When planning for my final outcome, I wanted to express my interests in street fashion and how it can inform the audience on the personality, identity and childhood upbringing of an individual. The theme for this project and my final outcome was inspired by my desire to learn more about fashion communication and ways in which clothes, accessories, textures, colours and brands of clothings can speak to the audience. For my final piece, I toyed around with a few ideas that would present this theme adequately, from 3D making of clothes using photographs and cardboard to wall hangings of my images printed onto fabric like a washing line. Eventually I settled with the concept of reflecting one of my friends' identity in an open plan window shop which I would build using a cupboard, paint, collaging, fabric, typography and my photographs of the model’s clothes. This idea allows the audience to physically interact with the hung clothes and the window shop itself. This concept initially aspired from my own interaction with large window shops in London which are dramatically designed in a way to attract its consumers. I replicated this through including collaging onto the floor part of the window shop as well as including fabric onto the back and spray painted words onto the top which described the model’s style of clothes. The model is someone who is very loud, artistic, outgoing and quirky in her style of clothes, which is what I was trying to illustrate through the busy use of collaging on the flooring of the window shop. The use of typography, collaging and a small paragraph written by the model about herself further helps the audience to build up an imagination in their heads on the model and her style of fashion and what this says about her identity. In addition, the large fabric in the background was chosen due to its close resemblance to the same patterns from the inside of a jacket photographed in this shoot. What drew me towards this pattern was the way in which it was hidden within the sage green/grey jacket, but could only be seen once the model opened up her coat. Moreover, the window shop also represents the idea that on the outside the model can be misinterpreted for her block/plain coloured outfits but, there are elements to the model and her clothes that we miss.

Within this personal project I have focused on the false reality of consumerism and how advertising in photography has evolved within the century to become more of a manipulative feature of brands to sell their products to consumers. I really wanted to develop an insight into what works well when advertising products and the features of photos that work well. Marketing agents are able to use advertising to form a visual interpretation of the product which makes it easier to reach public attention and I wanted to dive into the side of advertising that is often dismissed. Within my shoots my main experiments were colour and the impact of colour within a photo and within a product. I mainly focused on the subject of makeup and within the beauty industry as I felt it was an area that is stereotypically subjected to bright and colourful media. I feel that colour can really change the entire product and image to make it more appealing to the public eye as scientifically we are drawn to colour and my final piece reflected on how colour can make that sort of impact. I used colour religiously throughout my entire final piece to enhance the theme of colour and how I chose to place the outcome was so it would feel as if you were emerged in the experience, I decided to place it at eye level with the intention of it feeling natural so you did not have to struggle with trying to look, as it it was just there, just like how advertising just appears in your view. I wanted the individual to be submerged in the experience, so when you look through the box it almost seems an illusion and you are constantly being exposed to the product and colour when your looking in.

During a trip to Uganda last year, I saw many families living in poverty which provoked strong emotions in me and challenged my perception of food. I realised how much Ugandan people value and celebrate food in a way that British people do not. We take it for granted. Through my personal study, I wanted to explore how photographers can change our perception of food from mundane and boring to beautiful and impressive by the techniques, composition and styling that they use. I investigated capturing movement to make food look exciting, dynamic and fun and I used macro photography to highlight the fascinating structures and textures of food. I also experimented with colour contrast to make food look more vibrant and explored compositions that direct the movement of the viewer’s eyes, making the image more powerful.

For my final shoot, I produced a range of macro photographs of oranges showcasing the impressive variety of shapes and textures that can be seen in a single fruit depending on how it is peeled and cut. I hung a selection of these photographs in a spiral installation for my final piece, using a hoop from which to hang them. I sprayed the hoop black and used black thread so as not to detract attention from the oranges. I used matte printing stock to avoid distorting the photographs with reflections and I added gold coloured frames to evoke the high value and status of an art gallery. Using hanging images suggests freedom, reflecting breaking away from the normal view of oranges in a domestic setting.

My overall vision for my final piece was to create an installation through which the viewer could appreciate the beauty and significance of oranges by connecting physically with the movement, shape and structure showcased in my photographs. I achieved this by mimicking the spiral composition of many of my photographs, through hanging them in a spiral shape. I created a circular installation to be hung from the ceiling in a relatively compact space. The viewer could then walk around the outside, their eyes guided by the spiral positioning of the photographs. Double sided images meant that the viewer could see them twice, from both front and back, making double the impact. To give the illusion of depth and perspective, I displayed my images in three different sizes, getting smaller as the spiral moved upwards. The installation presents oranges as dynamic, engaging and considerably more beautiful than their everyday fruit bowl image.