The Grammar of Glamour - a work in progress

Abstract

The Grammar of Glamour; Shooting the High Street involves an investigation into the materiality of photographic media. The photographic project uses experimental visual ethnography that explores the relationship between material culture, social space and the street. Using archive images as well as original photographs the project documents the tastes, predominant aesthetics and use of photographic imagery within recent retail culture. It will explore the ways in which the emotional and symbolic content of a thing is represented through advertising imagery, posters, magazine images, design and product photography. The uniqueness of the project lies in this focus on applied photography, which is notoriously overlooked in the existing cultural history of photographic images.