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Mar. 7th, 2002 10:27 amSEE-IT 3.0.1, AKA "my baby", gets released to manufacturing at noon tomorrow.
Mar. 7th, 2002
Listen here, people.
Mar. 7th, 2002 03:24 pmI've been watching the Seattle goth/fetish photography and modeling scene from a distance (and largely a ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
01flux-mediated one) since last July or August sometime. And there are some things about it that strike me as peculiar, and perhaps more than a bit worrisome, psychologically.
Before I begin, I want to admit that I know nothing about modelling or fashion culture, the way things are done or the way people behave within it. It's only slightly better known to me than the game mechanics of American football. So this is a strictly outside, layman's perspective.
That being said, this all strikes me as excessively narcissistic and self-congratulatory.
Here is the pattern that I have seen: The local photographers schedule photoshoots. The same herd of models goes to each one, where pictures are taken (for free -- the models are not being paid, or vice versa). The photoshoot takes place. The models and photographers post the pictures to their LiveJournals, allowing everyone too ooh and aah about the beauty of the model and the skill of the photographer. The models and the photographer pat themselves on the back and feed their self-confidence while drinking in the admiring noises of the herd. They stare at the pretty pictures of themselves and, for a while, feel like they are the beautiful people, before eventually degenerating into another round of the depressed end of the cycle of obsession with body-image. Until the next photo shoot comes around, and the same thing happens again.
Doesn't the above pattern strike you as a little bit fucked up? A little bit stuck? Isn't it just a little bit creepy to have photographs taken of you constantly and then keep going back to them, worrying at them like little sores on the roof of your mouth?
When was the last time you actually did a photoshoot with a purpose? Sought a new audience, outside the comfortable circles of LJ and the local net.goth scene? Even, Gods forbid, actually sold a picture?
Isn't it time to try something new?
I've been reading a lot of nastiness about this photographer Kattaryna, who apparently upset a lot of people with the way she conducted her shoot. I think she did a good thing. Based on what I have heard, I think she tried to break the pattern, and people are getting upset about that. She didn't go out of her way to pander to the models, at least beyond the ones that held her interest the most. There wasn't anything warm or comfortable about it. There was a shuddering realism to it, in fact.
I realize that there aren't very many members of the local modelling/photography scene reading my journal -- I think Josie, Eliza, Rayce and Steph are the sum total. But this is something to ponder. I hope you guys will direct other models and photographers at this entry. I'm curious to see what they think.
01flux-mediated one) since last July or August sometime. And there are some things about it that strike me as peculiar, and perhaps more than a bit worrisome, psychologically.Before I begin, I want to admit that I know nothing about modelling or fashion culture, the way things are done or the way people behave within it. It's only slightly better known to me than the game mechanics of American football. So this is a strictly outside, layman's perspective.
That being said, this all strikes me as excessively narcissistic and self-congratulatory.
Here is the pattern that I have seen: The local photographers schedule photoshoots. The same herd of models goes to each one, where pictures are taken (for free -- the models are not being paid, or vice versa). The photoshoot takes place. The models and photographers post the pictures to their LiveJournals, allowing everyone too ooh and aah about the beauty of the model and the skill of the photographer. The models and the photographer pat themselves on the back and feed their self-confidence while drinking in the admiring noises of the herd. They stare at the pretty pictures of themselves and, for a while, feel like they are the beautiful people, before eventually degenerating into another round of the depressed end of the cycle of obsession with body-image. Until the next photo shoot comes around, and the same thing happens again.
Doesn't the above pattern strike you as a little bit fucked up? A little bit stuck? Isn't it just a little bit creepy to have photographs taken of you constantly and then keep going back to them, worrying at them like little sores on the roof of your mouth?
When was the last time you actually did a photoshoot with a purpose? Sought a new audience, outside the comfortable circles of LJ and the local net.goth scene? Even, Gods forbid, actually sold a picture?
Isn't it time to try something new?
I've been reading a lot of nastiness about this photographer Kattaryna, who apparently upset a lot of people with the way she conducted her shoot. I think she did a good thing. Based on what I have heard, I think she tried to break the pattern, and people are getting upset about that. She didn't go out of her way to pander to the models, at least beyond the ones that held her interest the most. There wasn't anything warm or comfortable about it. There was a shuddering realism to it, in fact.
I realize that there aren't very many members of the local modelling/photography scene reading my journal -- I think Josie, Eliza, Rayce and Steph are the sum total. But this is something to ponder. I hope you guys will direct other models and photographers at this entry. I'm curious to see what they think.