobb Willis and Barbara Kruger.