Tibor Kalman, T.K. and Maira Kalman, M.K. (2005) Unfashion. New York: Abrams.
Daniel Miller, D.M. (2013) The Daily Mail. Available from: www. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2472272/A-vanishing-way-life-captured-forever-British-photographer-travels-world-record-dozens-dying-tribes-danger-disappearing-forever.html (Accessed 24 October 2017)
Katherine Brooks, K.B. (2014) This Is The Last Generation Of Scarification In Africa. Huffington Post. 23rd September, 8-9.
As usual I was drawn to the book that stuck out like a sore thumb in the fashion section. A book I had previously read before, ‘Unfashion’ is one of the most humorous and captivating journals of worldly fashion ever written. A book you will constantly go back to, eager to travel through its pages once more. What I liked most about this image was that it made the West’s approach to fashion pale in comparison; these tribes using every surface and every object imaginable to decorate and accessorise their bodies. The organic feel of his cracked painted skin, and the seeds around his neck, compared to the modern keys hanging from his neck show that there is no line between what is and isn’t acceptable, something I think holds us back in the West. Its merely an art and a form of self expression, as it should be.
Continuing on this theme I found this etherial image of four little tribesmen, painted head to toe and decorated with frosty, delicate headpieces. The fact that these boys are encouraged to decorate their bodies in whatever they see fit is something I really admire, as men in Europe are shamed when it comes to self expression and beautification. Not only is this a striking image with the tonal variation, it again widens our perspective and hopefully makes us question how we raise our own boys.
Lastly, I thought I would include a more permanent decorative aspect: scarification. An extreme, bold decision that makes a mark in more than one way. Beautiful and shocking, this process isn’t for the weak.