When observing Tank magazine it was evident the main aspect of descriptive content was mainly interviews and reviews of issues by creative writers, as well as artist statements. To follow suit with the holistic design approach to position Kristina's Tank as the real thing, I decided to practice my interviewing skills in preparation for visiting Kate Allsop in London, and interview Kristina for a feature within Tank Magazine. This experience was extremely beneficial and made me realise the importance of pre-prepared questions when interviewing, something I will keep in mind for future interviews.
_________________________________________
JL: Hello, today I am talking to aspiring photographer Kristina Sergeeva whose work is featured in this magazine. Titled I am a cliché Kristina’s work focuses on the differences in culture and appearance that she has encountered after moving to the United Kingdom from Dubai. Can you explain a bit more about your concept?
KS: Hi, yes of course. Basically since I moved from Dubai to the U.K I have noticed a trend of what the young women wear here. It is not a bad thing, it is just an observation that I had. Certain trends such as denim, Adidas, Nike, and leather are a few examples that I saw being worn by the vast majority of people. I found it interesting to explore this idea, because since moving here, you know I went and bought myself a denim jacket, Adidas originals and hoop earrings. It shows how fast these trends are spreading and in a way, over time they have become overused. Therefore, Cliché.
JL: We are talking about what it was like moving from Dubai to Britain it must have been a bit of a culture shock, but what did you think was the hardest part for you about every day culture and fashion life?
KS: The culture in Dubai is very different from the culture in the U.K. In Dubai we are not allowed to show our shoulders, or knees, covering up is respectful. Obviously I was living in their country I had to obey their laws. That was something that is obviously different here, especially on nights out, when I would see girls wear short skirts and tank tops, I would think in my head, ‘oh gosh, she needs to cover up!’ it’s kind of like, you are not allowed to do that, but in fact you are, I was in England now, I had to accept that that was totally okay.
JL: No, I totally understand, it’s almost like this project for you is a kind of understanding project. Now it’s about understanding the culture here and accepting it. I can imagine that some foreigners have not accepted British culture as well as you have.
KS: Yes 100% having lived here for one and a half years, that type of thing is now acceptable to me. I understand and accept the fashion here and I am genuinely inspired by it. You know I still have my views and the way I was brought up from the beginning, like I would never wear short clothes because that part of my Dubai culture will always be with me. I do not mind the culture here and I don’t see it in a negative way, it is just something that I have been able to identify. A lot of the girls here probably don’t see it as a cliché in fact, because they wouldn’t as they have never properly been exposed to a different culture before.
JL: That is quite an interesting observation. What made you choose the cover image?
KS: After looking at past Tank Magazines, I noticed some key features that most magazines include within their cover photographs. For example in a lot of the issues, the model is looking directly in the camera, and I personally think that is important because it makes her appear more powerful, confident and presents a fierce look. This presents a direct and explicit connection between the viewer and the subject. The cover image say’s a lot about the magazine and can either make the buyer want to purchase it, or not. Eloise York is wearing her leotard body suit and denim which I think is an outfit that a lot of young women wear today accompanied with hair extensions and fake eyelashes. Having a strong stance and the facial expression that she has are some of the qualities that made choosing this image a lot easier.
JL: Okay Cool! So outside of like the fashion aspect what did you feel was the British thing? Was it make up? Was it piercings? Was it weed?
KS: Oh, a variety of all of those really. Before being opened to this culture, I have never seen that many piercings nor double nose piercings on anybody ever. It was quite cool noticing these small little aspects about Britain’s culture. Also nipple piercings, not common in Dubai at all, but very common here. Weed was also a big shock to me, I didn’t think that I would always be around me. Back in the U.A.E I was never exposed to drugs, as it is illegal. Although, it is also illegal here, it seemed to be all around me in first year. This was one of the biggest culture shock’s I had ever experienced. Drugs are bad, yet the vast majority of people around me seemed to be consuming them on a weekly if not daily basis.
JL: Do you think it is because sex sells more over here?
KS: Yes, in Dubai you are not allowed to have sex outside of marriage, and if you do and the wrong people find out then you will get deported. Because it is illegal, everything is much harder and stricter on expats in Dubai. Restrictions of being able to hold your boyfriends hands while walking in the Mall, or kissing in public must be kept to a minimum and if you are caught or if someone complains about you, you could get in trouble.
JL: I guess the U.K is the complete opposite of that.
KS: it really is, it’s so strange how different it actually is, another thing that I noticed is my reaction when I saw people making out in public, I was like ‘omg what are you doing, that’s not allowed’ but then again, I was on different turf, this was allowed, and no one cared.
JL: Okay, cool. So you chose a close- up shot of Eloise because you were trying to show the make up?
KS: Yes exactly. I wanted to show how perfect it was. I chose to include a beauty shot because I wanted to capture the make-up, hair style, fake eye lashes and the eyebrows. I noticed that a lot of people wear fake eyelashes on nights out and I thought it would be interesting to portray that in my images.
JL: How did you manage the wardrobe and what the models wore for each shot?
KS: They had full control over their outfits. I think that is quite an important element because if I chose what they were to wear it would be classed as stereotyping English girls, which is not what I was trying to achieve. A few images that are included in my series are of clothes they came to the shoot in, which I thought was interesting to record as well.
JL: A few of the images look very ‘clubby’ in a way, as if they were shot outside of the club which contributes to the British girl culture. Is that something that you tried to achieve?
KS: Actually no. When I was post processing I came across those images and I loved them! I thought they would link very well into the series because clubbing is quite a popular activity in most British girl’s lives. Therefore, I thought the aesthetic linked very well so I decided to include them. I also believe that the image is being displayed as a double page spread.
JL: It is quite interesting because Tank Magazine promotes high end brands, whereas you have focused on brands such as Topshop / New Look etc... Why is that?
KS: Well because most students cannot afford clothes from Prada or Gucci because they are students. However, I did find aspects of the higher end brands within my photographs for example Tiffany and Co necklace, or Pandora Rings, and Custom made body jewelry.
JL: What camera and equipment did you use for this series?
KS: I used a Nikon D610 Camera with a beautiful 85mm lens which allowed me to achieve a very wide aperture and create very natural beauty shots. Lighting equipment: I used an external flash for the ‘clubby’ image and then I used a Ranger RX location lighting set for the other few images. I decided to use natural lighting for most of my images because Tank does give me that natural and calm feel when looking through the types of images presented in this magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment