This project was about defying social norms and presenting something disturbing and usual whilst it still being familiar. For my A-Level Photography course, I distorted the concept of Femininity and how it is presented in the media and society. I focused a lot on Miles Aldridge’s work and Sayaka Maruyama; both artists show how stifling the media and traditional gender conventions can be for women especially. This year, I wanted to focus less on people and more on the environments that usual have these often stereotypical people. I wanted there to be an absence of life, like Labyrinth (My Mother’s Album) by Ilya Kabakov, where he uses harsh lighting and narrow corridors to present this dingy and eerie home. I find it interesting whenever people comment on family homes and how to present them because there is so much ambiguity around how individual people run their family household. In this project, I looked at space more than anything because I wanted to experiment with invading someone’s privacy and creating a barrier and restriction within a household. There are usually a lot of restrictions within a household but are so minor so we adapt and over time, learn how to submit and become comfortable with a broken family home. I wanted to explore scale and how I can enhance the presentation of my final piece. I am really pleased with the way the images are presented because most of the strings in each photo connects to other strings in a different photo, so it created this whole network of connections across images. I am also happy that I used screen printing for my final because it really defined the white lines which I think would have been less effective in a normal digital photo. I think in the future, I could experiment even more with space, for example, I could have placed the photos around the whole school or room - forcing people to try and find these connections and make the connections themselves. But overall, I am happy with how I have presented the images; from a distance the strings are connected but when you look closer, you realise how much detail there is within each small photo. I think this symbolises the fact that we are all connected through gender stereotypes and nuclear family household expectations. We are all connected through these restrictive conventions yet we are all so individual, living in our own tiny picture / frame.

These were the original images. I took this photos in the ‘heart’ of the house, the Kitchen. I thought that the Kitchen was the most Warmest and secure place in the house because the Kitchen, to me, symbolises growth, comfort and protection. I wanted to subvert the meaning of a kitchen and make it appear uncomfortable and more of a harsh environment. I also wanted to distort the idea of a family Kitchen and I done this through experimenting with space. I used the string the invade the space and force individuals to move within the space in a different manner. I also thought that it would be more effective if there was an absence of people. The absence of people makes this environment more eerie as it looks like it’s been neglected and abandoned. I’m am really happy with these photos because I took the photos from different heights and angles, in order to present this familiar environment from perspectives that you would never usually see in your everyday life.

Experimenting with string in Groups

These images were taken for our group work that focused on invading the space with string. the objects we used were everyday objects that are found within a household. We created a small nest at the top and directed a flow of strings at the bottom and top. We wanted to space out the strings to invade the space more and make it harder for the viewer to get up close and personal with the piece. There was a sense of coldness and isolation when we finished this piece because the strings were so spars. The mask added a sense of coldness to this piece as well, because the subjects face was completely eradicated and their body just becomes objectified and immersed in this trail of strings. We also encouraged the audience to go behind the mask, which I thought was very interesting because it makes the audience become a part of the piece and feel as though they are trapped behind these strings. Inside the small nest at the top, was a small child’s shoe which nobody could see unless they were really close. This show symbolised youth and innocence which I thought enhanced the piece as a whole, as it made it even more disturbing and eerie. I really enjoyed working as a group because we all had very interested ideas and worked very efficiently as a team.

We received a lot of good feedback and interpretations; one person interpreted the small nest as the protector of this domestic ‘sphere’. I really like this idea because the nest did look like it was protecting the innocent / the youth, which explains why there is string imposing itself in the space - it wants to isolate itself from any outsiders. I really benefited from working as a group because it encouraged me to use the space in ways that I wasn’t confident enough to do by myself but now I feel more confident to express myself with larger and more invasive ways.