Primary research: Photographs from the past

For my primary research I collected a range of past photographs of my family members from the specific eras I am focusing on throughout my final major project. I asked multiple family members if they had any old photographs I was able to use for my research, showing what types of clothing they wore back then and comparing them to today's clothing, backing up my theory that trends/clothing from these eras focused on are returning, along with the accessories. From the photographs I was given I then photocopied them and stuck them to black card creating a Polaroid look as back in the eighties and nineties photography was more film than digital like we use today. From this I discovered that brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Adidas were just as popular as they are today. One brand in particular I wasn't expecting to see what "Kappa" as back then it was seen extremely uncool but today's generation seems to think different as the brand today is seen in high fashion stores such as Urban outfitters, Topshop and many more. 

I thought it was interesting looking through past photographs as my parents reaction to them today is quite amusing as they look back and think "oh my" indicating it was a bad choice of clothing or just the way they looked back then.Other reactions being "those were the days" suggesting that they loved the clothing back then but wouldn't wear it now, reason being is because the clothing back then was actually trendy and now its only just picking back up in style. Or is it? I feel as if the brands seen in these photographs have never actually gone out of fashion but the way the fashion cycle works makes it seems like they do. For instance, today you see models such as, Kendal Jenner, Gigi Hadid and many more wearing these brands!  

From these photographs they not only give me an insight on what fashion in the eighties/nineties was like but what the photography was like. Looking at these photographs you can see slight part of the faces are exposed with light and some extremely exposed and the reason this is these photographs were taken with a disposable film camera which requires a flash to take a photograph being the reason they are overly exposed with light, but not only that comparing to today's photography and the quality on the image the difference is remarkable. It really does show how much photography has developed as a field of work. However, to show further development and experimentation and take this research forward, I plan to start to play around with multiple camera's both digital and film, to show that I am stepping away from what I already know and maybe from experimenting take these elements forward in my work.