Major Project: Fashion Photography and Violence Against Women

'If we finally got rid of the idea that fashion if for victims, maybe we'd see fewer victimized women in fashion magazines.' -Jenna Sauers.

One weird thing i wanted to look at in the realm of fashion photography was the image of the battered woman frequently used in editorial shoots in popular high fashion magazines. These images have appeared since the 70s in editorials in magazines or as part of a fashion brands advertising showing female models as glamourised victims of physical abuse. In the 1980s there was a trend to show women in fashion ads bound and gagged or appear beaten. The image of the beautiful female corpse has been part of advertising imagery for decades still appearing today, theres a good article on the Guardian about this trend by Kira Cochrane here.

Over the years female corpses, especially beautiful female corpses, have become a staple of fashion shoots, advertising campaigns and TV shows – with sexual and fatal violence against women a favourite of TV programmes looking to boost a waning audience or build a new one. -Kira Cochrane.

 

Dolce & Gabbana advert described by some as a 'rape ad'

The fashion industry has gotten a lots of criticism for this glamourisation of violence against women and the fetishisation of its victims but with these images appearing in some of the biggest magazines and being used by the biggest brands like Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabanna its almost like no one actually gives a shit, whether thats the advertisers or audience. Or maybe this kind of Shockvertising is a cynical ploy for attention, to be seen as edgy, to show that the world of high fashion goes beyond the realms of boring old good taste.

'The Wrong Turn' by photographer Raj Shetye based on the gang rape of a woman on a bus in New-Dehli

The thing is that in a world where violence against women in a very real threat the idea of having these images in magazines and advertising aimed at women doesnt seem very edgy or alternative at all rather just reinforcing the idea of sexualised violence being a constant and normal part of being female. The image of the beautiful battered woman has become so commonplace now that you cant even call it shocking or controversial, its more cliched than anything in my opinion.

Part of a beauty spread by 12 Magazine showing the faces of models bruised, cut and burned with acid

One of the reasons i wanted to research this as part of my major project is because this imagery, this objectification and sexualisation of beaten women is so common in fashion advertising. Fashion imagery can be beautiful and fantastical but it can also be basically exploitative and awful, completely separated from reality in a bad way. Domestic violence is a real world problem, its a problem in my home country. The idea that people want to create images of battered women in order to create a beautiful fantasy is just completely awful. I want some of my images to highlight the reality of being a woman in Scotland today, dealing with our problems around domestic abuse and sexual assault. I can either use these images as a reference point to not glamourise my photos, or be so over the top and awful and hold a mirror up to this trope.
 


Read more about fashion photography and violence against women on Jezebel here, and more about the New-Dehli bus rape fashion shoot on Time.com
More examples of images on Buzzfeed