This week I have chosen three images that convey to me, a story, feeling or connection. The first photograph comes from photographer Olivia Bee (2011) I stumbled across this photograph a year ago, in her book ‘Kid’s In Love’ (2016). I was immediately drawn to this image as it creates a narrative of rebellion and teen spirit. I automatically feel connected to the photograph due to the sex and similar age of the subjects – though an audience of any age can resonate with it, from a shared experience of being a teenager.

As a photographer I have been inspired by Olivia Bee’s approach to taking candid photographs of her peers and I agree with the opinion she voices in her book; “a beautiful photograph is great, but I want them to tell stories” (Bee, 2016). For me, this is what drew me to her initially, the idea that each photograph presented a new subject, a new story to get immersed in – and needless to say her photographs are beautiful alone.

From a recommendation in ‘Kid’s In Love’ (2016) I discovered photographer Ryan McGinley. McGinley began documenting his life through photography before favouring the ‘constructed’ approach. Similar to Bee, his work “retains a sense of freedom” and an “inescapable narrative” (Dazed, 2015). The colours in this image (2011) are stunning and I like the film-style look and vignette effect. The calming nature of the image gives me a feeling of serenity which is juxtaposed by the model’s actions (holding flares) – on the whole I feel the prevalent message from the photograph is to be free and to be bold.

My final image comes from the first issue of I-d Magazine in 1980. Linking to the theme of youth and rebellion I discovered this “stripped-back zine design of cool young kids, doing outrageous things” (Siddall, 2013). I love the use of innovative typography, with the ‘W’ and ‘L’ intersecting the logo to create ‘wild’ – the fragmented, typewriter-style text is also effective in establishing the grunge aesthetic which originally captured my interest. The contrasting and clashing colours of the image are punchy and bold, reinforcing the message to be wild.

Gevinson, T. (2016) Olivia bee: kid’s in love. Aperture; 01 edition. p. 132.

Dazed. (2015) Ryan McGinley’s portraits of American youth. Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/24965/1/ryan-mcginley-s-portraits-of-american-youth (Accessed: 26 November 2017).

Siddall, L. (2013) Publication: What a treat! A flick through issue 1 of i-D magazine from 1980. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/publication-i-d-magazine (Accessed: 26 November 2017).

PHOTO ONE: Bee, O. (2011) Whose house is this. Available at: http://oliviabee.com/kids-in-love/kids-in-love-2/ (Accessed: 26 November 2017).

PHOTO TWO: McGinley, R. (2011) Purple beacon. Available at: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/gallery/19856/4/ryan-mcginley (Accessed: 26 November 2017).

PHTO THREE: I-D Magazine. (1980) Issue One. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/publication-i-d-magazine (Accessed: 26 November 2017).