For this project, I wanted to showcase my leg hair because it has been a powerful motif in my gender exploration. In addition to the leg hair, I had talked to my friend a lot about armpit hair and wanted to add that element into my final project as well. I decided that self-portrait photography would be the best medium for this project because it is all about showing my experience and understanding of gender. I am the model in all of my photographs, as well as the photographer. To take my photos, I propped up my iPhone 10 using books, pillows, a step stool, and a dog crate (not all at once but in various combinations to get the right angle). I set up my back drop by duct-taping a white sheet to my wall and laying another white sheet on the floor. I put this whole set up in my room in front of a window so I could use the natural light to light up my space (because I don’t have any proper lighting equipment) and actually recorded myself on video. I started out the photo shoot in the black dress with the chair and just videotaped myself. I would move into different poses, as well as move the camera if I wanted to, and record it all so I could go back and screenshot the positions I liked the best. I did this for the dress with and without the chair, the grey t shirt, and the suit photos. It was a lot of trial and error with my camera placement, the lighting, and my poses. I had about 50 photos that I really liked that I got down to 12 and I also saved a section of video that I really liked and added it to the project.
    After I selected all the photos I wanted, I used an app called A Color Story to create my own preset that I could place over all my photos for this project. My main focus when editing these pictures was to try to give them a light, cool and glossy finish. To make my pictures cooler, I messed with the blue color curve to add more blue hues and turned down the temperature. To make the picture look like I had better lighting and give it that slightly glossy finish, I added in a little bit of contrast, brightness and saturation while dulling the highlights slightly. Most of this was just me fiddling around with the effects till I made something I liked, then I saved the setting and added this preset to all 50 photos. I thought I was done, but I wanted a way to organize these photos into mini collections because I had so many photos that I liked and went very well together. I got my inspiration from some pins on Pinterest to put the photos into a collage that had a film strip effect, which I did by using the original picture of the blank film I had found on Pinterest. I took this background and added my photos on top using an app called Picsart, then cropping and shaping my photos to fit directly into the blank spaces. I made several mini collections like this and again thought I was done, but I ended up downloading an app from an ad and realized I wasn’t. This app was called Prequel and I was messing around with the effects until I found “Disco 6” and it created these really cool sparkles that picked up on parts of the picture that were really highlighted, like my makeup or my jewelry. The effect also put this rosy filter over the photo that blended well with the cool-toned preset I had placed over it, almost balancing each other out but you can skill see both and how they harmonize together. Then, I placed this filter over all of the mini collections and photos in the final version of “Gender Expression”. I like this idea of harmony because I think it translates well to the harmony I’ve tried to create with the juxtaposition in my appearance in these photos. I contradict feminine and masculine features by pairing up my black dress and jewelry with body hair and a natural face, pairing up my suit with makeup, and showcasing myself at my most comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans. I think all of these photos are beautiful, no matter if I was conforming to society's expectations or not. I ended up feeling confident and thinking I looked good in a wide range of outfits and styles and I think that was one of the most important aspects of this project.
    I’ve talked a lot about my photos, but the first thing you actually see in my whole collection is a video of me putting on a pair of heels. I wanted to include this bit of footage as itself because I liked the mundane nature of it and I thought it was a perfect introduction to my hairy legs and obvious contradiction of gender expectations. I feel like this video helps to normalize my gender expression with the relatable nature of putting on a pair of heels, or just putting on shoes in general. No matter if you’re putting on a pair of heels, sneakers, dress shoes, sandals, etc., we all look the same when we struggle to jam our foot in the right position to get that shoe on. I used the same cool-toned preset on this video, but the app I used for the sparkles didn’t work with video, so instead I went on the app Tik Tok and used the effect “Bling” to add those same sparkles I was looking for. I also wanted to keep that film aesthetic from the mini collections, so I downloaded yet another app called Filmm. On this app I cropped the video and added over the filters “classic 1” for that little recording timestamp and “instant 8” for a little lighting flare in the bottom right corner. I also adjusted the temperature, saturation, and tint of the video to make it a little warmer and pinker to match the Prequel “Disco 6” filter that is on my photos.
    This project also didn’t just stop at these photos, but the entire construction of this website is a part of my project. I wanted a clean layout that wouldn’t be distracting from my collection which is very loud and demands all attention. I am overall very happy with how it turned out. I think the blown-up layout of my photos adds this almost billboard/magazine cover effect that I was absolutely going for. My art is all about accepting and embracing what makes you different from what society expects of you. The “glitz and glamour” aesthetic of my photos is being used to put myself in that high fashion, competitive environment where gender roles and expectations are highlighted the most, but also allow me to be completely myself and break all expectations placed upon myself. This collection makes me feel empowered within myself and my gender.