Gender, Equityand Fashion Photography
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Sacha Williams 5500 words An investigation into female underrepresentation and the power of imagery. GENDER, EQUITY AND FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY. 1 CONTENTS Executive Summary : 3 The Power Of The Gaze : 20 Introduction : 4 The Consumer : 23 Underrepresentation : 6 Conclusion : 29 Employment Opportunity : 9 Appendices : 30 More Than Just Awareness : 11 Reference List : 36 Progression : 14 Bibliography : 40 A Call For Fairness : 17 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report investigates the those who have the power to make important underrepresentation of female fashion decisions need to be targeted to change their photographers, the power of imagery behaviour, with addressing the implicit bias and the importance of equity. Research is which we all hold, as a necessity. Moreover, dedicated to uncovering the causes and the level of successfulness of training courses solutions relating to the obstacles that is investigated with the possibility for these women face when seeking employment, being counterproductive being uncovered. awareness and progression opportunities, with specific focus on the fashion industry. The barriers that are in place for women when progressing in the workplace are Exploration into the lack of cover images being analysed, resulting in the recognition for shot by women is proven to not be a pipeline gender norms to be eradicated. Editorials issue, suggesting the underrepresentation printed by magazines, which focus on is based on the grounds of sexism, with eliminating expected gender roles within research supporting this by showcasing society such as domestic work activities are that level of talent is also not the problem. a solution offered due to the power that Further investigation conducted through institutions have on influencing consumer the use of a visual image case study behaviour. In addition, a persuasive rational revealed that there were no significant is given for the negative contribution that commonalities in regard to technical language has on reinforcing gender division. capabilities or aesthetic, produced by one gender when analysing editorial photographs. The ways in which publishing houses can improve on the current situation is debated, Persuasive arguments lay out actions with a key recommendation being the needed for employment processes to inclusion of equity and not equality policies be more inclusive. Discussion is had as to to be implement within business operations, whether a drastic or more subtle approach due to research showing that the application would be effective for change to occur, of equality alone does not assist women with the stronger argument being for photographers needs fully. John Adam’s equity substantial responses to be tested such theory is useful in explaining the outcomes Utilising Schramm’s communication model as hiring only women photographers that a women may choose to take if they allows for an understanding to be gained for cover shoots for a specific period. are not being treated fairly, including either regarding how messages are sent back and a balance redress or cognitive reframing. forth between magazines and the consumer. Acknowledgment is given to the viewpoint that Furthermore, examination of the current more than simply awareness is needed for Careful consideration occurred for the consumer’s path to purchase, using the tangible change to arise. Findings state that subjective nature of viewing imagery. AIDA framework, is compared to a desired the current focus from the fashion industry From discovering that each person future gender inclusive workplace version, regarding spreading the work of female applies their own life experiences to a allowing us to learn of the potential difference photographers on a range of online platforms photograph, it can be assumed that the in the ideology produced by magazines is not equivalating to real representation. From narrative that the photographer desired that is bought into by the consumer. discovering this, it should be encouraged that to tell cannot always be assured. 3 INTRODUCTION When will we live in a world where how impactful this unjust situation is these words can be removed for the consumer. By talking about Discrimination. from the dictionary? The year is gender inequality within the fashion 2021 and many are living with the industry we are focussing on what assumption that women are equal can be described as a microcosm Underrepresentation. to men. Upsettingly, this is far from issue, meaning we can see a larger the truth. The purpose of this report societal issue working on a smaller is to discuss this critical issue, scale. What this implies is that we Gender inequality. specifically focusing on gender, should be looking at society as equity and fashion photography. a whole for some answers, using top-down approaches that can Underrepresentation is affecting offer a sustainable change. those who identify as women and are pursuing a career within the Enquiry into the causes of this critical fashion photography industry. issue, examination into current action Whilst this is a global problem, being taken, and most importantly for the purpose of this report, the recognising and suggesting vital focus will be on the UK market. It is changes needed for an improved not only crucial that a discussion future are all debated. Arguments is had for the purpose of finding are formulated surrounding tangible solutions to better women’s a number of areas including: experience in the workplace, but also Employment opportunity, awareness so that publication houses, who have and progression, in combination such power in releasing images and with critiquing current solutions narratives to society, acknowledge and proposing new responses. 4 INTRODUCTION “Photographs and photography have a crucial and pivotal status in societies” (Sattari and Mousavi, 2013, pP73). The initial hypothesis follows that due to underrepresentation with only, “13.7 percent of cover images being shot by women” (Bauck, 2015), damage is caused to the consumer as they are mainly receiving a single viewpoint, that being a male perspective. This report aims to uncover the accuracy of this, alongside research dedicated to identifying, through the execution of a visual image analysis, whether aspects of the image change according to the gender of the photographer. It is important to understand that manipulating history by shining light on great women photographers that have not gained the praise they deserve or blaming males will not alter the problem. Inequality is a human problem and, “what human problems involve is re-interpretation of the nature of the situation, or a radical alteration of stance or program on the part of the problems themselves” (Nochlin, 1971). 5 UNDERREPRESENTATION “80% of photography graduates are women — yet women make up only 15% of professional photographers” (Sebag-Montefiore, 2019), evidencing that we are not dealing with a pipeline issue. This eradicates the possibility for comments attached to stereotypical views about women's technical abilities to hold any strong credibility. “Research shows that women are underrepresented in occupations that are highly competitive, inflexible, and require high levels of physical skill” (Hentschel, Heilman and Peus, 2019), which matches the job requirements of a photographer. Many have argued that women are superior at connecting with subjects, whilst men are stronger at technical camera elements. However, when looking into this further, this does not seem to be the case. Photographers like Petra Collins, show that women can be exceptional at creating distinctly technical productions, such as a Vogue Korea cover story (Appendix A) with Collins not being the only example of this. It can also be argued that males can show exemplary ability in forming close rapports with subjects. Platon addressed the importance of storytelling in the documentary, “Abstract: Art and Design”, whereby he states that, “taking a picture is very technical, but 99.9% is spent on this connection that allows me to reach someone” (Netflix, 2019). 6 UNDERREPRESENTATION To further evidence the indifference of skill between men and women, a case study was conducted with an interpretative research attitude. This entailed the analysis of ten editorial images taken by both men and women, with the aim being if it were possible to distinguish any major differences in the photo a female and male photographer takes, looking at literal, technical and symbolic aspects of images (reference Appendix B, C, D for further information and full findings). The evidence gathered indicated that there were no significant commonalities produced by one gender, which contradicts the assumption that males and females have a set of different strengths and weaknesses. The results also showed that the gender of the photographer cannot always be guessed from simply looking at an image, with this outcome supported by a previous experiment, in which participants were, “unable to correctly guess the gender of an artist by looking at a painting” (Adams, Krrussl, Navone and Verwijmeren, 2017). By pointing out the differences in male and female abilities when holding a camera, the labels assigned to the type of photographer an individual can be (such as technical or narrative based) is causing gender disparity. 7 UNDERREPRESENTATION “Not as a public pat on the back, not as an apologetic gesture, not as a way to sell feminism.” (Kelia Anne MacCluskey, 2021). Listening to the thoughts of 30 female fashion photographers (collected by Refinery29, “ For me, it’s not so much about male vs female but 2021) allows for opinions to be heard from those who are directly affected by gender giving everyone an equal voice.” imbalance, informing us on why it is crucial that more women are given opportunities (Daria Kobayashi Ritch, 2021). and what they would like the path going forward to look like. The key findings inform us that women would appreciate being “ The issue is not the lack of choice or talent; it is the recognised not as a female photographer, but instead simply as a photographer. people who make these choices.” However, a convincing perspective conflicts this; “the denial of difference is the denial (Ophélie Rondeau, 2021).