Thirteen.

This post is dedicated to my love of Chanel!

I can't express how much black and white does it for me, EVERYTIME!!! And i don't mean by film (although that gets me too), but i simply mean by clothing! There is something just so beautifully elegant and timeless about the two put together that it quite litrally creates shivers down my spine! Chanel is well know for its use of black and white, creating timeless and classic pieces!! If you haven't all seen Coco Avant Chanel you are definitely missing out, i must have watched it atleast ten times.

Missing out on Fashion Week kills me everytime, but thanks to internet i don't miss out on the shows! The Chanel spring collection at Paris Fashion week looked amazing! Set with a barn style theme with lilly allen popping up out of the floor and singing, the models and collection was truley breath taking!

Jessica x

Twelve.

Whilst in New York we were told the devastating news of Alexander McQueens death.

These are some images from his amazing spring catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week...

Simply Beautiful.

Jessica x

Eleven.

NEW YORK.

What an amazingggg Week, will come back to this post once i have scanned in my images... I have lots to tell you :)

Ten.

Gail Sorronda

Jessica x

Nine.

Julia Hafstrom

I have become OBBSESSED with this model!

Nationality: Swedish
Age: 15
Height: 172 cm
Size: 34
Shoes:38
Bust:78
Waist:61
Hips:82
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Red

http://www.newbloodagency.com/

Julia in the february 2010 issue of teen Vogue- 'Wild At Heart', Photographed by Arthur Elgort

I am in love with her beauty and am in complete shock that shes only 15!!... Look out for her in the runways at London fashion week in...Burberry Prosum, Louise Goldin, Tadashi Shoji, Christopher Kane, Unique TopShop, Jonathan Saunders and many many more.

Jessica x

Eight.

A very busy few weeks has kept me on my feet and away from blogging, but i'm back and here to fill you in :)

Soo..... whey back now, whilst all the stress of the essay was ruining my life...Chris Floyd an English Celebrity Photographer came into uni for a guest lecture. It was highly entertaining, he was a funny and down to earth guy that spoke to us on the same level. With seventeen years of experience in business Chris spoke took us through his journey of how he started out up to his most recent work.

'I like girls'... And this is how Chris came about being a photographer! Being a shy teenager, Chris found it hard to talk to girls and after looking a book on David Bailey, Chris was inspired by photography. Chris used his camera as a way to talk to girls! He said he just 'loves it!'... Ironically Chis said photographing girls only became easier when he was married, as if you've got a ring on your finger, the female you are photographing won't think your just a sleazy old man!

In contrast to our guest lecture from Frederika Helwig that said that her worst person to photograph was Lilly Allen, Chris said that she was one of his favourite and they had a really sucessful shoot. Chris explained "Shes just a girl that doesn't like to be photographed by other girls"

His most recent work was for the sunday times photographing a grime night in London. This was a new way of working and he took over 500 images and spent 2 days editing.

To get into the crowd of this gig Chris used a quantum turbo flash attached to a pole and got his assistant to hold it for him whilst he was taking the photos.

Chris has shot most of his portraiture in about ten minutes for every celebrity, as limited time is given with the busy lifestyle. He gave us a few words of advice:

• Know what your going to be doing technically before hand.
• Make what you can get... drag something out that works.
• Connect with the sitter, but not on a power level... leave you ego at the door and let the sitter have their moment!
• If their not giving anything, show that... silence, makes it awkward and sometimes brings out the best images.
• Light in the front of the eyes always reveals the intensity.
• Know what sells... a neutral non offensive image with a white background, will sell 95% of the time!
• and... JUST GO FOR IT!

I found Chris to be inspirational and will definitely be using his advice to bring out the best in who your working with!

Jessica x

Seven.

So this week was the first week back at uni and i'm glad to be back :) I'm excited to get a new brief that isn't so forced and i can actually be imaginative with!! ... However, im not looking forward to this essay!

On wednesday we had a presentation from the fashion photographer Frederike Helwig. I found her presentation truly inspiring. Before the lecture i had researched and gained an insight in to her style of photography as i was unfamiliar with her work. My initial thoughts were that her photographs were quite plain and simple. However, her presentation gave a complete different context to her work and really displayed her character and style within her photographs. As a fashion photographer, her presentation was hugely relative to my practice. I found it inspirational looking at how she had started out in the industry and how she grew as a photographer, changing in different styles of fashion but still keeping her individual style. Her style displayed a 'quirky' european style, that was heavily displayed in her early work, but as her career moved on and by restrictments from commissioners her photographs had to conform to a more american style. However, within her american work, her individual style was still recognizable with that element of 'fun'. With her discussion on style, it really made me think about my own work. Frederike said that university is a good place to discover your own individuality as it what sets you in the right direction for when you leave. I feel that within my work i do show a sense of my own style, however, i feel i need to experiment a bit more with quirkier, individual ideas as my images seem a bit predictable!

TRULY AMAZING!!

Jessica x