Prompt 2 - Photo shoot Portraying Designers Initial Felt Emotion - 1205

As a group we had to determine an emotion or feeling that can relate to our assigned designer's work. The aim was to create 5-6 photographic images to represent the work in relation to this chosen emotion or feeling. .

(Authors Own Moodboard - iImages Google)

To begin with, as a group, we came up with a bunch of words we instantly thought of when looking at Paula Gerbase' work. The general consensus was that the monochrome tones and simple photography used to promote her collections, gave it a melancholic feel. We also came to an agreement that the collection wasn't particularly sad or depressing but it was calm and comforting with a sombre approach. We considered most of the initial words, trying to criticise each one constructively until we found the perfect medium between comfort, relaxing, solemn, quiet etc… The outcome was the word Tranquility...

We conducted a photo shoot soon after we agreed on an emotion/feeling. We took inspiration from different imagery, looking closely at interiors, photo shoots and textiles. We each brought images we thought related and created a mood board that would help direct us in the studio. To make sure the shoot represented 1205's aesthetic we went on a shopping trip to Westfield and purchased clothes (to return) that would demonstrate this. We made sure each person in our group had a part to play in the final outcome. Whilst everyone had a go at taking some shots, we decided that it would be more efficient to give everyone individual roles too:

• Guy too responsibility of lighting and mood 
• Yoon helped with makeup, Hair and photography
• Anushka took charge of photography and location
• Seunghee and I styled the outfits and modelled 

Prior  to the photo shoot I visited luxury heritage fashion retailer Browns on South Molten street to see 1205's collection. I thought it would really help me to get a feel for the brand and experience the garments. I tried some of the items on so I could analyse quality, fit and style. The visit was really helpful and insightful, the clothes are a very modern and organic twist on tailoring and they are beautifully crafted using unusual materials. Visiting the store has inspired me to create a shoot on location with new garments. I have recently ordered some clothes on the online store Asos so that I can create this experimental shoot i have in mind

I think the majority of our images strongly related to Gerbase' work, but we had to narrow 380 images down to 5 to meet the brief criteria. Everyone chose 5 images out of the 380 taken and edited them to their own personal standard. We shared the images and deliberated as a team what worked well together as a series. To our advantage most of us had similar ideas so it wasn't difficult to decide. To the right were some of the images I edited myself, I decided that maybe the monochrome outcome would be too obvious. Instead I experimented with creating a sense of tranquility though blue tones whilst sticking to the theme and aesthetic of 1205.

It was difficult being in front of the camera rather that behind it where I am more comfortable, but to our groups advantage I knew the desired appearance of the shoot. Knowing exactly what we required made it slightly easier to define poses and necessary props / lighting. Something else I found difficult was not being able to have my creative input on the framing of some shots. Overall I think the images we have presented as our finals represent the Designer and the word perfectly.

Final Images:

(Authors Own Editing, Styling & Photography of image 1&3)