Toxic Treat Assignment #4: Image Scavenger Hunt
Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:46 pm
Happy Thanksgiving. To all the individuals who emailed me thanking me for my existence, you're most welcome.
Background: Upcoming Shoot and Aesthetics
As you know, the Toxic Treat Woman of the Year is coming up. Finalists have been chosen and the limited group of people I respect are now going through and trying to decide who best represents the dynamic I'm trying to document with Toxic Treat.
When the winner is selected, we're going to try to arrange a fancy shmancy photo shoot with a real photographer in a style that captures an aesthetic I would ultimately like Toxic Treat to have. (The current website does _not_ have this quality).
The "Toxic Treat"-- the femme fatale, is one of the great archetypes. It's not a modern thing, it's not a film noir thing, it's not an American thing, it's not even a kink thing. It's an integral piece of storytelling and, really, the human psyche. Homeric epics, old testament, mythology, superstition, religion. The "Toxic Treat" is something very deep in the human psyche. And I sort of want Toxic Treat to capture that-- in parts anyway.
The images of the Woman of the Year should be epic and otherworldly; Hints of fairytale, magical realism, or a dream come alive. (Think the film Amelie or the tv show Pushing Daisies, if you know them).
Which contains images that somehow fit the aesthetic I'm looking for.
Assignment #4: Image Scavenger Hunt
As you see, it's very difficult to describe a visual style in words. So, go to the following facebook abum:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9 ... 484f0a9988
Look through the images and get a feel for the overall aesthetic. Some images are bdsm-related, some images are not, but they were all saved because there was something about them I considered "Toxic Treat"-ish.
Sometimes its the emotional content:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
Sometimes it's the concept:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
In lots of cases, it's an ineffable visual quality-- something about the color scheme and the overall mood of the work. So for example:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
Once you've looked through the examples, the scavenger hunt is on. Send me pictures you think I would like. Each image will be graded on a "pass/fail" basis, total score is the total number of "passed" images-- so no penalty for being wrong, what matters is how many you were right about. I will try to provide verbal feedback as much as possible to help understand why non-passing images don't pass.
Highest score wins. Send photos to me: [email protected]
(Additionally, I am also looking for a photographer in the SF-bay area who can shoot in a style I like and might be willing to work for the joy of creation and any resulting pride or fame. I do have a few submissive-types with expensive cameras who would like to do the shoot, but I'd prefer a photographer who has already already mastered the stylistic aspects in their pre-existing portfolio. I don't actually expect you guys to solve this, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.)
Sophia
p.s.
I know some of you are lazy and will run from anything that is actually productive, so I'm posting another "fun" task:
http://www.milovana.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4580
Background: Upcoming Shoot and Aesthetics
As you know, the Toxic Treat Woman of the Year is coming up. Finalists have been chosen and the limited group of people I respect are now going through and trying to decide who best represents the dynamic I'm trying to document with Toxic Treat.
When the winner is selected, we're going to try to arrange a fancy shmancy photo shoot with a real photographer in a style that captures an aesthetic I would ultimately like Toxic Treat to have. (The current website does _not_ have this quality).
The "Toxic Treat"-- the femme fatale, is one of the great archetypes. It's not a modern thing, it's not a film noir thing, it's not an American thing, it's not even a kink thing. It's an integral piece of storytelling and, really, the human psyche. Homeric epics, old testament, mythology, superstition, religion. The "Toxic Treat" is something very deep in the human psyche. And I sort of want Toxic Treat to capture that-- in parts anyway.
The images of the Woman of the Year should be epic and otherworldly; Hints of fairytale, magical realism, or a dream come alive. (Think the film Amelie or the tv show Pushing Daisies, if you know them).
Which contains images that somehow fit the aesthetic I'm looking for.
Assignment #4: Image Scavenger Hunt
As you see, it's very difficult to describe a visual style in words. So, go to the following facebook abum:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9 ... 484f0a9988
Look through the images and get a feel for the overall aesthetic. Some images are bdsm-related, some images are not, but they were all saved because there was something about them I considered "Toxic Treat"-ish.
Sometimes its the emotional content:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
Sometimes it's the concept:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
In lots of cases, it's an ineffable visual quality-- something about the color scheme and the overall mood of the work. So for example:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... 0224437781
Once you've looked through the examples, the scavenger hunt is on. Send me pictures you think I would like. Each image will be graded on a "pass/fail" basis, total score is the total number of "passed" images-- so no penalty for being wrong, what matters is how many you were right about. I will try to provide verbal feedback as much as possible to help understand why non-passing images don't pass.
Highest score wins. Send photos to me: [email protected]
(Additionally, I am also looking for a photographer in the SF-bay area who can shoot in a style I like and might be willing to work for the joy of creation and any resulting pride or fame. I do have a few submissive-types with expensive cameras who would like to do the shoot, but I'd prefer a photographer who has already already mastered the stylistic aspects in their pre-existing portfolio. I don't actually expect you guys to solve this, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.)
Sophia
p.s.
I know some of you are lazy and will run from anything that is actually productive, so I'm posting another "fun" task:
http://www.milovana.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4580
