For this 2020 project, I researched the ‘Final Girl’, which is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films).[1][2] It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. This trope or archetype is featured in many classic horror movies, such as Halloween (1978), Friday The 13th (1980) and Scream (1996). After watching many films that originally showed the ‘Final Girl’ and reading about the trope from an academic perspective, I shot a photo series in which I dressed up female friends as the trope and photographed them, in order to explore my own part in the glorification of this dated archetype, as well as to deconstruct it and the movies I consumed as a teenager. The series functions as a hommage as well, for I consider the slasher movie as one of my favourite genres, despite its lowbrow reputation and ‘problematic’ tropes. I edited the pictures in a way that evokes associations with VHS. In my Master’s thesis I elaborated on the knowledge I gained during the research phase of the project.
I eventually turned the photo series into a zine. A chose this format because of its assocations with cheapness and pop star posters.
