fashion controversy

I am a huge fan of fashion photography; I would believe that it is one of the most difficult genres in the world to execute. Although I have only dabbled in it, I appreciate how much work is involved to design beautiful photographs that look deceivingly effortless. As an integral element in fashion magazines (naturally) the art of fashion photography has an important role in the media. It inspires, and it sells. But when is the ethical mark over stepped? Controversial fashion photography is not something I hear about often.

Look at this photograph. What would you think if I told you it was pulled from publication world wide after protests? The ad from Dolce & Gabbana sparked criticism from human rights groups who claimed it condoned violence against women. On the 6th of March 2007, Dolce & Gabbana announced they were pulling the ad after many complaints in Spain and even their home turf, Italy. According to Domenico Dolce, the image is artistic and was meant to “recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.” Stefano Gabbana says that he regrets the way the ad was perceived and insists that he and his partner Domenico Dolce were not intending to demean women. I think it is a beautiful photograph, but yes, if you choose to analyze it there is the risk of open interpretation.

http://bit.ly/aT93v

This one from Tom Ford has also raised eye brows. The ad for a mens fragrance features the bottle between a woman’s breasts. The second image in the campaign is some what more graphic http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2131/1653765474_7ea052478d.jpg?v=0. Tom Ford is a high profile American fashion designer who has a talent for attracting attention. He was the creative director for Gucci for ten years, from 1994 to 2004. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90% - he knows his stuff, but some of his fashion advertising makes me uncomfortable!

http://bit.ly/1a7YuK

This picture of model Sophie Dahl for Yves Saint Laurent is another by Tom Ford. The campaign for Opium perfume was launched in 2000 and was seen in billboards across Britain. They were banned after the Advertising Standards Authority received 730 complaints about the provocative image. Christopher Graham, ASA director general, said the poster was sexually suggestive and likely to cause "serious or widespread offence." There is little debate over whether the ad is sexually suggestive or not, but there are heated opinions over whether it is offensive and demeaning or if it is women's liberation. "This is a celebration of female sensuality for it to be banned only shows how little respect we are really given. Why are we still being oppressed by 19th Century thinking and our gender outlawed, when it is shown in a true light, in the 21st Century? What sort of message does this send to our daughters and granddaughters who could well face this same prejudice tomorrow?" Hannah Sinclair Gallifrey http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1077818.stm


link for Dolce & Gabbana photograph

http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/280/2807475/07_2009/7c/dng-rauncy-ad.jpg

three things I love about the media

1. I can get the news for free in a medium that doesn’t cause piles of unwanted news paper. The first website I check in to every day is the New Zealand Herald Online; no subscription fees, no checking the mail box (call me lazy), no touching the yucky texture of news print. After me and my flatmate subscribed to the Waikato Times on a promotional fee, the novelty wore off after a couple of weeks. We eventually stopped opening them, because rather than sifting through all the pages to find things of interest, I could narrow it precisely by the click of a mouse. I'm not sure if that it a good thing though.

2. It is instant! On the day that Michael Jackson died, I didn’t have to wait for a news paper or evening news, nope, it was all over the Internet. The surrealism of it all hit me as big as the head lines that said the King of Pop was dead. With pod casts and news updated hourly on most top news sites, there is no waiting around or relying on the 6pm television news anymore. I want it and I want it now! How could civilization have survived with waiting until tomorrow's news paper to learn about things like the bombing of Pearl Harbour or that Barack Obama won presidency! There is radio...and yes I am aware that both the examples I used were American.

3. It feeds my massive appetite for information and curiosity! Whether it be hard news, human interest stories, travel, or plain gossip, I revel in the inflow of new facts and ideas - not that I retain them long. It's like every day I have a quota that I have to fill with sometimes the most random answers. I have Googled things like 'Where do tears come from?' and 'Why is the sky blue?' I was satisfied with the knowledge of those deep and meaningful questions for those days but I can't remember the answers now. They got replaced with other things like 'Why is the meaning of life 42?' and 'Do mussels have brains?' With the Internet, the world really is at your finger tips.

five things you never knew your cell phone could do

My Dad sent this as an email attachment half a year ago...I skim read, thought it was interesting but never thought about it again until now. I sifted through my inbox to find it so I could share the useful things that I'm not sure too many people know about. I'm not sure where it came from or who wrote it.

"For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.) There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

1. The emergency number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

This does indeed work, although I hung up after a couple of rings. 112 comes up with ‘Emergency Call.’

2. Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!'

Unfortunately, I do not have a car alarm. If there is a missing hub cab, no spare tyre, and a missing passengers side door handle, I don’t really see the point.

3. Hidden Battery Power. Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate<> press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

Wow this actually worked! All these years and I never knew.

4. How to disable a stolen mobile phone. To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#.
A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.When your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

Couldn’t get this one to work…

5. Free Directory Service for cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411 (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now. This is sponsored by McDonald's.This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving,
so Pass it on to your family and friends."

source unknown

http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Hate-Cell-Phones_t10282.html

cell phone dependence

I have just gone a whole day without using my cell phone. This shouldn't be a shocking statement, but sadly for me, it is. My reliance on this tiny digital device begins with every day as my phone alarm goes off to wake me up. I often think about the scary proposition of life without it, going back maybe 15 years ago before the cell phone boom. This was when cell phones weren't mainstream. Ownership was limited to rich people who must have thought they were so up with the Joneses for having some sweet technology that resembled a cordless brick. My life would be very different if I didn’t have the convenience of being able to talk to anyone on my contacts list when ever I wanted to.

A cell phone has become an extension of the human body, and in years to come…I don’t want to think about it. We have lost the sentimental tenderness of a hand written letter or even face to face communication. What would Juliet have done if Romeo had declared his love through a text message? But then again they both needn’t have died if she had just SMS’d him that she was going to pretend to be dead…and that she would see him later xo. It comes down to security. Whatever trouble you get in, you could always have an escape route if you have your cell phone. It’s not so much the talking, come on we are students we can’t afford to ring people but texting has changed western culture. It has become a necessity, and although I’m sure I wouldn’t actually convulse and slowly die if I didn’t have one, my death would very likely be an indirect result of not having one.

One very down to earth person told me they didn’t want a cell phone because it is just a distraction, and that too many plans are changed at the drop of a hat because the convenience of changing them is there. None of my friends seem too concerned about effects of electro-magnetic radiation, but unless I sprout a second head, neither will I. Apparently, with the increase of cell phones among young people there has been a decrease in cigarette use. Experts believe this is more than coincidence, and that the cell phone has replaced the social mechanisms of smoking. According to a UNICEF report ‘The State of The World’s Children,’ the average for the industrialized world was 93 cell phones and 59 Internet connections per 100 young people. The report said there were 94 cell phone owners and 79 Internet users per 100 Kiwis aged between 15 and 24.

In 2000, only 12 per cent of the global population had a mobile phone. "At current growth rates, global mobile penetration is expected to reach 50 per cent by early 2008," according to International Telecommunication Union's January newsletter. This would amount to more than 3.3 billion subscriptions worldwide.”

Unless we all do indeed sprout an additional body part, I can't see any decline in the popularity of the cell phone.


http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/06/tech-cellphone.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/columns/online/2746474/Cellphones-a-necessary-evil