SARAH GOBELL

Influence Artist Statement

 

For this photo I was inspired by the word “influence”. An influence can be anything that has an effect on someone’s behavior or character. My first thought when I hear influence is how nowadays the internet and media can influence a person. The way girls and women are portrayed in the media can have a big influence on how girls think they need to look. This idea is shown in my photo: a woman looking at herself in the mirror, comparing herself to pictures of models that she has around her. My picture portrays the influence these models have on her wanting this ideal body image. She is holding up the same bathing suit bottoms as one shown one of the models, hoping to be more like her.

 

I was inspired for this photo by real life instances. There have many times I have seen pictures of models on social media and been influenced by their appearance and wanted to change my body to be like theirs. The process of this photo required obtaining many pictures of models in bikinis from magazines that I could put on the mirror as her influence. I purposely used older models for the photos because it would be more realistic for the woman to be inspired by photos of models closer to her age. The woman is holding a bathing suit bottom that is the same as one that a model as wearing. The body language shows she is checking herself out in the mirror, while looking at the photos, not satisfied with her appearance. The photo setting is in a closet add to the story that she is not open or public about her unhappiness with her appearance.

 

I learned a few things while shooting this photo. First it was hard for me to get an appropriate angle with the lighting in that particular setting. I had to try several different angles to make sure I could showcase the important features of the photograph: her body language, the bathing suit, and the photographs on the mirror. I also was reminded the scary impact that the media really does have especially on girls. Seeing these unrealistic body images can cause harm to girls. The goal of my photo was to create a story of how the media truly influences people of all ages on their appearance.