and my prints will be arriving from print space today! SCARY!
to sum up this project, here are my overall thoughts and my conclusion....
For my Final self-directed project I decided to
produce portraits of people with red/ginger hair. I was influenced by my previous body of work
that I produced, in which I looked at the topic of twins.
I am interested in showing genres of people and
looking into how people can be put into stereotypes, such as the stereotypes
people associate with being a twin or having a specific hair color.
My photographs were taken in various locations
between Bristol and Sevenoaks, the majority of my shoots were taken on location
with a select few shots utilizing the studio space.
Often
at the start of a project I find that I am overwhelmed with thoughts and ideas,
as a result of this enthusiasm I find that I can, on occasion, not put enough
thought into my process and the technical aspect of my work at the beginning. Looking
back at my work I find that my first shoots are rarely successful, this is frequently
due to lighting/colour problems. This issue is prevalent in my most recent
project with the use of indoor lighting.
If more
time and thought was allowed at the beginning of the projects, with respect to
deciphering what I want the images to depict and represent, then time wouldn’t
be wasted, particularly with regard to the models, who agree to be photographed
and lend their time.
I felt at one stage in my project that there was no
clear connection between shoots and as a result the project felt very
disconnected. This was due to small changes being made throughout this body of
work; the most predominant, perhaps, being the change of style of which I
photographed my subject. Originally I had hoped to focus on fashion
photography, however as the project progressed I felt that the imagery I was
producing would not fit into this genre, the focus therefore shifted to portraiture.
Towards the end of my project I decided to also
shoot in black and white, and, on the final shoots, also use a green filter. This
decision gave my project a purpose and a reason and the use of large format
strengthened this.
I feel that the overall outcome of this project is
strong, but that the project as a whole could have been improved through more technical
consideration with each shoot.
During this project I tried to improve my time
management by creating plans, however I found that I would rarely stick to a
specific plan. If more time was allowed to manage and plan each photograph, and
the project as a whole, I believe that I would of created a stronger, more
rounded body of work, and a better standard of photography throughout the
duration of this project, as opposed to only having strong images towards the
end of the shoots.
The research that I have gathered has been mainly
from websites, along with visiting a lot of exhibitions and reading various photography
magazines. I feel that I could have done more research without the use of the internet
by reading through more books; however I had difficulty picking out the
relevant sections and parts to read. This is something that I need to work and
improve on, had I managed my time more effectively perhaps I could have put
time aside for reading more, which would result in my project being
contextualized more thoroughly than I feel it is.
The
skills I have achieved within this body of work mainly lie in the knowledge and
skills gained in using large format and the confidence I have gained in this
medium.
As always I began this project digitally, and then
moved onto medium format. After discussion I was then persuaded to experiment
using large format in a shoot. I found this process thrilling and really
exciting to use, this process also improved my photography skill base as well
as improving my eye and knowledge of taking a portrait. The thought process and
time taken to capture each image was something I found refreshing and extremely
beneficial for me. My frequent use of digital can often result in the images
being captured mindlessly, with less thought going in to what I was shooting.
This is very evident through this body of work.
Large
format photography was so enjoyable to me as it gave me more control on the
final geometry of each image I took, along with the perspective and the areas
of sharpness within the photograph. So much time is taken on a single exposure,
and so much effort is invested in it that you're compelled to think each shot
through carefully in order to produce a good image. This stepping back allowed
me to finally produce two very strong portraits.
My
knowledge and skill base for developing my own negatives has also strengthened;
this choice of medium has allowed me to scale up my images to a size which I
never expected to see my prints in (A0).
My
Photoshop skills have greatly improved mainly due to the editing of my final
images. I have learnt about the difference of a subtlety and the difference the
smallest change can make to an image.
Creating
a website and specifically a blog has allowed me and forced me to be more
reflective and analytical of my work, and although I would say this is
something I still need to improve on, it is also fair to say that this is
something I am learning to become better at through time and has significantly
improved from previous years.
My
final outcome is completely different to what I had originally thought it would
be. Firstly because I never envisaged producing black and white images and secondly
the scale of the images (I never thought I would produce such massive prints).
The final outcome changed when the images I had produced weren’t strong enough,
lacking in depth of meaning.
I
feel that I have finally found myself and my style within this body of work. If
I had more time I could have improved even more and gone on to produce a strong
coherent body of photographs. The
process of large format has given my final images a finer meaning and context.
If I were to complete this self directed
project again, I would of managed my time more effectively and looked further
into the planning and technical side of the project. One thing that is
significantly lacking in my body of work is group critique, although I received
feedback from various tutors, I seemed to miss receiving group critique of my
work which is something I think is vital and helps in contextualizing the work
more efficiently.
In conclusion I personally feel that my
project was a success in the end. ‘In the end’ being the most significant part.
The process part of this project is what brought my work together and without
it, I would of concluded with a very empty body of work.
Although my time management and process
should have been slowed down and could have been improved upon much earlier I
am ultimately happy with my final two images and final shoots. I feel that my
final images are very strong and are the starting point for future portraits I
would like to produce. The knowledge gained through using large format is
unforgettable and is a process that I intend to use in the future and from now
on.
I am
now at the point in my photography where I should be showing my work and
getting my work ‘out there’. As discussed earlier, I feel that during this
project, particularly nearer the end, I was producing strong work, some of the
strongest portraits I have produced from the past 3 years.
As a
result I finally felt like I was at a point where I could start to think about
my portfolio. After looking through all
of my various shoots I started to think about which images I felt where the
strongest, this resulted in a mix of both color and black and white images.
I felt
that it would be a shame to not have a printed portfolio however after
consideration, the cost of this would have been too significant, on top of the
cost of printing my final images, which is where I felt my money was better
spent at this stage.
Because
of this I also began to consider how the cost of a printed portfolio would mean
that I would want my photography/ images to be worthy of the money spent. As I
am only now at a point where I feel I have found my niche and process, I
believe that my imagery will continue to grow and become stronger from here. As
a result I feel that I need to allow myself more time to create a strong,
coherent body of work before I consider a printed portfolio.
As a
result I have chosen to use my website as my portfolio. This allows me to
continuously alter what I am doing and allows me to get feedback on my work
freely, which at this early stage in my career is a very important thing. The
use of my website has allowed me to try out various styles of representation
and therefore allowed me to be creative and make decision about how I want my
‘brand’ of photography to be seen. This, in turn, shows the viewer more about
me than a printed portfolio would. Undoubtedly a printed portfolio is something
I will definitely look to produce and I feel is vital, as seeing a photograph
as a print and digitally is completely different, with the print being clearly
superior to digital imagery. However,
this is something that will take time and I will only consider doing once my
work is strong enough and once it has received sufficient feedback and
critique.
