Final Year Project during the UK lockdown #3

We are now in lockdown number 3 in the UK, and this means that all places of education (including universities) are now closed and all learning has been moved online. This means that I have had to make work for my final year project, at home and using self-portraiture as this is the only means for me to use a model at the moment.

My final year project is exploring the female gaze and how the female body is objectified. I will be exploring this through a blend of fashion, portrait and fine art self-portraits. The photographs will be staged and theatrical using backdrops, props and set designs to create the images. Similarly to the experimental part of my project, I will continue using hair to cover the face throughout the project and may also use other objects to cover the face with.

The latest shoot I have done explores the female body as an act of undressing within the male gaze and the vulnerability of women from this. I was testing the backdrop and the texture of it in these images.

I felt very nervous to be doing self-portraits and putting myself in front of the camera as I wasn’t experienced with this way of working. Having to direct me, check the images, adjust the lighting and then focus the camera were all aspects of this way of working that I had to juggle without help. I managed to get into a routine of this after a while and got the lighting, poses and background I wanted.

My next few photoshoots will be building up to creating constructed sets using different backdrops and props to create similar production values of a studio setup. I have been looking on Youtube for methods of set design from home and looking through research from my extended essay to help me progress my work and refine my technical processes.

Test Shoot- The Female Gaze, Act of Undressing.