Jackie Lopez
Photo Story: “Girlhood”
I’ve been an artist my entire life, using paint brushes, pencils, pens and other tools to draw the things I see and the things I care about. It wasn’t until this semester I picked up a camera for the first time to explore a whole new way to express myself artistically. Capturing the world through a lens instead of my usual piece of charcoal or digital pen, I had to think about what I wanted to say in my photos and what mattered to me.
This semester I’ve poured myself into the topic of girlhood. Inspired by Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, I’ve been obsessed with thinking about the joys and heartaches that come with being a woman. In September, I co-wrote a Pepperdine Graphic Media article about the film’s celebration of girlhood and interviewed fellow students on the subject – that’s when I saw how much the topic mattered to other women. In my graphic design class I pursued the topic even further in work where I used typography and imagery to depict girlhood through design.
It only felt natural to allow myself to capture girlhood with my camera for this photo series as a final artistic statement on the subject. The use of a doll in some of the photos was a nod to the “Barbie” movie and the implications of how dolls act as a symbol of girlhood and breaking outside of societal expectations for women in pursuit of their own passions and happiness. With this series I wanted to reflect the beauties and intimacies of femininity, female friendship and being a woman while also acknowledging its harsher side including the fear and anxiety that come with it. For the execution, I took inspiration from photographer, Nicholas Fols, in how he captures women in both a beautiful and melancholic way using nature.
Photo Story: “Girlhood”
I’ve been an artist my entire life, using paint brushes, pencils, pens and other tools to draw the things I see and the things I care about. It wasn’t until this semester I picked up a camera for the first time to explore a whole new way to express myself artistically. Capturing the world through a lens instead of my usual piece of charcoal or digital pen, I had to think about what I wanted to say in my photos and what mattered to me.
This semester I’ve poured myself into the topic of girlhood. Inspired by Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, I’ve been obsessed with thinking about the joys and heartaches that come with being a woman. In September, I co-wrote a Pepperdine Graphic Media article about the film’s celebration of girlhood and interviewed fellow students on the subject – that’s when I saw how much the topic mattered to other women. In my graphic design class I pursued the topic even further in work where I used typography and imagery to depict girlhood through design.
It only felt natural to allow myself to capture girlhood with my camera for this photo series as a final artistic statement on the subject. The use of a doll in some of the photos was a nod to the “Barbie” movie and the implications of how dolls act as a symbol of girlhood and breaking outside of societal expectations for women in pursuit of their own passions and happiness. With this series I wanted to reflect the beauties and intimacies of femininity, female friendship and being a woman while also acknowledging its harsher side including the fear and anxiety that come with it. For the execution, I took inspiration from photographer, Nicholas Fols, in how he captures women in both a beautiful and melancholic way using nature.
