Thursday, 3 February 2011

1930s Fashion History


In the 1930s there was a return to a more genteel, ladylike appearance. Budding rounded busts and waistline curves were seen and hair became softer and prettier as hair perms improved. Foreheads which had been hidden by cloche hats were revealed and adorned with small plate shaped hats. Clothes were feminine, sweet and tidy by day with a return to real glamour at night. Right - Fashionable sleek day dress of 1936.


Until the 1930s wealthy women had not really needed to wear practical day clothes. Although styles had been designated day styles if they were impractical it had not really mattered as long as maids took care of chores. Now women had more productive and busier lives and simpler pared down clothes gave a freedom of movement women relished in daily life. More luxurious gowns were kept for evening. New fabrics like metallic lame were very popular at night and were made to shimmer even more richly by adding plastic sequins and glass beads.

Fashion of the 1930s was directly influenced by the great Wall Street Crash of October 24, 1929 and subsequent Depression. The Autumn, 1930 Sears Catalogue admonished, “Thrift is the spirit of the day. Reckless spending is a thing of the past.” The beginning of the decade saw women sewing more. Clothing was mended and patched before being replaced.


Fashion from the 1930s ... the 1930's is an interesting period, both stylistically and historically.... of course history, fashion and style are all integrally related. Generally fashions of the 1930s are thought of as glamorous and sensuous. This is the era of the big bands, dancing and night life. The dresses are long and elegant, evening gowns were often backless and importantly there develops a very distinct difference between daywear and evening wear.
Hollywood and the movies also begin to be very influential to the fashion industry as people wanted to wear the styles they had seen on the screen.






Monday, 10 January 2011

inspiration - Vivian Maier

I was in a lecture one morning and a friend mentioned a photographer of the name of Vivian Maier and told me to look her name up on youtube and so I did. I didn't know what to expect but was really shocked by what I seen. Vivian Maier was a nanny in New York but was born in Paris She loved photography and as soon as she had a chance she was out taking photographs. She used a Rolleicord camera which is a medium format camera to sheet with. I just found her work fascinating so much so I borrowed a medium format camera called a Seagull. I bought two black and white rolls of film and went out shooting. I love the detail in black and white and think shooting with a camera that Vivian Maier had was just a thrill and just wanted me to take photographs just as good as her. 


You can see the short clip of Vivian Maier on this link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEDOnBfDUI&feature=player_embedded



I find Vivian Maier's work out standing and really surprised that she hasn't been noticed before, for her work as it stands out. I feel Vivian Maier's work is just as good as photographers in Magnum photos such as photographers like Abbas, Robert Capa, and the rest of them. 


Here is some of Vivian Maier's work.







All the photographs shown was taken off google images.

Vivian Maier's work is great and to me this is what photography is all about. I look at her work and it makes me want to go back to the 1950 and onwards to produced work like that. 

Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Individual study research Nick knight


Photographer Nick Knight



Alexander McQueen
Devon, 1997

I really like Nick Knights work because of how unusual it is and its serial. This photograph above is a great photograph because it stands out with the pin going through the girls head and then you look at her eye and one is in a different colour. I also love the style of his work and how the fashion works with the hair. I think the crop makes this image stand out to even if it's not something I would do but it works really well with this photograph. 


Arena homme Plus
Beasting, Spring / Summer 2007

This shot I chosen I think is a great shot because of the three arms and then one torso. What also helps is the white background and then the dirty animal look they have going on. I really like the idea of this photograph because it reminds me of someone taped and is aggressive and i feel the photographer captured that emotion.




 Yohji Yamamoto
Susie Smoking, 1988

This is another great image because i love the colours in the back ground and how the lady is sort of relaxed but looks slightly depressed and the hole atmospheric look it gives. Again i think the crop is something that makes this image stand out and has made me think more about how i crop my photographs 

Research for individual study

Photographer -  Ralph Morse


Space Flight Helmet Research
1956
Gelatin Silver
by Ralph Morse
© Time Inc.

One of Ralph morse quotes :
"PHOTOGRAPHY IS MORE THAN ART. IN PHOTOJOURNALISM, IT'S KNOWLEDGE" Ralph Morse

Ralph Morse was in my eyes one of the most important photographers and has been to some of the best events during the 20th Century. Ralph Morse photographed some of the most widely seen pictures of World War II, the space program, and sports events. During his thirty years at LIFE Magazine, Morse covered every type of assignment from science to theatre, and he was the senior staff photographer at the time it ceased publication.



Jackie Robinson Rounds Third
Subway Series, New York 1955
Gelatin Silver
by Ralph Morse
© Time Inc.


Ralph Morse was the only civilian photographer photographing the surrender of the German armies for the entire world to see.
Ralph Morse Assigned to the space program during its infancy, he spent fifteen years using inventive photography to explain the astronauts and the space flights to LIFE's readers.


RADAR ECHOES ABSORBED IN ANACHOIC CHAMBER WITH ICBM MODEL
1968
Gelatin Silver
by Ralph Morse
© Time Inc.

Wednesday, 3 November 2010

My 8 chosen images. for photoj.

Thia boxing photographs taken on canon eos 40d 


This photograph is of my teacher who is just to the left of the photograph and he is kicking the kicking pad. 
This photograph was taken at 1/250 per second so his kicking is really fast and you can tell by the pads that the kicks are really powerful which I was after in this photograph and feel captured that. With Phil who is the person on the left I tried to catch his face impression he used when getting kicked up on.
I shot this at the thia boxing club in southport were I train and they have really helped me with this photojournalism project and when I have needed to take photographs they have arranged a time an day out of their schedule which I am really grateful for. After this shoot I come strait home and couldn't wait to edit the photographs and what I really like about this image is the texture and highlights. Also thought it's a lot better in black and white because you sort of get a feeling in the club that it's an old but also respected place and thats what I tried to capture in this photograph. 

All though I said I liked this photograph in black and white I do really like it in colour too as you can see the hard work that goes in to the kicks and also you can get more of a feeling of power so I thought I would also show you the same photograph I had taken but in colour. 

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Another photographer I have taken where I wanted to show the expression in the face. 


This image agin was taken at the club and here phil is kicking the pad for a certain time and it starts to hurt after a wile. I think in his case it was for 2minutes constantly kicking on his left leg. I really like this photograph as I have captured the face when he kicks the pad and also the detail and the lines in his face. When shown to kick and punch it the Thia boxing club you are shown to breath just before you make contact with the pad or punch bag and thats what I captured here. Just has he shouted or made a sound I had taken the photograph. The exposure time I chosen for this shot was 250 at f-stop of 5.6.
I chosen black and white because I think for the photojournalism project it would soot it down to the ground and also think it looks much better in black and white.

Here it is in colour


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With this photograph I wanted to show how powerful the kicks can be when used. This was taken when he was asked to kick consistently for 2minutes with his right leg and i do this but for only a minute and trust me it hurts. 




Muay Thia boxing Research

There are not that many records to the twentieth century Thai history. the Knowledge of Muay Thia boxing has been passed down as a tradition, because of this and because of how long the tradition has been going for makes this really difficult to be positive on the facts.  Muay Thia was originally for  peace and self-defence as in Thailand it has been an important thing for the thai people and for the Thai military. Thai soldiers have studied martial arts since the early years. Muay Thai earns kids and adults money for its competitors and fights and start to get learnt from 4 years of age. During the times between 1234 to1377. Muay Thai boxing became a means of art and self defence in many ways. The thia people started learning Muay Thia from 4 upwards and started fighting and entering in to competitions at the age of 6. 50 miles north of Bangkok is the ancient city of Ayuthaya and was once the great city of Thailand’s capital for over 500 years. Here a platoon of elite guards was formed to protect the king. Officers were highly skilled in Muay Thai boxing. As well as its continued use as a practical fighting technique Muay Thai became a sport where spectators went to watch for entertainment.



 The Ayuthaya are from the Art of Muay Kaad Chuek in Thia land aka Muay Thia. That is the use of unrefined hemp wrappings to protect the fingers and wrists. A length of around 20 metres was enough to bind hand. The use of Muay Kaad Chuek quickly spread, as a bound fist is tougher, stronger and better protected against injury than an unbound one. It is said that before a contest fighters immersed their fists in water. This would cause the binding to harden when it dried, making it capable of producing serious injury. Some people go further and claim that fighters dipped their hands in glue and ground glass. Such a contest would certainly have made a gory sight! To this day an annual Muay Kaad Chuek contest with Laos is held in Nong Khai near the NE border with Laos, on the Thai side of the Mekong River. A Muay Kaad Chuek contest with Burma is staged in the Mae Sot, western Thailand, during the Sonkran (Thai New Year) festivities (April 12-14). Boxers fight until knockout. If both competitors remain standing at the end of the bout a match is declared a draw.



This infomation is from http://www.horizonmuaythai.com/history.html#muay_thai_origins
i am looking for the history of muay thia because i want to understand what i am photographing and also to try and capture photographs that people can relate to.