Dina Goldstein

Dina Goldstein is a Pop Surrealist photographer based in Vancouver, Canada. She takes iconic characters and turns flips them upside down to put forward social and cultural ideas such as Cancer and alcoholism. She came to fame with her "Fallen Princesses" project which showed different Disney Princesses supposedly grown up and put in different social situations that in some way link back to the fairy tale they come from. I have chosen to look into her work deeper to explore her theatrical style in which she presents her work. 

This image relates to my project theme of fantasy as it is representing the idea of Barbie, with a twist. I chose to include this image as I like how the strong the image is, with the story filling the entire page. What really catches my eye about this image is how much it contrasts the typical idea of Barbie, as you see barbie with a short hairstyle typically seen on men and in a mens suit when she is usually seen in girly outfits and long hair. Another thing that I really like is how sad, and blank her face looks, looking away from and beyond the camera. In terms of composition, I really like how she is off centre, but the is still central due to her hair being scattered. 

I think the photographer took this image in order to show a different side to Barbie and attack social issues. 

What I think is the most important thing about this image is how the suit and the room contrast starkly - the room being pink and girly and the suit being dark and ill fitting. This is what I think shows the image in a very dramatic way. 

This image relates to my theme as it shows the idea of Barbie in a alternate world. I chose to include this image as it shows Barbie looking depressed, drunk and messy which looks at how people put on a smile for others, but in reality everything is not as it seems. What I like about this image is how pink everything is - including the model but she still manages to stand out and is the focal point. I also like the composition as the white table cloth in the centre of the image cuts up the colour slightly, making it less glaring to look at. I also like how the composition looks like it needs to people, partially due to the spare chair, which adds to the story. 

I think the photographer took this to show how things are not all as they seem, and to show Barbie who is meant to be the epitome of perfection looking a mess. I think the most important part about this image is the white table cloth as I think without it the image would come across as overpowering.  

This relates to my topic of fantasy due to the make up look shown in this image. I chose to include this due to how angry it looks, and how much texture it is showing. What I like most about this id the cracked paint effect which gives the model a scaley look, making he look inhuman. I also like how it looks as though he is trying to break out of the extra layer, hence resulting in cracking. I also like how strong the black and the white contrast with no shadow. This creates a crisper, cleaner look. I like how he is stretching out across the composition, and almost looks like hes looking at someone behind the camera. 

I think the photographer took this to capture emotion and entrapment. The most important thing about this image is the strong contrast between the black and the white, otherwise the image would look too flat. 

This image relates to my theme as it is an contemporary interpretation of the fairy tale Princess and the Pea. I chose to include this as I really like how well the subject and the location work together. They contrast strongly, with the mattresses and model being all pink and girly, against the dump site however it works well and it looks like they belong together naturally. I really like how bright and colourful this image is, making it seem happier and not as bleak as dump sites are usually portrayed. 

I think the photographer took this in order to show how people are dumping rubbish everywhere, and soon will be living on it. I think the most important thing about this is how bright it looks, as it makes it seem happier and more surreal.  

Influence

Although I really like Dina Goldstein's work and how she creates surreal, bold images using a variety of location, colour, pose and composition to tell a story that often has cultural and social significance, I did not really use her work as inspiration much. I had planned to do some shoots showing typical Disney Princesses in different settings, showing them in a say that highlights social issues raised in classic fairy tales, my project went in a different direction. Although this is the case, one of my shoots developing my Alice in Wonderland idea does give the typical story a twist with a slight psychedelic feel.

Summary

Although I really do admire Dina Goldstein's techniques and how she manipulates classic popular ideas in order to address current social issues, her work has not had that much of an impact during this project as it took a different direction. However, I do plan on looking at her work in the future for inspiration with other projects.