Tuesday 26 February 2013

Magazine Final Piece

So today we finished putting out PDF together to send to the printers, for our current magazine project. It was a bit hectic, but we got it done! And boy does it feel good.
This is my finished piece for the magazine:







And if you fancy giving my article a read:::

A NEW WORLD ORDER

We all like to believe that we are free, but what if the world had top leaders in every country, who controlled the media, the banks, and society, who led us to feel like we were free and in control of our own lives, but in fact have our future in their hands?

The Illuminati, a secret society created in the 1700s, is said to be still operating, and now consists of the world’s elite. Members are said to include President Obama, the Pope and Queen Elizabeth II, and their puppets are thought to be the majority of well-known public figures, those such as Beyoncé, Jay Z and Rihanna.
Search the Internet and  an array of YouTube videos, websites and blog posts about the Illuminati come up, along with the vast amount of conspiracies surrounding them. The Illuminati’s plan being to create a New World Order, which is repeatedly implied by Barack Obama and George Bush through their 
public speeches.
The Illuminati, started in Bavaria, Germany, and was formed by one man, Adam Weisshaupt. Weisshaupt, who was obsessed with Ancient Egyptian rituals, set up this society with the aim of abolishing all religions and governments, to have no countries or borders, and for the world to be ruled under one person in order to take control of humanity under a unified state. These aims as they are achieved will lead us towards the New World Order, which in so many words refers to a new way of life.
If we look back at these original aims of Weisshaupt’s and his Illuminati and then analyse what has happened since the society’s creation, even with its apparent abolishment, it does seem as if the cult is still running. Firstly, Weisshaupt wanted to put an end to established government. Most monarchies have lost their power and in the countries that do still have a monarchy, they act more as an ornament of power and a tourist attraction. Then think of the past revolutions, the French Revolution and even the recent Arab Spring, as well as the stand for equal rights for men and women. The creation of the United Nations in 1945, creating a super-national agency capable of passing resolutions that the states involved must apply for or take the consequences. 
Lastly, was his desire to put an end to organised religion. Christianity, the Catholic Church and some other religions are losing their effect, their traditions and commandments losing importance, whilst science and modernity take over. Think divorce, abortions and sex before marriage. The ideals of Adam Weisshaupt and the Illuminati seem to be evolving. 
These aims set out by Weisshaupt are far more believable than today’s Illuminati conspiracies: some that I would say have got a bit out of hand. Take one of the reasons why some people think Whitney Houston was killed as an example. Rather than that she committed suicide or took an accidental overdose, some believe that she was apparently sacrificed so that Beyoncé and Jay Z’s baby, Blue Ivy, could live, and Blue Ivy, being the anagram of Eulb Yvi, the Latin name for the devil’s daughter.
Other celebrities who have died - Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Tupac are just another few of the names that spring up in connection with the Illuminati and who are said to have been killed by them. Marilyn Monroe was said to be killed off as she knew enough to take down the government, whilst others such as Tupac and Michael Jackson were at first part of the Illuminati, but turned against them, tried to break free of their ways, and in turn were said to pay the ultimate price. 
Janet Jackson openly said on a television interview after Michael Jackson’s death, “You must remember Michael told me repeatedly that they were gonna kill him, he was gonna die.” As the presenter asks, and I ask too, who was going to kill him? Is she talking about those elites? The government? The Illuminati? However, in other interviews with Janet she talks about Michael’s depression being the cause of his death.
Another thing that conspiracy theorists have cottonedon to are celebrities referring to the Devil. Katy Perry says in an interview, “My parents are both traveling ministers, and so I kinda sang about, you know, what was going on in my life at 15, and that’s how I got introduced to the music industry. Because I swear I, like, wanted to be the Amy Grant of music, but it didn’t work out and so I sold my soul to the devil.” But can we really take this literally or is this just a figure of speech? As Weisshaupt’s aims didn’t refer to worshipping the Devil, it aimed to abolish religion. Yet today the Illuminati are linked to worshipping the Devil and figures such 
as Bathomet. 
The related symbolism of the Illuminati is now plastered everywhere over fashion items (the All-Seeing Eye, the pyramid and so on). This seems to put to mind that it is cool, a trend. I believe this is down to celebrities promoting these symbols, wearing them on clothes themselves, involving them in their music videos and concerts, as well as posters, and every other media outlet. But are celebrities doing this really to “brainwash” the general public and coerce them into the Illuminati rituals, or the fact they do it means they gain publicity, and as they say, any publicity is good publicity. 
You may question why, if so secret, would there be so much information surrounding the Illuminti and its connection with elites and celebrities? It could be because actually it is made up, or maybe it’s because, as they say, the best way to hide a secret is to shout it in the market place.  In the case of the Illuminati this rings true, as there is now so much disinformation and so many outrageous conspiracies, for example, contact with aliens, Michael Jackson’s ghost captured on film, etc. that it is hard decipher if any of it is really true.
Also, by showing events they have planned before they happen (using fictional media) means that we who see it are part of their ritual whether or not we know it. Like in Eminem’s 2004 Toy Soldiers music video, his best friend, the rapper Proof, is shot outside a club. Then, in 2006, Proof was actually killed by gunshot to the head at the CCC Club in Detroit, Michigan, by club bouncer Mario Etheridge after Proof allegedly shot Keith Bender as they got into a heated argument. By doing this they ensure their success as the subconscious, conscious and super-conscious minds are manipulated in such a way that it helps the Illuminati to achieve the aim of their event.
The Illuminati are said to show or hint at events before they happen, through symbolism, mostly shown through the media. One example is the film The Knowing. The film was released on March 20th 2009, within the film a BP oil spill is mentioned, and on April 20th 2010 this actually happened. When this incident is shown in the film the numbers 666 appear also on the piece of paper, 666 being linked to the devil. All the clocks within the film show the time 11:11, 81 country code for Japan is shown, Japan’s cooling reactors did actually malfunction, the boy’s bedroom window looks like the Illumnati eye, 11113 shows up on the paper , the Japan incident happened on the 11/3/11 and  finally, the clock says Japan at the bottom.
I will admit myself there are some rather weird coincidences. One of the conspiracy theories that always has made me think is that when you type itanimulli.com (Illuminati written backwards) into the web bar it takes you to nsa.gov, the National Security Agency and Central Security Service of America. The NSA and CSS on the website stating that they promise to secure the future.
Then there are the rumours surrounding the Bilderberg Group. The Bilderberg Group, named after the hotel where the first-ever meeting took place in 1954, meet once a year. Members are said to be all the highest elites from both sides of the Atlantic, the people who are said to run the world. They turn up to the meetings in bulletproof cars with blacked out windows and security is extremely high. The meetings are never logged or reported by national newspapers, meaning no-one apart from the members know of what is spoken about or organised.
For most of us it may be hard to realise the power that some of these elites have. Though if you use one of the Illuminati symbols to help deliberate this, it makes more sense. One of the main Illuminati symbols is the pyramid, sometimes with the All-Seeing Eye, the Eye of Horus placed at the top, as seen on the American dollar bill. This pyramid represents the compartmentalization of society, and all organisations.  
At the top of the pyramid is the elite, the members of the Bilderberg Group for example, then as you go down each part of the triangle, each section has more and more people in it as you get to the bottom, and the more people the less they know about the true objectives, the objectives which are decided at the top. 
This doesn’t just relate to our society and the Illuminati, but to every organisation, be it a bank, a university or a secret society. A great example, which I came across, was Freemasonry. When people hear that Freemasonry is involved with secret societies and so on, people automatically think that every Freemason wants to manipulate the world to a single dictatorship. But this is ridiculous as the vast majority of Freemasons never get higher than the bottom three degrees of Freemasonry. The top of this Freemason pyramid lays the Illuminati, which rides in a completely different universe to those Freemasons at the bottom. Then all these pyramids merge together to create the global pyramid. 
The American dollar bill has many conspiracies surrounding it. The Illuminati seems to be  obsessed with using numbers, the number thirteen being an important number to them. On the left hand side of the bill is the pyramid with the All-Seeing Eye at the top and on the right the eagle. There are thirteen layers to the pyramid, thirteen letters in Annuit Cœptus, there are thirteen stripes on the banner the eagle is holding, thirteen arrows, thirteen stars (which make up the star of David) and thirteen leaves. On the top-right hand side of the make of the bill if you look or zoom in closely there is a small owl. The owl is used as a symbol of wisdom as they have the ability to see in the dark. ‘Novus Ordo Seclorum’ beneath the pyramid meaning New World Order. Freemasons created the American dollar bill and this is clear from the use of symbolism. 
9/11 is another huge Illuminati intrigue. Many say that there were sounds of explosions after the plane crashed into the twin towers. There is even video evidence of explosions happening on lower floors. The twin towers were built in such a way that if a plane did fly into them they would be able to take the hit without falling to the ground. However, during 9/11 the towers dropped to the floor in a pancake effect. But people have now begun to question whether the terrorists or the American government itself set up these explosions.

The question is: do you think that these conspiracies are true, and in fact we are moving towards a New World Order, and although some of these conspiracies may have been taken out of hand and emphasised there is an underlying truth? Has a secret occult created by one man in Bavaria over 300 years ago grown so much in both power and intention? Or is it just a load of bullshit?








Sunday 17 February 2013

AnOther magazine

So I spent this last week interning at AnOther, a biannual mag that is part of the Dazed group. I contacted the magazine hoping to gain an internship on the picture desk for part of my course this year but the dates were a bit awkward, however Olena asked me to come in this week instead. BONUS!

Current Issue, which is out now!

Although Olena said the job in tow would monotonous, I actually really enjoyed myself and found it quite therapeutic. It was also great to learn more about how a magazine runs, you seriously don't realise all the extra things magazines have to do to create and keep a magazine running smoothly.

The job at hand was basically organising magazine tears into their stories and editorials in order to send copies along to the photographers, stylists, hair and makeup artists, and set designers for their portfolios.
As you can see just the organising of the boxes took a while.

All the Tears I Did
Inside the Office
The office didn't lend itself just to the AnOther magazine team, but also AnOther Man and Dazed Digital. Being part of Dazed publications, AnOther magazine got me even closer to my photographer love Rankin. Although I didn't actually get to see or meet him.

 I had a really good week and made a great new contact with Olena, who was really nice. Working alongside another intern, a french girl called Noemie was really interesting too, and gave me some good company. She could speak english although we had some fun translating different words to hep understand one another, this refreshed only the slightest bit of my ever diminishing french vocabulary. We spoke about the difference between interning in France and Britain, and there are quite a few and some are quite surprising. Apparently you have to be a student in order to intern in France and a proper contract has to be signed.

After I had finished and sent out all the tears, I had to do some research on kaleidoscopic art, fashion and  film, for inspiration for a potential fashion film they will be creating during LFW. I'm really interested in seeing the final outcome of this. It has also got me not only to download the free PrismScope kaleidoscope app! As well as a small section of my Tumblr being dedicated to that.

AnOther Man - LayPlan

AnOther Man -  LayPlan
Ever-closer to my love, Rankin
Kaleidoscopic App


Friday 8 February 2013

My First Ever GIF

So having a boyfriend who does Graphic Design does come in handy sometimes. He just showed me how to make a GIF, and I am so impressed with myself! YOU GO GIRL!

Made this one using my images from my recent Illuminati Symbolism shoot.



Thursday 7 February 2013

Illuminati Symbolism Shoot



So for our magazine project I decided to write an article on the Illuminati, the secret conspiracy group I am obsessed with researching. I don't neccessarily believe that Whitney Houston was killed by the Illuminati so Beyonce and Jay z's baby Blue Ivy could live, but the conspiracies surrounding this cult are blooming interesting!

Anyway to go with the article I decided to put together a shoot illustrating different symbolism related to the Illuminati and it's followers.

Here are some behind the scenes shots of hair and makeup:



I was inspired by celebrities that seem to always love covering one eye, think Lady Gaga and Rhianna, as well as the conspiracies surrounding the dollar bill and also Bathomet, the goat, half female, half male that is related to occultism and Satanism.

I am still playing around with my images, editing them and placing different ones together to see which works best, however here are some of the final outcomes so far:















Photography and Art Direction - Hannah Byrne (moi)
Model - Beth  Dowdell
Hair & Makeup - Rosie Mason


Monday 4 February 2013

Jeans

So I haven't worn jeans in, well a VERY long time. A casj shop in H&M however has changed this and I now own a pair of straight legs, a little high waisted and only £29.99! My boyfriend kept telling me to buy some jeans, and I will admit he was right as it gives a nice change to what I normally wear.



Jeans - H&M
Blazer - H&M
Top - Zara
Necklace - Next
Boots - River Island