So I have been thinking about my photographic style quite a lot recently...after completing my Renaissance inspired series 'All is Vanity' in addition to an editorial shoot for Fashion Insider magazine I have been carefully plotting my next moves. What should I do next, what should I focus on first? So many questions...Should I continue to explore with the aid of my cinematic tungsten lighting or follow the footsteps of the 'flash trend'?! Go for more edgy themes or continue on my search for artistic, elegent perfection?
After much pondering and brainstorming future shoots (and trust me my mind is blown over with ideas at the moment!) I have set a few future goals for the next few months and roughly visualised how I see my style progressing... Magazines and creatives have contacted me for collaboration because they like my painterly and refined style..why should I be thinking about taking a different direction entirely?
I understand that every photographer needs to be versatile and adaptable which I certainly have hoped to do (my Brick Lane editorial shoot soon coming to a computer screen/ potential magazine near you!) but my continued love for art and painting hasn't yet been fed and I believe it will continue to be explored in my work for many years to come.
My friend of my fabulous Aunty Wendy recently compared my work to Alma-Tadema, a Dutch 'Pre-Raphaelite' painter often exploring the female form through his artistic eye. Of course I could never take full credit for this similarity in my work as it is also extremely reliant on the location, styling, models etc however would like to think that I was aiming for a similar aesthetic before the shoot and had achieved what I was looking for.
I find it amazing how even though I wasn't aware of Alma-Tadema's work, the stylistic composition appears to directly reference elements of his work. Perhaps I have seen one of his paintings yet subconsciously stored it in the back of my mind?!
On another level, I strongly believe that we haven't necessarily progressed in art as such, as we are constantly approaching it in a flux; a cycle of ideals often appearing to take one step forward whilst another approach may appear to take hundreds of steps (or years) back!
All I am aware of is that art is driven by this constant search for perfection, specifically, that which searches for the 'ideal' woman- whoever she may be. What I find particularly fascinating is that she is never fully attainable (and to some extent we are aware of this) yet our hunger and human instinct for beauty and perfection is here to stay. Everyone has different opinions of beauty so we are never going to be able to accept one symbol of perfection.
Perhaps an element of what leads my subconscious search for female perfection is that I am personally aware of the pressures which we face in such an industry filled with so many unattainable ideals? Whether or not it is apparent (or even, obvious) that my images are from a feminine perspective in comparison to the traditional voyeuristic eye of the male artist (such as Alma-Tadema) and furthermore what difference this may make.. I do not know.
So to end this slightly long, essay like post, I come to the conclusion that I should perhaps follow the path which is right there in front of me. Be conscious of where I aim to be yet also allow my 'subconcious' influence me throughout my work and decision making- after all isn't this what us creatives like to believe...that our concepts come from 'the soul'?!
........
Christ, why don't I just go out and get pissed like a normal 20 year old??!
