Photo Shoot Concepts

Mood Board

Style ideas for Hostile photo shoot.

Hostile

Photo shoot mood-board

Hostility is a very diverse word with many ideas of shoots that come to mind when thinking about this word...

• Desserts
• War/Guns/Military/Combat/Army
• Woodland/Forest/Trees
• Crime/Conflict
• Kaki uniforms
• Oppressive atmosphere
• Places of extreme danger
• Hostile environments
• Dark and ruined places

Outfit and prop ideas...

• Military
• Combat
• Kaki
• Army gear
• Army boots
• Hat
• Guns
• Run down tanks

Ideas for places...

• Forest
• Dessert
• Dusting and muddy
• Dangerous/Run down buildings
• Secluded places

Thomas Czarnecki produced a series of photographs based on the story of a drama queen, lost in a dark and ruined place. He captures her not wanting to show her despair in the hostile world, but her eyes betray her.

The images below are really inspiring as they are the type of style and setting I am going for with this concept, a hostile derelict place. The contrast between a glamorous drama queen and the run down surroundings give a real sense of hostility with an antagonistic feel. These images are dark and the use of the colour red goes unnoticed naturally symbolising fear and uneasiness which is used throughout every images giving a strong response to the word. I plan to experiment in locations of derelict buildings and surroundings to achieve this antagonistic look, I will do this by researching potential locations and playing around with lighting techniques with the use of lighting boxes, outfit ideas and the overall look I wish to accomplish, it will be a very stylised scene with layers of concepts feeding through the photographs.     

I came across this series of fashion shoots set in the desert using photo frames, I thought this concept was very clever and effective. 

I like the shadows created in these photographs they show the contradiction with the square frames situated on rolling hills of sand. To create this effect myself certain lighting would be required from an angle to create the shadows, if I wanted to create a desert scene either a location on the beach where sand hills are on offer to create this sense of a hostile environment or a studio set up as a desert would give me the illusion. This location would be interested to experiment with but, I don't think this location would be possible to create this kind of effect that would give a real plausible portrayal.

Hostile

The concept of hostile includes military style outfits and the idea of washed out and run down denim/material and cutout swimsuits are my first initial ideas but these may change throughout the process of developing my ideas. 

Location Idea

The ideal location behind this shoot is a derelict ex-military base with huge concrete bunkers and vast exterior spaces, based in Greenham Common. This location would be perfect to portray the hostility factor as its secluded, dangerous and run down.

With all the images below I can just imagine the variety of photographs and poses that could be produced at this location. Its a perfect site for the look I am aiming to achieve.

Friendly

The opposite to hostile is friendly so this photo shoot concept would include both types of images that portray these two words as opposites, so hostile imagery and friendly imagery would come together to create one of the shoots, combining these two ideas together by exploring locations, style and how to portray this concept but not in an obvious way.

Below are two images that show that friendly aspect I will be trying to portray the meaning of friendliness...

• Companionable
• Loyal
• Familiar
• Sympathetic 

Separation

My next photo shoot concept is the opposing words separation and togetherness.

When I think about the word separation a few things come to mind...

• Separation of the body
• Separating two people
• Separating things/Objects

After thinking about a few ideas of my own I started doing some research and came across an amazing graphics, artist, photographer who produced a series of images using the idea of separation, his twist of sexuality and unconventional product integration brings his sculptural compositions to life. 

He has used accessories as the main focus, the female form serves as an almost arbitrary medium in the artistic display of high end goods, highlighting the individual design of products with the eye candy as a secondary focus. These playful experimental photographs walk the fine line between design, fashion, and art, the female body is sexualised and objectified. His advertising photography is truly exploratory, combining unexpected still life elements with fashion, styling and set design, objects come to life in his playful fashion stories. 

Below is his series of photographs that appeared in issue 11 of Tatler.

Bela Borsodi - Separation

The whole idea behind this photo shoot I think is brilliant.


A few words that come to mind when thinking about how else separation can be expressed...

• Disengagement
• Dissolution
• Estrangement
• Severance
• Division
• Segregation

Togetherness

Photo shoot Mood-board

The idea behind the photo shoot for togetherness is to portray togetherness between partners.

Togetherness refers to...

• Affection
• Intimacy
• Inseparableness
• Closeness 

Instead of thinking about togetherness as two people if I think outside the box and think of it as objects that are together such as jewellery, placing accessories over the body which brings us to the idea of Borsodi and his 'separation' shoot. The idea of placing objects together but in unusual ways, bringing things together and experimenting with placement.  

Below is a series of photographs from his 'heart of stone' collection that featured in issue 11 of Tatler magazine. These images are the perfect portrayal of what I mean when I talk about using objects as a way to portray separation and togetherness. I have this idea to use accessories and play around with placement of the accessories to create this idea of separate and together. 

  

SERENITY

Photo shoot mood-board

My next photo shoot concept is the opposing words serene and Chaos.

When thinking about the word serene words like...

• Calmness
• Composure
• Stillness
• Tranquility
• Placidity

...come to mind.

Ashley Holloway

Ashley Holloway's photography below really brings to life the idea of serenity and how to portray it. 

Driftwood

Soar

The water's calm embrace 

Below are two photographs from a magazine photo shoot which I admire. 

Chaos

Words that come to mind when thinking of this word are things like...

• Unrest
• Noise
• Fear
• Discomfort
• Disruption
• Disturbance 
• Panic 

A state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organisation or order.

Madame Peripetie

Madame Peripetie is an artist who takes her work to another level as she pushes the limitations between fashion, sculpture, and human anatomy. She plays around with various elements around fashion and photography sampling high street trends with art. Her work is very much focused on surrealist notions whilst focusing on the body and the interaction between these aforementioned elements. 

Madame Peripetie says...

"My world consists of many surreal and bazaar elements that keep coming back. I was never interested in depicting reality as it is - the escapism and interdisciplinary hybrid-thinking have always been fascinating to me. Saturated colours and dark spaces, fabulous costumes, uncanny characters, quirky stories and unexplainable ideas - these are the elements that keep hypnotising me whenever I plan a new photographic project. A tiny bit of mysteriousness and abstruseness is very important."  

I think her work is very interesting and experimental, all these elements she brings together is what makes her work so powerful and chaotic as there's a lot of elements put together in one image so a lot of messages can be interpreted from them, they make you stop and think which is an effect I want to achieve through my imagery. I love the make-up and styling explored throughout her work because its different and exciting.

Reflection

The forth photo shoot concept I'm thinking about doing is the opposite words Reflection and Disregard, these opposites I think will be very interesting to work on, the idea of reflection brings to mind words such as absorption, impression, mirror image and manifestation, all of which describe reflection in its bare form. When thinking about disregard words such as blank, colourless, dullness, subdued and washed out come to mind. 

This concept is still a working progress.