Representation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

When decided to make my magazine a hybrid magazine to represent a very specific, and therefore small, social group. I wanted to represent aspirers who are always the first to be up for trying something new and adventurous, whether that would be listening to an upcoming band or trying out a new controversial fashion before anybody else. I understand that when trying to appeal to a small section of society, there is always the risk that it is not going to be well-recieved by as many as you had hoped. However, those who do take an interest in the magazine will appreciate it that much more for being the only one of its kind.

I wanted to give the Indie/Rockers whose music taste would be represented in my magazine, the latest and most trendy fashion ideas, because they would most likely want to be the first to try these ideas to keep their status as an 'indvidual' fresh. Hopefully my magazine would give them the inspiration to go all out and show those who look down on them that the 'indie' subculture isn't just a cliche, and that there are still some people who are daring enough to set trends rather than just supporting them.

I wanted to choose an artist for my article that wasn't sterotypically fashionable and didn't really fit in to the indie/rock genre to push the boundaries of what  is acceptable and expected, and what isn't. However I did want the artist to be well-known for their music and dress sense.I wanted shock my target audience by showing them a different side to somebody they thought was one-dimensional. It was for this reason that I chose Ke$ha. She is well-known for looking like she never makes an effort when it comes to fashion, and I wanted to show people that it isn't neccessarily a bad thing. Her lyrics are well-known for being rather controversial, which I thought would appeal to the 'indie' subculture, who are always looking for rebellious things to partake in.

I looked at a number of different magazines and online photo shoots that Ke$ha had featured in to see how she had been represented. I found the picture above on Ke$ha's official website and found out that it had featured in an American issue of Vogue. The photo had the simple elegance I wanted for my magazine, but seeing as it was originally taken for a magazine that is simply all about fashion, I wanted to show slightly more of the rock edge that Ke$ha is known for. I liked how the white background and wooden flooring created a plain setting to make the main focus of the object (the artist) stand out. I chose to have Em sitting on the floor in my take of the photo with her leg up to display more of an animalistic nature to draw people in. I liked the way that Ke$ha had been styled. The simplicity of her outfit made her look beautiful. I decided to dress Em in black leggings and a black jacket too. However I felt that simply copying the style in the photo would not help me get the ideal attitude my image really needed to display, so I decided that Em should only wear a bra underneath her jacket (an idea I had taken from another photo of Ke$ha) to show the care-free attitude my audience would be expecting to see.

I chose to take my photo from a high angle (but not too high) so that I could have Em looking up and directly at the camera. I did this to show that she is not about to back down to people who try and make her feel small, and to give the feel that she is adressing the audience. This shows her as a powerful woman, who is completely in control.

I think that I have reinforced the sterotype of my magazine through my photos. They show that anybody can be beautiful if they are brave enough to be different. And it's not just the stereotypically 'perfect' people who can appear on magazine covers.Being a fashion and music magazine, my magazine would obviously have a pro-comunist stance  because it would be showing many different clothes/shoes/bags/jewellery/albums/songs  and giving a  price  and telling people where to buy them. My magazine would also be quite full of adverts, but only adverts that follow the genre of my magazine, so they would be for high-fashion labels (such as Chanel, Gucci and Prada) and for new album releases for indie/rock bands (such as White Lies, Kids in Glass Houses and The Strokes)