R+P Post 13: Influences and inspiration from art, fashion and culture

I felt greatly inspired by the artist Kehinde Wiley, who managed to display a dialogue between the traditional African designs in the background that add meaning to the image of black identity in modern times and shows an appreciation to displaying the beauty of one's African heritage. There is a great level of vibrancy to his realistic portraits that I want to achieve with the graffiti backdrop aesthetic in some of the shots in Brick Lane. Some of his works can be viewed below.

                   

I also felt inspired by the gritty, urban aesthetic of the TV show 'Top Boy', displaying the lifestyle of the harsh realities of street life for a group of aspiring drug dealers growing up in a council estate. The TV show was critically acclaimed and helped to depict the injustice of cultural upbringing that inspired people to start getting caught up in crime. Even characters that were not caught up in that lifestyle, grew up with a similar disillusionment with the power of the police, as it does show how easy it is for one's surrounding to affect the likelihood of themselves becoming vulnerable to a life of crime.

In terms of fashion influences, I felt inspired by the street aesthetic of brands such as 424 and Off-White, who are constantly adding to the high-fashion reinvention of the street look, keeping the sharp aesthetic principles of what can be viewed as intimidating street clothing.

My influences and inspirations have helped me gain greater knowledge of the challenges faced to black identity and representation. I have also gained greater knowledge of how to present the desired urban look for our male narrative. I've started to appreciate more the urban aesthetic and am now trying to conceive how we will depict the bitter sweet symphony of the hustling mentality present in much of London's youth as well as showing a beautiful vibrancy and uniqueness of London as a location for shooting. It will be important to accurately present this setting in order to make the male narrative feel as gritty and realistic as possible.