Concept - sketches for test shoot 2

• Image projected onto body (or added later in photoshop?).  Orange light from projector over whole scene.  Possible use of studio gel lights to enhance the colour.  (Different coloured light will be used in each photograph to reflect the Bloomberg colour palette).

• Word projected onto body or painted onto body (or added later in photoshop?).  Blue light from projector over whole scene.  Possible use of studio gel lights to enhance the colour. 

Body painted with background colour and the image/word.  Studio background left plain white and neutral studio lights used so that only the body is coloured not the whole scene. 

Bloomberg colour palette

Concept - Test shots 1

A very rough and ready shoot by AnnMarie and Ruth, with help from Andy, to try out the concept of projecting an image onto someone's back.  Andy drew the USA on a slide and coloured the background blue.  This was projected against a white wall and onto the model's back. 

This quixk test highlighted some of the practical issues with setting this up such as:

• getting the imnage the right size
• positioning the image correctly so it fits onto the back (and how this needs to be adjusted for different models)
• getting the lighting right using just the projected light so that the image stands out clearly
• getting the coloured light to spread wide enough to cover the whole frame
• need to use a long lens so that the photographer can work from behind the projector etc

              

                     

                                          

 

Chelsea does art!! Ideas for photoshoot

Six individual head and shoulder shots - one representing each continent - each holding a peice of technology - plus a group shot - Bloomberg related words or phrases (tbc) to be added to the image:

OR as above but full body shots - no technology (?) - adopting a pose that refelects the words/phrases: 

Research - body 'paint' in contemporary advertising

Haagan Dazs

Ariel

Young Designers Emporium

 

Coca-Cola

Source: No-Copy Advertising by Lazar Dzamic

Body paint by John Vargas:

http://thevargas.com/

Minutes from 22nd November 2010

African Tribal People

As in Africa there are many different tribes, with different beliefs and history, I chose to concentrate on the largest one, the Zulu tribe.

ZULU

The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets as well as other small carvings. 

The Zulu believe that they are descendents from a chief from the Congo area, and in the 16th century migrated south picking up many of the traditions and customs of the San who also inhabited this South African area. During the 17th and 18th centuries many of the most powerful chiefs made treaties and gave control of the Zulu villages to the British. This caused much conflict because the Zulu had strong patriarchal village government systems so they fought against the British but couldn't win because of the small strength they possessed. Finally, after much of the Zulu area had been given to the British the Zulu people decided as a whole that they didn't want to be under British rule and in 1879 war erupted between the British and the Zulu. Though the Zulu succeeded at first they were in 6 months conquered by the British who exiled the Zulu Kings and divided up the Zulu kingdom. In 1906 another Zulu uprising was lead and the Zulu continue to try to gain back what they consider to be their ancient kingdom. 

The Zulu believe in a creator god known as Nkulunkulu, but this god does not interact with humans and has no interest in everyday life. Therefore, most Zulus interact on a day to day level with the spirits. In order to interact with the spirits the Zulu must use divination to interact with the ancestors. All misfortune is a result of a evil sorcery or offended spirits, nothing just happens because of natural causes. 

The Zulu are practically divided in half with about 50% living in cities and engaging in domestic work and another 50% working on farms. 

Australian aborigiones

The original inhabitants of the continent of Australia took up residence there at least 40,000 years before Europeans landed at Botany Bay in 1788. In 1788, the Aborigines were clearly the majority, numbering around 300,000. In the late 1990s, they were a minority struggling to claim rights to their traditional lands. They also seek money for lost lands and resources. Relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia have not been very good. There is a great deal of resentment on the part of many Aboriginal people for the treatment their ancestors received from the European colonists. Australian Aborigines face many of the same problems that Native Americans face in the United States.

Australian Aborigines traditionally lived throughout Australia and on the island of Tasmania. In the Central and Western Desert regions of Australia, Aboriginal groups were nomadic hunters and gatherers. They had no permanent place of residence, although they did have territories and ate whatever they could either catch, kill, or dig out of the ground. In the southern parts of the island continent, winter is cold and Aboriginal populations had to shelter themselves from the cold wind and driving rain.

In some Aboriginal societies, there were both male and female rituals that marked the passage from childhood to adulthood.

Death in Aboriginal Australian societies was accompanied by complex rituals. Among the Walpiri of central Australia, a wife would have to isolate herself from the rest of the community upon the death of her husband. She would live in a "widows' camp" for a period of one to two years. During that time she would communicate through a system of sign language. She was not permitted to speak during this period. If a woman chose not to follow these traditions, her husband's ghost could steal her soul, which would lead to her death.

Australian Aborigines were one of the only groups of people in the world not to wear any type of clothing. Both men and women went naked. Today, of course, things have changed considerably and Aboriginals dress the same as Australians.

Allegory - Metaphor - Analogy

Metaphor:

–noun

1.a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our god.” Compare mixed metaphor, simile ( def. 1 ) .

2. something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.

The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like  or as : “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.” Metaphors are common in literature and expansive speech. ( Compare simile.) 

Allegory:

–noun, plural -ries.

1.a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.

2.a symbolical narrative: the allegory of  Piers Plowman.

A story that has a deeper or more general meaning in addition to its surface meaning. Allegories are composed of several symbols or metaphors. For example, in The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, the character named Christian struggles to escape from a bog or swamp. The story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. The “bog” is a metaphor or symbol of life's hardships and distractions. Similarly, when Christian loses a heavy pack that he has been carrying on his back, this symbolizes his freedom from the weight of sin that he has been carrying.

Analogy:

–noun, plural -gies.

1.a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: the analogy between the heart and a pump.

2.similarity or comparability: I see no analogy between your problem and mine.

3.Biology . an analogous relationship.

4.Linguistics .

a.the process by which words or phrases are created or re-formed according to existing patterns in the language, as when shoon  was re-formed as shoes,  when -ize  is added to nouns like winter  to form verbs, or when a child says foots  for feet.

b.a form resulting from such a process.

5.Logic . a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certain respect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects.

 
A comparison of two different things that are alike in some way ( see metaphor and simile). An analogy attributed to Samuel Johnson is: “Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.”

Research - Use of ethnic images in advertising

"The funny thing about living in a post-racial society is that no one can agree on what’s racist. So for your debating pleasure, we ask: Is It Racist If… "

http://isitracistif.com/

Advert for Allied Media Corp:

In a country known for its ethnic and cultural diversity, Australian advertising promotes the idea of a “white” Australia and often stereotypes ethnic characters in advertisements.

See http://neovox.journalismaustralia.com/australian_advertisements_aea.php

There seems to be no problem in using tribal and ethnic influences in fashion - Adverts for ethnic fashion:

Image from Indoor Media

HSBC reflects differences in local customs and culture without resorting to ethnic images:

South America Research

Another place we wanted to research into was South America styles, and i found this website which shows  traditional styles of South American Countries 


http://www.frencheuropean.com/Rare%20Prints/Costumes%20of%20South%20America.htm

Indigenous Peoples are a significant and important portion of humanity. Their heritage, their ways of life, their stewardship of this planet, and their cosmological insights are an invaluable treasure house for us all.

The word Indigenous has many meanings. In every region of the world, many different cultural groups live together and interact, but not all of these groups are considered indigenous or inherent to their particular geographic area. In fact, it is only in the face of a collective or shared sense of identity that the term indigenous peoples has been internationally recognized.

Indigenous Peoples live in every region of the world. They live in climates ranging from Arctic cold to Amazon heat, and often claim a deep connection to their lands and natural environments. For many indigenous peoples, the natural world is a valued source of food, health, spirituality and identity. Land is both a critical resource that sustains life and a major cause of struggle and even death.

Each indigenous culture is distinct and unique. While many peoples may express similar worldviews and a common indigenous identity, their cultures are nonetheless based on different histories, environments, and creative spirits.

Source: http://www.indigenouspeople.net/sidemenu.html

Indigenous population in Peru make up around 30% Native Peruvian traditions and customs have shaped the way Peruvians live and see themselves today. Cultural citizenship—or what Renato Rosaldo has called, "the right to be different and to belong, in a democratic, participatory sense" (1996:243)—is not yet very well developed in Peru. This is perhaps no more apparent than in the country's Amazonian regions where indigenous societies continue to struggle against state-sponsored economic abuses, cultural discrimination, and pervasive violence.

^{The Amerindians make up 0.4% of Brazil's population, or about 700,000 people. Indigenous peoples are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in Indian reservations in the North and Centre-Western part of the country. On 18 January 2007,FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes.}

Indigenous peoples of South America traditionally use annatto,huito, or wet charcoal to decorate their faces and bodies. Huito is semi-permanent, and it generally takes weeks for this black dye to fade.




These are some examples of body painting in South American countries, mainly Brazil and Peru. 

What do we want our images to capture?

Asia Research - Geisha

This is research about Japenese Geisha's as this is one of the styles we are thinking about re-creating to represent Asia as it is one of the most recognisable traditions. 

History of Geisha

Geisha have their roots in female entertainers such as the Saburuko of the 7th century and the Shirabyoshi, who emerged around the early 13th century. They would perform for the nobility and some even became concubines to the emperor. It was in the late 16th century that the first walled-in pleasure quarters were built in Japan. Like so many aspects of Japanese culture, they were modelled after those of Ming Dynasty China. After they were relocated in the mid-1600s, they became known as Shimabara (after a fortress in Kyushu).


The earliest geiko were men, while the first females, who appeared shortly after, were odoriko (dancers) or played the shamisen. Female geisha soon became popular enough to be able to steal clients from the courtesans, and in the case of Yoshiwara it was decided to start a kenban, or registration system, to keep them under control and force them to pay taxes. It strictly controlled their dress, behaviour and movements and was considered so successful that it quickly became the norm at hanamichi across Japan.


These strict rules in fact allowed the geisha to flourish as artists and entertainers. Though more simply dressed than the courtesans, they became regarded as fashion leaders. But many aspects of the lifestyle itself were less glamorous. Young girls were sold into the geisha life by their families until the mid-20th century and were often subject to the ritual of 'mizu-age,' whereby their virginity was sold to the highest bidder. Such practices were eradicated after World War II and the geisha profession went into a steady decline. Today, if geisha are hired to entertain at a private party outside the upper eschelons of society, they are most likely to be seasoned veterans, more akin to your favorite aunt or even grandmother than the girl next door.


Source: http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/geisha.shtml

These are some examples I found of Geisha styles: