No Photos Please…

New York City has always been one of my favorite cities around the world. When I was 17 and had the opportunity to take a school field trip to compete in a band competition, there was no question about it; I was going on that trip. The photo I have presented (below), is one of the many faux paparazzi like photos that my friend Emily and I had taken of us by our fans. (And by fans I mean friends that we gave our camera to and made them take photos)

Perhaps the rhetorical argument made in this photo is mocking celebrity candid photos where they are dodging the public eye. That is, in fact, the whole reason why we started to take these photos in the first place. In essence, the photo is a parody on celebrity culture. Our inspiration came from the Olsen Twins, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, who are commonly known from shying away from the camera.

When analyzed closer, one can notice how Emily uses an oversized bag to cover her face and has covered her body from head to toe to avoid showing any skin. Her hair furthermore covers her face. Her hand shows how she does not want her face to be shown and ultimately that she is trying to block the camera from catching an unflattering photo from that angle. I however wore oversized sunglasses, another disguise trend that the Olsen’s are known for, to cover a large portion of my face. I also have an oversized clutch and a hoodie to help cover as much of my body as possible.

Source

So the overall question is, is this photo successful in creating a visual argument based on celebrity culture? I would say so. Out body language and techniques used to hide from the camera work. When looking at both photos together, it can be deduced that these tricks of disguise really do work.