TerryWorld

Infamous for turning filth into fashion, Terry Richardson's photography sits equally at home in the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Vice Magazines. In his book TerryWorld taboos are null and void. Richardson is credited with taking 1970s porn esthetic and making it fashion chic. Celebrities, supermodels and pornstars alike will do for his lens what they'll do for no other...

Terry highlights exactly what I'm looking at, the emergence of a form of porn-chic. Terry is re-interpreting porn as an art form... Creating a sense of exclusivity, style and sophistication.

Talk at the British Film Institute 'Laura Mulvey On The Blonde'

Earlier this week I attended a talk by feminist theorist, Laura Mulvey. I am considering her theory of the 'male gaze' to my work and although the topic of this talk was not specific to my research, I thought it would be of great value and interest anyway.

As she was focussing on the representation of women in film I applied what she was saying to the film work of Mike Figgis for Agent Provocateur. For example, she discussed how constructed femininity (my interpretation: wearing of lingerie, regulated bodies etc) is seductive, alluring and mysterious which is how, I believe, the representations of the women are intended in the Figgis film.

Meeting with Neil Kirkham...

Rachel (Velody) advised me to meet up with Neil, a professor at the university, who specializes in my research topic of art and pornography. We discussed my ideas and he seemed to be impressed with my topic as he said it was unique and that nobody to his knowledge had done a dissertation of this content. This was very reassuring for me and also helpful as he suggested a couple books for me to read (The Secret Museum by Walter Kendrick and The Secret History of Civilisation by Isabel Tang) which will help me to look into the history of pornography...

Store Visits!

To gain first hand, qualitative information to enrich my research I am conducting extended discussions with participants who have visited both specialist stores Ann Summers and Coco de Mer, to provide me with individual store reports.

I carried out the first one yesterday. I sent Lola, 23, to the two stores with a brief of what to consider and then met up with her immediately after she'd left the second one. I met her in Covent Garden after her visit to Coco de Mer, and we found a quiet place to sit on the road side (who said fashion wasn't glamorous?!) We proceeded to chat about her experience and her response to both stores.

In contrast to the interview with Alexandra, I used a dictaphone voice recorder as I knew the circumstances wouldn't allow for filming. In fact using the dictaphone to record the conversation was more successful as the participant was more at ease, and under less pressure to 'perform'.

It was definitely beneficial to conduct the discussion straight after the store visits so the topic was fresh in her mind.

I now look forward to the next one!

iCritique

I've just come home from the iCritique exhibition... This involved displaying our work in progress so that people could leave suggestions for and opinions on the continuation of our work.

At first I was feeling quite nervous at the thought of people actively 'critiquing' my work, particularly because I have never shown my work on this sort of scale before. As the cocktails started to flow, however, and after the first comment had been made I began to relax and ended up actually quite enjoying the whole process!

The messages left for me were helpful and it was really interesting to experience the various reactions to my work; some expected, some unexpected. It was a chance to really discuss in depth our areas of research with some familiar, and some not so familiar, faces. I also found myself contributing more than I thought I might by leaving pointers for my peers...

It proved to be quite a therapeutic exercise! All in all, a successful evening!

Interview with model Alexandra Khan

I have just finished interviewing Alexandra Khan, a model who has posed for Figgis. Initially she was uncomfortable with the interview being filmed (as, in her opinion, she had not applied enough make-up!) and the first recording we made didn't save... But despite these hiccups I felt the interview went well and she seemed very honest and open which really helps add depth to my research.

She also had a response that surprised me... When asked whether she thought Figgis' work appealed to a certain type of audience, she answered that although his work is considered classy and that his collaboration with Agent Provocateur makes his work seem exclusive, that she does not think it alienates any 'type' of woman. My expectation was that she'd have thought his work for AP was pointed towards the elite, but this has shown me not to make assumptions during my research!

Tied up at the Office by Mike Figgis for Agent Provocateur

Click here to see 'Tied up at the office'

I have just been looking at the work of Mike Figgis for Agent Provocateur entitled Tied up at the Office. It makes for quite uncomfortable viewing, if what you're expecting is a run of the mill lingerie advert! Is Figgis 'sanitising' porn using sophisticated artistic techniques? (black and white/use of sound etc.) Is this even porn at all? Perhaps we call it 'soft-core' porn or perhaps it is what we call erotic art... Right now I am struggling with what the difference is...