REPRESENTATION OF PHYSICALITY IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE XXI CENTURY: AFFECTIVE ASPECT

Abstract

The article examines the narrative and semantic transformation of fashion photography in the 21st century. The phenomenon of fashion photography is on the border of several thematic discourses: economic, because it advertises a thing for consumers, social, because it forms markers of prestige, and cultural-aesthetic, broadcasting the tastes and ideals of a historical era or period. If the traditional view on fashion focuses on clothes and the symbolic markers expressed by them, the postmodern approach increasingly focuses on the body that is visible from under the clothes. The semantic accent of the fashion at the beginning of the 21st century was the ideal feminine body of supermodels, which was supposed to excite the viewers. But a decade later, the fashion environment tries to break free from the repressiveness of social expectations about the beauty of slim but emaciated bodies. Non-standard models started appearing on catwalks and on the covers of fashion magazines, exposing unique (pigmented, prosthetic, scarred) parts of their bodies. Such methods are aimed at a deep emotional impact on the viewer, bypassing the rational conceptualization of the collection. The purpose of the article is to analyze the visual accents of fashion photography and fashion performances in the context of their emotional and affective impact on the viewers and customers. The affect approach consists of the analysis of an aesthetic phenomenon by taking into account its sensual, bodily-experienced potential. Fashion is precisely a discourse closely related to the practices of physicality, a person’s positioning in society, and at the same time to self-awareness and self-acceptance. The affective potential of a fashion product is a new methodological perspective that deepens the understanding of the phenomenon of fashion photography in the 21st century.