I found this old, puffy waterproof “bath book” that we used to read as children when I came home to stay with my parents in the break, and I was drawn to document it in an interesting way, while exploring the fascinating macro extension tubes I use to mimic an actual macro lens.
I am always interested in approaching the topic of media lies/what is fed to us, and the deeper implications that many of these everyday advertisements bring to the table, so I took to an idea of depicting the illustration of the legendary Pocahontas in this little children’s book in ways that aim to question and invoke in the viewer' an uneasiness, through the employment of compromising angles and carefully meditated selective lens focusing.
The series touches on the age-old concern over whether or not/how much the media indoctrinates the public and therefore the vulnerable/malleable, with dangerous falsities so commonly promoted throughout societal history. These falsities are those regarding the humanity - or lack thereof - with which we choose to portray and in turn view the ideals we have on women.
The illustrated version of Pocahontas used in this book are the exact version the Disney animated film account of Pocahontas’ story; Disney itself having been accused on a few counts of having sexual or questionable material not particularly suited to children featured subtly in some of its works.
I have found myself feeling sorrowful and disturbed at times when pondering the ramifications that come to follow exposing the young and naive eyes of a child to the over-simplified invitation into the horrific world of body-image fixation that comes to plague the mind of the adult being. Who are advertisers to draw these impressionable babies into an early adulthood? Does showing them only pretty princess types somehow work towards the deprivation of their grasp on reality and self-worth?
I also originally envisioned the title: “The Depth of our Understanding” for this series, but ended up with the title used on this post. Read the original title as the alternate title, if you will.
As this series is a somewhat brief exploration that I have not chosen to look too much further into as of yet, I have left the series’ aftertaste to be rather ambiguous and open to possibilities, leaving myself and the viewer to their own world of contemplation around the matter.
This is a playful experiment so I apologize if the images are a little technically off, or boring, or my stilted wannabe-essay language - I need to work on refining my writing skills as I have a life-long tendency to try to over-complicate things with long big wordy sentences. Oops. :)
And with that, I’m off to bed! It’s 2 in the morning oh my gosh!
But, hey, I’m on holiday!! Oh, alright.. I get bad bedtimes most of the time anyway because student hours and all.. :P
Understandably coffee is my best friend!
Hope you enjoyed! (If anyone’s reading - I like to at least kid myself that there is, better that way!)
xx
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