Visual Journal - Progress

 I have started to focus on whether porn has a consideration for compositional methods when taking photographs of women. This is an idea I got from the feedback session when looking at other peers work and presenting our own ideas. 

Line of sight seems to be a strong point when looking at different images. Some a lot stronger than others.

 However, I don't think the photographer has intentionally considered methods that could make the image look more appealing and draw attention to certain areas of the woman's body. 

This is probably because people who read the magazine don't analyse the images in so much depth but rather focus on objectifying the women.

The more minimal collages I have created seem to be the stronger throughout the visual journal so far. 

Although, this idea as a whole could be improved by using nude art work intertwined or on the next page of the journal with a similar pose to compare the images to support my idea.

 The idea of looking into how pornography has used composition in their photographs began to become a bit too similar when creating collages.

I began to dig deeper into how the focal point of the image can be altered to see where the viewer would focus. 

For this particular piece I moved every section of the photograph other than the chest which is often the most noticeable area of the female body. Especially, in porn magazines where sexist men are the main audience.

When creating the collages I began to wonder whether the photographer does actually consider the composition of the image as initially I didn't think that they would have bothered with the women being the main focus throughout the magazines.

It started to be more clear when the images were cut into sections of three (rule of thirds)  and the focal points tended to be central or run diagonally through the image.

Idea Change

As I continued focusing on compositional methods used in pornographic photographs the idea started to become draining and repetitive. 

So I moved on to focus more on how women's body parts are censored and seen as explicit. This piece is a strong idea because of the use of found patterns that almost resemble a common blurred out/pixelated pattern. 

This makes the focal point of the image the patterned area, making the viewer think about what's missing.

 This found piece of material is pure gold. Originally from something completely unrelated to this kind of content. Although, when it is placed over a woman's body it seems more appropriate. 

It relates to my research in how women are often seen as sex objects but there are limits to what can be seen and what must be covered. 

 Rather than censoring the 'explicit' parts of the woman I began to exaggerate the elements that are the main focus to the audience of these kinds of magazines. 

Almost like the viewer's perspectives on women. 

 I almost gave myself a similar mindset of the audience of this kind of magazine and began messing around with the women's bodies to see what makes them ideal as well as attractive. 

To create this piece I used the largest and most desirable assets on different women from the magazine to make the 'most ideal woman'.