Contemporary Portraits and Symbolism.

After looking at symbolism in elizabethan portraiture I now want to see if this idea of symbolism has carried on into contemporary culture that we advertise to the general public just like Queen Elizabeth did with her loyal followers through portraits that were painted of her. 

This image of Shu Pein Qin for Givenchy HC S/S 2011 gives off the impression of power and decadence, elegance and wealth. This symbolism is created through the  use of the crown to show the strength being the woman. The background emphasises the decadence and wealth as well as the clothes which are pure white and gold showing an elegance because of the intricate beading on the dress. 

This image for Balmain for H&M has a very strong and powerful connotations and symbolism because of the winged out effect of the people and the strong and confident stance of the models poses. The clothes create a uniform look alluding to army symbolism. 

This image of Karl Lagerfeld symbolises vanity, notoriety and wealth. The vanity being expressed through carrying a picture of himself with such a delicate grasp. The notoriety being shown through the dark sunglasses covering his eyes, showing his status in society with slicked back hair tied neatly in a pony tail. His wealth shown through his stance in the picture and the fact its a very still portrait. His clothes also show wealth as his blazer is velvet with a leather lapel. 

My Own Self Portrait.

   

While experimenting with makeup looks for halloween I realised that this makeup did reflect a small part of symbolism that is described through makeup, firstly my love of being creative and disguising myself and secondly my love of animals. I like how my makeup turned out here but I don't think the symbolism is as strong as it could have been. I feel as if these images do show some symbolism of promiscuity and vanity which I quite like and I feel isn't a true reflection of exactly how I am but I do like the makeup I have created here.