ALISE KING

Americans have become dependent on their material items, which has begun to shape the way they form their identity. Young Americans have used their material items to build confidence and gratification, buying and selling in order to stay relevant in the eyes of the viewer. In Ways of Seeing,John Berger writes, “Publicity is addressed to those who constitute the market, to the spectator-buyer who is also the consumer-producer from whom profits are made twice over – as worker and then as buyer.” According to Berger, the sum of everything is money, and publicity shapes that fear into being, if you have nothing, you will be nothing. I believe that is the identity young Americans have today. Using fashion photography, this project explores the culture of consumerism in America, using high fashion posing and lighting. They are showing off their surroundings with self-possession, posing in a way that portrays they are above the viewer, because of these possessions. Their gaze expresses dissatisfaction, and arrogance, implying that these possessions are not fulfilling their needs or happiness.