Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The model represents my genre of the magazine, a trendy, young attractive woman, who is immediately connecting with the audience with the ‘peace’ sign pose. One thing I ensured was that I wanted my model to stand out, with the clothes she is wearing. The make up was simple, I didn’t want to use much or over do it because I wanted to focus on her natural beauty and not seem false in front of the camera.

Most hip hop magazines have the model looking happy and always smiling, combined with a confident pose, I used this in my front cover magazine whereas with my contents page I wanted a more vulnerable pose so the readers can connect with the article. A lot of hip hop/R’n’B is about spreading a message and telling a story, usually the message is aimed at younger viewers trying to build confidence in other people.

I used these two images as a way of representing my social group trying to be free and more confident, both models are looking directly at the camera, on with a ‘peace’ gesture and the other looking more shy and hidden in her shell, as if people in the social group are still hiding away from reality when the should be more free and open with it.