My topic was based on the difficulties a transgender model has to face in today’s society. While I was brainstorming ideas for my project I realized that I have never seen a transgender to be on the cover of a magazine. In that moment I knew that this would be my topic. I knew from the beginning that working on this topic would be very hard, and that made me want it even more. My aim was to give the neglected a chance. To show how transgenders just like any other can be on the cover of national and international magazines.
As I conducted research I discovered Valentina Sampaio, a Brazilian actress and model. Valentina is popular because she is the first openly transgender model to be featured on Victoria’s Secret. As I conducted more research on Valentina’s early life I found out that she had been fired by many firms only because of her sexuality. The firm stated that the clients would not be receptive of a transsexual model.
A 29 years old transgender woman from Karachi, Pakistan is known for her talent, witty behavior, knowledge, courage, bravery and charm and the world knows her as Kami Sid. She has proved at a very young age that anything is possible to achieve. Belonging to a country like Pakistan, Kami had numerous social and religious obstacles to conquer, but her unstoppable nature led her to destinations which a lot would only dream of.
Kami Sid inspired me the most, as a Pakistani myself I am aware of the stereotypes circulating transgenders. But that couldn’t stop Kami, Kami was able to rise above all of it. Kami receives threats on a regular and its amazing how nothing gets to her head. Nothing stops her from doing what she wants to do.
Survey
My survey consisted of 7 questions in total, all mostly focused on feedback and whether or not I have an audience and if I do are they aware of the issue my topic is based on. My questions were
- Age Group
- Gender
- Do you think you would follow a transgender in regard of their fashion sense?
- Have you ever seen a transgender individual on a magazine cover?
- Do you think transgenders should be given the same opportunities regardless of their gender?
- Do you think a brand’s clients would not be receptive of a transgender model?
- Do you think a transgender on a magazine cover could possibly cause a conflict?
Majority of the people who filled my survey
Mood Board
The mood board consists of just two magazine covers. But these covers exactly defined my mood. These covers perfectly painted a picture in my head. I wanted my model’s facial expressions to have a little of both. The lighting should be something close to the cover on the right, and the texts should be minimalistic like the one on the left.
Planning
Trying to find a model was the hardest part of the project, no one really agreed to work with me to achieve my vision. Until I discussed it with Fawad, I make movies with Fawad and I explained the importance this project holds for me and the message I am trying to convey. Fawad quickly jumped on board and agreed to work on this project with me. For which I will be forever grateful
For my props I borrowed some clothes from my friend that would fit on fawad, we did our shooting indoors so we could experiment with artificial lighting. My vision was to paint a picture that holds such strong emotions, to create a image that makes you ask so many questions that forces you to open up the magazine and find out for yourself what the cover is all about
To achieve that I used an application on my smart phone that would allow me to have a screen flashlight, also in different colors, I asked two of my friends to both stand on each side and direct the lights towards the model.
This was the cover I settled for at first. It’s always hard to completely replicate your vision, this was not what I wanted instead something I could make use of. After a matter of seconds I insisted that we keep on trying and this isn’t “the one” we kept experimenting until one of my friends was fixing the model’s stance when I asked both my friends to keep their hands in the frame. All of a sudden everything clicked. My vision was what I saw infront of my eyes and I captured it.
My friend Wania did all the make-up. Unfortunately at that moment I only recorded a video. Here are the screenshots. As you can see we went for a subtle touch, gave it a simple look. We did eyeliner, subtle eyeshadow and glitter
media blog zbt 