When considering the definition of a "social group,"" we must look closely at the perspective in which a given group views society. Several common factors determining a person's sense of group identity are race, religion, gender, and athletics or other social priorities. Generally, we can say that individuals collaborate with other individuals to form a sort of "team ". This "team " isn't just formed randomly. Usually, a group is formed of people who share some sort of common interest. In the photo art piece, entitled Cause Beautiful: Hipstamatic Aims to Empower Young People, Olivier Laurent delivers to the viewer a fascinating puzzle regarding the underlying basis of identification among a group of African American youths. Laurent seems to challenge the viewer to try to define the role fashion plays in the formation of this group's social identity, as well as in the identity formation of its individual members. .
What first catches the viewer's gaze in Laurent's picture are a series of similarities in fashion and style that tell us the young people all belong to a single social entity. In her article, "Fashion and Style,"" Jukka Gonrow talks about fashion in regards to the social aspect of life by using two key lenses: Kant's and Simmel's respective understandings of "universal good taste " (90) and style as a kind of "social bridge " (98). With respect to individual vs. the group dynamic, she states,.
"[Fashion] is a socially acceptable and secure way to distinguish oneself from others and, at the same time, it satisfies the individual's need for social adaptation and imitation"" (Gonrow 90). This idea is represented very well in Laurent's photograph but is somewhat complicated by Sabo's essay. In Laurent's photo, four youthful African Americans show off their style. While showing some parallelism in their choice in clothing, each member differentiates him or herself from the others, in his or her unique way, whether by wearing a belt, a hat, a scarf, or some other sort of accessory.