Fearless and Fabulous

When going into the ICP, I immediately knew which exhibition I wanted to visit the most: “Bazaar: A Decade of Style.” I am not a fashion-junkie but there has always been something about fashion photography that has intrigued me. Fashion photography, for me, is inescapable. As soon as you see it, it takes hold of your senses and you stand there entranced. Fashion photography, unlike other types of photography, is meant not only to elicit an emotional reaction out of you but also to spur you to use your credit card and buy whatever shoe, necklace, coat, dress, or accessory is being advertised. For me personally, however, I feel like photos like those exhibited in Harper’s Bazaar are also meant to show a deeper meaning than just to get consumers to buy the products. One of the prime examples I saw of this in the exhibition was the photograph of two women, walking side by side on a road.

The photo itself is quite simple. The basic focus is of two women, clad in attention-grabbing clothes, walking down a deserted road in what appears to be a desert. Both women are dressed in bold, bright colors—there is no mistaking them. Their clothes are very structural and features very geometric lines.   Looking at the road, there are two arrows pointing to the required direction of travel (in the photo, the arrows are pointing upwards). The women, however, are walking in the opposite direction. The photo features bright colors of orange, pink, blue and yellow. Contrasting with this is the deep black of the road. The focal point is the two women, in particular their clothes (this is a fashion photograph, after all). Both women are wearing sunglasses, making their eyes impossible for the viewer to see. Both are also outfitted in extreme high heels.

The reason this photograph was so attention-grabbing among the rest was the underlying message I extracted from it. The women are flouting the social conventions by walking on the street and not caring about any cars that may come their way. They are openly ignoring the direction rule by walking in the opposite direction. They may be construed as ignorant of the consequences (like a car approaching), but I think it makes them fearless. The clothes they are wearing are definitely not the norm but why should they care? This photo shows me female empowerment. Looking at these women make me want to be like them—just as innovative,  devil-may-care, and fabulous.