Alice in the attic

Oh the joys of feeling poorly. I have a sore throat today and am gradually losing my voice- but at least I managed to fit in a shoot before I came down with it.

These photos were taken last night, and were quite impromptu. It's what I had been wearing all day, just with the addition of an extra shirt.

We've recently had most of the upper part of our house redecorated. In fact, we've lived here for most of my life (since I was six months old) so from time to time over the years, bits of the house get changed. A rearrange here, some redecoration there, a bit added on. These images were taken at the top of the stairs in the loft, which doubles up as a bedroom and study, and which is shockingly tidy at the moment! Our house quite literally attracts junk like a magnet, so to have it this organised is amazing...

The blue floral skirt is a one made through a collaboration between me and my mum. The vintage fabric was found in a charity shop, hidden under a pile of curtains. It already had a hem, which suggests that it was originally another garment (there are some unpicking lines too). So it's nice to know it has been remade. Actually, this is quite a DIY outfit. The t-shirt is one that I customised a while ago by taking in the top so it had a tighter fit and then hand sewing the vintage lace on around the neckline. It's now one of my favourites. The blue men's silk shirt is one I picked up at at a clothes swap and the fifties satin shrug used to be my mum's. (See my 'pink silk at dusk' post for more details on it.)
The black lace up shoes were a christmas present, (my mum knows me well!) and the white socks were another gift. The necklace is a vintage one that used to be my great-grandma's, while the buckle bracelet is one I bought at a local antique and vintage stall. (I've often mentioned the wonderful 'Rosie's stall' as a source for accessories and other lovely pieces.) The blue carpet bag used to be filled with my maternal great-grandma's sewing materials and the silk scarf (as a bow) is from a charity shop.

As mentioned, I'm stuck in bed at the moment slowly coughing my voice away. And you can probably tell from my close up that I was already coming down with something here. But I have a rule that I never edit or retouch the photos I put on my blog. They are purely me, natural skin and all! I also only ever wear lip and eye make-up, meaning that I don't own any foundation or anything that I could have used to cover up the shadows under my eyes.

So this leads on to a small debate. (I have another one too, but I'm saving that for the next post.)
Do you prefer photographers who concentrate more on the original composition and lighting or do you appreciate how modern technology can enhance a photo?
I personally like to keep my photos un-edited and admire traditional methods, much like my preference towards fashion. I love looking at how a photo, or a dress is planned, crafted and put together. But having said that, I went to the Rankin exhibition in London a few months ago and was so impressed with his photography. He is someone who is renowned for his retouching and editing his work, and this does give an interesting look to the photos. Using a computer can really open up a new world for photography.

And then of course there is the whole issue in the fashion industry of retouching pictures to make models look slimmer or bigger, or to remove any blemishes. Now I'm all for having a few spots removed on a bad day if I was going to be in a magazine, but I just feel that this excessive editing can create an unrealistic impression of what people are 'meant' to look like. We get bombarded every day on the 'perfect shape', what we should be wearing, how we should look etc by the media. So I feel that if the images we are shown aren't actually true to life, then this is just going to be all the more pressurising. We aren't meant to look like anyone but ourselves.Who else could we be? Unrealisitc images create unrealistic expectations. Having said that, I know that fashion magazines are a kind of fantasy version of things, but not everyone is going to realise that.
Why can't we embrace ourselves as we are and appreciate that? And I feel it is sometimes the flaws that make us look so unique. My teeth have quite big gap, and aren't very straight but I like them!

So what do you think about this? Do you agree with the retouching in magazines, or do you like unchanged photos? I would really love to hear your views.

Alice in the attic 2009-12-27T14:22:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown