60s/80s Decade Clash Photoshoot
One decade’s style clashing into another is one of my all time favourite things. We’ve been lucky enough to see this in media such as Pleasantville, Why Women Kill and Wandavision, and I am constantly searching for new TV shows and movies with the same vibe. A project I completed a little while ago was transforming my parents kitchen back into the 1980s for a photoshoot, just through set dressing alone. They built the kitchen along with the house in the late 80s, decked out with lace curtains and contemporary appliances. I had so much fun bringing it back into the 80s with decor pieces and practical elements, and I have a whole post about it if you want to check it out. I also created an 80s cookbook cover, shot in the kitchen, which is still a work in process but will be out soon.
I came up with the idea for a decade clash photoshoot that utilised the set dressed kitchen, but played with the distinct styles of two seperate decades. I landed on the 60s as I liked the visual differences in the style together and would allow me to bring in a black and white element for optimal contrast. The shoot itself was a fully practical shoot, where the only editing done to it was colour and texture editing, so it was only one photo that was edited to make it look like it could have originally 2 spliced together.
A mixture of 60s and 80s teacups were used so the glitch would look like everything that was there was there in both decades, just the style of the piece changed. A rotary phone and vintage TV guide sat next to a vase of daisies and baby’s breath, to mirror the vase of baby’s breath in the 80s part of the kitchen, as they were a trending flower in both decades. The General Electric kettle shows off the appliances of the 60s, and I did go in and edit in the coffee pour in post editing.
Styling myself in 60s fashion and hair was the final element to bring it all together. The original 60s knitted polo and curled, tightly slicked hair was the perfect fit in transporting me back a good 60 years. When it came time to edit, I started with the 80s section, raising the highlights and adding some flares. Enriching the yellows and muddying the tones really sold the 80s photography element, where adding grain and getting the perfect black and white for the 60s created the perfect juxtaposition. The white edge and multiple layers created the perfect glitch, clashing the two decades together to finish off a fun, highly striking photoshoot.