Research Log

Self-Identity

Charlotte Bracegirdle, New York 1932

This first image is by a photographer known as Charlotte Bracegirdle. It features a woman sitting in a chair holding a cigarette. The image has been edited to remove her head. On the blank background, there is a painting on the wall above the headless woman that features the missing portion of the woman in the picture.

Edward Honaker

This image was taken by Edward Honaker; a photographer that works in San Diego/Los Angeles. The image shows a black and white family portrait of 5 people and a pet. The centre male in the back of the image has his face scribbled out. This could mean a multitude of things; one of the connotations that it could be is that everyone in the picture know who they are and the male in the background doesn't. I could also connote that the audience don't know who the figure in the back of the image is.

Found on Pinterest

This photograph is from an unknown artist; it was found on Pinterest. The black and white image shows a woman's portrait. She hair is tied back and there are markings on her face - These markings have a semantic field of Makeup. The markings are almost like instructions. With the instructions on her face she looks as if she is a colouring book. This is an interesting connotation as the image is black and white, there is not colour at all which adds to the connotation of her face being represented as a colouring book. The colour that is used to fill in the colourless image is the makeup.

Marco Brambilla 2009

This next image was created by Marco Brambilla. It shows an etherial-like figure that has five faces all showing similar facial expressions that can translate into emotions. All of the emotions represented are those of a struggle and pain that people who are finding themselves as people have. It can also represent the frustration of the confusion that those who are struggling finding themselves face.

Gillian Wearing

This image by Wearing shows a female who's face us covered with a mask. The mask is dull in colour where as the rest of the image is vibrant. This composition makes the mask stand out to become the focus of the image. The mask is meant to represent another face - it covers up her actual face and may hide things that she isn't happy with. I believe that the mask is meant to represent the experimentation of being somebody else or something different to what you are. I believe Wearing is presenting this to show that people may not be comfortable in their bodies and wish to be someone or something else.

Found on Pinterest

This next image was found on Pinterest with no artist labeled. The image consists of 9 different people's portraits; their faces have been blurred out or covered though the use of editing. These images are very powerful because they hide the facial identity of the people within the images but their hair styles, accessories and clothing still create and identity for them. I believe this image was made to show that our faces are not the only thing that is linked to our identity, everything we are, do and have is who we actually are.

Found on Pinterest

This next image shows a mirror image of a female. There are two different sides that show two different emotions and feelings. Both sides feature words that this model has been labeled as by society. One side is black and white with makeup running down the models face and the other is in colour with the makeup perfectly on her face. The words of both hands however are all negative. This shows that no-matter who you are, you will get judged for being yourself.

Found on Pinterest

This next image is in black and white and shows a naked male standing in a blank room, posed. There are arms reaching into frame holding onto the model, one arm is covering his mouth. Eight of the arms are holding up images of female body parts against the top and bottom half of his body. These images replace the male genitalia with the female. This image has powerful connotations and I believe they are linked to the Transgender community. The male posed may feel like he was born in the wrong body represented by the images of the female. The hand covering his mouth may be a metaphor for society silencing him so that he cannot speak about his true identity and reveal who he really is. 

Found on Pinterest

This next image is very colorful and links to the fashion aspect of the project well. The image shows a male mode in a vintage dress with a bright, contrasting background; The model is holding a cigarette in his mouth also. I don't believe that this image has many strong connotations however is does show the theme of self-identity perfectly through fashion. 

Found on Google Images

This next image is very powerful. The image shows a male with a blurred face and is captioned "The unknown identity" The purpose of this image is to show that a face helps us identify who people are and that without a clear image of the person, it is difficult to see who they are. However, the hair and upper-body of the model is not blurred and we can see that it is a male within the image.

Found on Pinterest

This next image is very bright. The image shows what seems to be a female looking through a geometric window. The window reveals most of the face of the model but also hides some of it; what is revealed shows that the face is wearing makeup. The image itself seems fashion-esque and looks like an advert or like it should be in a magazine. 

Found on Pinterest

This next image is stylized in the form of a magazine and is a very powerful image that represents the beauty world. The image is of a barbie doll with surgical lines drawn onto her face and injections being put into her face also. There is a quote written on the image in the style of magazine headlines, it reads: "Beauty. Slightly mutilating the natural state of your body in order to be deemed acceptable" This is a very important message to self-identity and just in general. This links to self-identity as it could be saying that by adhering to what is the social norm, you are not being yourself or what you want to be; you are being what others want you to be. 

Found on Pinterest

This image is of a female holding an image of a barbie doll's face up against her own. The is concealing her own identity that may not be deemed perfect by society with a 'perfect' facial model. This image is not only expressing identity within the girl and how she may be feeling, but also tackling an issue within the media. The issue is that there is an underlining pressure in the media to fit into a certain category of beauty and if you don't fit in that category then you are not beautiful - This is false. 

Found on Google Images

This image shows, simply, two males kissing. This image may be simple but the message it is conveying is very meaningful. They are showing their pride of their self-identity but expressing affection in a public manor - using the media to portray this is very smart as the message can be sent world wide in an instant.

Found on Pinterest

The final image shown is of a mirrored mosaic wall with a photographer taking a picture in the reflection. The photographer is taking a picture of himself in a broken mirror and from this a lot of connotations could be assumed. One of these connotations could be that as the photographer looks at his reflection, all he sees is broken fragments of himself. This could further connote that the person is broken, possibly from a personal issue.