Study task one for the Oripeau project

A list of words based on the object 'moustache'

Masculinity

Mane 

Strand 

Whiskers 

Bristle 

War 

Class 

Revolutionary 

Character 

Authority 

Handlebar 

Cowboy 

Horseshoe 

Toothbrush 

Imperial 

Chevron 

Initial Images

I decided to take some simple flat lay images of the moustaches, just to capture general shapes and silhouettes. It was a bit of a difficult object to make work for a flat lay, as they didn't have much detail to them.

In my pair, we decided to look into the context of moustaches and the gentrified aspect of the concept of the 'gentleman'; we did so by visiting a barber shop and taking some images of their craft of moustache care.

The barbers had a feeling of traditional mens' beauty/care, and encapsulated the idea of wealth I discovered in my research.  Some of these images would work nicely in a collage approach to the project.

Collage materials 

I used images that we took on the scanner to play with distortion and collages; I developed a ripped effect to create shapes atypical to moustaches, and stuck these in place of moustaches for an accentuated approach. I opted to explore the juxtaposition between femininity and masculinity by having the collages feature women with moustaches, which challenged the idea of moustaches being associated with power and authority. 

Symbolising War 

We decided to create a mocking image of the idea of the association of moustaches with war; altering uniform badges with moustaches to symbolise this masculine concept. 

Editing images to poster compositions

I made some edits of these images appropriate for the composition of the poster design, as well as using the Oripeau black and white format. I like the idea behind these images, but they don't have the professionalism that the project demands as the actual uniform does look very childish/ not cleanly executed. 

It would have been nice to continue this experiment, but the process of physically making badges from hair was very time consuming, so I won't continue it further. However, for the study task I still want to explore the idea of symbolism in war and the relationship with moustaches.