Visual Journal - Photoshop testing

I took a few images which i have made from collaging in my visual journal and i decided to have a play around with them digitally in photoshop to see what different and interesting results i could get out of it. Unfortunately i wont have time to properly print them so i may just resort to sticking them in my journal. 

I really love the approach you can get from working with collage and then editing around to see what you can get from the images. I really think most of these would look great as screen prints but i've left it too late for any of that. 

So below are the tests i have got so far and i am looking to mock up a few more before hand in. I just wish i had made these kind of things sooner much much sooner. 

Visual Journal - Music related collage

These are a couple more pages which i have added and are based on once again images i have found in the book which i photocopied the other day. These are a 'homage' to the kind of music associated with Mods and these two in particular are the Rolling stones who early work reflects something affiliated with Mod and the other is blues guitarist and singer Muddy Waters who is an infamous blues figure and blues was certainly a genre that the Mods were influenced by.  

I have tried to be experimental with the aesthetic of these 'posters' but i was just testing out in the journal not really thinking in depth about them looking like finished outcomes.

These are only the versions taken from the journal and i haven't edited them yet but i feel there is a pretty cool handmade almost print quality to them much like how the posters were of the day. 

New Mod book

This book arrived yesterday but i didn't get a chance to look into it until today and i can honestly say it is brilliant and i will definitely be happy to still look through it even after Cop  is finished, which isn't too far way. I have definitely found that ever since deciding to focus purely on Mod culture i have grown a fascination for the things related to it, doesn't mean ill be buying a scooter or starting to dress sharply, although that would be nice but i seem to really understand and appreciate what they did as a culture and how they were in my opinion style concious revolutionaries yet they weren't hell bent on making change themselves they were simply all about dressing smart in a style that reflected their influences and went against the fashions of the time that didn't particularly say anything to them or at all.

 I have been referencing it for ideas and certain bits of information for my essay so it is of help for sure and i'm glad i have bought it. 

Visual Journal explorative journey

Visual Journal - Collage

I have continued with my collage 'tests' and experiments in my journal today and with these i believe i have put more emphasis into the composition of the images and made them more complete as ideas. 

'Focusing' on a few ideas image wise around what Mods were known for such as the haircut, the style and fashion and the live fast life style of them out in the clubs. 

Mod Visual Journal exploration - collage

This is the beginning of my visual journal or at least on the other side with my exploration into the image related with Mod culture which ties into and relates with my essay. With not long left until hand in i'm really not sure how much i will get completed in time. The other day i photocopied a vast amount of images from a book i have got out of the library and so i have pulled from it the images i find useful and even exciting in terms of the potential they have as interesting images. Using what i have learned and applied with my other images on the other side of the journal i have carried into my collage 'experiments' infusing hand drawn elements to the compositions. 

Original MOD Bands

Here are a few images of Bands that were typically listened to by Mods of the first generation in 1960's Britain. Although it is clear that there is no genre of Mod music there was a feeling and a sensibility of what felt like a mod feeling or statement. The Bands below had a clear Mod image as they dressed like them and through their style they influenced the people of the time which in turn fuelled the movement. It is also the case that these bands came about as a result of the first wave and Bands like The Who were actually modelled on the Mod phenomenon rather than the people taking influence from them. 

The Who have been a band that play an important part in both generation Mods. They began in 1964 and quickly became popular with the mod 'generation' with their image that was more or less forced onto them by the manager Peter Meaden who moulded there image around the Mod look of the time. Their music spoke to the free spirited youth with infamous songs such as 'My Generation'. They also played a major part with the Mod revival of the late 70's, due to their project/film Quadrophenia that was based around their 1973 concept album of the same name. It followed the story of a 21 year old Mod, Jimmy, who was fed up of his job and seeked the 'way of life' that being a mod was and is. With the films success it brought about the Mod revival and a new generation of them was born. 

The small faces as opposed to the Who were Mods before they formed the band and this had a telling effect and impact on their music and style and the band is seen as the ultimate Mod band. 

The Beatles are an obvious choice to talk about anything in relation to important bands in the 1960's however the early Beatles really were Mods although its not really acknowledged that way a great deal. Particularly through their style at that time although fashion style and influence wise they have been through it all from Rockers in the early 'quarrymen' days to Mods to Hippies in the latter years. This shows the impact they have had because they have been through all of those movements and taking the people with them.

The Kinks are another Band who represented Mod especially in their appearance. They played an important part in the emergence of the British music scene and helped along with The Beatles revolutionise it.  

Visual Journal Crit - feedback

 Here is the feedback from the crit which we had yesterday where we displayed our visual journal work something i was quite apprehensive about because i had done most of my journal work or at least what i have done so far over easter so was nervous to see what people thought. I was also apprehensive to see what everyone else has done as i was worried they'd have done a lot more than me which kind of was the case but there were also people who had done a similar amount with certain things left to finish. 

I did get some pretty good feedback, with the drawings i had done being received pretty well. I could see that in the other journals people had filled more pages with generally rough experiments as opposed to portraiture that takes me forever to draw and over the holidays i had done 20 of them so it meant that i never actually got as much work done as i thought i had because they individually took too long. Which is why some of the comments stress on considering how to simplify the drawings down to almost symbolism which i feel could work but with my drawing style id probably be reluctant to. 

There is still much work to be done in my journal including starting the other side as i was worried about that too and it seems a lot of people have gone through the whole book something i'm not sure i can fully complete with the time left. On the other side i am also unsure on what the content shall be although i do know that i need to link in essay subject of Mod culture so i think i will fill it with collage purely because it is a quick and easy yet effective way of approaching the visual investigation and others have opted for collage for that reason as well. So with the essay still to finish and my journal theres a lot on my playe before hand in. 

Contemporary male Mods

Here is a couple of pictures of contemporary Mod 'icons' and celebrities who are helping wave the flag of Mod in todays culture and i believe are an excellent example as to how there has been a impact of the Mod for it to be still be in our culture today which i really what my essay is all about. I couldn't really be bothered writing a great deal about them so i'm pretty much just going to say who they are. Its pretty evident through their appearance how they are Mods so i felt i didn't need to say much!

Bradley Wiggins 

Martin Freeman

Gallagher Brothers 

Miles Kane 

Paul Weller the 'modfather'

I definitely have an idea of what Mod style is and to recognise what contemporaries there are in our British culture today is a good exercise in realising that the culture is still alive, an argument i will be making for my essay. Its also interesting to point out that with the exception of Bradley Wiggins who is a professional cyclist and Martin Freeman all the other examples take place musically but it just goes to show how important style and image is to musicians. 

Important Women in the Mod movement

Since most research conducted around Mod culture of mainly the 1960's has been based around the male influence i felt it was relevant to have a look into the influence that certain women have had on the culture and movement. While it is legible to credit to the whole phenomenon with the Male side of it there is definite women that are worth crediting.

"What happened to me in the Sixties was so major and so worldwide and so huge, there's no way I can repeat it. But in a way, I had nothing to do with it, it just took me over. It was bizarre, it was weird, and I had no control over it. I don't think anyone could have planned what happened to me."

Lesley Hornby, immortalised and known by the name Twiggy was the worlds first idea of a Supermodel and can be pretty much named queen of the Mods. With her style most notably thanks to her iconic haircut she propelled the Mod culture and the fashion world in general into a new idea completely. With the magazines and products in her name like never before there was a revolution with a lot of areas in British culture in general as well as taking the styles over to America where Mod was introduced and did indeed take off. 

"The sixties were a time when ordinary people could do extraordinary things . . . !"

Another influential women of the Mod era was the presenter of the Mod top of the tops of the time 'Ready, steady, go!' Cathy McGowan. The show was a fresh new way for the youth to stay up to date with the latest mod trends and music featuring bands such as The Beatles, The Kinks and The Small Faces. 

She stayed up to the trend on the latest Mod styles and fashions which helped her become a Mod icon and with her charismatic presenting style she helped the show achieve a cult following even after the programs demise in December 1966. 

Here are a few 'honourable mentions 

Singer Julie Driscoll. Iconised by her striking haircut which teenage girls across the country adopted. 

Singer and national treasure and icon Cilla Black was an important figure in the mod culture in the early 1960's. 

Cilla and Cathy McGowan on Ready, steady, go! 

There are many more women icons that i could research and i could obviously research into them in more depth but this was just an overview on who i could talk about in my essay. I feel that involving there influence in my investigation both in the journal and my essay is very important as it is wrong to not acknowledge their role and influence in some way. 

Inspiration for my visual journal

This site is a top 100 list of Rolling Stones greatest and most influential artists of all time which i felt was really good to use as a springboard for all my visual journal studies which highlights the importance and influence of certain musicians and how they shaped our culture in certain ways. 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-196912

Influential women in music

This is just a quick post to show this link i found when gathering inspiration for my visual journal study based on my influential musician study in my journal. The link below is on a BBC music related article which looks into the 10 most influential women in music which i followed from something i found on the incredible Sister Rosetta Tharpe who i have now included in my journal. Its a really good read this article! Some of the women included i wont really use because they predate the 20th century and aren't in the idea of 'popular' music but i have definitely gained some new ideas 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/6f9d5d38-4e7b-4b82-8bb6-5e35a3c49db

COP books and new essay direction

Since i'm struggling quite a bit with my essay i have taken out a few books out the library to help me. I have recently made the decision to focus my essay on the Mod movement and culture specifically of the 1960's in Britain. As i have been meaning to focus into around subcultures for a while and was even toying around with looking into the influence of music on culture and Mod culture is a really good one to do that with as they were all influenced by new styles of music, new styles of clothes as they really embraced fashion and just all round new ways of living at that time. 

I was also pondering on for a while looking into an androgynous aspect within culture and music with musicians/singers such as David Bowie, Boy George and Annie Lennox who all had an important role in shaping new accepted ideas of gender, a concept i don't know a lot about but i have felt pretty fascinated by it as a concept for change in more ways than one. 

I feel that there is certain parallels with the Mod culture and this androgynous idea as it was the first teen led culture that incorporated androgynous aspects into its style for example through the short male like female haircuts which were known as Bob cuts. As well as the fact that a main instigator of the new androgynous revolution in Britain David Bowie was very much a mod in the 60's and his influence went through into glam rock which was a good platform for Bowie to show this new exciting way of being. So when i think about it there is a way of justifying me researching into Mod and the culture because i believe it was the foundation for all that we know now for our culture within music and fashion. I better stop now and save this for my essay. 

Here are the books i have taken out and i am hoping that they will kickstart an informed way of going about and analysing the mod movement and how important it has been culturally. 

This one is really good for the related imagery side of the mod culture featuring many images that i could even incorporate into my visual journal. 

This one i wasn't too sure about but it might place a good argument for the social deviance side of the culture and it features arguments on the mods and rockers side of things. 

Youtube research

These are some excellent videos i have come across while researching for the essay. When i first used Youtube as a research tool for subcultures i was a bit skeptical but once i narrowed it down to mod and the styles and related topics that surround it i have found it very useful. I love using videos as research tools as i am quite a visceral learner and i love to watch things as opposed to reading and it its really good because you can get the words and opinions from actual mods and rockers and people around at that time. 

So here a few of the videos i have found recently and they are only a few because i really have watched quite a lot in an attempt to fill my head with the knowledge i need about the subject. 

Are subculture still relevant - Youtube discussion

I found this really good video today which is just two guys discussing what it says on the tin. I did admittedly judge them at first and thought they were a bit dorky but i found the video quite useful and interesting as i'm not sure its a general question that is asked enough as generally no-one is really 'bothered' about subcultures today. I feel that most people probably including myself are more than happy to not follow one thing specifically and use a whole mixing pot of ideas and influences to shape who they are...good lord that sounds pretentious. 

The only thing about this video is they are American (or maybe Canadian i'm not entirely sure) and i am focusing my ideas and research around British culture and there is the but its a good overview of how subcultures are viewed in todays terms even if it isn't an in depth analysis into the exact area i am looking for.