Name:
Instructor:
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Gothic Culture and Fashion
Methods
and Strategies
A research strategy that appealed
to me in the process of my literature review revolved around how daily objects
and historical environment that are conventionally lined with history and
personal traits by browsing, reading books and visiting locations are very
important in Artistic work. It is through this browsing that I was able to come
across the work of Geoffrey heat and Gareth Pugh. Gareth’s work is high quality
and elusive and Geoffrey Heat’s pictorial works. Geoffrey Heat produces quiet
lyrical, many layered images of deeply intimate and personal subjects. This is
evidenced by his photography work as shown below. 
Gareth Pugh’s believes in the
combination of history and modern way of thinking in a more human image such as
softer, richer and finely detailed images that are closer to our eye as
compared to what most individuals see in digital capture and other mainstream
media.
Gareth Pugh is a designer and
photographer based in London whose work gets inspiration from history.
Additionally, Gareth Pugh possess a strong sense of ancestral history most
especially when it comes to Gothic Culture and fashion while at the same time, he believes that he has the best
opportunity of putting something that he likes in the way that he sees will fit
the society in the best way possible. Moreover, the recombination of his
artistic fashion is like historical collages and fiction which details the
imaginative visual and electric language that revolves around his rich taste of
gothic ancestral history.
The internet and historical books
are some of the important research methods for Gareth Pugh since the internet
has a rich vein of image data bank which ensures that Gareth has the right
elements for his work that he is looking for. Moreover, he reviews his clothing
designs; goes back and examine what exactly the modern day would want to be
associated with in the Gothic culture. In so doing, it allows Gareth to
rigorously and quickly process imagery.
The research methods that are
employed in this research are significant in exploring and identifying the
concepts needed in my research topic with the genre political photography,
stage and documentary. I intend to work on Photoshop images to create constructed
narrative images that are made in accordance with the politics between China
and Hong Kong. The images of Hong Kong and China will be sued as the
documentaries background images and some of the design clothes from Gareth
Pugh’s work. As a result, this purposes to gain a better comprehension of the
concepts behind fashion design and fashion images to emphasize the historical
context of the Gothic culture and fashion. In simple terms, the methods
employed in this research are more effective in allowing me to produce a more
clear and straightforward picture of the political depiction of Gothic fashion
and culture.
Reading books articles and browsing
the internet about Gothic culture and fashion is some of the research methods I
have employed. Additionally, reading books and gaining insights knowledge about
the culture, history and the political art in regard to Goth culture and
fashion so as to comprehend some of the reasons behind the modern changes in
the culture and the way individuals think about Gothic culture as a whole.
The research strategies to gain an
insight on the environment and visit the location would be based on the current
research plan because the situation at hand. In this case, my financial and
economical condition does not allow me to visit the area in person hence
leaving research through internet and books as the only obvious alternatives of
gaining an insight on the topic of research.
Photography and Documentation
Ewing,
W, et al. reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 2005-2025.London: Thames
and Hudson (Political Art Documentation)
The book reGeneration: 50
photographers of tomorrow that was written by Ewing et al aims at developing
the society in terms of photography that is always looking for the perfect
photography works. In this case, Ewing et al aims at examining what the young
photographers are trying to achieve in the 21st century, how they
witness the world, how much they accept or reject the world that is always
striving to get the best in terms of photography. In this case, one of the most
talked about photographer in this book by Ewing et al ids Geoffrey Heat. In
other words, Ewing et al offers the broadest and most enterprising discussion
of its kind on the current crop of photographers and in this case, he uses
creative language in seeking answers to some of the questions that have been
frequently asked about the modern day photographers or rather the photographers
of the 21st century. In so doing, it can be argued that this book by
Ewing et al showcases the inspiring ingenuity and creativity of the eight
chosen photographic artists including Geoffrey Heat with approximately over 200
superb images. In simple terms, this book provides evidence that the art of
photography is alive and that the practitioners of this artistic element are
way off the mark towards producing one of the most exemplary works ever.
Comment
I like Ewing et al’s work since it
is laid out in a manner that is to the point and easy for everyone to
comprehend his work and in the process, it is a very informative and highly
interesting read. As a result, I can recommend this book to young photographers
who are trying to make their careers to pick since it can help them get a rough
idea on where their work is placed as compared to that of their contemporaries.
I really like the work of this book because it has an extensive connection to
the current problems and challenges facing photography and the expression of
pictures employed in this book most especially from Geoffrey Heat is very
creative. In this case, I believe that the creative nature employed in the book
can be said to be a good idea most especially when employed for political art.
Works Cited
Ewing,
W, et al. reGeneration: 50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 2005-2025.London: Thames
and Hudson
Scharf,
A. Art and Photography Reborn: Image Making in the Digital Era, New York: Harry
N. Abrams, 2005
Höglund, Johan. The American
Imperial Gothic: Popular Culture, Empire, Violence. Ashgate Publishing,
Ltd., 2014.
Gareth
Pugh Gothic Fashion Designer (Political Art Fashion)
Gareth Pugh is acknowledged as the
modern protagonist of the Gothic fashion that emanates from London .based on
his attributes, he can be said to be a very straightforward individual who is
always forward looking (Edwards,
and Agnieszka, 64). In simple terms, the modern Gothic
fashion presented by Pugh’s is stylish and often embedded with a modern touch
as opposed to other artistic designs that always follow conventional lines as
shown in figure 2 below 
Figure
2: Gothic fashion
Gothic designs are an artistic
impression that is integrated with gothic subculture tastes that are fancied by
the artist as ideal for a particular generation. Additionally, this expressions
as expressed in garments can be said to follow a certain conventional
historical lines based on long established art traditions. As a result, the
modern day artists such as Gareth Pugh have developed the tendency to look back
at the traditional elements that were initially embraced to which they base
their identity or rather form of art on (Bruzzi and Pamela 56). Moreover, art and
design materials integrate in such a way that they ultimately combine
inflatable garments embedded with white and black colors and geometric shapes
besides materials such as plastic and PVC (Edwards, and Agnieszka, 64). In
essence, these are materials that are characteristics of classical baroque art
and Gothic fashion as in figure 3 below.
Figure
3: Gothic Mainstream Fashion
Comment
The political art portrayed by
Gareth Pugh in his gothic fashion and design can be said to represent something
bigger than itself using fashion, coupled it some of the things that some
people can never talk about in some situations. In this case, since Gareth Pugh
has established his clothing line in such a way that he embeds history together
with the modern way of life has really inspired me for change. In fact, I
really like Gareth Pugh’s fashion as portrayed in figure 4 since these photo express
deeply some of the ways the Gothic fashion is embedded in the modern era. 
Figure
4: Gothic Fashion
Works Cited
Bruzzi, Stella, and Pamela Church
Gibson. Fashion Cultures Revisited: Theories, Explorations and Analysis.
Routledge, 2013.
Edwards, Justin D., and Agnieszka
Soltysik Monnet. The gothic in contemporary literature and popular culture:
pop goth. Vol. 8. Routledge, 2012.
Höglund, Johan. The American
Imperial Gothic: Popular Culture, Empire, Violence. Ashgate Publishing,
Ltd., 2014.
Geoffrey
Heat: photographic designs (Political Art Photography)
From the analysis of Geoffrey Heat’s
work on Gothic fashion and information obtained from the internet, I believe
that the complexity of the modern day Gothic fashion photography is accompanied
by an increasing characteristics sense of Gothicism as far as the design itself
is concerned. In this case, by looking at Geoffrey’s work as the modern type of
artist who focuses entirely on the Gothic subculture photography, it can be
noted that his work frequently keeps on returning to the themes of prosthesis
and automata, and automata itself as shown in figure 6 below. 
Figure
6: Gothic Fashion Photography
In fact, as much as the garments that were
witnessed in the early 1980s may still be put on by a certain section of
individuals, it can be argued that the modern day Gothic artists are
increasingly esoteric and perverse. In other words, when I examined Gareth
Pugh’s work, I noticed that most of the Gothic fashion design is
characteristics by aspects of vampirism, imprisonment and torture while at same
time resonates with the structural conventions of the characteristic features
of gothic literature. In this case, by conflating the penetrating gaze with
fangs that are also penetrating, the modern day artistic designs have undergone
what is acknowledged as elements of transferability.
Based on his Photography on Gothic
fashion, Geoffrey Heat can be accepted as a modern day artist who does things
that the modern day photographers have no courage to do in the modern century.
Since political history is something that is widely respected in the society in
such a way that any modification to its existence is something that can raise
eyebrows, Geoffrey Heat can be said to be one of the noblest hearted
photographers. However, Geoffrey heat is not scared of the opinion of the
public and the politic issues surrounding the Gothic fashion. But on the
contrary, he takes it personal in the sense that he gets carried along with the
events happening in the mainstream media about the Gothic fashion and the Punk
attributed in such a way that an audience can relate with what he is trying to
express through his photography as shown in figure 7 and 8 below. 
Figure
7: The Horror Nature Associated With the Gothic Fashion
Figure
8: Horror Nature associated with Gothic
Culture
Comment
Political photography is to portray
the hiding truth, non speakable, the blind side of the globe, true experience,
voice from the heart and opinion. In this case, the photography portrayed by
Geoffrey Heat has inspired me to continue working hard on my project and make
art part and parcel of my daily activities. In other words, Geoffrey heat’s
work has shown that as an artist, it is important to scratch the surface and go
beyond what other individuals think, seek clarity and politic issues relating
to political photography and history.
Works Cited
Ewing,
W, et al. reGeneration: 50 Photographers
of Tomorrow, 2005-2025.London: Thames and Hudson (Political Art
Documentation)
Goldberg,
V. How Photographs Change our Lives
.New York: Abbeville, 1991
La
Grange, a Basic Critical Theory for Photographers.
Oxford Focal Press, 2005
