Research log- Jen Davis

Jen Davis is a photographer based in Brooklyn who has been working on a series of self portrait photographs for the past eleven year. Her series of photographs deal with the issues of beauty, self identity and body image. I chose Jen Davis as one of my photographers because in her photos you can really see and empathise with her emotions regarding her appearance. I feel that people, not only women, would have similar thoughts as what Davis is showing in her photography. Her timely shoot also shows the struggle with personal feelings and how it can be a long process.

This photo I think could bring up a large range of opinions because the parts of her that have been highlighted are not what society or the majority of media would depict as being beautiful. A lot of people would try to hide these parts of themselves because of what is usually categorised under beauty. I like this photo as it pushes social conventions and shows that everybody should feel comfortable in their own body. The shot type that Davis has chosen to use is effective in keeping the viewers eyes on what she is perceiving as the main focus. The natural lighting coming in from the right hand side of the photo hits the centre of the photo and highlights the part thats she's grabbing.
I like this photo because it sends a strong message that can make people look positively on their own insecurities.

This photo shows a wider view on the setting that Davis is inhabiting. This isn't my favourite photo in her portfolio firstly because the setting doesn't give any impact on what she is trying to convey through these images. Another reason I feel that this image doesn't show her struggle with body imagery or beauty is that there is so much to look at in this image that i'm not drawn to what should be the main focus, her. One thing I do like about it is that she is not looking at the camera and her head is pointing down, this is because it portrays that she feels embarrassed about the way she looks. She's used a wide angle in this photo that to me just allows the eye to be drawn away from the main focus.

This would be my favourite photo from the ones that are shown here, this would be because again similar to the image above she is not looking into or in the direction of the camera which is a common way to show embarrassment or uncomfortableness. I also think that the natural lighting is a powerful component with showing her struggle mentally with the way she looks, the light highlights her body however makes the rest of the room darker and feel as though it is creeping in towards her. This photo is really powerful and can relate to a lot of people dealing with personal problems to do with body image, as its about the mental side as well.

Lastly, this image shows a lot of expression and highlights her face with the natural lighting which is the centre of the image. This photograph is metaphorically showing her 'seeing the light' which might be the turn to her realising her natural beauty. I don't feel that this photo is as powerful as some of her other, however I feel that the message is still being shown throughout. 

Influence-

Jen Davis's photos will influence me when shooting my beauty shoots by using natural lighting which I hadn't thought of doing. I also think it would be a really good idea to use myself as a model and include my own body image issues as it would make the shoot over all more powerful and relative for others. I think that using these influences from Davis's work in one of my shoots will be good and show a different side to beauty.

Summery-

Overall, shooting in her style will be a very creative and inspiration way photographing in the sense of what the image mean and portray to the viewer. It's nice to shoot with natural beauty being the purpose because it really speaks to a lot of people and is still a very strong form of beauty. I believe that this shoot will be successful with using the studio and location shoots. Different shot types and angles will be really good in this shoot and I would be able to experiment with which ones push strong message and compliment the natural beauty theme for this shoot.