Photographs for Topshop student style zine

This is a selection of photos of girls I snapped. They are mainly from LCC and CSM in London. It's not the most creative work in the world but it's nice to take pictures of pretty ladies as they usually make for an attractive image...

ALN fashion in the Noughties article

Style in the Noughties- Perfection of regression?

by Evie Jeffreys

Debbie Harry - one of many fashion icons still relevant today [Flickr, Jlacpo]When we look back on the fashion over the last decade, how many new and original trends can we boast? Not all that many come to mind.

With the new millennium came the age of recycling, which encompassed fashion as well as cereal boxes and wine bottles. A great deal of the styles we have seen through the noughties have been rehashes from eras gone past. Whether we buy from vintage or high street shops, there are at least echoes of fashion from the 20th century.

Over the past decade we have come across young people who look like replicas of 40s land girls, wearing headscarves and high waisted trousers, or what seems to be the cast of The Breakfast Club or Quadrophenia, or members of The Ramones.

Can we truly relate with punk or mod phases, or the era of the 50s housewife or moviestar? Is it because everything has been done that we have not created our own fashion identity?

Speaking to our generation's fashion students reveals more about what has happened to this century's style so far. Eliza Conlon is a Womenswear Student at Central Saint Martins and has interned as Jonathan Saunders' assistant for the last two summers.

She says that it is the 'micro trend' that develops now. Because our society has become so diverse, big trends have emerged less and less. She does, however, mention designers who have created a 'look', like Jil Saunder whose is 'minimal and clean'.

On the whole though, she does agree that fashion has hit a bit of a wall recently: "Everything has kind of been done before and it's very hard to be original and create a new sweeping trend."

Recycled

Annie Pheby, a Fashion Marketing student studying at London College of Communication and former intern of Roland Mouret, agrees that the trends of the noughties are not technically new.

What has come about though is the rise in 'youth subcultures', from which certain trends have derived: "In previous years there would have been a couple of predominant cultures, i.e. rockers and mods. Whereas these days there are a huge amount; emos, indies, metros, chavs, WAGs."

Still though, these movements are reflective of past fashion or music movements, for example 'emos' hark back to the 90s grunge trend.

A specific aspect of fashion phases is make up. According to Lucy Pearson, a student studying foundation Fashion Hair and Make Up at London College of Fashion, the most reproduced 'look' is classic 1950s.

"This look is an unbelievably huge trend, the likes of which have never before been seen in a rehash of a certain style of make up. Can you think of anyone who doesn't wear a liquid black liner over their lids or a crisp red lip?". Nevertheless, Pearson also accredits the noughties as "a time for great experimentation and change in make up trends."

Though trends and 'looks' specific to only the noughties have been rare, the generation has still given birth to new adaptations of old style.

Perhaps it is a good thing that we are being nostalgic. It is certainly a good thing that many of us are buying old clothes, particularly if they are from charity shops. Vivienne Westwood is a pioneer of recycling fashion. Though it may be a blow for the fashion industry, how much more do we really need?

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20091124_style_in_the_noughties

New York photographs

Sweet and Sound Dalston article (not my pictures)

The Charm of Dalston

When I thought about what I would write in this article I hated the idea of myself sounding like a middle class Dalstonite, who finds the lovely, little, foreign shops selling strange and intriguing oddities so 'charming' and 'cultural'. Having said that, after observing Dalston and the surrounding area with a vaguely journalistic eye, I fear I cannot avoid it.

For those, of which there are probably few, who aren't familiar with the area, it is the slightly gritty and bedraggled yet charming area into which trendy people have been seeping over the years because Shoreditch is saturated. It has a large Afro-Carribbean community, and further along the road, up in Stokey, huge Turkish and, even further on towards Stamford Hill, Jewish communities.

Ridley Road Market on a sunny September day is like being on some sort of lovely drug that involves zero nausea, nor disturbing images in the corner of your eye. Almost everyone was really friendly - it didn't feel like London anymore. Some stall owners would usher us in and not only allow us to take pictures, but would start posing for the camera, inviting the attention. Others acted all shy or blasé, but then conceded, either giving a reluctant grin or looking comically suspicious. And one or two dismissed us at first sight.

These stalls and shops are pretty cool. Most of them are family-run and have been around for ages. I guess they must do OK because in the current 'economic climate' they seem pretty pleased to be doing what they're doing.

There are shops made almost entirely out of hanging fabrics, or that have every kind of wig, weave or doo rag you could want. Stalls that sell fish, fruit, dodgy watches and Tupac t-shirts. It's sad to think that unless we keep buying from places like these, the big conglomerates may finally have the last laugh.

Some shops along Kingsland Road have been there for years and years. William Gee Ltd, near the big Oxfam, has had the same window display of ribbons for decades and is still going. Nearby is a DIY shop, Kiss the Corner, which has been family-run for the last 17 years. Before that, it was on Broadway Market, another road that once flourished with small independent family-owned businesses. One that is still going is the pie and mash shop, F. Cooks, if you want a taste of old fashioned East end cuisine.

Somewhere that's definitely worth a look is the weekly car boot sale towards Stoke Newington. Every Sunday, the playground of Princess May primary school fills with unwanted junk. But one person's junk is another's treasure. You can get framed pictures of kittens, Kiss badges, £2 vintage dresses, maps of the Wild West, battered Polaroid cameras, Star Trek memorabilia, electronics, old porn magazines, exercise equipment and loads of other stuff that you didn't realise you needed until you saw it.

For a more compressed collection of random stuff, there is Eldica Vinyl and Retro just off Kingsland Road on Bradbury Street. DJs from all over the world visit there for their wonderful and eclectic collection of records. They also sell the usual kitsch stuff like old fashioned phones, record players, vintage floral and african print clothes.

I guess, really, despite how much of a dweeb you can sound if you go on about how cool, arty and cultural Dalston is, the area is a great place to explore and there's a lot to do. It's been described as a bigger Peckham - with charm. Having grown up in Peckham and now moved to Stoke Newington, I'd say that's pretty accurate, and I'm glad it's being appreciated.

Words by Evie Jeffreys, Photos by Scott Cullen

http://www.sweetandsound.co.uk/october/thecharmofdalston.html

Haloween in New York

ALN article - war photography

Small lies that tell a big truth

by Evie Jeffreys

Documenting war through photography[Mobus Media]War photography is one of the most challenging forms journalism can take. Aside from the danger that surrounds it and the watchful eye of the military, striking an ethical balance is a finely tuned skill.

But environment and morals aside, another looming issue is how the photographer actually conveys their message?

The staging and altering of photographs has been happening since the 19th century. Images from both World Wars were tampered with for propoganda purposes, pictures were faked or staged, often to shame or invoke hatred towards enemies.

Soviet Russia employed this technique in a blatant way. Stalin would sometimes have people erased from photographs when they fell out of favour with him. For instance, Nikolai Yehzov, head of the secret police, was removed from a picture after being executed.

Stalin's photo manipulation – all these years ago – proves that it was not something that was sparked by the digital age, though it has grown in popularity and become easier with photoshopping software.

Because we are now equipped with the tools that give anyone the power to tamper with an image, more and more of it is appearing in the media. However, this also means that more and more people can recognise manipulated photos.

Adnan Hajj, a Lebanese photographer who worked for Reuters, added smoke to an image of an IDF attack on Beirut. It was spotted by a blogger and Reuters disassociated themselves with Hajj soon after. He also duplicated a missile being launched to make the picture more dramatic.

Faking it

Staged photographs are harder to identify. Award-winning photographers, whose pictures have been reproduced more times than any others, have been accused of faking photographs and creating false moments in history.

Robert Capa’s picture of a soldier being shot in the Spanish Civil War, is thought by many, to be a staged image. Eddie Adams’ photograph of a Colonel with a gun to a prisoner’s head in Saigon during the Vietnam war is suspected to have been outside, in order for the photo to be taken in a better light, when executions usually happened inside. Was this creating a scene as if for a film?

Photojournalists should capture true and natural events in their pictures. It is one of the differences between them and art photographers. However, is there an argument to be made in this case?

On occasion, by staging or changing a photograph, can photojournalists in fact convey a true message more effectively?

Can a photograph that is a lie represent the bigger picture? In Capa and Adams’ cases, the subjects of their pictures were true, but the moments at which they were taken were possibly staged. Or does this show that their own, factually correct, photographs are not good enough?

The idea that a big truth can be made from small lies was an ethos of George Orwell’s. He would create composite characters and made up events, but only to represent larger issues. Photographers have, in the past, merged photographs together to compose more dramatic and all-encompassing images, as well as tampering and staging them. The question is – will this ever be acceptible?

Will the end ever justify the means for photojournalism in war when there are so many negative ways in which manipulation can be, and has been, used?

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20091117_small-lies

Polaroids

Like many others, I have had a long phase of Polaroid taking...

Mark Pearson interview for ALN

Chasing the Velvet Underground

by Evie Jeffreys

One of Mark Pearson's worksCertain artistic movements can and do promote lifestyles shaped around drugs. The youth of the '60s and '70s were particularly enamored with artists, musicians and writers, as there were not nearly as many exciting watering grounds for like-minded hipsters as there are today.

One young person of that generation was 53-year-old Mark Pearson, now a successful London artist. His longing to be part of the 'popist', Andy Warhol scene eventually led to a heroin addiction. By the time he was 20 he was using the drug recreationally, but heavily, and continued to do so on and off until the age of 28.

While we hear so much about artists that reach their demise through drugs, there are those with the drive to overcome their addiction, such as Mark Pearson.

In search of Hedonism

The London that Pearson grew up in was grey and dreary. According to him the only club anyone went to was Global Village (now Heaven). Because there was little to do here, he and his friends would create their own activities, trying to emulate their artistic heroes of New York, often with drugs at the centre. Pearson found that he could slip in and out of society with ease, giving him the freedom in a: “world with no adults” to experiment with drugs unnoticed.

For Pearson, the world of The Velvet Underground and The Factory was too enticing to ignore. Though separated by an ocean, the youth of this generation identified almost obsessively with that particular scene.

"There was nothing part-time about it. The boat was leaving and I was going to get on it. That was it and I didn't really expect to get off the boat. It was that passionate. The whole lifestyle - partying, The Factory, having this fantastic, experimental life. It was either that or a squat in Cold Harbour Lane (Camberwell)."

Pearson came, like much of the working class youth at the time, from an unartistic family who did not understand him, the majority of whom went on to work as dockers.

"I just thought what the fuck is that about, when there are all these fantastic things you can be, and you can get fucked and be cool? It was just another world. There was nothing they (the family) could give me that was going to help me to the place I wanted to get."

Addictions grip

At the age of 23, after his degree at Royal Academy of Art, Pearson went to New York in search of the Andy Warhol-Velvet Underground scene, which by then was petering out. During his time there, though, cocaine was the drug of choice as opposed to heroin. After all these years he still says it was worth it. “I met Andy Warhol. I did get there. And I did get involved in it all.”

However, after returning to London, Pearson’s use of heroin developed from being stylish, to an addiction. Much of his time was spent in squats and he and his friends turned to crime to afford the habit.

He paints a very dark picture of life at that time, describing waking up to dead bodies on the floor around him and the “bad things” people were driven to do.

“Everyone was getting arrested. We were really doing a lot of crime… Once you’re into that junkie mentality, you need the drug so much that you just don’t give a shit. My best mate O.D’d, twice actually. One week we saved him, then the next week he was gone.”

Unlike so many drug addicts, Pearson luckily realised that he couldn’t continue like this: “I just got to the level where I knew that I had to survive. I had to get off it. I was living on Frosties. There were murders where I was. It was getting really heavy; it was dark. What had been interesting was just getting horrible. It was getting dangerous.”

Mark carried on his art all through the years of drug taking. It neither hindered nor helped his work. He was experimental but had no interest in selling anything until later in life. “If you’re still driven and you still have an idea of what you want your life to be like, then you’ve got more of a chance of escaping.”

He says that the dangers of heroin and its fatal addictive quality that we are all aware of today had not been identified by the 1970s. People would use it recreationally and think nothing of it, just as people used opium in the 1920s. It was not until British anti-heroin campaigns in the late '80s that people were officially alerted to its dangers.

By the time ecstacy and the rave scene had been established, Mark had a daughter, Lucy, and was straight. He started selling work and is now an established London artist. He has a liberal attitude towards drugs now and he is one of the most interesting and sweetest people you could hope to meet.

http://www.artslondonnews.co.uk/20091124_mark-pearson

a few multi exposure shots

I found an old canon teleshot camera in my grandma's house and I'm obsessed with it. It's got a multi exposure button so you don't have to mess around with shutter speed.