Section
CULT: SMC Street Style
Proposed Deadline
6/11/2019
Story Description & Significance(Why is it important to SMC)
Andrew and I discussed the "Humans of SMC" project yesterday. We both liked the idea of a "simple" format that could yield lots of quick profiles.
However… we felt even more that a deeper, "Humans of New York" type conversation with members of our campus community would be worth the extra effort. It should still be a format that any photographer (or any Corsair staffer, really) can do. If you have the chance to go off-campus and experience an SMC campus community member preparing an elaborate dessert, or performing in a cultural event, or doing a marine life inventory, or rewilding a colonized space, that’s awesome. But these pieces don’t necessarily have to leave campus. They can also be quality moments with SMC students right here at our home base.
ALL THAT BEING SAID…
I also think there is a place for more brief, "quick takes" of student culture and style. I love the magazine and later, book, "Fruits" by Shoichi Aoki. The magazine & book chronicle a decade of vibrant street style in the Harajuku district of Tokyo. Each page features a bright color photo of some young person’s fashion, with just a few simple questions for minimal context.
As a student publication, we can’t guarantee that anyone will keep up the "SMC Street Style" section 10, 2, or even 1 year from now, but if they did, it could be a fantastic ongoing look at street style on a campus at the heart of global culture. Southern California is arguably the #1 exporter of global culture, and the cities of West Hollywood, West LA, Santa Monica, and Venice are the heart of the heart. It would be great to do a "Fruits" style survey of our campus fashionistas.
Another book I love is "Me in My Bag", by Yi Ying Wang, Hiromi Iguchi, and Will Farrow. In this book, the photographers ask people around London to let them photograph the contents of their bags and then fill out a small questionnaire. I probably like the functional simplicity and graphic power of "Fruits" a bit more, but this is also a really interesting way to take the pulse of SMC Student Style 2019.
Background Research (Doc & Links) & Possible Roadblocks
- https://www.amazon.com/Fruits-Shoichi-Aoki/dp/0714840831
- http://www.things-i-love.nl/2013/02/13/hello-noodoll
Not exactly a "roadblock", but one issue could be that having both "Humans of SMC" and "SMC Street Style" might be too much or too confusing. We do have a lot of photographers this semester, so we should have the capacity, but we might prefer to just focus on one.
Still, the student with the "Sustainable Technologies" major (part of SMC’s Recycling and Resource Management program) does seem perfect for "Humans of SMC", while the student with the lime green hair and the orange minidress seems perfect for "SMC Street Style".
Who Intend to Interview & Story Location(Where you Need to Go)
- As many of SMC’s 30,052 students as two-dozen photographers can possibly photograph in a semester!
Photo/Multimedia ideas for the article
- More is never enough.