The Casting Project
My university tasked me with creating a series of images that visualise the modernised idea of an editorial, centred on inclusivity, sustainability, community, play, and disruption, which required me to collaborate with other creatives, such as makeup artists, to create an editorial piece for a real-world publication, based on a theme from its back catalogue.
A photoshoot which explores themes of an internal sense of multiculturism, what it means to be British and Black, and how multiple distinct cultures manifest in a single person. This project centres on the idea that the concept of an “editorial image” has moved beyond mere marketing of luxury items.
Despite being born and raised in Gloucestershire and being very much interested in these things that are stereotyped as “white”, I am still the grandchild of a couple who migrated from the Caribbean to the UK back in the 1950s. And those elements of Caribbean food, music, and culture have been part of my childhood as well. I feel this connection to Caribbean culture and British culture within myself, and that’s what my idea is riffing on: I’ve been described as an “Oreo” growing up because people perceive me as being “black on the outside but white on the inside”, and that concept is the thesis statement of my project.
The photographer Petra Collins was particularly inspiring, with her shoot for Wonderland Magazine, featuring Zendaya, which serves as the blueprint for this new shoot. That shoot has a warm, dreamlike quality, with a soft, ethereal glow. The lighting is soft. Generally, to create this dreamy aesthetic, she’ll use things like lamps, fairy lights, and the sun at golden hour.
The concept explores having two distinct cultures within a single person, stemming from their upbringing in Britain and their foreign heritage. The underlying feeling is a sense of being British and identifying with that, yet being stereotyped as ‘the other’ due to your race. It’s like being perceived as black on the outside yet white on the inside. An Oreo. It shines a light on the unique experience of a nonwhite creative and how race impacts different areas of their life.