Maison Martin Margiela Interview

http://hypebeast.com/2010/07/nouveau-ideal-maison-martin-margiela-interview/

Collage - Vanessa Edwards

collage of magazine, newspaper clippings

idea for digital textile print... still needs work

Italian Marble, Brooklyn Museum

Successful Drapes - Vanessa Edwards

Colour Pallet Ideas

Dissertation Topic

The aesthetic of ‘pastness’, remembering the cinematic: An examination of narrative, fantasy and memory and its continuing appeal within contemporary fashion photography, photo media and film.

This essay explores the idea of nostalgia and informs through a focused look at discussions surrounding the relationship between past and present, memory and history and the varied forms of its representation in fashion photography, film and related photo media.  There is a significant amount of writing on nostalgia but there are still areas that remain under theorized.  Much of this essay has been informed by key works of Pam Cook, Christina Sprengler and Laura Mulvey, these women begin to bridge these gaps and have inspired further investigation.

This essay examines the aesthetic appeal of; and in Sprenglers’words ‘pastness’, which is different to nostalgia.  The first area of study in this essay traces the historical discourse of nostalgia, supporting its context in society today.  Since the early 1990s nostalgia has been a phenomenon within fashion photography, film, and photo media, both commercially and independently oriented.  Having noticed a growing trend remake and appropriate history to the extent whereby retro and vintage objects have become objects of commodity and capital.  The question begged, why is there a preoccupation with this form of representation and why does is continue to resonate with and appeal to such a wide audience today? 

'The Kiss'

this image encapsulate a mood for my collection

here are some key words that come to mind...

elegant, beauty, youth, sumptuous, romantic, glamourous, luxurious  

'Silos' Cape Cod, Massachusetts - Vanessa Edwards

'Christina's World' 1948 - Andrew Wyeth

I find this painting captivating. I have always had an emotional response to her solitude and isolation. It is a beautiful and haunting image that became even more moving when I learned that the subject had polio. I finally visited it in person at MOMA in New York last year.

This image will probably be translated into my colour pallet for the collection. I am interested in developing a collection that somehow captures the essence of Wyeth's use of texture. He finely depicts surfaces, and warm tones. It is an image that demonstrates precise realism and is obviously influenced by photography, suggested by the unusual viewpoints and composition. 

Scary Women

collage of Gregory Crewdsons photographs and Hollywood portrait photography

I feel that the combination on imagery demonstrates a strong narrative. There is a darker more sinister undercurrent to these images. Although the female model/actress is beautiful and presents perfected the film noir-esk lighting translates a different story and motive. Crewdsons photographs are also very obviously staged, in contrast his images project a bizarre and damaged representation of the urban American dream. I feel that these images evoke a sense of beauty and melancholy and at the same time we are reminded of our own mortality. These images capture the protagonist of a melodrama and we are very aware of a mood brewing.

Untitled Photo - Vanessa Edwards

Storm Clouds, Erskinville

My interest in this composition concerns the obvious contrast of dark and light, nature verses urban. I find these binary opposites facinating and it is a common point of interest that reaccures in my work. This image is  atmospherically charged due to the dynamic conversation between polar opposites. It also presents drama and a cinematic quality as the storm clouds appear forbodding and this is emphasised by the serene calm that comes before.

influential artist Bill Henson

'El Morocco' 1955 - Garry Winogrand

Sarah Hermanson Meister (2007) Picturing New York: Photographs from the Museum of Modern Art

Is she a femme fetal? I am interested in the dichotomy of this composition because the action is seemingly hideous in a formal setting. What is supposedly a civil and glamorous bourgeois ball is subverted by the simplicity of letting go and exposing oneself. In this context the woman is experiencing extreme elation though she appears vicious and monster-like, gnashing teeth and sharp nails, she looks dangerous her expression could be hiss or a laugh? 

'The Edge' - Sylvia Plath

http://5000photographs.blogspot.com/2010/11/photograph-31.html

the woman is perfected 

her dead

body wears the smile of accomplishment

the illusion of Greek necessity

flows in the scrolls of her toga

her bare

feet seem to be saying

we have come so far, it is over 

each dead child coiled, a white serpent

one at each little

pitcher of milk, now empty

she has folded

them back into her body as petals

of a rose close when the garden

stiffens and odours bleed

from the sweet deep throats of the night flowers

the moon has nothing to be sad about

staring from her hood of bone

she is used to this sort of thing

her blacks crackle and drag

Ratan

Poster!

Here is the link to my poster:


https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_9k9dF4fVmnODUzYjIyMjQtY2Y3Yi00Y2YxLWJmNWQtN2VkYTU1ZWZlZGY4&hl=en

Central Park Photo

I thought this photo would make an appropriate first post.  I took it one afternoon whilst walking in the upper part of Central Park, New York in winter 2011.  I spent five weeks living in a little studio on west 25th and would ride the subway up to the park to explore a new field or path most days, I love the way that such a densely inhabited city shares a giant back yard that is Central Park. You really come to appreciate a quiet open space and fresh air.  

New York is an amazing city, it is frenetic and changing at such a fast pace but even being a stranger to the city is is not hard to feel familiar with the place, probably because we are constantly looking at film and photography that reference the city. My time away in january and february was very inspiring and I like the fact that this image reminds me of my time in New York but the catalyst is not an obvious cityscape. 

I feel that this photo appears more like a set and I remember taking this shot because I was moved by the low afternoon light on the recent snow fall, untrodden - an unusual sight in such a walked upon city. I like everything about this shot, its composition the colours and overall atmosphere.