Body: Tom Williams

 Model Choice

For my Portrait shoot I have chosen to photograph Tom Williams who is also a student at UCA that studies fashion design. I chose him because he has an interesting style and felt that his creative opinions and appearance could inspire me for this project. 

Interview with Tom:

I spoke to Tom to see if he was willing to be photographed and then arranged to meat up so that i could find out more about him. The first thing that i asked to was what inspires him and his style. He gave me this list of people that i could look at:

.Boy George

.Marilyn Monroe

.Lady Gaga

.Andy Warhol 

Edie Sedgwick

.David Bowie

.T-rex

.Grace Jones

.Thierry mugler

I have already looked at Andy Warhols drag self portraits but Tom has told me that it may benefit my project to watch some of his films that feature 'Candy'. The transexual actress starred in films such as 'Flesh' and 'Women in revolt'. Tom has a keen interest in Andy Warhol as he "loves what he stood for" and feels that "he changed art". When i asked Tom what his aspirations were and where he wished to eventually be he expressed his desire to be a fashion designer but also to work with art, animation, film etc. He hopes to be a creative designer and explore all areas as Warhol did.

I have decided to first look at Boy George and Lady Gaga as they both have very unique styles and I hope to be inspired by portraits of them for my own work. 

Boy George:

Boy George was a singer song writer who's career started in the 80's and was part of the group 'Culture Club' which lead to a solo career in the late 80's. Boy George is known for his unusual sense of style and experimentation with both his hair and make up. I have not managed to find who the photographer was for the image above but felt that it was an image that I wished to explore further.

Firstly I  would like to look the styling in the image. His make up is subtle but really enhances his features. If I decide to ask Tom to wear make up I will use it in this same way. Women use make up to enhance their best features and in some cases a sense of glamour. I feel that Boy George's make up is not 'drag' like but is part of his style that enhances his beauty. The image above really shows this he is shown to be in a casual position and not making eye contact with the camera re-enforces the fact that it is not a performance.

Boy Georges hair was also an important part of his look and I have noticed that tom also likes to experiment with his hair by braiding in extensions etc. Hair could be an interesting tool within my images because hair can be used to frame the face or show inspiration from specific era's in Toms case. I have spoke to him about how he likes to style his hair when going out and we have decided on a quiff as it is bold and will pull his hair off his face which I felt was important.

 

I love this photograph taken of Boy George in 1984 for the front cover of Cosmopolitan. This image is very different to the one above. He has been made up and photographed in a way the makes him look like a women. Aside from the obvious hair, make up and clothing, the body positions and photographic choices have added to this theme of femininity and beauty. The way that hand is positioned is very delicate but has been made a subtle feature by having the glove the same colour as his clothing. Also the use of the glove is clever as it covers his hands that would otherwise masculine and out of place. 

The back drop used is red which is interesting as I have not considered incorporating colour in this way. They have used red which in this case I think symbolic of passion and sex appeal. Although Boy george was I feel quite beautiful the choices made in this image very cleverly made a successful beauty shot of a man imitating a women which looks as radiant as the photographs that they would display on the cover that is of women.  

Lady Gaga:

Lady Gaga is known for her diversity and extreme style. This has made her a fashion icon and is therefore frequently photographed. I have decided to look at some images of her as she is an inspiration to Tom and i personally find her style very interesting. Hopefully the images can inspire my photographic choices or atleast my styling choices.

The image above was photographed by Mariano Vivanco. This was taken when Gaga had her cheek and forehead implants in. This caused her face to be very angular and has inspired the styling and photographic choices within the image. Many elements of the image have been made to angular such as her box fringe, bun, collar, eye and lip make up and most importantly her hand. I like the idea of the image being sort of themed. It is interesting how many of the choices made for the photograph seem to have been inspired by her new implants. The use of block colours is also another feature of the image that i like. Within my own shoot i could use colour to direct the eye to parts of Tom that i wish to draw more attention to. I could even achieve this in a way even if i do my portrait in black and white as dark lipstick for example would still be visible as it would be a noticeably darker shade.

Both of the images below and above were taken by Leslie Kee. I have chosen to look at these because they are from the same shoot so the styling and make up are the same but i wanted to look at how the photographic choice and direction has made the images so different. The most obvious difference is the the image above is in black and white. Although Gaga is wearing the same amount of extravagant accessories in both images i feel the they are made less distracting when photographed in black and white. By taking away the colour of the accessories more attention is brought to the face. This is something that i should keep in mind when shooting tom as it is likely that i am going to style him in a way that could distract from the face.

Secondly the hand positioning, although both having on hand on the face are very different. By having the hand gently resting on the face and having the finger graduating down Gaga looks much more delicate.Also the tilting of the head makes her look softer.In the image above her head is held upright and is framed by her hand holding her chin.This is an unnatural pose and does not create the softer, feminine look the the image below does.

The last thing that i wanted to look at was facial expression. In both images Gaga has her mouth open however different emotions are shown by subtle changes in her mouth. I the image above her mouth is open wider and this combined with the widening of the eyes makes her look surprised. In the image below her mouth is open slightly less and by placing her finger slightly on her lip and having her eyes more relaxed she looks more seductive. Subtle differences in expression will be very important when i am directing my shoot as the main focus will be the face and a slight change in expression could give the image a completely different meaning.

Edie sedgwick:

Edie Sedgwick would have been classed as what we now call an 'it girl' in the 60's. She was an American heiress and socialite that became best know for being one of Andy Warhols 'Superstars'. She became known as "the girl of the year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films. Tom loves the style of the 60's and Andy Warhol therefore an admiration for Sedgwick is easily understandable.