Secret

Emily

Fiona

Mum

Every woman has a secret, whether it be as small as a naughty habit, or as big as a sordid affair. These secrets are always kept close to a woman’s heart only to be shared by their closest of friends.

My photographic project shows three women releasing their secrets upon the world, as they open up to me through a series of photographic prints. In doing so my work attempts to examine the facial movements and expressions that come while they are telling me their darkest secret.

My inspiration to record facial movement came from a sequence of images “Bonjour Madame” by Demeny G (1891). His photographs were a learning aid for deaf mute students who would examine and copy the mouth positions and so reproduce the sounds that are photographed. The subject was saying the words “Bonjour Madame.”

I have chosen to portray three women, who all have a special relationship to me, telling me their secrets while their facial movements are recorded. The familiarity I have with my subjects allows them to trust me, lay faith in me and let me get close enough to capture every movement of their face while they open up to me.

Faces Posters

These are the posters I made for Exhibition A.

Faces

To a woman, the daily routine of putting their make up on in the morning is very personal, whether it is to cover up blemishes, enhancing ones features by adding colour to their cheeks or to put on a façade to hide behind.

My photographic project explores the morning ritual of three women, as they routinely apply their make up in preparation for the day ahead. In doing so, my work attempts to examine women’s position in contemporary western society, addressing such issues as equality, perception and self-expression.

The performative characteristics of applying ones make up was originally inspired by the film Dangerous Liaisons (1988), directed by Stephen Frears. Set in 18^th century Baroque France, the films narrative centres on a game of conquest and seduction, mediated by the central protagonist Marquise de Merteuil as played by the Hollywood actress Glenn Close. Underpinning the story is the opening and closing scenes of the film as one first sees Merteuil delightfully being made up by her servants, ready to rule the day. Her insecurity is exposed at the end of the film, as she is seen wiping off her make up. Significantly, it is unclear whether the real Merteuil is the one fully made up, or the one made bare and unprotected.

I have chosen to portray the morning rituals of three women I am closely related to.  The familiarity I have with my subjects allowed me to situate my camera within close proximity to them, allowing the medium to focus on every detail of my subject’s expressions and facial contortions as they prepare themselves for their day ahead.

Summer Antics

Flowers

Night Sky

Footprints in the Sand

Summer Breeze

These are final images from my summer project I did between year one and two at University.

The Red Shoes

Enslavement

"Cinderelle, Cinderelle"

Neglect

I Shall go to the Ball

The Clock Strikes Twelve

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

The Slipper Fits

Queen of the Castle

This is work I did as part of a self directed project for my first year studies. I called it 'A Modern Day Cinderella Story' as the images are meant to represent the fairytale story of Cinderella. I wanted a disconnection between what I was shooting, the theme and the surroundings to make the images shock and mesmerise the viewer.

Male

Set One

Set Two

                                                

Set Three

Set Four

These images are from my first year at University when we created images to put together to make a book. I chose to make a sequence of images to show a mans morning routine. The man I chose was my boyfriend of four years so he was comfortable with me and found it easy to relax around me to create these sequences of images.

Signs of Times Past

These images are from a set I created in my first year at University. The idea of the project was to visit a place that is stuck in a different time frame and capture the signs of the past that it still posses. I was very proud of these images as when I studied photograph at College I only studied digital photography so as a first attempt at the dark room process I would say they worked out quite well.