Star images in magazines

I will be looking at some star images and how they are portrayed in magazines, in hopes of it helping me figure out what type of star image I want to create by making my model pose, act, look, and express in a single photo, such as these:
Axl Rose and Dave Grohl, how they differ and what their poses are achieving.
Looking at Axl Rose's pose (Left), the dramatic shadow on his face makes him look intimidating, and the cold facial expression with the slightly tilted face makes him look rather threatening and serious,this suits his heavy rock genre very well. The way he is dressed, black, and a hint of pink from his bandanna is an interesting combination which goes against the convention of a rock star.
Overall,this photo is very serious, dark and intimidating in comparison to the light, black and white but more exposed shot of Grohl. Also, the direction at which he is pointing is his band name, and the slightly opened mouth makes him appear nice and friendly, as if he would be saying 'Hey, this is my band, you should check it out!'. This is important because the genre of his music is much lighter in comparison to what Guns N Roses perform, and therefore appeals to the audience which would be looking at the magazine.

These two star images are very interesting, because they differ so significantly, however the genre of the music is exactly the same.
This star, Kurt Cobain, was posing in a natural way, and makes this photo look as if he was unaware of it being taken at the first place.
It is in black and white, and a medium close up. Cobain is not facing the camera/audience, but rather looking intensely at someone.
This sets an overall serious tone of the magazine itself, and is a connotation of the style of his music, as it was never easy going, it was rather heavy and in minor, serious tones. The reason this photo could be in black and white is because of the lead which explains that Cobain has been dead for 10 years, and could be so serious because of respect for him, his talent and music.

In comparison, Pearl Jam are all clearly posing, with one of the members containing a serious face with sunglasses, the following up member is making a silly expression, the next one does not look pleased with his mouth taped shut and the next one appears to be screaming whilst intensely staring at something. All of these facial expressions and the positions adhere to Dyer's theory that they are 'an image, not a real person.'.
What is also very different is that all of the members are wearing bright yellow suits with black flowers on them, which makes the picture overall rather vibrant. The yellow contrasts with the purple whitespace because they are opposites reflecting on the colour wheel. I believe this was chosen on purpose and is a connotation, makes the reader think that this band will be vibrant and fun to listen to.

Whilst looking at all of these star images I have found that semiotics are very much so important, and not just of the star and the posing, but the links to everything that is on the front page at times as well. A good example would be this, The Stone Roses, their picture being clearly unposed as you can see how natural the group's embrace, and how real their emotions towards each other are. What I really love about this photo is that they are truly appreciating each other, and this links to the headline of their possible article in the magazine: 'Adored' which is also one of their songs. I love the links between every stage and I aspire to reach connection which is at least similar to this in my own star, the image and the link to the remainder of the magazine.


What I adore about this image of the star on the front magazine is that it is also unposed, and even if it is, it looks extremely naturalistic. I want to achieve such emotion in my own star, for the viewers to see how passionate my musician is about what they do. I also love the posture of the singer and how the banner us placed in between his legs. This singer breaks conventions by not having a direct eye contact with the reader, just like most of these do and that is what I have noticed is usual in vintage/retro magazines,therefore I might consider not using direct eye contact with the reader myself.
Using a full body shot for a front cover is rather interesting, however it is not conventional of most vintage magazines, therefore I might not do that, unless I decide to challenge them in the near future.







How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I would like to play with the foregrounds and backgrounds of my photos just like the last photo
• I would like my photo to be as natural as possible
• If it is visibly posed, I would like it to be lighthearted and not end up looking menacing, instead friendly and approachable.