Major Project: The Illuminati

My third and final fashion photography trope is going to be the weird pop culture phenomenon that is illuminati symbolism. Honestly if you look into a bit you might be forgiven for thinking that any symbols or gestures used by a pop star or a fashion label could be construed as 'illuminati confirmed' but im going to be focusing on fashion photographers who constantly make reference to these motifs and get the conspiracy blogs buzzing.

Nicola Formichetti, who gained notoriety after being stylist to Lady Gaga often does this over the top gothic bondage thing, he is currently the artistic director for fashion brand Diesel. Ive seen his styling work before, being a fan of Brooke Candy and saw him pop up again on an illuminati conspiracy blog discussing Brooke's 'A Study in Duality' music video. The blog which can be read here talked about his work with Lady Gaga (also full of illuminati symbolism) and breaks down the symbols in a Study in Duality. So what symbolism is this?

Image of Brooke Candy from A Study in Duality

Firstly theres the monarch butterfly, this represents monarch programming, part of the CIA's mind control program MK-ULTRA, monarch programming is named after the butterfly because of the whole emerging from the cocoon reborn thing.

Nicola Formachetti with the monarch butterfly covering one eye, very illuminati

Another prominent fashion figure from the illuminati blogs is photographer Steven Klein. Like Nicola he has this dark, fetishistic aesthetic using imagery of duality and playing up the sexuality of his models. He has shot campaigns for Alexander McQueen, known for their use of the skull motif, another illuminati symbol. His work also has a bit of a violent edge which i suppose could be interpreted as a display of the models sexual agency but can come across as objectifying.

Steven Klein for Alexander McQueen

Kate Moss for W magazine by Steven Klein

So do these fashion people know what they are doing by making reference to these satanic symbols? Or is it just really easy to be branded as part of the NWO every time you put a woman in bondage gear and try to symbolise the different aspects of her characters personality? Who doesnt reference death and sex in their artwork and as we've seen before courting controversy in the fashion industry isnt a new idea.

Since im doing a character that is very witchy and dark and looks at Scotlands more bloody side i want to use some of this overplayed 2spooky4u imagery as part of my images.

Major Project: Locations 2

My second round of locations involved looking for places with water and going to Glasgow. Im not sure Glasgow was quite as fruitful as i thought it would be, i dont really know Glasgow that well and we had to find somewhere that would be close to Queen Street station to travel to. In Glasgow there is a bunch of really nice artsy murals, really bright and colourful but i had my heart set on something a bit grittier, a mish mash of graffiti with little artistic merit and a few swear words. But these murals might work, if im looking at cultural appropriation and gentrification then having this council sanctioned graffiti might be a better representation of those ideas than an area that has been tagged by teenagers in the dead of night. Esentially im not sure if these murals only really say Glasgow to people who know Glasgow well, they could be from any major city in the UK.

On the Sunday after going to Glasgow we went off to South Queensferry which was just a bit different, to get photos on the beach around the forth rail bridge. I got a bunch of better shots here for my Selkie character. I really like the iconic bridge in the background and think it will make some really grand and epic looking shots.

Panda just off Buchanan street

Animal Mural down by one of my favourite places to eat by Rogue One

colourful toucan thats part of the mural above

Major Project: Scouting Locations 1

 This is a little bit later than i had planned to do it due to illness and weather but im finally getting round to looking at possible locations for my photographs. This weekend started with the Alva Glen, Dumyat Hill and Stirling Bridge. Ive got a few ideas so far on what spots i want to use for what but i still have to storyboard everything so i have a solid idea of what image gets taken where.

This little ledge at Dumyat shows both the landscape and industry of Scotland, it also has really pretty coloured moss on the stones that could be brought out in editing

Ive been looking for places with water for my Selkie character, this is a man made waterway that could show her out of her element

There were a couple of these gnarled trees at Dumayat, they remind me of one of the images from the Sairose Ronan Vogue shoot and could be really atmospheric

This little bridge was very cute, i was thinking how fun it would be to have really killer heels surrounded by all this mud

Another of the trees, this one was a bit bigger and had more room inside its branches

I like this layout standing on this old wall with the hills in the background

Stirling bridge is another possible location because of its history and the good views you can get underneath it, this could be really dark and moody

Going into next weekend im going to be looking around Glasgow for my urban locations, i want places with graffiti and alleys. Im also going to be looking at more places around water, going down to South Queensferry to get a location near the rail bridge.

Major Project: Cultural Appropriation and the Fashion Industry

African themed editorial in Vogue Italia

 
 The second fashion photography trope i am looking at is cultural appropriation, the act of a dominant culture using aspects of another culture which usually perpetuate and reinforce stereotypes about that culture. This is a good article about the problems with cultural appropriation on Everyday Feminism.

When it comes to fashion photography magazines often reference African cultures under the umbrella term of 'tribal'. Vogue magazine has come under fire for editorials that show white models in face paint and graphic prints posing with African animals and Vogue Netherlands has been in trouble twice for using blackface, painting a white models skin darker for an editorial called 'African Queen'. This has trickled down into everyday fashion with bindis and henna being worn as fashion accessories and native American war bonnets being worn by hipsters at music festivals.

White model Lara Stone in French Vogue

Pharrell Williams in a war bonnet for Elle UK, Williams later apologized

Im looking at cultural appropriation because it ties into the idea of Scottish history being written by those who came across the ancient Scots, The Picts way of life being lost as they adopted the traditions of the Gaels and the way people view Scotland today. It reminds me of this quote by Alexander McQueen:

'Scotland for me is a harsh, cold and bitter place. It was even worse when my great, great grandfather used to live there. The reason I’m patriotic about Scotland is because I think it’s been dealt a really hard hand. It’s marketed the world over as . . . haggis . . . bagpipes. But no one ever puts anything back into it.'

Image from Rachel Maclean's I Heart Scotland, looking at stereotypes of Scotland in a fun, tongue in cheek way

My idea is to create a series of fashion images exploring the idea of Scotland and Scottish culture being popular with hipsters, how it would be boiled down to its most basic stereotypes and fashion items being used to represent an entire group of people. As annoying as the tartan, haggis and bagpipes stereotypes are i dont think they have quite the negative impact as blackface and acting like you can represent an entire continent with a 'look'. But i think using Scotland i can really over the top and discuss cultural appropriation (and at times blatant racism) in fashion editorials without having to use African countries or any 'exotic' eastern cultures as a prop. After all, another problem people have with hipsters and the fashion industry is their appropriation of the working class and obsession with poverty. There is an article about why the appropriation of working class culture is a bad thing here on Complex and why it isnt a bad thing here on Hypebeast. Poverty is a problem in Scotland and i want these images to represent that as well as the way the fashion industry is infatuated with glamourising that and misrepresenting cultures in the same way they miss the mark with domestic violence.